In 1512, Leonardo da Vinci set out to clarify the function of a specific, bulbous part of the heart. He injected molten wax into an ox heart to make a cast. This was the second time in medical history that wax casting had been used: the first time was between 1504-1507, when Leonardo came up […]
Category: Guest writers
Andrew Moscrop: Nutrition and gender in Pakistan
Into the Kuchlak nutrition clinic shuffles a pale blue burqa. From within the sky-coloured folds of fabric, the Pashtu woman pulls a tightly swaddled infant. Her son is eleven months old. Unwrapped, the boy’s ribs stick out, the skin hangs loosely from his limbs and his head seems too big for his body. He weighs […]
Richard Smith: Teaching is stand-up comedy
Teaching, it seems to me, is much the same as stand-up comedy. One is much scarier than the other, but which is the scariest depends on who you are. I was left thinking about the connection after a recent bad experience of teaching. I do a lot of teaching these days, most of it unpaid and […]
Tracey Brown: A defamation bill in the Queen’s speech
If we were asked to design a defamation law that would silence awkward criticism in science and medicine, and protect powerful interests, how would that look? Let’s say we’ve got a company manufacturing a medical product that does not produce the benefits it claims to and there is the awkward matter of a journal paper, […]
Richard Smith: Can Devi Shetty make healthcare affordable across the globe?
It’s impossible not to be impressed by Devi Shetty, heart surgeon and the “the Henry Ford of healthcare.” We can be impressed by his surgical skill and his refusal to turn away the poor. But perhaps even more impressive is his entrepreneurship and his vision of making healthcare affordable for everybody. […]
Devi Shetty: India will become the first country in the world to dissociate health care from affluence
I believe the economy of the 21st century will be driven by the health sector. The economy of the 20th century was driven by machines which addressed human toil. The health sector can create millions of jobs for the extremely skilled, semi skilled, and unskilled workers. These jobs are vital for the stability of society. Lack […]
Martin McShane: Ch-Ch-Changes
Ch,ch,changes. The next couple of months are going to see a sea change in the management of commissioning across England. The appointments to the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) sectors are being made. Appointing to these four posts will allow the wave of appointments to the local offices, to be renamed as local area teams, to be […]
Andrew Burd: Ethics and clinical trial registration
These days I do not so often have a gauntlet dispatched in my direction, but when one lands at my feet I have an irresistible urge to pick it up. By way of explanation, one of my passing pleasures is to engage in debate and discussion in the WAME list serve, a discussion forum for […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 7 May 2012
JAMA 25 Apr 2012 Vol 307 1809 Among the many virtues of JAMA, one cannot number a strong sense of the ridiculous. The poetry and medicine section is the world’s most reliable source of po-faced bad verse, this week’s example being an invective against Decadron; and the first research paper this week is a study […]
Veena Rao on addressing undernutrition in India
My previous blog was about the Indian finance minister’s 2012 budget speech, which marked a significant moment for the much awaited, much required, paradigm shift in the government’s approach to reduce undernutrition and micronutrient deficiency. An inter-sectoral strategy to address undernutrition in India, however complex it initially appears, is not that difficult to implement. Professor […]