Medicine and Science from The BMJ

Musical (operating) theatre

One hundred years ago, Pennsylvanian surgeon Evan Kane penned a brief letter to JAMA in which he declared himself a rigorous proponent of the “benefic [sic] effects of the phonograph within the operating room.”
Now David Bosenquet, a surgeon from University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff has written a Christmas editorial about the evidence for the benefit of music to patients.
Read his editorial here:
http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7436
And share your perfect playlist with us at bmj.com/playlists

Great leap backwards - austerity measures are hitting the vulnerable hardest

The UK’s austerity programme has disproportionately affected children and people with disabilities, says David Taylor-Robinson, a senior clinical lecturer in public health at the University of Liverpool.
He joins us to discuss why the evidence shows the vulnerable are hit hardest by the cuts to public services, despite the UN conventions on human rights giving children and people with disabilities special protection.
Read his full editorial: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7350

Too much blood: when transfusions do more harm than good

Blood transfusions have been identified as one of the most overused therapies both in the United States and the UK.
In this podcast Lawrence Tim Goodnough, from Stanford University Medical Center's Transfusion Service, and Michael Murphy, from NHS Blood and Transplant, explain the physiological reasons why
liberal blood transfusion will not benefit patients, and can potentially harm them.
Read their full analysis:
http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6897

Zero tolerance for competing interests

The BMJ has a new policy on competing interestings - from 2015 we will have zero tolerance for them in authors who write education articles or editorials.
Cath Brizzell and Mabel Chew explain what that policy is about, and why we think it's important.

Simon Stevens - saving the NHS?

Eight months into the NHS’s top job, Simon Stevens’s intelligent refusal to enforce a “one size fits all” solution on the service’s ills is, so far, winning him the backing of staff. He talks to Gareth Iacobucci

Self monitoring of hypertension in pregnancy

Guidelines encourage the use of self monitoring of blood pressure in pregnancy, and research suggests that women prefer it. But Richard McManus, GP and professor of primary care at the University of Oxford explains that our enthusiasm may run ahead of the evidence and call for more research before it is routinely adopted.
Read the full analysis:
http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6616

Crohn’s disease - a patient’s perspective

The incidence and prevalence of Crohn’s disease is increasing worldwide, and a clinical review on thebmj.com provides a practical approach to the diagnosis, management, and long term care of patients with Crohn’s disease.
To help us understand what it’s like to have this condition, we're joined by Sarah, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s 13 years ago when she was 18.
Read the full clinical review:
http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6670

The diagnosis and management of Menieres disease

A clinical review on thebmj.com looks at Meniere’s disease. One of the review's authors, Jonny Harcourt, a consultant otologist at Charing Cross Hospital in London, takes us through the pathogenic process and clinical presentation of the disease, its clinical course and prognosis, and what clinical features help to discriminate the condition from other diagnoses. He also discusses the evidence for treatment.
In a second interview Corine from The Netherlands discusses her experience of having the disease, and offers her tips to others with the condition.
https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/menieres-disease-patient
Read the full review:
http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6544

Menieres disease - a patient perspective

A clinical review on thebmj.com looks at Meniere's disease. Corine from The Netherlands discusses her experience of having the disease and explains how the symptoms of vertigo and tinnitus have affected her everyday life. She also offers her top tips on coping with the disease to others with the condition.
In a second podcast, Jonny Harcourt, a consultant otologist at Charing Cross Hospital in London and one of the authors of the review, takes us through the clinical course and prognosis of the disease.
https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/menieres-disease
Read the full review:
http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6544

Should we still be using hydroxyethyl starch?

Large trials show that hydroxyethyl starch increases the risk of death, kidney injury, and bleeding. So why does the European Medicines Agency still allow its use?
Helen Macdonald, analysis editor for The BMJ, discusses the issue with Christiane Hartog, a lecturer in intensive care medicine at Jena University Hospital in Germany, and one of the authors of an analysis paper on thebmj.com
Read the full analysis paper:
www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5981