A recent Cochrane systematic review caught my eye, not so much for its conclusions but for what it shows about the state of the medical literature. According to Paul Garner, one of the review’s authors, they found a study on nearly 28,000 children, which was published in the BMJ in 2006, which concluded that deworming […]
Category: Columnists
David Kerr: Welcoming the world
Over the next few weeks more than 14 000 athletes from 205 Olympic teams and 170 paralympic teams, and 4 million spectators are expected to attend the London 2012 Olympic Games. For the athletes the British Olympic committee has advised against too much hand-shaking in case they pick up some performance damaging infectious disease. The […]
Richard Smith: “I can’t sing, I ain’t pretty, and my legs are thin.”
It’s been a bad week. I’ve flown 6000 miles to attend two meetings where not only did I not manage to say anything useful but I also came across as stupid. Such experiences always lead me to reflect on my extreme deficiencies and marvel that I’ve got as far as I have. I’m writing this […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: The ups and downs of the publishing process
Publishing is at times a joy and also a curse. The process can be taxing both emotionally and in terms of time commitment, but I know that it is the system to which we as researchers subscribe, and in which we participate as volunteers. I will admit that the some of the best moments on […]
Desmond O’Neill on the medical and ethical themes in Prometheus
Switching off can be hard in medicine. No matter where one turns, the observational reflex kicks in, prompted by the goitre of the newscaster or the Bell’s palsy of the bank teller. And we can run but they won’t hide, as I found out at a late night outing to Prometheus, the latest instalment of […]
Sandra Lako: Clinical work
Monday marked my first full day of clinical work at the Ola During Children’s Hospital. I spent the day in the outpatient department talking to parents, examining children, making an initial diagnosis, and starting treatments. It was a delight to be able to care for children again. It has been difficult to combine my management/coordinating […]
Tiago Villanueva: The aftermath of doctors’ industrial action in Portugal
Senior doctors, junior doctors, pregnant doctors, doctors on holiday, and doctors from all around the country protested against the Portuguese government’s healthcare policies last week. The march took part on the 11 July in front of the Ministry of Health in central Lisbon. Over 90% of Portugal’s doctors took part in the two days of […]
Julian Sheather: Anders Breivik and the social uses of psychiatry
I have been gripped by the trial of Anders Breivik and was intrigued to see the BMJ hosting a Maudsley debate this week about, loosely speaking, Breivik’s “sanity.” The debate ran under the headline question of whether fanaticism is a form of madness which gave a slightly odd spin to the proceedings. As Tom Fahy […]
Richard Smith: Homesickness—my most serious “disease”
Last week I walked from Poole to Chapman’s Pool along the South West Coastal Path, and as I passed through Swanage memories flooded back, some of them very painful. This is where as a 10 year old I suffered the most pain I’ve suffered in my 60 years—from homesickness. Some of the pain comes back […]
James Raftery: NICE, obesity, and bariatric surgery
The trends on obesity are shocking. UK data on the prevalence of obesity in adults and children are provided by the National Obesity Observatory, which also shows the social gradient in obesity. NICE’s guideline on obesity emphasised prevention, but recommended medical and surgical treatment. Bariatric surgery was an option for those with a body mass […]