The Year in Medicine 2008

In good times and bad, science doesn't sleep, and every year brings breakthroughs, setbacks, reasons for worry and reasons for joy. TIME's annual alphabetical roundup of a sampling of those stories gives you an overview of the year behind and a hint of what might be in the one ahead.

Knee Surgery: Study Doubts Benefits

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One more reason to think twice before you have arthroscopic knee surgery for osteoarthritis: a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the procedure does no better at relieving symptoms than physical therapy or anti-inflammatory drugs. What's more, patients who do feel improvement after surgery may merely be experiencing a placebo effect. This finding echoes a 2002 government study showing that outcomes were similar whether a patient underwent real arthroscopic surgery or a sham procedure in which an incision was made but no actual work was done. That study prompted Medicare to drop coverage for the surgery as a treatment for osteoarthritis.

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  2. The Stolen E-Mails: Has 'Climategate' Been Overblown?
  3. How Strong Is the Evidence Against Amanda Knox?
  4. The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
  5. Parents' Sex Talk with Kids: Too Little, Too Late
  6. Five Flawed Assumptions of Obama's Afghan Surge
  7. The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade from Hell
  8. Humanure: Goodbye, Toilets. Hello, Extreme Composting
  9. Jerusalem: A Growing Powder Keg in Mideast
  10. Did Amanda Knox Get a Fair Murder Trial?
  1. Parents' Sex Talk with Kids: Too Little, Too Late
  2. The Stolen E-Mails: Has 'Climategate' Been Overblown?
  3. Max Baucus and His Women
  4. Why Has Taiwan's Birthrate Dropped So Low?
  5. Morales' Big Win: Voters Ratify His Remaking of Bolivia
  6. Humanure: Goodbye, Toilets. Hello, Extreme Composting
  7. Workers of the World vs. China Inc.
  8. Let Down by a Tiger We Never Knew
  9. Want to Boost Your Memory? Try Sleeping on It
  10. Astronomers Spy a New Planet-Like Object
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