title: Logic in the study of headache, fatigue, vertigo and 'psychogenic' illnesses.
abstract: Logic, a fundamental component of research in the exact sciences is often not applied in prominent fields of medical research. Investigation into the aetiopathogenesis of headache, vertigo, and fatigue--acknowledged as the commonest and amongst the most prominent and debilitating of symptoms known to mankind--may be significantly impeded because of this. The "Notion of Untenability", upon which this premise is based, is articulated. Physicians investigating the aetiopathogenesis of headache, vertigo and fatigue generally neglect examining a major part of the head, namely the mandible, maxillae and their appendages, thereby contravening the fundamental principle of medicine of properly examining the patient before making a diagnosis or prescribing treatment. It is irrational to suppose that one can obtain the same amount of information from the examination of only a part of the head that one could obtain from examining the whole head. Other prominent examples of illogic in medical research are also discussed. Recognition that a serious conceptual and methodological problem does exist is seen as a prerequisite for further progress being made in these fields.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eidelman
mesh_terms: D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008128:Logic; D008954:Models, Biological; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D012106:Research; D014717:Vertigo / Q000209:etiology