• Is it time for calorie labels on alcohol?
How much do you know about the calorie content of your favourite tipple? Probably not much, if you follow the trend of most people previously surveyed on this topic. In this personal view, Fiona Sim says we need to tackle the number of “invisible” calories we consume in alcohol by making calorie labels compulsory on all alcoholic drinks.
• UK coalition government derailed efforts to reduce salt in food
Poor diet is now the biggest cause of death and ill health in the UK and worldwide, with the large amounts of salt, saturated fat, and sugars added by the food industry the main culprits. That may seem like incentive enough for governments to challenge what the food industry is producing, but Graham MacGregor, Feng He, and Sonia Pombo-Rodrigues discuss how the UK’s Food Standards Agency’s successful salt reduction strategy was stalled by the coalition government’s responsibility deal with the alcohol and food industries.
• Appeal for earthquake aid
In the wake of the earthquake in Nepal—which struck on 25 April, causing heavy damage as well as thousands of deaths and injuries—the World Health Organization has called for $5m (£3.3m; €4.6m) to help it respond to the grave humanitarian situation.
Leigh Daynes, executive director of the UK branch of the charity Doctors of the World, said in a statement, “Hospitals are utterly incapacitated, infrastructure has been decimated, and thousands of people are sleeping on the streets. With monsoon season only weeks away this is a catastrophe of the highest order and demands an urgent medical response.”
• What to do with foot drop
Foot drop (weakness of the dorsiflexion muscles in the foot) is common, causes difficulty in walking, and greatly increases risk of falling. This education article outlines what to cover in a 10 minute consultation with a patient you suspect of having foot drop.
Kelly Brendel is assistant web editor, The BMJ.