I suppose that I receive about half a dozen autoanalyser reports of serum phosphorus levels from my patients every day, but I can’t remember ever having made a clinical decision based on them. I don’t think this paper from Framingham will change that: […]
At first glance, the message from the abstract of this paper is startling: an in-practice intervention can reduce 5-year mortality in seriously depressed elderly patients by 40%, entirely due to a reduction in cancer deaths. […]
The Monument to the Heroes of Warsaw 1939-45, which now stands in front of the beautiful rebuilt Grand Theatre, is known locally as “Nike […]
Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced plans to drop the flawed Medical Training Application Service — but only from now on. Round 1 interview set up through MTAS and which have already taken place, or which are due to take place, will still be valid. […]
After myocardial infarction, areas of the myocardium may remain ischaemic without producing any symptoms – this is known as silent ischaemia and is revealed by sophisticated forms of stress imaging. Between 1991 and 1997, well before it became clear that all patients with MI do better with immediate percutaneous intervention (PCI), a group of Swiss […]
In the USA, there is much debate about compulsory vaccination of girls at the age of 11 or 12 against the most oncogenic strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). Opposition comes from the religious right who believe that this undermines the message of chastity before marriage and faithfulness thereafter. […]
This is one of three important papers on aspirin to appear this week and it shows that whatever the merits of this drug in other contexts, it does not prevent cognitive decline in women over 65. […]
It’s not often that a professor of neurology is the corresponding author of a study on the prevention of colorectal cancer and indeed this particular part of the body was not on the minds of most of those who designed the trials of aspirin which he and his colleagues analyse in this paper. […]
The magnolias were among the first of flowering trees, and in many respects they remain first for the beauty and scent of their flowers. There are three species with dangling flowers – sinensis, wilsonii, and sieboldii – and these are especially beautiful and especially scented. […]
The Department of Health is frantically trying to magic up as many as 10,000 posts for those who fail to achieve posts within the specialist training stream. The BMJ understands that the big teaching hospitals are being asked to identify temporary positions that can be made available from August for doctors unsuccessful in obtaining ST3 […]