Despite affecting opposite extremities of the body, two conditions examined in clinical reviews in The BMJ this week share a number of characteristics. Chronic migraine and fungal nail infections are both relatively common conditions, and both have a considerable impact on patients’ quality of life. Chronic migraine affects around one in 50 people, and places […]
Category: The BMJ today
The BMJ Today: Unrepentant hucksters, bedtime stories and tackling mental health
Recent research from the US shows that medical conspiracy theories are rife there. Almost half of north Americans believe in some health conspiracy theory or other: more than a third think the FDA is deliberately suppressing information about natural cures for cancer to satisfy the drug companies, while one in five believe that corporations are […]
The BMJ Today: The versatility of medical careers
Since its inception, the BMJ has never ceased publication, even when London—where the British Medical Association is based—was being bombed during the Second World War. At the time, victims of air raids were being treated and operated on by dedicated and courageous doctors like Diana Mary Brinkley. Diana, who later went on to train in […]
The BMJ Today: Educating clinicians and consenting adults
BMJ news highlights ongoing debate around pharmaceutical companies providing medical education with a look at GSK’s plans to employ their own doctors to educate peers rather than using key opinion leaders to do this. The majority vote so far in this week’s poll is that GSK’s new proposal is no more transparent than paying external […]
The BMJ Today: Is “Madonna” the answer and do these genes make me look fat?
Is “Madonna” the answer? Definitely “No” although the woman nominated one of Time Magazine’s 25 most powerful women of the past century would certainly have something to say about (Dr) Tracey Koehlmoos’ experiences as the only woman on a panel of experts. Each time she is introduced as plain “Tracey” at yet another high powered […]
The BMJ Today: Cigarettes and alcohol
“My earliest ambition was to be an engineer, because someone told me girls couldn’t be engineers,” says Glasgow based GP Margaret McCartney in BMJ Confidential. It’s this tenacious attitude that has characterised Margaret’s career, from her day to day work as a GP in Glasgow, to her tireless defence of the ethics and values of […]
The BMJ Today: Statins in the headlines again
Statins have been featuring in the news fairly regularly of late. Last week they made the headlines again when a systematic review of side effects in placebo-controlled trials of statins was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. “Statins ‘have no side effects’” read the front page of The Daily Telegraph. But as Jacqui […]
The BMJ Today: One portion of broccoli and hummous to go
Do you ever stop off for a burger or a slice of pizza on your way home from work? And if the takeaway had organic broccoli spears and a hummous dip on the menu, would you go for the healthier option instead? […]
The BMJ Today: Surgery in a war zone
“Nothing else comes close to the enjoyment of being able to help people in a war zone,” says London based vascular surgeon David Nott in BMJ Confidential. For two decades he has taken around six weeks, unpaid leave almost every year to provide help and to train doctors in war zones, starting in Sarajevo in […]
The BMJ Today: Patient recordings, gestational diabetes, and smoking cessation in pregnancy
We’ve grown so used to the words, “your call may be monitored or recorded,” when dealing with our bank, phone company, or even dentist over the phone that it no longer even registers. But did you know that patients have the right to record medical consultations, even covertly, as it is regarded as a legal […]