Das Gesundheitswesen
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Das Gesundheitswesen · Jul 1998
Review[Unconventional diagnostic and therapeutic methods in environmental medicine].
In the sphere of environmental medicine--analogous to other fields like oncology and chronic diseases--not only proven and approved methods, but also unconvential methods are offered, without evidence of efficacy. The application of these methods has the possible consequence of wrong diagnosis and malpractice. ⋯ Concerning the admissibility of contested methods, statements of medical specialist societies, judgements, and the law of medical products are quoted. In conclusion, the question of the origin of the ideas and alleged results of unconvential medicine is followed up and conclusions are drawn.
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Das Gesundheitswesen · Jul 1998
[Trends in average life expectancy in the Saxony Free State--results of a cause of death-specific table analysis].
We conducted a specific table analysis on mortality causes that was mainly oriented on the lines of the chapters of ICD-9 to explore the average life expectancy for the population in Saxony particularly since 1988. The drop in average life expectancy of males observed since 1990 can be fully explained only for those around 18 years of age by "accidents" as the cause of death. Between 30 and 55 years of age there were additional losses of average life expectancy via the mortality causes "diseases of the digestive tract", "neoplasms" and "psychiatric diseases". ⋯ There are excessive gains in life expectancy in respect of cardiovascular diseases, clearly in the range of embryonal and congenital diseases and remarkably in respect of suicide. How many of these specific differentiations of causes of death are due to changes in coding, has not yet been assessed. Leaving aside the unnatural causes of death these figures point to a marked influence of improved medical care on average life expectancy.