Document Detail


On the history of Hellin's law.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19335190     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Theorems, proofs, laws and rules are commonly named according to the presumed investigator, but often earlier investigators have contributed substantially to the findings. One example of this is Hellin's law, which was named after Hellin, although he was not the first to discover it. In research on twinning and higher multiple maternities, the law has played a central role because it is approximately correct, despite showing discrepancies that are difficult to explain or eliminate. Several improvements to this law have been proposed. In this study, we re-examine some old papers to provide an overview of the scientists who have contributed to the genesis and the improvements of this law. In addition, we consider more recent contributions in which Hellin's law has been discussed and evaluated. It has been mathematically proven that Hellin's law does not hold as a general rule. However, most studies are based on empirical rates of multiple maternities, ignoring random errors. Such studies can never confirm the law, but only serve to identify errors too large to be characterized as random.
Authors:
Johan Fellman; Aldur W Eriksson
Publication Detail:
Type:  Biography; Historical Article; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Twin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies     Volume:  12     ISSN:  1832-4274     ISO Abbreviation:  -     Publication Date:  2009 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-04-01     Completed Date:  2009-06-19     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  101244624     Medline TA:  Twin Res Hum Genet     Country:  Australia    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  183-90     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Helsinki, Finland. fellman@hanken.fi
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Female
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Humans
Models, Statistical*
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Multiple*
Scandinavia
Statistics as Topic / history*
Twins
Personal Name Subject
Personal Name Subject:
D Hellin

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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