Where there is smoke, there is not always fire

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

The ankle-brachial index (ABI), a ratio of systolic blood pressure measured at the ankle and the brachial artery, is a simple noninvasive screening test used to diagnose peripheral arterial disease (PAD). PAD affects over 12 million people in the United States and its prevalence increases with increasing age (1,2). Patients with an abnormal ABI, defined as 0.90 or 1.40, are at increased risk of...

Mitochondrial DNA damage, oxidative stress, and atherosclerosis: where there is smoke there is not always fire.

Where there is smoke there is fire: the Iranian system of paid donation.

Center for Healthcare Studies, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Comprehensive Transplant Center, Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Medical Humanities & Bioethics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL University of British Columbia, St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Corresponding author: John S. Gill, jgi...

If there's smoke, is there fire?

As we read through the medical literature, we are always looking for the “hottest” new advances (jumping right into the smoke/fire analogy thing): basic science that gives us new mechanistic insights, clinical trials that confirm or reject our so-called insights, major new diagnostic and therapeutic options, and breakthrough technology. We are a lot like forest rangers, sitting up on a platform...

Where there is a will there is a way

Peritonitis was a significant problem for our peritoneal dialysis patients in 2003. In January 2004, we initiated a continuous quality improvement project to address the problem. Our project took 18 months to complete. We developed many action items. Our first step was to analyze the data to ensure accuracy, and also to determine the causative organism that contributed most to the problem. The ...