When searching for clues to reach a diagnosis, neurologists often empathise with the detective who is trying to solve a case, write Peter Kempster and Andrew Lees in BMJ sister journal Practical Neurology bit.ly/1dqReQq. In this podcast, journal editor Phil Smith and Andrew Lees, director of the Queen Square Brain Bank in London, discuss how neurologists draw upon detective skills. They also talk about neurologists who have turned these skills to crime fiction writing, and the use of narrative i...
Jan 03, 2014•20 min
It is generally agreed that sex is useful when getting pregnant, but is it necessary? Professors Amy Herring, and Carolyn Halpern from the University of North Carolina explain how they found virgin births in the US for their Christmas BMJ paper. Also Gareth Jones, emeritus professor of anaesthesia at Cambridge University, recalls his early life in the City Lodge Hospital – formerly Cardiff Union Workhouse Finally, does being right always make you happy? Bruce Aroll, professor of primary care at ...
Dec 20, 2013•29 min
James Bond, legendary secret agent, marksman, womaniser, smoker, but perhaps most famously, drinker. Neil Guha and Patrick Davies from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Graham Johnson from the Royal Derby Hospital, have documented Commander Bond's drinking in a Christmas BMJ paper, and join us to discuss its findings. Also this week, Doctors of the World, The BMJ's Christmas charity, has a role beyond emergency response to humanitarian crises, helping undocumented migrants in the UK...
Dec 13, 2013•20 min
This year The BMJ has chosen Doctors of the World as it's Christmas appeal. This week we hear about the charity's international work. Deputy magazine editor Richard Hurley talks to some of the doctors who are working in Syria and the camps surrounding the stricken country. Also this week, a clinical review on BMJ.com looks at polymyalgia rheumatica. Clinical reviews editor Sophie Cook asks Sarah Mackie, from the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, how she explains this dif...
Dec 06, 2013•23 min
Professor Sir John Oldham, from the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, talks about reforming reform, and why he worries that research agendas are more influenced by career aspirations than patient care. Tom Kenny, director of external relations at the Evaluation, Trials, and Studies Coordinating Centre at the National Institute for Health Research, explains how the NIHR is trying to put patients at the centre of the research it funds. Finally doctors' health - Mich...
Nov 29, 2013•28 min
The latest NCEPOD (National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death) report examines the management of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage, in England's National Health Service. Two of the report's clinical co-ordinators, Mike Gough, a vascular surgeon at Leeds General Hospital, and Alex Goodwin, anaesthetist at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, join us to discuss the reports findings and recommendations. Read the full report: http://www.ncepod.org.uk/sah.htm
Nov 22, 2013•19 min
The population timebomb: The idea that an ageing population is making it harder and harder to fund pensions, social care, and healthcare, as the number of older people grows in proportion to the working population. Jeroen Spijker, senior research fellow at the School of Social and Political Science in the University of Edinburgh, explains why he thinks the risk has been overblown. Also, Michael Kidd, current president of WONCA – the world organisation of family doctors - talks about the pressure...
Nov 15, 2013•21 min
A modelling study on bmj.com suggests that a 20% tax on sugar sweetened drinks would reduce the number of obese adults in the UK by 1.3%, and by 0.9 for those who are overweight. The health gains are fairly similar across all income groups. Oliver Mytton, one of the study's authors, describes why a 20% figure was chosen and how the modelling was done. Also, liver function tests follow a different normal range during pregnancy. Catherine Williamson, professor of women’s health at King's College L...
Nov 08, 2013•28 min
Professor Michael Marmot has spearheaded WHO Europe’s Health 2020 report, which looks at the disparity in the social determinants of health across the region. He joins us to explain why he’s hopeful for change. Also, Spencer Ellis, consultant rheumatologist at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, explains when and why to order antinuclear antibody (ANA) tests.
Nov 01, 2013•28 min
NB: In our interview about statins, Abramson quotes the figure of an 18% relative increase in risk of adverse effects of statins. This figure should be couched in uncertainty, and a correction has been posted on bmj.com to reflect that - http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3329 -------------------------------------------------------------------- It may soon be recommended that statins are prescribed to patients with a low risk of cardiovascular disease. John Abramson from the Department of Healt...
Oct 25, 2013•19 min
The BMJ, BMJ Open, Heart, Thorax, and Tobacco control – all journals in BMJ’s stable, have announced they will no longer carry research funded in part, or in whole, by the tobacco industry. Fiona Godlee, BMJ Editor in chief, explains what that means, and Allen Brandt, professor of the history of science at Harvard University, gives us a potted history of the way in which the tobacco industry has manipulated science. Also this week, Sebastian Brandner, professor of neuropathology at UCL, explains...
Oct 18, 2013•33 min
There are many overlapping classifications for bowel polyps. Geir Hoff, professor of gastroenterology at the University of Oslo, explains why he fears screening for one type has lead to overtreatment of another. Also, Sophie Wilne, consultant paediatric oncologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, discusses the clinical signs of brain tumours in children and young adults, and what treatment should follow. See also: Identifying brain tumours in children and young adults www.bmj.com/co...
Oct 15, 2013•30 min
As Clare Gerada's stint as RCGP chair comes to a close, she gives BMJ news reporter Gareth Iacobucci a typically honest exit interview. And David Loxterkamp, a primary care physician in Belfast, Maine, tells us why he thinks metrics are obscuring humanism in medical care. See also: Clare Gerada: “It’s like the wild west in healthcare” http://goo.gl/SiWZ5y Humanism in the time of metrics—an essay by David Loxterkamp http://goo.gl/FRD0xC
Oct 04, 2013•25 min
A study on bmj.com raises raises concerns over possible “subjective bias owing to racial discrimination” in the MRCGP - the Royal College of General Practitioner''s postgraduate exams required to become a registered GP in the UK. Aneez Esmail, professor of primary care at the University of Manchester and the paper's lead author, explains the background to the study and its findings. Read the accompanying editorial and news story, which includes a response from RCGP chairwoman Claire Gerada. See ...
Sep 30, 2013•30 min
Professor Sir Mike Richards, previously National Cancer Director at the Department of Health, and former head of the Academic Division of Oncology at King's College London, is the new chief inspector of hospitals in England. In his new role he will have the power to enter hospitals, both in planned and unplanned inspections, to highlight problems before they develop into another scandal of the kind that happened in Mid-Staffordshire. He talks about his new role to Nigel Hawkes. See also: “We kno...
Sep 30, 2013•13 min
UN Refugee Agency High Commissioner António Guterres described the Syrian crisis this week as the great tragedy of the century, a "disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history." Every 15 seconds a Syrian seeks refuge in neighbouring countries. UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic describes a typical refugee's journey from the stricken country and how their health needs are addressed when they reach refugee camps and host communities in Jordan, Leb...
Sep 30, 2013•1 min
NICE has published now guidelines on the treatment of children with autism. Mabel Chew BMJ practice editor talks to Tim Kendall, director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, who helped draw up the guidelines. Mabel also talks to Declan P O’Regan, consultant radiologist at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre in London, and an author of our rational imaging article on investigating stable chest pain See also: http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj...
Sep 30, 2013•30 min
What do clinicians need to know about the developing role of HPV in cervical cancer prevention? BMJ clinical reviews editor Sophie Cook speaks to Henry Kitchener, professor of gynaecological oncology, and Emma Crosbie, senior lecturer and honorary consultant in gynaecological oncology, both at the University of Manchester. Read the full clinical review: http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f4781
Sep 30, 2013•16 min
inda Gask, professor of primary care psychiatry at the University of Manchester, explains why a personality disorder diagnosis is not as hopeless as many patients and doctors fear. Also Carol Brayne, professor of public health at the University of Cambridge, discusses how to make the most of the UK government’s push to diagnose dementia, even though the evidence is limited. See also: http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5276 http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5125 http://www.thelancet.com/journa...
Sep 16, 2013•25 min
For our first podcast of 2010, we’ll be asking various medical professionals what they’d like to see happen to healthcare in the next decade. Also, Chris Grundy tells us how effective 20 mph zones really are at preventing accidents.
Aug 29, 2013•18 min
This week, research published on bmj.com shows that overweight and obese teenagers can be taught to eat more sensibly by using a device called a mandometer. Professor Julian Shield, who led the study, talks about the results. Also this week, the response to one of the articles in the latest Christmas BMJ was enormous. Duncan Jarvies talks to Nathan Grills, the author of the article, about the storm in a sleigh.
Aug 29, 2013•22 min
Haiti this week suffered its worst earthquake in 200 years. Marc Dubois, general director of aid charity MSF UK, talks about how his organisation is responding to the disaster and how doctors can help. Also, BMJ clinical editor Elizabeth Loder interviews Benjamin Wolozin about the link between cardiovascular disease and dementia. Krishna Moorthy talks to Helen Morant about what medicine can learn from aviation.
Aug 29, 2013•23 min
This week the Faculty of Public Health has released its manifesto tor a healthier Britain. Duncan Jarvies speaks to the faculty’s president, Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, about the manifesto’s recommendations. Also new online this week, we have a clinical review on depression in adolescents. We talk to one of the authors, Professor Anita Thapar, about one aspect of it - prevention - and the promising research that is under way.
Aug 29, 2013•21 min
Several articles on bmj.com deal with clubfoot disorder. Kirsten Patrick gives us a quick history of the condition, and talks to Andrew Hogg - a GP trainee - about a film he made in South Africa to help Zulu parents understand it. Also this week, Trish Groves tells Duncan Jarvies about the importance of sharing data - and the possible problems that may arise. Deborah Cohen takes us through the news.
Aug 29, 2013•18 min
Urinary tract infections are commonly seen in primary care, particularly in women, yet there are gaps in the evidence about their treatment. Trish Groves talks to Paul Little about a group of papers that compare management approaches for the condition, look at their cost effectiveness, and analyse patients’ reactions to them. Duncan Jarvies takes us through the news.
Aug 29, 2013•12 min
This week new research was published on the use of the SSRI (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor) antidepressants, in combination with the drug tamoxifen. For some time there have been concerns about prescribing them together, and a new study finally quantifies that, David Juurlink explains how. Also this week, a child’s early years will affect the rest of their life, in terms of medical as well as social and educational outcomes. Clyde Hertzman talks about what governments are, and should b...
Aug 29, 2013•22 min
In this week’s podcast Sam Lister, health editor of the Times, explains the political fight that’s emerging around provision of free home health care for elderly people. Duncan Jarvies talks to Iain Chalmers, from the the James Lind Initiative, about the importance of making information about clinical trials available to the public. Sabreena Malik takes us through this week’s news.
Aug 29, 2013•23 min
Estimates of HIV are just that, estimates – but in order to research the progression of the virus, and the effectiveness of intervention strategies, those estimates have to be as accurate as possible. Professor Prabhat Jha joins us to explain the novel way in which he and his team have collected data in India to provide a more accurate picture about the spread of the virus. Also this week, as spending cuts are planned across public services, the financial strain on the UK health service is incre...
Aug 29, 2013•21 min
This week’s hot topic is chronic fatigue syndrome. The journal Science published a paper in October 2009, which suggested a possible link between a new virus (xenotrophic murine leukaemia virus-like virus) and the syndrome. Duncan Jarvies is looking at the evidence behind this link, and finding out more about the history and treatment of the condition. Richard Hurley takes us through what caught his eye on bmj.com week.
Aug 29, 2013•25 min
This week, Duncan Jarvies talks to Stacy Lindau and Natalia Garilova about their new sex life expectancy measure, and what it could mean for patients and public health. Zosia Kmietowicz talks to Douglas Gwatidzo and Rutendo Bonde about the health care system in Zimbabwe, and how the situation there has changed since its nadir in 2008. David Payne takes us through this week’s news.
Aug 29, 2013•20 min
