Whenever studies documenting the rising use of stimulants for children in the Western world make headlines, the medical community goes through a significant amount of word twisting to address the public reaction. The latest bit of semantic juggling involves the definition of “cognitive enhancement.” Webster’s Dictionary describes cognitive enhancement (CE) as, “Any drug, supplement, nutraceutical, […]
Liz Wager: Show us the data (part 2)
My last blog started with the observation that it’s impossible to investigate research fraud unless you have the raw data. While that may seem obvious, it leads logically onto another, subtly different, point which often seems to be missed: that it’s impossible to spot many types of research fraud unless you have seen the raw […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—12 August 2013
NEJM 8 Aug 2013 Vol 369 507 A phase 1 study of a drug for an arcane cancer gets first place in the NEJM this week, and I think it deserves it, because ibrutinib seems to be a major breakthrough in the treatment of mantle-cell lymphoma. The name for once means something: this drug inhibits […]
Mo Roshan: Raising awareness of type 2 diabetes
I often groan at the media’s handling of health issues. Often alarmist, it simply succeeds in raising concern levels enough to translate into unnecessary demands on my already overbooked clinical appointments. But a recent prime time BBC programme on health screening at a rugby stadium in Manchester did give me pause for thought. What was […]
Jonny Martell: Surviving burnout
Nothing much sprung to mind. A friend had just asked me an odd question, paraphrasing the mystical scholar Andrew Harvey, “what breaks your heart the most?” Was this an early showing of the carapace of cynicism to come? A day later it came back to me: the thought of my father’s final walk around the […]
William Cayley: Resistance is futile (?)
Recent years have seen a lot of optimistic talk and writing about the “Patient Centered Medical Home”, the promise of population registries and electronic health records for preventing and managing chronic disease, and the ideals of training the personal physician for the 21st century. The goal of integrating personal care with the best that technology […]
Liz Wager: Show us the data
It’s almost impossible to investigate suspected fraud unless you have access to the raw data. That may seem pretty obvious, but it raises the more interesting question of who should be responsible for looking after these data and making sure they are available, if needed. Cases that frustrated journal editors brought to COPE (the Committee […]
Veena Rao: Food security by decree
I wrote a BMJ article about the Food Security Bill in India after it was introduced in parliament in December 2011. On 5 July 2013 the National Food Security Act 2013, (FSA) was promulgated by ordinance, without discussion or debate. This is a somewhat sticky thing to do in a democracy, with parliament scheduled to meet just […]
Regina Keith: How to prevent 804,000 children under 5 dying
As congratulations come in from around the world to the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge on the safe delivery of their son, all parents would share the hope that at the end of the nine months of waiting and planning, they would have a healthy and happy prince or princess. However, we still live […]
Alejandro Madrazo Lajous: Little Uruguay’s big experiment
All eyes are on the tiny South American nation of Uruguay this week following its historic approval for the world’s first nationally controlled marijuana market. While the plan still needs to pass the Senate, there may be cause for optimism that the country of 3.4 million can make it work. The Uruguayan government, after […]