Our behaviour is more influenced by our surroundings than we think—it is a response to what happens around us: physically, socially, and culturally. We are shaped by norms more than we shape them. Consequently, when an influential group of people have the chance to re-set norms in visible and newsworthy ways, and where results benefit almost […]
BMJ Today: Overdetecting AAA and breast cancer, and how much do people care?
Overdiagnosis in screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm Johansson and colleagues discuss the assumptions and evidence behind such screening programmes, and call for a revisit of these programmes “because of reduced benefits in modern populations and because data suggest considerable harm.” […]
Richard Smith: Why the faithless need to work with faith based organisations
Perhaps because Britain is a land of atheists, the British don’t understand the importance of faith based organisations as well as they should. Stephanie Ferguson, director of the International Council of Nurses’ Leadership for Change Programme and a member of the board of directors of the Catholic Medical Mission Board, urged the audience at the […]
Saurabh Jha: War on Death
Thomas Hobbes described life as pitifully “nasty, brutish, and short.” Thanks to the free market and the state, life is no longer a Hobbesian nightmare. But death has become nasty, brutish, and long. Surgeon and writer, Atul Gawande, explores the medicalization of ageing and death in Being Mortal. Gawande points to a glaring deficiency in […]
Stephen Cannon: How can cosmetic surgery be made safer for the public?
In January, the Royal College of Surgeons published a consultation on proposals to improve standards in cosmetic surgery. It is open until Friday 6 March 2015. Although the vast majority of cosmetic surgery is carried out in the private sector, we hope that doctors from across the different medical specialities, who work in the NHS […]
Janneke Hartvig Blomberg: Insights into infant feeding practices in Indonesia
Experts in nutrition, researchers, academics, and business leaders gathered in London last week for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)’s Symposium to progress thinking around infant and young child nutrition. When seeking to develop effective communications to bring about lasting change, understanding the motivations and cultural and societal beliefs that inform behaviours is essential. Indonesia faces major nutritional challenges. […]
The BMJ Today: Mortality rates, umbilical clamping, and penis length
Clinical review • Assessment and management of dementia Professor Helen C Kales and colleagues present a State of the Art Review on the assessment and management of dementia and introduce the DICE approach. Research • Quality and Outcomes Framework scores Kontopantelis et al. publish a longitudinal spatial study on the relationship between the UK national primary care pay-for-performance […]
Peter Baker: Men’s health—a problem hidden in plain sight?
The poor state of men’s health must be one of the biggest health issues routinely not talked about. It is ignored or sidelined by virtually all national governments and by global public health organisations, such as the World Health Organization. It is barely addressed by policymakers, professional organisations, public health non-governmental organisations, researchers, or practitioners. […]
Emma Rourke: Could you give up chocolate for a month?
This March, the British Heart Foundation is asking people to “give chocolate the finger” and embark on a strict no-chocolate “dechox” regime. There can be no denying that it is a worthy cause, with cardiovascular disease accounting for almost a third of deaths worldwide, and representing one of the most significant healthcare challenges faced by […]
The BMJ Today: The NHS, freedom to smoke, statistical refreshment, and the etymology of coughing
New today on thebmj.com What should the NHS look like after the election? The views of an eminent group of clinicians, policymakers, managers, and others can be heard in a recording of The BMJ breakfast roundtable, held at the Nuffield Trust’s annual health policy summit. Leading their wish list for policies after the election are […]