Non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and poor mental health—are major and growing public health threats for all regions of the world—rich and poor, urban and rural. Left unchecked, the impact of these conditions on the health and economies of nations, families, and individuals can become devastating. Rightly, therefore, […]
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Rhys Davies: Imagining the Future of Medicine—not just robots and old people
On Monday 21 April, the Royal Albert Hall played host to a curious event. Imagining the Future of Medicine was an afternoon filled with a variety of speakers and artistic performances. Its goal was, in equal parts, to challenge and inspire its audience—a melange of doctors, students, and the greater public—to consider novel ways of […]
BMJ Journals research highlights—24 February 2014
BMJ Journals research highlights is a regular round-up of research papers appearing in the BMJ Journals. Thorax If clotters fibrose what do bleeders do? Evolution has ensured that numerous genes associated with a profibrotic state have survived through the generations. These genes might lower the risk of peri-partum bleeding, but they increase the risk of […]
Albertine Schmull: Tales from an operating room in Bangladesh
After 35 years working as a theatre scrub nurse, I permit myself a day off once in a while. So I was cycling through the park, on my way to the tennis court, when my phone rang. An anaesthetist I used to work with asked me if I would care to join a plastic surgery […]
BMJ Journals research highlights—20 December 2013
BMJ Journals research highlights is a regular round-up of research papers appearing in the BMJ Journals. Use of inhaled corticosteroids and the risk of tuberculosis Chang-Hoon Lee, Kyungjoo Kim, Min Kyung Hyun, Eun Jin Jang, Na Rae Lee, Jae-Joon Yim Thorax 2013;68:1105-1113 Published online first: 8 June 2013 doi:10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-203175 We have previously highlighted the worrying […]
Paquita de Zulueta: Why are the most vulnerable still denied healthcare?
The BMJ has chosen Doctors of the World for this year’s Christmas charity appeal. Paquita de Zulueta has worked for the past four years as a clinical volunteer at Doctors of the World’s clinic in London’s East End, helping to provide a one-stop service for vulnerable people who cannot access primary care. Those we help […]
Karen van der Veken on working as a midwife in humanitarian emergencies around the world
The BMJ has chosen Doctors of the World for this year’s Christmas charity appeal. Karen van der Veken has worked for Doctors of the World as a midwife and project coordinator since 2006, working in many post disaster situations including in Pakistan, Haiti, and Darfur. 1) What health problems do people often suffer from after […]
Leigh Daynes: How Doctors of the World is helping in the Philippines
The BMJ has chosen Doctors of the World for this year’s Christmas charity appeal. Leigh Daynes explains how Doctors of the World are helping to bring care to the most vulnerable people all over the world. The survivors told me their stories before a backdrop resembling a World War One battlefield. A splintered tree trunk […]
Tony Waterston: Opening the Black Box on weapons of mass destruction?
Probably, chemical weapons aren’t at the top of most doctors’ minds in the UK. In the Middle East, where they have been used extensively in recent years and most tragically in August in Syria, doctors have had to inform themselves of protective measures since the threat is a daily reality. […]
Hugh Rayner: Right patient, right time, right place—an example from kidney care
Dialysis treatment for end stage kidney disease is a burden on patients, taxpayers, and the environment. The carbon cost of dialysis is estimated to be seven tonnes CO2 equivalents per year. Although we can make the improvements to reduce this, the ideal is to prevent people from reaching end stage kidney disease. Traditional systems of […]