Cardiovascular factors are associated with risk of stroke - and those factors can be mediated by lifestyle and by genetic make up. New research published by The BMJ sets out to explore how these risks combine, and we're joined on the podcast by two of the authors - Loes Rutten-Jacobs, senior postdoctoral researcher at the German Center for...

As the accompanying editorial to this article says, "oxygen has long been a friend of the medical profession Even old friendships require reappraisal in the light of new information." And that’s what a new rapid reccomendation - Oxygen therapy for acutely ill medical patients - does. To discuss we're joined by two of the authors, Reed Simieniuk,...

Healthy self confidence has an important role in surgery, but what came first - the surgeon or the ego? In this conversation, Christopher Myers, Yemeng Lu-Myers, and Amir Ghaferi join us to talk about the (very few) surgeons who behave badly in theatre, and why that behaviour has persisted, and can be detrimental. Read their full...

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy affects around 70% of pregnancies. It is mild for around 40% of women, moderate for 46%, and severe for 14%. By contrast, hyperemesis gravidarum is a complication of pregnancy rather than a normal part of it and occurs in around 1.5% of pregnancies. The psychosocial burden of HG can be heavy for women and their...

A new collection of articles published by The BMJ includes twelve country case studies, each an evaluation of multisectoral collaboration in action at scale on women’s, children’s, and adolescent’s health. Collectively these twelve studies inform an overarching synthesis and accompanying commentaries, drawing together lessons learned in...

the Christmas BMJ season is upon us - if you’re to go to our website now, you’ll see that it’s been a bumper year. In the podcast, we’re going to be bringing you a select few - we’ll be looking at motherhood. Trying to figure out what 17th Century causes of death were, and - as it’s christmas - in this pod we’ll be looking at food. We talk to...

2018 will go down in history as a year of reckoning as the year that that some men’s behaviour came back to bite them. The continuing impact of #MeToo across the world has prompted another round of thinking about women’s experiences in medicine, which can be seen this year’s christmas journal In this podcast, Esther Choo and Eleni Lenos, join us...

For many of you Christmas is over and, you’re back to work. Admin piled up over christmas? Feeling resentful for all those forms, and the weird codes they make you put in them? In this podcast I hope we can explain why that’s important, with 17th century death, the esoteria of reed codes, and why the WHO cares about spaceship...

Jönköping has been at the centre of the healthcare quality improvement movement for years - but how did a forested region of Sweden, situated between it's main cities, come to embrace the philosophy of improvement so fervently? Goran Henriks, chief executive of learning and innovation at Qulturum in Jönköping joins us to explain. He also tells...

The Royal College of Physicians will survey all its members in February on this most controversial question. It says that it will move from opposition to neutrality on assisted dying unless 60% vote otherwise. The BMJ explores several conflicting views. From Canada, palliative care doctor Sandy Buchman explains why he sees medical aid in dying...

Patients who experience chronic rhinosinusitis may way for a considerable period of time before presenting, because they believe the condition to be trivial. In this podcast, Alam Hannan, ENT Consultant at the Royal Throat Nose and Ear Hospital in London, explains why that belief is not founded, and describes which treatments can be effective at...

Diabetes is synonymous with sugar, but diabetes insipidus, "water diabetes", can't be forgotten. Between 2009 and 2016, 4 people died in hospital in England, when lifesaving treatment for the condition was not given. In this podcast, we hear some practical tips for non-specialists to aid diagnosis, and how patients should be managed during...

It can be difficult to know what to do when a person in severe psychological distress presents to a general practice or community clinic, particularly if they are behaving aggressively, or if they are refusing help. Most patients who are acutely disturbed present no danger to others, however situations can evolve rapidly. Frontline staff need to...

As England’s presumed consent law for 2020 clears parliament, Veronica English, head of medical ethics and human rights at the BMA, say that evidence from Wales and other countries shows that it could increase transplantation rates. But Blair L Sadler, physician and senior adviser to California State University, consider such legal changes a...

On the 7th of June, 1753, Dr Archibald Cameron was executed at Tyburn. "The body, after hanging twenty minutes, was cut down: it was not quartered; but the heart was taken out and burnt. " 250 years later, his sixth great grandson, Robert Syned found himself deeply involved in the process of execution, as an expert witness in a case about the use...

Looking after a young child is hard enough, but when that child has learning difficulties and displays challenging behaviour - the burden on parents can be extreme. That behaviour may prompt a visit to the doctor, and in this podcast we’re talking about how parents can be supported in that - what services are available. We’ll also be discussing...

Helen Macdonald and Carl Heneghan are back again talking about what's happened in the world of evidence this month. (1.05) Carl rants about bacon causing cancer (7.10) Helen talks about prostate cancer, and we hear from the author of the research paper which won Research Paper Of The Year at the BMJ awards. We also cover disease definition and...

This week on the podcast, (2.02) a listener asks, when we suggest something to stop, should we suggest an alternative instead? (8.24) Helen tells us to stop putting people on treatment for subclinical hypothyroidism, but what does that mean for people who are already receiving thyroxine? (20.55) Carl has a black box warning about z drugs, and...

Margaret Heffernan has thought a lot about whistleblowing, and why companies don't respond well to it. She wrote the "Book Wilful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril". In this podcast she talks about how culture, and groupthink, leads to a culture where whistleblowers are ignored, and why the NHS needs to change the way it treats...

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is a relatively newly recognised condition - but, according to one study, can account for up to 6% of patients presenting to emergency departments. The causal mechanism is as yet unclear - but currently the only known way to prevent the syndrome is for the patient to stop their cannabis use. Yaniv Chocron, chief...

In 2001, Gottfried Hirnschall joined the WHO to work on the global response to HIV/AIDs, 18 years later he just retired as the director of WHO’s department for HIV and Hepatitis. The intervening period, almost half the time we’ve been aware of the disease the fight against the infection has been characterised by scientific breakthroughs, and...

Brexit. Who knows what’s going to happen in the next few weeks, months, years - the uncertainty is high. In the face of that, you’d hope that the government was doing all it could to plan for any eventuality - let alone for a massive, country altering one like suddenly crashing out without a deal - but Martin McKee, professor of public health at...

This week the Trump administration has banned the sale of flavoured vapes in the USA. The reason for that is the sudden rash of cases of pulmonary disease, including deaths, linked to vaping. The mechanism by which vaping may be causing damage to the lungs is as yet unclear, and our understanding is hampered by the heterogeneous nature of the...

Around half of trials that supported new cancer drug approvals in Europe between 2014 and 2016 were judged to be at high risk of bias, in a new study. Huseyin Naci,assistant professor of health policy a the London School of Economics joins us to talk about why potential bias may mean potential exaggeration of treatment effects, and could be...

Direct-to-consumer genetic tests are sold online and in shops as a way to “find out what your DNA says". They insights into ancestry or disease risks; others claim to provide information on personality, athletic ability, and child talent. However, interpretation of genetic data is complex and context dependent, and DTC genetic tests may produce...

Statins are now the most commonly used drug in the UK and one of the most commonly used medicines in the world, but debate remains about their use for primary prevention for people without cardiovascular disease. Paula Byrne from the National University of Ireland Galway, joins us to talk about the evidence of benefit for low risk individuals,...

A TB infection can take two forms, active and latent. Active disease is transmissible, and causes the damage to the lungs which makes TB one of the biggest killers in the world. In the latent form, the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis is quiescent and can stay that way for years until it becomes active and causes those clinical signs. Testing...

A UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week has...

A UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week...

A UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week...

UK general election has been called - polling day is on the 12th of December, and from now until then we’re going to be bringing you a weekly election-themed podcast. We want to help you make sense of the promises and pledges, claims and counter-claims, that are being made around healthcare and the NHS out on the campaign trail. This week we're...

The UK general election is happening this week, and you’ve probably made your mind up which MP you’re voting for already - and maybe the NHS has influenced that decision. This year has seen an increase in the number of doctors running for parliament, and in this podcast we find out what motivates doctors to step away from clinical practice, and...

We’re back for the December Talk Evidence, and this month we’re being very digital Firstly,(1.20) Helen tells us about arthritic fingers - should we be using prednisolone for treatment when people have painful osteoarthritis of the hand Then (13.30) Carl gets us all to check our fingers for clubbing, and we find out how useful it is as a test...

The internecine takes on medical specialty are a common thread in the Christmas BMJ, and this year we're doing it through the lens of driving. Which speciality speeds the most, who has the nicest cars? André Zimerman, soon to be cardiologist, and researcher lets us know - and also why you can't rely on being a doctor to get off a speeding ticket....

Is it possible to have a fair price for medicines? Yes, according to a new collection just published on bmj.com. The authors set out to evaluate how we could improve the functioning of the market for medicines, to honestly compensate industry for innovation, whilst allowing the poorest to afford them. Suerie Moon, co-director of global health at...

Welcome to the festive talk evidence, giving you a little EBM to take you into the new year. As always Duncan Jarvies is joined by Helen Macdonald (resting GP and editor at The BMJ) and Carl Heneghan (active GP, director of Oxford University’s CEBM and editor of BMJ Evidence)* This month: (1.20) Carl tells us about new research on treating...

In 2012, Eleni Linos, professor of dermatology at Stanford university, published a systematic review and meta-analysis of the link between non-melanoma cancer and sun-beds. That bit of pretty standard research, and a particular rapid response to it, has kicked of years of work - and in this podcast I talk to Eleni and her colleagues Stanton...

There comes a tipping point in all campaigns when the evidence is overwhelming and the only way to proceed is with action. According to David Williams, it’s time to tackle the disproportionate effects of race on patients in the UK. David Williams, from Harvard University, developed the Everyday Discrimination Scale that, in 1997, launched a new...

Last week the BMJ published it’s first special edition into Racism in Medicine. The issues tacked ranged from differential attainment in medical school, to the physiological effects that experiencing everyday discrimination has. The issue was guest edited by Victor Adebowale, the Chief Executive of the social care enterprise Turning Point, and...

In this week's special episode of Sharp Scratch, we've got something a little different for you! Last week the panel talked microaggressions, so this week we're hearing from an expert guest who is leading the work the NHS is doing to combat inequality in healthcare. If you like this special edition, let us know on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter...

We all know we should be doing more exercise, and one way to do that is by active commuting - journeying to work on foot or by bike. One thing preventing people from taking up cycling is the fear of being involved in road traffic accidents, and that the risk isn't worth the benefit of the extra exercise. It’s even more confusing when air...

Reports from Italy, and more recently from the U.S. show the strain the healthcare system is under during this pandemic. We know that staff will step up in an emergency, but this isn’t a fire or a bombing, this is going to last for months. So how can organisations be proactive in supporting staff, and how can leaders try to mitigate the...

As we cover the covid-19 outbreak, we want to hear some of the stories from the frontline - And who better to heart of what this pandemic is doing to the profession in the UK, than some of the people who write regularly for The BMJ? In this first one, we wanted to look specifically at acute care - those at the sharp end of the response, so we're...

A new podcast from The BMJ, to help GP's feel more connected, heard, and supported. Subscribe on; Apple podcasts - https://bit.ly/applepodsDBI Spotify - https://bit.ly/spotifyDBI Google podcasts - https://bit.ly/googlepodsDBI In our first episode, we discuss the highs and lows of video consultations, and how coronavirus has altered the landscape...

For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatment options, things we shouldn't be doing. We're going to try to get away from the headlines and talk about what we need to know - to hopefully give you...

Katalin Susztak
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Steven M Haffner
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Dilys J. Freeman
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Michael P Stern
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Perspectives in Diabetes