Richard fancied a change, so is currently blogging on BMJ Group’s new professional networking site for doctors, doc2doc. You can read his weekly journal watch blog there.  This week he turns his attention to gene gnomes, finds the Lancet a bit waffly and the New England Journal of Medicine in self congratulatory mode. To comment on his blog, you will need to login or register.

Richard is in Prufrockian mood as he picks out items of interest in the latest major medical journals. As well as quoting T S Eliot, he also pens his own ditty about a zika virus outbreak on the island of Yap. more…

Newborn babies feature in Richard’s blog this week, as he finds out how extremely premature babies fare with modern neonatal care, and how a baby’s weight in its first three months can affect its weight in the future. Tuberculosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are among the other things that Richard tells us about, as well, of course, as recommending a plant of the week. more…

In his school days, Richard says, he would often walk down Beech Hill Road in Sheffield thinking of chemical explosives, or girls, or Beethoven, but never of age, neuropathology, and dementia. It’s all of those, and much else besides, this week…. more…

Floppy iris, diabetes, virtual surgery, and blood pressure lowering are just a few of this week’s splendidly discussed topics in Richard’s blog.
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This week, Richard ponders a multitude of topics, including the usefulness of prognostic markers for heart failure, the pros and cons of aspirin, and the ins and outs of climate change, while boldly stating that, to his knowledge, no one has ever died of crumbly toenails.
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The medical eponymous genitive is only one of many things on Richard’s mind this week. He makes the distinction between Important Sounding Surrogate End Points (ISSEPs) and Patient Important End Points (PIEPs): hardly new concepts, but possibly new acronyms. These are the fundamental enemies and friends, respectively, of evidence based patient care. Do you think these acronyms work? Or can you think of better ones? Please send in your comments. more…

A week of small increments than radical breakthroughs in the medical journal sees Richard break into poetry when faced with some particularly fanciful drug names… more…

This week Richard ponders continuity of care, hibernating myocardium, and whether gluten free bread came before gluten free pasta - or the other way round. more…

This week, Richard immerses himself in diabetes (”What a mess”), before covering an extensive range of subjects from the polypill to suicide, IQ, hyperhidrosis, and “irritable” bowels - all the while planning to compile “The Good Death Cookbook” - maybe…

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