In this week’s podcast Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UN population fund, joins us in the studio to talk about climate change and reproductive rights. Also, Barry Taylor from the University of Otago in New Zealand, describes his research into the link between sleep, BMI, and body fat in children.
In this week’s podcast Trish Groves talks to Marzio Babille, UNICEF representative in Chad, about the country with the lowest immunisation rates in the world. Sophie Cook finds out from Davor Jurkovic, from University College Hospital London, about clinical signs of ectopic pregnancy that may be easy to miss.
How can doctors and police sharing information help stop violent crime? Jonathan Shepherd, from Cardiff University, explains the Cardiff Violence Prevention Programme - and his research into its effectiveness. Also this week, as a new antiplatelet agent is being considered by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Albert Ferro, from King’s College London, takes us through this class of drugs, their effectiveness, and their indications.
In this week’s podcast, we look at the ups and downs of postural hypotension. Also, beansprouts have been fingered as the cause of the recent E coli outbreak in Germany, David Payne investigates this microbiological detective story.
If everyone were to stop smoking, what would be the major public health hazards, and what would happen to health inequalities? Laurence Gruer, director of public health science at NHS Health Scotland, tells podcast producer Duncan Jarvies what his cohort study, examining Scottish women who have never smoked, reveals. And BMJ web editor David Payne talks to editor-in-chief Fiona Godlee about what came to pass at the BMA Annual Representatives Meeting this week.
In this week’s podcast, Margaret McCartney examines Hydration for Health, Quentin Anstee explains how big a problem non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is, and Patrick Keown explains the association between provision of mental health beds and the involuntary admission of mental health patients.
In this week’s podcast, Duncan Jarvies speaks to Alexander Seifalian, professor of nanotechnology and regenerative medicine, about a groundbreaking procedure that enabled a multinational surgical team to implant an entirely synthetic organ—a trachea—into a patient. And Norman Williams, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, talks about the college’s plans for improving the quality of surgical research.
In this week’s podcast Jeremy Myerson, from the Royal College of Art, tells us how good design techniques can make cities more friendly places to grow old gracefully. Clive Ballard, from Kings College London, explains how important pain relief is for dementia patients. Elizabeth Draper, from the University of Leicester, talks us through her investigation into how socioeconomic class affects how women deal with severe congenital abnormalities during pregnancy.
In this week’s podcast we discuss publishing medical details with former health editor of The Sun, Jacqui Thornton. Rogaia Abuelgasim Abdelrahim, the UN Population Fund’s deputy representative in Somalia, explains how the drought and subsequent crop failure there has been exacerbated by existing political problems and led to widespread famine. And Natalie Grazin, Assistant Director of the Health Foundation, talks about making shared decision making a reality.
In this week’s podcast, Sue Rabbit Roff describes how she thinks a system of paid for kidney donations could work in practice. Al Story, clinical lead of the Find and Treat programme – a travelling team who scour the streets of London for tuberculosis – explains the programme’s mission.
A recent study compared cost efficiency of different healthcare systems around the world. We hear from Colin Pritchard, from Bournemouth University, about how the NHS came out near the top. Also this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross has a mandate under the Geneva convention to protect the victims of both international and internal armed conflict. Head of mission Geoff Loane explains why they’re finding that increasingly difficult to do.
Last week BMJ Group held an inaugural global health conference http://globalhealth.bmj.com/ in London, looking at policies for sustainable and effective healthcare. David Heymann, chair of the UK Health Protection Agency, and Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, Director of Pharmaceuticals at the Ministry of Health, Ghana, discuss how vertical aid programmes can lead to systemic improvements in lower income countries. And, Kalipso Chalkidou, Director of NICE International, explains a bit more about its work...
In this week’s podcast, Shaun Walker reports on alcohol consumption in Russia. Ewan Hoyle explains why he wants the Lib Dems to discuss drug policy. And we found out how realistic comic book villains’ mental health problems are.
This week, chocolate is good for your emotional heart, but what about your physical one? Oscar Franco, clinical lecturer in public health at the University of Cambridge, tells us about the results of his recent meta-analysis. Also, Irfan Dhalla , an internist and lecturer at the University of Toronto, highlights the problem of opioid related death in the USA, and how he thinks we can avoid a crisis.
John Young, professor of elderly care medicine at Leeds University, gives Mabel Chew tips on carrying out a cognitive assessment of an older person. Also this week, Harlan Krumholz explains to Deborah Cohen how he got Medtronic to agree to independent scrutiny of their data that is “unprecedented in the medical industry”.
Research has found that the gap in all-cause mortality between psychiatric patients after discharge, and the general population, is growing. Uy Hoang (Oxford University) tells us what his paper reveals about the trend, and we discuss possible ways to tackle the disparity with Fiona Gaughran and Shubulade Smith (Institute of Psychiatry, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust). Also, a UN conference this week aims to tackle non-communicable disease. Rebecca Coombes, BMJ features editor, ex...
This week, the UK’s General Medical Council is reviewing its standards of good medical practice. Helen Jaques quizzes Niall Dickson, the council’s chief executive, about the possible changes. Also this week, Ian Cameron, head of the rehabilitation studies unit at the University of Sydney, explains how doctors should care for the carers of older patients.
Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI (formerly the “Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation”), talks to Rebecca Coombes about the future of vaccination funding. Also this week, the Health and Social Care bill, set to change the English NHS, is about to enter the House of Lords before becoming law. We find out which areas will receive most scrutiny from members of the Upper House from liberal democrat peer Baroness Shirley Williams of Crosby, a leading critic of the changes.
The Health and Social Care Bill for England has now reached the House of Lords. With the proposed demise of deaneries, questions still remain about how medical training will be carried out in the future. Niall Dickson, chief executive of the General Medical Council, explains how the council hopes to maintain professional standards whatever the outcome, and what changes to postgraduate education are on the horizon. Also this week, James Chalmers takes us through the steps in treating a non-respon...
Hugh Montgomery, director of the University College London Institute for Human Health & Performance, talks about the space where climate, health, and international security meet. Christabel Owens, head of mental health research at the Devon Partnership NHS Trust, explains why warning signs for suicidal thoughts may not be visible to those best placed to spot them.
In 2001 Portugal abolished all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs – effectively decriminalising their use. Health journalist Nigel Hawkes talks to João Goulão, Portugal’s drug tsar, to find out how effective this policy change has been. Also, the General Medical Council is introducing revalidation for doctors. Part of that revalidation will require input from a doctor’s colleagues and patients. We hear from John Campbell, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, about possib...
One way of tackling obesity is by attending a weight loss club, such as WeightWatchers . There are many such schemes available on the NHS, but which one is the most effective? We find out the results of an RCT that aims to find out. Also this week, ethnographic studies aren’t just limited to lost tribes. We find out what observation of receptionists in general practice surgeries uncovered.
Tessa Richards (BMJ’s analysis editor) and Duncan Jarvies (BMJ’s multimedia producer) talk to Veena Rao (adviser at Karnataka Nutrition Mission, India) about the issue of undernutrion in the country. And David Payne (BMJ’s web editor) gives us a run-down of the new bmj.com.
Mariana Lazo, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, tells us how non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has affected all cause mortality in the US. Also, Ley Sander, from University College London, discusses the problem of sudden death in epilepsy.
This week’s podcast is from UKSEM, the big sports and exercise medicine conference in London. Daniel Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist from Harvard, explains how we have evolved to run. Steven Blair, University of South Carolina, explains how physical inactivity is having serious effects on our health. Finally Karim Khan, BJSM’s editor, tells us how much exercise gives you the most bang for your buck. If you’re interested in sports medicine, then have a listen to the BJSM podcast, where your ...
To mark World AIDS Day, the WHO has issued a report outlining policy successes and failures in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Yves Souteyrand, the co-ordinator of the report, joins us to discuss its findings and how to combat the disease in the future. Alan White, professor of men's health at Leeds Metropolitan University and the author of a new European report into men's health, explains why we need to look at men differently. Finally, renowned surgeon Atul Gawande launches the BMJ's ...
How much does it cost sub-Saharan countries to train all the doctors who end up working in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia? Edward Mills from the University of Ottawa explains his economic analysis of healthcare migration. Also Hungarian health minister Miklós Szócska talks about his country's challenges and plans when it comes to improving health outcomes, currently among the worst in Europe.
Vanessa Whitburn, editor of BBC Radio 4’s The Archers, talks morbidity and mortality in Ambridge. James Raftery, University of Southampton, updates the Forrest Report – whose evidence prompted the breast cancer screening programme in the UK.
Somehow we've come to the end of another year. The Independent's health editor Jeremy Laurance talks us through the big health stories from 2011. And Greg Scott discusses his Christmas paper on the phrase "obs stable", and what it's revealed these two words have actually come to mean to hospital doctors.
The problem of missing data is well known, especially in cases where drug companies conceal evidence. However pharmaceutical industry misconduct is not the only cause, and a cluster of papers in this week's BMJ show how aspects of the culture of medical science contribute to the problem. Elizabeth Loder, BMJ's clinical editor, talks to Harlan Krumholz (Harold H Hines Jr professor of medicine at Yale University) and Joseph Ross (assistant professor of medicine, also at Yale) about missing data fr...
