Ray Moynihan’s investigative journalism book — ‘Selling Sickness’ — was a tour de force – impaling the concept of ‘preventive pharmaceutical therapy’ for healthy individuals. If new to this see ‘disease mongering‘. He continues to raise issues that have major health service and public health ramifications. This paper in the BMJ won’t please those whose […]
Category: General
Football as Global Health Promotion: FIFA’s 11 for Health Programme
“Prevention is better than a cure, no matter what disease we look at…football is an ideal platform to promote a healthy lifestyle and prevent disease.” – Professor Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer This month’s BJSM Editor’s Choice (free online) highlights an innovative approach to health and exercise promotion in Africa. Authors […]
View Top Lectures Online: IOC World Conference of Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport (Monaco, April)
On April 7-9 , 2011 I was among 900 attendees at the fantastic IOC World Conference of Prevention of Injury& Illness in Sport in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. The great program included: Sudden cardiac death (Jonathan Drezner, USA; Antonio Pelliccia, Italy) What is the best practice for musculoskeletal screening if prevention is the objective? (Roald Bahr, Norway) Mechanisms […]
Dr. Mark Hutchinson’s YouTube Physical Exam Demos at 1.74 Million Views
With 1.74 million video uploads University of Chicago’s Mark Hutchinson is somewhat of a YouTube celebrity. This is a great feat considering his clinician tutorials compete with all those cute animal videos like Slow Loris with a Tiny Umbrella. In all seriousness, Dr. Hutchinson does an outstanding job of demonstrating examination techniques for: Hip and […]
Management of Tennis Elbow – New BMJ Clinical Review (with video!)
A recently published Clinical Review in BMJ offers a concise overview of the Management of Tennis Elbow. In their article, Dr. John Orchard and PT, Alex Kountouris explain tendon mechanics, loading responses and the fundamental principles of effective treatment programmes. They also discuss the current evidence base for newer minimally invasive treatments such as: platelet-rich […]
T’ai Chi Gone Viral! The World Reports on Myeong Soo Lee and Edzard Ernst’s Systematic Review
Myeong Soo Lee and Edzard Ernst received substantial international media attention for their BJSM article: “Systematic reviews of t’ai chi: an overview” (published online, May 16th 2011). In their critical evaluation of 35 systematic reviews, the authors report that T’ai Chi effectively prevents falls and improves psychological health in older adults. This BJSM feature was […]
Hip imaging pathology – the problem of limited specificity: Guest Blog by Dr. David Hughes
I can’t recall the number of times I have had to explain to a patient that an abnormal lumbar spine MR or CT scan is a very common finding among asymptomatic persons. There are numerous similar examples in Sport and Exercise, including studies which have demonstrated significant tibial stress reactions in over 40% of asymptomatic […]
Cycling: to race or to live – reflections on skewed priorities?
Guest Blog by Giuseppe Lippi, MD; Fabian Sanchis-Gomar, MD; Emmanuel J. Favaloro, PhD. Most of us were dramatically shocked while watching the live broadcast of Wouter Weylandt’s death following a horrific crash on the third stage of the Tour of Italy. While travelling at high speed negotiating a descent, the left pedal of the Belgian […]
Calling for help! What is the best example of a successful physical activity intervention that has made a sustained difference?
I’m tweaking my presentation for ACSM relating to ‘implementation’ and I’m keen to share success stories – or ‘bright lights’ as the Heath Brothers call it. Which interventions have made kids move? Helped adults reach the guidelines? What about agitating the aged? (sorry!). Gortmaker’s Planet Health, Sallis’ CATCH, and van Mechelen’s various studies at work […]
Prof Evert Verhagen comments on the need for more implementation research
By Professor Evert Verhagen In reaction to the guest blog by professor Caroline Finch (May 9th), it is really good to see that the important topic of implementation gets the attention it needs. I’ve heard many times, in relation to van Mechelen’s sequence of prevention [1], that we need more intervention studies. This is whilst […]