I have just returned from two weeks in Ghana, a fascinating and challenging country on so many fronts, but significant because I hardly saw a single Ghanaian smoking throughout my time in the country. We went to Ghana because my brother-in-law (who lived out there until earlier this year) was getting married to a lovely […]
The BMJ Today: It’s time for the Oscars of medicine
Today The BMJ hosts its annual BMJ Awards ceremony at the Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster, London. If you’ve never heard of the BMJ Awards, see it as a kind of Oscars of medicine. They’re the UK’s premier medical awards programme, and their goal is to acknowledge and celebrate the inspiring work done by doctors […]
Chris Ham: Wanted—an even Better Care Fund
The King’s Fund’s new analysis of serious and growing financial pressures in the NHS should serve as a wake up call to politicians of all parties. As the analysis shows, with an increasing number of providers in deficit, and the prospect of a further seven years of no growth in funding, the NHS is rapidly approaching […]
The BMJ Today: Information for patients and clinicians
Diabetes is among the most common non-communicable diseases in the world, and peripheral neuropathy is the most common symptomatic complication of this disease. Small and large fibers are affected, and patients may exhibit a variety of clinical syndromes, including symmetric distal sensorimotor neuropathy, mononeuropathy (single or multiplex), radiculopathy, plexopathy, and even autonomic dysfunction. In about […]
David Colquhoun and Andrew Plested: Why Altmetrics is bad for science—and healthcare
Altmetrics is the latest buzzword in the vocabulary of bibliometricians. It attempts to measure the “impact” of a piece of research by counting the number of times that it’s mentioned in tweets, Facebook pages, blogs, on YouTube, and in news media. That sounds childish, and it is. Jeffrey Beall wrote an […]
Arthy Santhakumar: Shining a torch on medical supply chains—the great paradox
Have you ever found yourself wondering where the equipment used by the NHS comes from? Maybe, maybe not. If you are in the latter category, then you may find that the answer makes for an uncomfortable truth. Healthcare is a big business, and navigating through the NHS, its organisations, and supply chains is no easy feat. […]
William Cayley: “If you build it, they will come”
“If you build it, they will come!” So went the catchphrase of Field of Dreams, in which an Iowa farmer is inspired by voices to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield. And, indeed, “they” do come—the movie ends with an endless line of people in cars coming to see a ball game in his […]
Richard Smith: Talking eugenics in Germany
The other day I heard a wildly optimistic account of how our understanding of genetics would allow us to eradicate many diseases, potentially create better people, and reduce health costs. I’m sceptical about all of these claims, but I was taken back to a strange meeting I attended in Germany perhaps 20 years ago. David […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—6 May 2014
NEJM 1 May 2014 Vol 370 1702 Britons, mourn. Our biggest drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, had a potential blockbuster on its hands. Darapladib would stabilise unstable plaque, everybody would want to take it, and GSK would make billions. But, although darapladib is a selective oral inhibitor of lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2, which is an enzyme associated […]
The BMJ Today: Marking International Workers’ Day
Across the world, celebrations marking the International Workers’ Day herald the onset of May. Having its origins in the ‘eight hour day’ movement, which signifies “eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest,” this day recognises efforts to transform labour policies towards promoting the welfare of workers. Propitiously timed, we have a couple of blogs […]