Volume 182 - Issue 8
The Nobel Prize and mainstream medicine
Author: Martin B Van Der Weyden
Med J Aust 2005; 182 (8): 429-430. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06769.x
Published online: 18 April 2005
Published online: 18 April 2005
Martin B Van Der Weyden
Editor, The Medical Journal of Australia, Locked Bag 3030, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012. medjaustATampco.com.au
In reply: I welcome Foote’s comments, but, to the contrary, I find it entirely credible that many clinicians “fail to equate advances in basic research to advances in clinical medicine.” The reasons are many, but include not only the tortuous language of research,1,2 but also the scepticism that inevitably follows research announcements of “cures” and “breakthroughs”, which prove to be patently premature or just peter out.3
However, I am amazed that Foote appears to have missed the point of my column — the “narrowness of the Nobel awards for physiology or medicine” with their recent predominance of basic research.4
While it must be admitted that the Nobel Prize is increasingly awarded for what is undoubtedly outstanding basic research that has the potential to be of “greatest benefit for mankind”, much of this potential remains unrealised. Indeed, it was the need for recognition of clinical and epidemiological research in the Nobel awards that moved the Lancet, in its Paper of the year 2004, to seek sponsorship for the clinical equivalent of the Lasker and Nobel awards.5
In summary, it is research’s exclusivity, the rise of its false prophets, and the irrelevance of most recent Nobel Awards to everyday practice that fuel disinterest among clinicians.
References
- Dixon B. Plain words please. New Scientist 1993; 137: 32-40. GJJBIHFF
- Gutterman JU, Rosen RD, Butler WT, et al. Immunoglobulin of tumor cells and tumor-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis in human acute leukemia. N Engl J Med 1973; 288: 173-175. i1085699
- Ooi ES, Chapman S. Analysis of newspaper reports of cancer breakthroughs: hope or hype. Med J Aust 2003; 179: 639-654. i1085701
- Narrowness of Nobel awards for physiology or medicine [editorial]. Lancet 1999; 346: 1399. i1085703
- Paper of the year 2004. Lancet 2004; 364: 2166. i1085705