Latest BMJ podcasts

Cannabis in cars

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:55:37 +0000

Journalist Karen McColl interviews Wendal Potter, US health industry lobbying guru turned critic. Mark Ashbridge, an associate professor at Dalhousie University, explains how cannabis intoxication is an increasingly important factor in motor vehicle collisions. See also: Acute cannabis consumption and motor vehicle collision risk Wendell...

Healthcare and corruption in Uttar Pradesh

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:45:09 +0000

The Indian government has invested £1.2bn to kick start rural healthcare in its most populous northern state, Uttar Pradesh. Much of that money has now disappeared, and the programme is blighted by corruption and murder. Harriet Vickers hears the details. Also this week, the UK's Department for International Development has to make decisions on...

New antiepileptics and the drop in MI deaths

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:20:07 +0000

Mabel Chew talks to epileptologists Martin Brodie from the Western Infirmary Glasgow and Patrick Kwan from the University of Melbourne, about the newer drug treatments for the condition. Also, Kate Smolina from Oxford University's Department of Public Health explains what constitutes the drop in deaths from acute myocardial infarction. See...

Antidepressants and tamiflu

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:42:29 +0000

Simon Hatcher, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Aukland, sets out the use of newer antidepressants for the treatment of depression in adults. Deborah Cohen, BMJ's investigations editor, updates us on the Tamiflu saga, and how Roche is still holding onto its full patient data. see also: Newer antidepressants for the...

Surgical performance

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:49:11 +0000

Antoine Declos, Université de Lyon, explains the performance curve of surgeons as they become more experienced. Peter Wilmshurst, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, and veteran whistleblower explains why it may be harder to expose the truth in a lab, than on the ward. See also: Research misconduct is widespread and harms patients Influence of...

Missing data

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:11:02 +0000

The problem of missing data is well known, especially in cases where drug companies conceal evidence. However pharmaceutical industry misconduct is not the only cause, and a cluster of papers in this week's BMJ show how aspects of the culture of medical science contribute to the problem. Elizabeth Loder, BMJ's clinical editor, talks to Harlan...

2011

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:27:17 +0000

Somehow we've come to the end of another year. The Independent's health editor Jeremy Laurance talks us through the big health stories from 2011. And Greg Scott discusses his Christmas paper on the phrase "obs stable", and what it's revealed these two words have actually come to mean to hospital doctors. See also: Relevance of the expression...

Death in Borsetshire

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:39:35 +0000

Vanessa Whitburn, editor of BBC Radio 4’s The Archers, talks morbidity and mortality in Ambridge. James Raftery, University of Southampton, updates the Forrest Report – whose evidence prompted the breast cancer screening programme in the UK. See also: A series of unfortunate events? Morbidity and mortality in a Borsetshire village Possible...

Brain drain

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:16:58 +0000

How much does it cost sub-Saharan countries to train all the doctors who end up working in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia? Edward Mills from the University of Ottawa explains his economic analysis of healthcare migration. Also Hungarian health minister Miklós Szócska talks about his country's challenges and plans when it comes to improving...

AIDS at 30

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:17:33 +0000

To mark World AIDS Day, the WHO has issued a report outlining policy successes and failures in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Yves Souteyrand, the co-ordinator of the report, joins us to discuss its findings and how to combat the disease in the future. Alan White, professor of men's health at Leeds Metropolitan University and the...

Evolved to run

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:40:49 +0000

This week’s podcast is from UKSEM, the big sports and exercise medicine conference in London. Daniel Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist from Harvard, explains how we have evolved to run. Steven Blair, University of South Carolina, explains how physical inactivity is having serious effects on our health. Finally Karim Khan, BJSM’s editor, tells...

Sudden death in epilepsy; NAFLD mortality

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:33:02 +0000

Mariana Lazo, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, tells us how non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has affected all cause mortality in the US. Also, Ley Sander, from University College London, discusses the problem of sudden death in epilepsy. See also: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and mortality among US adults: prospective...

Undernutrition in India

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Tessa Richards (BMJ’s analysis editor) and Duncan Jarvies (BMJ’s multimedia producer) talk to Veena Rao (adviser at Karnataka Nutrition Mission, India) about the issue of undernutrion in the country. And David Payne (BMJ’s web editor) gives us a run-down of the new bmj.com. See also: Commentary: Cultural change is essential Why India needs a...

Watching receptionists, watching weight

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:48:16 +0000

One way of tackling obesity is by attending a weight loss club, such as WeightWatchers . There are many such schemes available on the NHS, but which one is the most effective? We find out the results of an RCT that aims to find out. Also this week, ethnographic studies aren’t just limited to lost tribes. We find out what observation of...

Decriminalisation of drugs in Portugal

webmaster@bmj.com (BMJ Group) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:10:05 +0000

In 2001 Portugal abolished all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs – effectively decriminalising their use. Health journalist Nigel Hawkes talks to João Goulão, Portugal’s drug tsar, to find out how effective this policy change has been. Also, the General Medical Council is introducing revalidation for doctors. Part of that...