In the lead up to the 70th World Health Assembly (22-31 May), president and CEO of Women Deliver, Katja Iversen, highlights a neglected health problem that must be addressed in order to reduce global rates of maternal mortality and fulfil Sustainable Development Goal targets: diabetes in pregnancy […]
When was the last time you had a proper lunch at work? I bet you are reading this munching a sandwich at your desk, or squeezing in a bit of reading in the 30 seconds you have between appointments. The reality of the modern NHS, or indeed, a busy private practice is that it’s often […]
Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals […]
Last week I proposed a definition of translational research and started to explore the problem of defining research itself. Previous definitions suggest six headings, relevant to all types of research. Pre-requisites Successful research requires certain personal attributes and cognitive processes: curiosity or wondering (how, whether, why, etc), both of which imply a desire to know […]
Does being a doctor mean that you’re obliged to believe in progress? Richard Smith discusses […]
A 60 year old woman goes to her doctor with dizziness and poor balance. Her doctor is not sure what is wrong but thinks about postural hypotension, Meniere’s disease, and benign positional paroxysmal vertigo. He examines her and orders tests with these differentials in mind. But he cannot find anything on physical examination and all […]
My colleague, Steve, can’t be the only viewer in the last month to have turned vegan after watching Simon Amstell’s film Carnage. This combines humour with polemic to make us meat-eating, dairy-swilling people think twice about what this is doing to us and the world we live in. But it is unusual for a film—or […]
Chrysotile asbestos comprises 95% of all asbestos sold during the past century and for the past 30 years has represented the totality of the global asbestos trade.[1] The scientific consensus is clear that all forms of asbestos are harmful and should be banned.[2, 3, 4, 5] In light of clear evidence linking asbestos to lung cancer, […]
“We’ve had a new admission into bed 3” “Great, I’ll be right there, what’s wrong with them?” “He’s got multiorgan failure but was intubated mainly for respiratory failure” “Ah ok, what’s wrong with him?” “ARDS” “Caused by what?” “Sepsis I think” “From what?” “Pneumonia” “What type?” “Um . . .” “Don’t worry, let’s see him […]
The practice of ordering routine blood tests for patients attending hospital regardless of clinical need is wasteful and potentially damaging, argue three doctors […]