Nothing seems more appropriate on a Monday than to think about the after effects of alcohol. We know that drinking too much is bad for health, but many have always taken comfort in the “fact” that moderate daily intake is associated with a lower cardiovascular risk. The question remains whether light to moderate drinking will […]
Halima Khan: People powered health—one year on
What links a social prescription in Newcastle, a peer retreat in Lambeth, and a neighbourhood network in Leeds? Well, these were three of the six frontline teams in the People Powered Health programme, which finished last year after running for 18 months. The programme—supported by the charity Nesta, along with the Innovation Unit—supported these six health […]
Liz Wager: The wrong sort of equality
A few years ago, I mused on Frank Wells’ observation that he’d never come across a female research fraudster. But now the RIKEN Institute in Japan has found Haruko Obokata guilty of misconduct for manipulating stem cell images, and this isn’t an isolated case. A quick look at the US Office of Research Integrity’s (ORI) […]
The BMJ Today: BMJ editor wins award, plus research on alcohol and heart disease
The office is abuzz today with news that The BMJ‘s editor in chief Fiona Godlee was named the Editor of the Year last night at the PPA (Professional Publishers Association) awards—known in the industry as the Oscars of the magazine world. Earlier in the week, our reporter Gareth Iacobucci was highly commended in the Medical […]
Jacky Davis: Without assisted dying there’s too many difficult deaths
Last year my sixty year old brother took his own life. When he was diagnosed with terminal renal cancer, he had just watched a close family member die a drawn out and undignified death from cancer. He was determined not to go through the same misery—to have some control over his death. In the absence […]
Jane Feinmann: Advancing forensic evidence one smartphone at a time
Last month we saw the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones take place in London. Co-chaired by foreign secretary William Hague and actress Angelina Jolie, the summit achieved a momentous success in establishing an International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict. What’s still being written, however, is […]
The BMJ Today: Coca-Cola . . . for real?
Coca-Cola tackling obesity might sound surprising, not least if we consider the close relationship the soft drinks manufacturer enjoys with the rotund Father Christmas. But the company recently announced that it was extending its scheme to tackle obesity (piloted last year in Birmingham) to 50 parks in three English cities, committing £20m to help local […]
Georg Roeggla: Nobel laureates meet young scientists
The 64th meeting of Nobel laureates in the field of medicine and physiology ended on 4 July, 2014. Thirty seven Nobel laureates and more than 600 selected young scientists from 80 countries participated in this week in Lindau, Bavaria. The objective of this meeting was to bring Nobel laureates and young researchers together to exchange ideas. […]
Sarah Kotis: Putting the World Cup into context
The World Cup brings together millions of people who sometimes have nothing in common beyond a love of football. That’s not just an opportunity to sing with strangers at the pub—it’s a bona fide teachable moment. There are major inequalities between the countries who have been competing in Brazil for the last few weeks. Teams meet […]
Lavanya Malhotra: Sex education in India
The website of India’s health minister, Harsh Vardhan, currently states: “So called ‘sex education’ to be banned. Yoga to be made compulsory.” The media has not been impressed, and controversy rages as health professionals and educators debate the merits of age appropriate sex education in schools. Vardhan has since retracted his original statement, saying: “Crudity and […]