Blood transfusions have been identified as one of the most overused therapies both in the United States and the UK. In this podcast Lawrence Tim Goodnough, from Stanford University Medical Center's Transfusion Service, and Michael Murphy, from NHS Blood and Transplant, explain the physiological reasons why liberal blood transfusion will not benefit patients, and can potentially harm them. Read their full analysis: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6897
Dec 05, 2014•18 min
The BMJ has a new policy on competing interestings - from 2015 we will have zero tolerance for them in authors who write education articles or editorials. Cath Brizzell and Mabel Chew explain what that policy is about, and why we think it's important.
Dec 04, 2014•10 min
Eight months into the NHS’s top job, Simon Stevens’s intelligent refusal to enforce a “one size fits all” solution on the service’s ills is, so far, winning him the backing of staff. He talks to Gareth Iacobucci
Dec 02, 2014•3 min
Guidelines encourage the use of self monitoring of blood pressure in pregnancy, and research suggests that women prefer it. But Richard McManus, GP and professor of primary care at the University of Oxford explains that our enthusiasm may run ahead of the evidence and call for more research before it is routinely adopted. Read the full analysis: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6616
Nov 20, 2014•17 min
The incidence and prevalence of Crohn’s disease is increasing worldwide, and a clinical review on thebmj.com provides a practical approach to the diagnosis, management, and long term care of patients with Crohn’s disease. To help us understand what it’s like to have this condition, we're joined by Sarah, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s 13 years ago when she was 18. Read the full clinical review: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6670
Nov 20, 2014•21 min
A clinical review on thebmj.com looks at Meniere’s disease. One of the review's authors, Jonny Harcourt, a consultant otologist at Charing Cross Hospital in London, takes us through the pathogenic process and clinical presentation of the disease, its clinical course and prognosis, and what clinical features help to discriminate the condition from other diagnoses. He also discusses the evidence for treatment. In a second interview Corine from The Netherlands discusses her experience of having the...
Nov 13, 2014•16 min
A clinical review on thebmj.com looks at Meniere's disease. Corine from The Netherlands discusses her experience of having the disease and explains how the symptoms of vertigo and tinnitus have affected her everyday life. She also offers her top tips on coping with the disease to others with the condition. In a second podcast, Jonny Harcourt, a consultant otologist at Charing Cross Hospital in London and one of the authors of the review, takes us through the clinical course and prognosis of the ...
Nov 13, 2014•17 min
Large trials show that hydroxyethyl starch increases the risk of death, kidney injury, and bleeding. So why does the European Medicines Agency still allow its use? Helen Macdonald, analysis editor for The BMJ, discusses the issue with Christiane Hartog, a lecturer in intensive care medicine at Jena University Hospital in Germany, and one of the authors of an analysis paper on thebmj.com Read the full analysis paper: www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5981
Nov 11, 2014•16 min
Surgeon, writer, and researcher, Atul Gawande is best known for the development of surgical checklists, but the death of his father has inspired him to write his latest book exploring medical and societal attitudes to death. We joined him for breakfast during his whistle stop tour of the UK recording this year's BBC Reith Lectures, to discuss Being Mortal.
Nov 07, 2014•24 min
In a GMC survey last year, the UK’s surgical trainees came bottom of the list when it came to satisfaction about their training. Today, Craig McIlhenny, Director of the faculty of surgical training at the Royal college of surgeons of Edinburgh has released a report with a series of recommendations to improve standards of training, and he hopes, help it come inline with the European Working Time Directive Read his full report http://goo.gl/kH55lW
Oct 31, 2014•12 min
Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré is the executive director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. In this podcast, she updates us on recent successes in the global effort to control the disease. A second podcast examines the effect of the current ebola outbreak on the prevention and treatment of malaria, and other diseases, in affected regions.
Oct 24, 2014•13 min
Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré is the executive director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, and has just returned from Sierra Leone and Guinea. In this podcast, she describes the effect of the west African ebola outbreak on the prevention and treatment of malaria, and other diseases, in affected regions. In an earlier podcast, Dr Nafo examined recent successes in the global effort to control malaria.
Oct 24, 2014•11 min
A thrice failed antidepressant is at the centre of a new marketing campaign to win approval for what could become the world’s first blockbuster sex pill for women. Frustrated by the drug’s repeated rejection, proponents have orchestrated a fierce attack, accusing the regulator of unfairness, and enlisting support from several well connected women’s organisations in the US. Critics counter that the campaign is exceedingly misleading, that it targets a desire disorder that does not exist, and that...
Oct 16, 2014•21 min
Our whole society views risk in medicine wrongly, argue Jerome Hoffman and Hemal Kanzaria from the University of California Los Angeles. In this podcast they slay some strongly held myths about medicine's ability to heal, and say that one of our big beliefs, that death is not inevitable, is leading to overtreatment. Read their full analysis of the situation: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5702 For more information about overdiagnosis and overtreatment, visit www.bmj.com/too-much-medicine...
Oct 15, 2014•19 min
Allyson Pollock, professor of global health, and Peter Roderick, a barrister and senior research fellow, both at Queen Mary University of London, argue that, through various mechanisms in the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, the NHS in England could be turned into a small core service. For full healthcare coverage, will we have to turn to commercial medicine? Read their analysis article: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5603 The NHS Reinstatement Bill Campaign: http://www.nhsbill2015.org/...
Oct 09, 2014•19 min
Cerebral palsy is a clinical diagnosis, which describes a wide spectrum of neurological disability – all as a result of some sort of trauma to the developing brain, either pre or post natally. Neil Wimalasundera, a consultant in paediatric neurodisability at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and one of the authors of The BMJ clinical review discusses how to diagnose and manage cerebral palsy in children. Read the full clinical review: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5474
Sep 29, 2014•21 min
Jocalyn Clarke, executive editor at icdd,b, argues the solutions proposed to improve global health are too focused on the medical, and fail to tackle the underlying socioeconomic factors which will undermine those efforts. Read her full analysis of the situation: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5457
Sep 26, 2014•13 min
In April 2006 one of the largest hospitals in the Netherlands hit the national headlines with the exposure of “scandalously” poor results for cardiac surgery. Melvin Samsom, CEO of the hospital, explains how the high death rates galvanised quality improvement and innovative change, transforming it into a model for patient participation. Read more about the transformation at: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5765
Sep 25, 2014•17 min
Kawasaki Disease presents as fever and rash, which makes diagnosis difficult. In this podcast, Anthony Harnden, professor of primary care at the University of Oxford, describes what to watch out for to ensure you don’t miss the diagnosis. Read the full article: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5336
Sep 19, 2014•12 min
Is medicine trying to learn too much from aviation? Kevin Fong, consultant anaesthetist at UCLH is currently working with Kent, Surrey and Sussex air ambulance. At Risky Business he talked to The BMJ about why he thinks medicine is trying to learn too much from aviation.
Sep 18, 2014•6 min
Screening tests were central to many of the discussions taking place at the Preventing Overdiagnosis conference (preventingoverdiagnosis.net) To sum up some of the problems with screening we’re joined by Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, and John Broderson, associate professor in the Research Unit and Section of General Practice at the University of Copenhagen. For more on over diagnosis, visit www.bmj.com/too-much-medicine
Sep 17, 2014•15 min
A recent clinical review in The BMJ discusses diagnosis and management of prolactinomas and non-functioning pituitary adenomas. One management option is surgery to remove the tumour, often this can done trans-sphenoidally. Though major complications of this type of surgery are low (~1%), there are still effects that can be distressing to patients, and should be discussed. In this interview the patient wished to remain anonymous, so we have re-recorded her words. She describes the way in which at...
Sep 12, 2014•6 min
Stephen Martin, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, thinks we're overtreating otherwise healthy patients who have mild hypertension. In this podcast he sets out his argument, and explains why prescribing drugs to these people may actually be doing more harm than good. Read the full analysis article: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.g5432
Sep 12, 2014•21 min
Demand for better access to primary care is ever rising, but is email the answer? In this podcast, Elinor Gunning, a clinical teaching fellow in London says that patients want it and that careful planning can mitigate worries about safety and security. Emma Richards, trainee academic GP, is not so sure and thinks clearer guidance and resourcing are needed first. Read the head to head online: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5338
Sep 04, 2014•17 min
David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology, and head and senior fellow, at the Chatham House Centre on Global Health Security was sent to investigate the first outbreaks of Ebola in 1976. In this podcast he gives a longer term perspective on the disease, and talks about the importance and challenges of introducing novel treatments. For more information on ebola virus disease, including working in a front line clinic, visit bmj.com/ebola David Heymann's analysis article, Preventi...
Aug 20, 2014•18 min
A new rational testing article, published on thebmj.com, looks at how to diagnose an immediate food allergy. Mabel Chew, The BMJ's practice editor, is joined by Cathal Steele from the Belfast Trust Regional Immunology Service - they discuss which tests are appropriate, and the common pitfalls in diagnosis. Read the full article: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g3695
Aug 08, 2014•17 min
Management of spasticity requires a balanced approach, weighing the benefits of treatment against the usefulness of the spasticity. Current interventions to treat spasticity lack a robust evidence base, and guidelines often depend on expert recommendations. A new clinical review published on thebmj.com discusses the assessment and treatment of spasticity in adults. In this podcast we're joined by one of the authors of that review, Siva Nair, from the Department of Neurology at The Royal Hallamsh...
Aug 05, 2014•26 min
Global endorsement as a WHO essential medicine is big step. But Corrado Barbui, from the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Verona, has found that the quality of applications for antidepressants and antipsychotics is poor and calls on applicants and WHO to raise standards. Read the analysis article: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4798
Aug 01, 2014•11 min
Pre-diabetes is an umbrella term and the most widely used phrase to describe a blood concentration of glucose or glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) that lies above normal but below that defined for diabetes. John S Yudkin, emeritus professor of diabetes at University College London, thinks this is over-medicalisation and will only increase the burden on individuals and the health system. Read the full analysis article: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4485
Jul 17, 2014•15 min
Research fraud, the deliberate falsification of research data, undermines science and can lead to horrible outcomes, as exemplified by Andrew Wakefield and the MMR/Autism scandal. A new Head to Head in The BMJ sets out the case for and against making research fraud a crime. Arguing yes is Prof. Zulfiqar Bhutta, from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, who says that criminal sanctions are necessary to deter growing deliberate research misconduct, which can ultimately harm patients. Prof. J...
Jul 15, 2014•14 min
