Although conspiracy theories have long been a staple of American political culture, no research has systematically examined the nature of their support in the mass public. Using four nationally representative surveys, sampled between 2006 and 2011, we find that half of the American public consistently endorses at least one conspiracy theory and that many popular conspiracy theories are differentiated along ideological and anomic dimensions. In contrast with many theoretical speculations, we do not find conspiracism to be a product of greater authoritarianism, ignorance, or political conservatism. Rather, the likelihood of supporting conspiracy theories is strongly predicted by a willingness to believe in other unseen, intentional forces and an attraction to Manichean narratives. These findings both demonstrate the widespread allure of conspiracy theories as political explanations and offer new perspectives on the forces that shape mass opinion and American political culture.

Over the past 50 years, numerous conspiracy theories have materialized around public health matters such as water fluoridation, vaccines, cell phones, and alternative medicine. What remains unclear is whether the American public supports these conspiracy theories or whether they correlate with actual health behaviors. Methods | To determine the extent of "medical conspiracism" in the American public, a nationally representative, onlinesurvey sample of 1351 adults was collected in August and September of 2013 by Internet market research company You-Gov. The survey results were then weighted to provide a representative sample of the population and have the same degree of accuracy as in-person or telephone surveys. 1 This research was approved by the institutional review board of the University of Chicago. Respondents who took part in the survey gave their written consent. Results | Table 1 lists the proportions of Americans who report having heard of 6 popular medical conspiracy theories (the full wording is in the table) and their levels of agreement with each. Conspiracy theories about cancer cures, vaccines, and cell phones are familiar to at least half of the sample. These theories also enjoy relatively large levels of support: 37% of the sample agreed that the Food and Drug Administration is intentionally suppressing natural cures for cancer because of drug company pressure; 20% agreed either that corporations were Letters jamainternalmedicine.com

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Although the majority of the reviewed studies employed animal models, most indicated that the performance of fibrin glue was equal, if not superior, to that of microsuturing when repairing peripheral nerves. Overall, many authors reported that fibrin glue was a quicker and easier modality to use than microsuture repair. There is, however, not a single well-controlled human trial assessing the efficacy of fibrin glue in relation to that of suturing techniques.

Therapeutic, IV.