Review & comment

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  Implications of drug-induced changes

  Allan Sniderman, George Thanassoulis

  Allan Sniderman and George Thanassoulis comment on a meta-analysis showing reduction of testosterone by statins, but argue that range of changes rather than average changes need to be considered when measuring the effects of specific drugs.

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  Improved prenatal diagnosis

  Elisavet Papageorgiou, Philippos Patsalis

  Elisavet Papageorgiou and Philippos Patsalis comment on a novel noninvasive method of fetal haplotype and phenotype analysis, and discuss how this study, published in Genome Medicine, can lead to better prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities. 

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  Insights into the mechanisms of autism

  Charlotte Tye, Patrick Bolton

  Charlotte Tye and Patrick Bolton comment on a study showing that neural networks differ in tuberous sclerosis patients with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and describe how the results support the theory of altered neural circuitry in ASD.

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  Fascin-1 as a cancer biomarker?

  Vathany Kulasingam, Eleftherios Diamandis

  Vathany Kulasingam and Eleftherios Diamandis comment on a meta-analysis reporting that fascin-1 is associated with cancer mortality and metastasis, and discuss why further research is required before this protein can be used as a biomarker.

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  Pros & cons of head injury guidelines

  Carolyn Benson, G Bryan Young

  Carolyn Benson and Bryan Young comment on the updated Scandinavian guidelines for initial treatment of head injury, but note that some recommendations cannot be implemented in clinical settings with limited access to specific screening facilities.

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  Updated guidelines for brain injury

  Johan Unden, Tor Ingebrigtsen, Bertil Romner, Scandinavian Neurotrauma Committee (snc)

  The Scandinavian Neurotrauma Committee presents an evidence and consensus-based update of guidelines for the initial management of minimal, mild and moderate head injuries in adults, but highlight that the recommendations also need to be validated in non-Scandinavaian clinical settings.