Who gives a stuff about impact factors? They belong to the miserable, paranoid world of measurable prestige, like big German cars, Mayfair properties, Norrington tables and the like. Let those interested in such things devise a common unit, the kudo. Then when they have accumulated enough of them, they can boast of having the most kudos. For the rest of us, let’s have a common unit called the shab –the sum of happiness and benefit. Be shabby, be happy.

I talked about the fashion for stenting all bodily tubes last week, yet unfortunately all bodily tubes are active structures bearing little resemblance to a metal mesh. The ureter is a horribly active little tube, with far more nerve endings than it can possibly need, as many of us will testify. Sticking a metal mesh in it is a bad idea, as this systematic review shows. Ureteric stenting does more harm than good.

A trawl of all twin pregnancies where one twin died finds a much bigger risk to the second twin if delivered vaginally at term.
Another useful little summary of what we know about generalised anxiety disorder, though the cited prevalence of 1-5% is much less than the 19% in the case-finding study I mentioned last week (Ann Intern Med p.317). Once again, I feel general anxiety about my inability to offer the treatment of choice – cognitive behavioural therapy.