It’s time again to sing the praises of this most wonderful of winter plants, an evergreen shrub which various plant hunters have rushed to our gardens from below the snow line of the Nepal Himalaya. It is gradually becoming more affordable and more popular, though not nearly as much as it deserves. […]
When I was ten, I got the fattest book I could out of the city library, Mellor’s Modern Inorganic Chemistry. To my surprise I found that I could follow most of it and that it explained everything about how stuff came to be the way it is. […]
I guess I have done an above-average amount of literature searching in my time, and I have even taught it to a few hapless students and trainees. The golden rule? If all else fails, look it up on Google. […]
“A new discipline is born: comparative health-systems studies […]
This meta-analysis of statins for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease looks at seven major trials which included people without known cerebral, coronary or peripheral artery disease. A variety of statins all produced a reduction in major coronary and cerebrovascular events, but no significant reduction in mortality. […]
This is the wood blewit, common in late autumn and early winter along paths among leaf-litter. The cap is purplish brown and usually a bit twisted, and the gills and stem are a distinct purple. This effectively distinguishes this excellent edible fungus from any poisonous species. […]
The Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) tried to randomise patients with disc herniation and radicular signs to receive either open discectomy or non-operative treatment. But the referee couldn’t keep control, and players kept changing sides and leaving before full time –fun to watch if you like that sort of thing. […]
The influenza season is now upon us, so it’s time again to lie awake thinking about the possibility of pandemic avian influenza A. You may remember that when The Rational Clinical Examination asked “Does this patient have influenza? […]
As a jobbing clinician, how often do you use a prognostic scoring system? Never, would be the answer for most of us, though we have a vague idea about the prognostic significance of various (mostly cancer-related) terms such as Duke’s C or Gleason 6. When I looked at prognostic scoring systems for heart failure […]
Ever heard of ancrod? It’s a tissue plasminogen activator which improves stroke outcomes slightly if given within a short time. However, this study shows no benefit in patients with acute ischaemic stroke who receive it at between 3 and 6 hours after the event. […]