Of genes and men: Making the best out of meta-analyses and ApoB gene polymorphisms for those with or at risk for cardiovascular disease

摘要

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. John Ernst Steinbeck III (1902-1968). Meta-analysis represents a study design with ever-increasing success among authors, readers, and decision-makers in clinical medicine. A meta-analysis refers to a set of quantitative methods focused on contrasting or combining results from different primary research studies, in order to, first of all, increase precision in estimation of effect sizes. Other aims include the identification of non-random patterns among studies, sources of disagreement among their results, or other interesting relationships that may come to light in the context of multiple and independent research efforts.