He said advances in medicine have allowed some drugs to replace surgery to keep people healthy.

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Some alternative medicine enthusiasts have promoted use of black cherry concentrate and other substances to lower risk of an attack, but there is little scientific evidence to show that they are effective.

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In some areas of medicine computers now have better diagnostic skills than humans.

ECONOMIST: Free exchange

Another question FitzGerald wants studied: whether or not some patients have their pain relieved by one medicine, but not another--and why.

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But there have also been allegations that some Tenet hospitals practiced bad medicine, harming patients in the process.

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He hopes it will create an army of intelligent self-experimenters that extend well beyond performance and appearance enhancement to help create some of the greatest breakthroughs we could have in medicine over the next five to ten years.

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We have heard a lot about a new era of personalised medicine - some of it pretty wild speculation about miracle cures - that would follow in the wake of the Human Genome Project.

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Some Indian analysts have also suggested that the United States take a dose of its own medicine in accepting international observers in future elections.

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Some lawmakers have been complaining that pharmaceutical companies benefit from Medicare Part D while seniors have to choose between buying medicine and food since the drug benefit passed in 2003.

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