Do you dither with your mouse? Who would have thought there could be any new angles on consultation analysis! Simon DeLusignon (St Georges, University of London) had some new insights in his keynote address at NAPCRG (North American Primary Care Research Group). more…

You have got to do something. Young mothers and their babies living in socially deprived areas do poorly. Isolated, unprepared, and hard to reach; the obvious way to help is through their peers. Why bother with research. It’s obvious. Just implement it.  more…

Are you an apple, a pear, or even a melon? Metabolic risk is less if you have the body profile of a pear rather than an apple. If you are shaped like a melon, it is definitely time for a serious diet. You may not have noticed, however, that you are now one of the 30-40% of the population classified as obese.  Individual risk perception is unrealistic and both men and women systematically underestimate their own waist circumference. It is not just our body shape that is important as Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester, pointed out at the RCGP Annual Primary Care Conference. Body fat percentage can vary greatly even in people with the same BMI. He emphasised, in particular, major ethnic differences so that South Asians not only have greater body fat, but have higher glucose levels at all corresponding levels of BMI. Change is subtle- who would have known, for example, that a portion of French fries that in 1960 contained 200 calories now carries 610 calories. Our genes have not changed but our environment has. more…

Fergie lost it with the referee. The Manchester United manager’s public criticism of the referee’s fitness in their recent match against Sunderland made headlines. Although subsequently making a personal apology he did raise the more general issue of referee’s fitness. Perhaps it was because he knew about the long established referee fitness programme in Scotland pioneered by Stewart Hillis, the recently retired professor of cardiology in Glasgow and doctor to the Scottish Football Association. Dr John McLean continues this cardiovascular screening initiative at the outstanding sports medicine facilities at Hampden Park, and hosted last Friday’s meeting on the benefits of exercise. It is good to be fit- not a new message, even for referees- but there are still many questions for patients and doctors. more…

If every media report of a cure for cancer were true, we should live forever. But, the media like a headline health story, and we cannot really blame the journalists. It is largely the fault of epidemiologists, according to Joe McLaughlin (International Epidemiology Institute, Maryland USA), who laments the change in culture. He feels that epidemiology has lost its way; experts talk up their findings, shamelessly court the media and, have lost the objectivity of their science. This was how he set the scene at a meeting of epidemiologists and editors at the Royal College of Physicians on Sept 24 and 25, convened by Gerard Swaen, of the Dow Chemical Company, under the aegis of ECETOC (European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals, Brussels) to discuss the potential for a register of observational epidemiology studies. more…

Often the only visible links between a conference and the host city are the presence of intense young researchers with carefully rolled posters and middle aged delegates with matching bags, wandering aimlessly through the streets. But, by inspired by Zeno Bisoffi, conference chairman, the 6th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health engaged directly with the people of Verona with a public viewing of a film entitled “Come un homo sulla terra,” giving voice to Ethiopian refugees living in Rome and an open debate the following evening with authors, journalists and medical leaders. more…

So, who gets cancer? Have you a mental image? With heart disease, our classic picture is of an overweight hypertensive smoker, living between the pub and the chip shop. But, you rarely hear that someone “looks a likely candidate for cancer”. more…

Democracy means involvement in decision making but it may not always lead to the best outcomes. With this simple analogy, Gerd Gigerenzer (Berlin), captured the potential hazards of clinical shared decision making in his keynote address to the 5th International Shared Decision Making Conference in Boston (June 14-17). more…

Autres pays, autres coeurs? Part of the title of an early paper highlighting the relationship between dietary patterns, risk factors and ischaemic heart disease could have been the title of this meeting. Cardiovascular epidemiologists from Europe and beyond gathered in the land of the Ulster Fry to discuss the Mediterranean diet, the French paradox, and review the many achievements of the MONICA project, the PRIME study, ECTIM and other related research. more…

When your fellow passengers wear surgical masks, you complete a health declaration with your landing card and, pass through a line of heat detectors before passport control, you know public health is taken seriously. Travelling to the WONCA 2009 (World Organization of National Colleges, Academies) Asia Pacific conference in Hong Kong was always going to be interesting in the context of swine flu and the organisers wondered for a long time if they should cancel it. more…