Using maggots to help heal ulcers does not sound like the most modern method but a BMJ paper has found that it can be effective. Researchers studied the effects of maggots and Hydrogel on healing ulcers. They found that there was no difference between using maggots or Hydrogel on the healing time for ulcers, but maggot […]
Helen Carnaghan: The messy business of learning
Many things have changed during my transition from medical student to junior doctor. For starters my bank account contains a mysterious thing called money, a 30 minute lunch break is something I dream about and leaving hospital on time a distant memory. Amongst the changes one of the biggest is the way I learn. […]
Philipp du Cros dreams of a rapid point of care test for tuberculosis
In my work with Médecins Sans Frontières I constantly face dilemmas when trying to decide whether a patient has tuberculosis or not. In the countries where we work, diagnosis for tuberculosis still relies on the use of sputum microscopy, a test developed over 100 years ago, that will detect only 45-65% of cases when performed […]
“Just doing my job,” by Liz Wager
Determining the appropriate authorship of publications causes all sorts of problems (in part, I believe, because none of the available guidelines apply in all situations, and many journals offer little help – but I’ve written about that elsewhere, so I’ll try not to rant about it here). What I wanted to write about was the […]
Lord John Rea on tackling malaria in Uganda
My first visit to Uganda was in 1965 – the Halcyon days after independence when King Freddie the Kabaka of Buganda still ruled. I flew from Nigeria, where I was working as a doctor, to attend a seminar on child nutrition at Makerere University. Afterwards, I spent three weeks with my wife and three young […]
Juliet Walker on using F1 technology in medicine
Formula 1 motor racing is not usually something associated with medical innovation, however a new exhibition at the Science Museum shows how Formula 1 inspired technology is being used to improve medical practice and resources. The Fast Forward exhibition shows twenty ways in which Formula 1 is changing the world, six of which are focused around […]
Juliet Walker: BMJ in the news
A BMJ paper has been covered in Computer Weekly this week. The paper reported that a computerised test could be used to calculate whether patients are at risk of Type 2 diabetes and therefore allow doctors to intervene before they develop the disease. The test uses information from patient’s electronic health records and can also be […]
Zosia Kmietowicz: A lesson in diplomacy and persistence
It was hard not to feel sorry for Liam Donaldson on Monday morning. Arriving at a press conference to announce his latest strategies for improving the public’s health 24 hours after the most controversial of his plans was splashed across the Sunday papers, he had the right to feel ruffled and angry. But he showed […]
Tauseef Mehrali on ladybirds and tree-hugging
“Two hours – two f***ing hours!” he screams as he bludgeons his partner to a pulp in front of her four children for returning home late from the shops. The onlookers are reduced to a stunned silence. I look around, see their disbelief and share it. The fuming perpetrator is Simon, played by Ray Winstone, […]
Richard Feinmann on volunteering after retirement
What to do when you are a sexagenarian physician who has retired from hospital practice with 40 years in the NHS under your belt and golf/Sudoku not really appealing? Well, my health visitor wife and I applied to Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and I am writing this from a hospital in Kampala, Uganda, where I have […]