The "Statinth" wonder of the world: a panacea for all illnesses or a bubble about to burst

After the introduction of statins in the market as effective lipid lowering agents, they were shown to have effects other than lipid lowering. These actions were collectively referred to as 'pleiotropic actions of statins.' Pleiotropism of statins formed the basis for evaluating statins for several indications other than lipid lowering. Evidence both in favour and against is available for several of these indications. The current review attempts to critically summarise the available data for each of these indications

O direito à saúde The right to health

No fim do século XX a simples declaração de direitos não satisfaz ao povo. Busca-se delimitá-los determinando seu conteúdo, para se construírem estruturas que possam garantir o direito declarado. Nessa linha analisou-se a conceituação de saúde e de direito à saúde para procurar na organização do Brasil, Estado federal e capitalista, meios para garantir o direito à saúde. A municipalização das ações de saúde somada à necessidade de aprovação legislativa do Plano de Saúde e à organização judiciária local foram considerados elementos importantes para a efetivação do direito à saúde.<br>At the end of the XXth century, a simple declaration of rights does not satisfy. It is necessary to establish its content meaning, and its limits with precision, so that the best structure to guarantee the right declared shall be created. Thus has tre conception of and the right to health been analysed with a view to descovering in the organization of Brazil - a federal and capitalistic State - the best tools effectively to guarantee the right to health. The municipalization of the Health Services, toghether with the need for the legislative approval of the Health Plan and the organization of the local judiciary, were considered important instruments in the quest to make the right to health effective

O direito à terra como um direito humano: a luta pela reforma agrária e o movimento de direitos humanos no Brasil

O objetivo deste texto é analisar, por meio da história recente dos movimentos sociais que lutam pela reforma agrária no Brasil, a construção do direito à terra como um direito humano. A partir dos anos de 1970, a interação de movimentos camponeses da Igreja Católica progressista e da rede transnacional de direitos humanos confluiu na produção dessa ideia da posse da terra como um direito humano, que marcou não apenas a luta pela terra no Brasil, como também influenciou a forma como o próprio movimento de direitos humanos foi construído no país e na maneira como ele se inseriu nessa rede transnacional de ativistas.<br>This article seeks to analyze, within the recent history of social movements that struggle for agrarian reform in Brazil today, the build of the land rights as a human right. Since the 1970s, the interaction between peasant movements, the progressive church and the transnational network of human rights has converged into this idea that the land rights are a human right, which not only has marked the character of the struggle for land in Brazil, but has also influenced the way in which the human rights movement has been constructed in the country and how it has taken its place within the transnational network of human rights activism

Popular Participation and Social Assistance: a Contradictory Dimension of a Special Law

This article responds to the interest in analyzing theoretical concepts referring to social policies, and discusses a new cartography of categories related to the debate about popular participation in social assistance policy. Breaking with a trend that seeks to disable an active role by the masses, this study is part of a commitment to expanding thinking about social policy beyond the traditional realm – in which the policy is simply a strategy to accommodate conflicts – and to emphasize its political and liberating potential. It also seeks to contribute to the analysis of current social policies, concerning possibilities or interdictions, as strategies to fight inequality and guarantee rights, based on the political dispute for the surplus expropriated from the masses