Is it time to look again at how psychiatric drugs work? Psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff thinks that if doctors change their view of the action of these drugs they may change their prescribing habits. She talks to Tessa Richards about her theory. In the UK, the controversy over the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is finally waning; but in the US it is intensifying. Rebecca Coombes talks to Paul Offit - one of the country’s most vocal vaccine cheerleaders - about his new book, Autism’s False Prophets, and some of the public reaction to it. Birte Twisselmann takes us through the news.

See also
Tom Nolan chooses his own swine flu adventure
How do psychiatric drugs work?
Vaccine disputes

Helen Morant asks Anthony Kessel, director of public health strategy at the Health Protection Agency, about the role of the HPA in managing pandemic influenza. This podcast is an update on “Swine flu - an update” and discusses the move from containment to mitigation. This podcast is also available as a BMJ Learning module  As the status of the pandemic, and the official guidance for health professionals, is subject to change, UK GPs should refer directly to the HPA website (HPA .org.uk) for the most up to date information.

See also;

This podcast is also available as a BMJ learning module
More of the BMJ’s swine ‘flu coverage

Why are men more unhealthy than women? To mark Men’s Health Week in the UK, Deborah Cohen finds out from Ian Banks, president of the Men’s Health Forum, if the problem lies with men or with their doctors. Tony Delamothe talk to Adam Ali about how perceptions of healthcare provision differ between the US and the UK, and the tension between choice and equality. Emily Pull takes us through this week’s news.

See also;

US healthcare reform; Choice and equality in health
Men need primary care at work, debate hears

Helen MacDonald finds out about acute kidney injury from Jim Stewart, principle author of a new National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) report. Following the publication of a cross sectional study, Duncan Jarvies finds out from lead author Jeremy Brown about a new memory test for Alzheimer’s disease. Emily Pull and Tom Nolan take us through the news and the latest on Doc2Doc, BMJ Group’s new professional networking site for doctors.

See also;

Acute Kidney Injury: Adding insult to injury
Self administered cognitive screening test (TYM) for detection of Alzheimer’s disease
doc2doc.bmj.com

Nigel Hawkes tells Helen MacDonald about a conference on the role of junior doctors in patient safety, Duncan Jarvies talks to Jan Jansen about what military medicine can teach the NHS about trauma surgery, and we find how to play safely on trampolines. Birte Twisselmann takes us through the news.

See also;

Damage control resuscitation for patients with major trauma
Trampoline injuries

In the wake of nurse Margaret Haywood being struck off the UK nursing register; Rebecca Coombes talks to lawyers Peter Gooderham from Cardiff University, and Chris Cox from the Royal College of Nursing, about the legal implications of whistleblowing. David Payne talks to Tony Delamothe about the BMJ’s online archive, which is now searchable back to 1840 – and his involvement in a series of films highlighting some of the stories hidden within it. Duncan Jarvies looks at this week’s news.

See also;

Changing the face of whistleblowing
The BMJ’s online video archive

In this podcast we look at planning for a pandemic (this is particularly applicable for GPs in the UK). Helen Morant talks to Maureen Baker, honorary secretary of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and Kate Adams, a GP in East London, about what’s been done to help the country prepare for a ‘flu outbreak.

This podcast is also available as a BMJ learning module

More of the BMJ’s swine ‘flu coverage

Duncan Jarvies speaks to Professor Malcolm Law about the importance of lowering blood pressure in everyone old enough to be at risk of a heart attack or stroke, regardless of their blood pressure. Deborah Cohen talks to Simon Singh about the libel action against him, and what it means for science journalism. And Annabel Ferriman takes us through the week’s news.

This week Duncan Jarvies talks to Raluca Ionescu-Ittu, from McGill University, about folic acid fortification. Deborah Cohen finds out from Professor Edzard Ernst about the first homeopathic treatment to be licensed by the UK’s medicines regulatory agency the MHRA. Birte Twisselmann takes us through the news.

See also:

Prevalence of severe congenital heart disease after folic acid fortification of grain products
Folic acid fortification and congenital heart disease
Virtual reality surgery

Dr Tony Calland, chair of the BMA medical ethics committee and a recently retired GP, and Dr Andrew Hartle, chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS trust Clinical Ethics Committee and an anaesthetics consultant at St Marys’s hospital in London, discuss the ethical dilemmas that doctors are likely to face as a pandemic worsens. To what extent should doctors risk their own health, and that of their family, to care for the sick? And how do you share out the available resources – drugs, ventilators, vaccines – when there’s not enough to go round?