A esperança pode levar a expectativas não realistas

This is a Portuguese translation of the tenth in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Vinicius Fiuza and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

Hope can be a good thing, but sometimes people in need or desperation hope that treatments will work and assume they cannot do any harm. Similarly, fear can lead people to use treatments that may not work and can cause harm. As a result, they may waste time and money on treatments that have never been shown to be useful, or may actually cause harm.

Mais cedo não é necessariamente melhor

This is a Portuguese translation of the ninth in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Ney Duarte Neto and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog explains that people often assume that early detection of disease leads to better outcomes. However screening tests can be inaccurate (e.g. misclassifying people who do not have disease as having disease). Screening can also cause harm by labelling people as being sick when they are not and because of side effects of the tests and treatments.

Mais não significa necessariamente melhor

This is a Portuguese translation of the eighth in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Marília Ferreira and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog explains that increasing the dose or amount of a treatment (e.g. how many vitamin pills you take) often increases harms without increasing beneficial effects. If a treatment is believed to be beneficial, we should not assume that more of it is better.

Cuidado com conflitos de interesse

This is a Portuguese translation of the seventh in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Lucas Mello Netto and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog discusses how people with an interest in promoting a treatment (in addition to wanting to help people), such as making money, may promote treatments by exaggerating benefits and ignoring potential harmful effects. Conversely, people may be opposed to a treatment for a range of reasons, such as cultural practices.

Opiniões de especialistas nem sempre estão corretas

This is a Portuguese translation of the sixth in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Leonardo Guimarães Fernandes and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog explains that doctors, researchers, patient organisations and other authorities often disagree about the effects of treatments. It explains why we should not rely on the opinions of experts or other authorities about the effects of treatments, unless they clearly base their opinions on the findings of systematic reviews of fair comparisons of treatments.

O mais novo não é necessariamente melhor

This is a Portuguese translation of the fifth in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Henrique Pinho Volker and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog explains that new treatments are often assumed to be better simply because they are new or because they are more expensive. However, they are only very slightly likely to be better than other available treatments.

Práticas comuns nem sempre são baseadas em evidências

This is a Portuguese translation of the fourth in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Guilherme de Mattos Queiroz and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog explains that treatments that have not been properly evaluated but are widely used or have been used for a long time are often assumed to work. Sometimes, however, they may be unsafe or of doubtful benefit.

Associação não é o mesmo que causalidade

This is a Portuguese translation of the third in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Izabel Oliveira and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog explains that the fact that a treatment outcome (i.e. a potential benefit or harm) is associated with a treatment does not mean that the treatment caused the outcome.

Relatos de casos são evidências pouco confiáveis

This is a Portuguese translation of the second in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Felipe Medauar and Cochrane Brazil for the translation.

This blog explains that claims about the effects of a treatment may be misleading if they are based on stories about how a treatment helped individual people, or if those stories attribute improvements to treatments that have not been assessed in systematic reviews of fair comparisons.

Tratamentos podem causar danos

This is a Portuguese translation of the first in a series of 36 blogs explaining 36 Key Concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims. With thanks to Carlos Henrique dos Santos Oliveira and Cochrane Brazil for the translation. This blog explains that people often exaggerate the benefits of treatments and ignore or downplay potential harms. However, few effective treatments are 100% safe. Always consider the possibility that a treatment may have harmful effects.