First, given that Müller and colleagues administered simvastatin [ 1] while we chose atorvastatin [ 2], it seems that the observed benefit is a class-specific rather than a drug-specific effect; that is, it may apply to the whole class of statins.
Although it was still possible that the observed benefit reflected an unusually high death rate in the placebo arm, this too seemed unlikely given the virtual overlap of placebo-group mortality with natural history studies 18 (ref. 14, supplementary figure e-1) Thus, the survival rate for 29 years after disease onset (∼70%) observed by others 2 was much like that in our placebo group (70.4%).
Comparing the observed benefit distribution to a counterfactual distribution of perfect equality, a moderate to high level of inequality is found.
Given the evidence from randomised controlled trials for specialised multidisciplinary care in stroke, 5 it is possible that the observed benefit of being seen by a stroke consultant within 24 hours is a marker for admission to a stroke unit and multidisciplinary stroke care.
Antioxidant vitamins alone showed an observed benefit, but this effect was not statistically significant compared with placebo (χ=3.76; P=0.052; absolute risk reduction 0.07, 0.005 to 0.15).
The lack of an observed benefit of distant reiki for all pain outcome measures at all points in time is in contrast to most, 12 15 but not all, 31 earlier reiki pain studies.
Women receiving antioxidant vitamins alone had an observed benefit, but this effect was not statistically significant compared with placebo (χ=3.76; P=0.052; absolute risk reduction 0.07, 0.005 to 0.15; NNT 13.06, 6 to 200).
Because subjects that received dexamethasone ⩽4.1 mg per day in the phase III trial exhibited benefit from TTField therapy, the observed benefit is strongly consistent with an increased immunogenicity of cells affected by TTFields.
Perhaps more importantly, two issues may limit the observed benefit.
Concomitant heparin use seems to suppress this observed benefit.
