When I first arrived at the University of Bath, to study history and philosophy of science, our first lecture was about Sulis-Minerva: the combination of Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom, and […]
South Asia
Richard Lehman’s journal review—21 July 2014
NEJM 17 July 2014 Vol 371 203 Niacin is an abundant natural B vitamin, which lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol. What’s not to like? Well, niacin, unfortunately. In […]
The BMJ Today: Talking shit again
By the end of next month rural India could have an extra 5.2m toilets as part of a pre-election pledge by Narendra Modi, now prime minister, to build “toilets first […]
The BMJ Today: Laws on money and sex
Being a doctor can sometimes feel glamorous. Soon after graduating from medical school, I found myself on a high floor of a fancy hotel in downtown Chicago, waking up to […]
Shalini: India needs those vaccines
India has just introduced three new paediatric vaccines to its Universal Immunization Program (UIP), extending protection to its children against deadly and crippling diseases (rotavirus, rubella, and polio through an injectable polio vaccine). […]
The BMJ Today: Explaining telomeres
Telomeres are getting a lot of attention at the moment. At the 64th Nobel laureate meeting in Lindau two weeks ago, Elizabeth Blackburn (who won the 2009 Nobel prize in […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—14 July 2014
NEJM 10 July 2014 Vol 371 107 I was very confused by this paper. It describes two trials of three drugs for premenopausal breast cancer with various permutations, and the […]
Lavanya Malhotra: Sex education in India
The website of India’s health minister, Harsh Vardhan, currently states: “So called ‘sex education’ to be banned. Yoga to be made compulsory.” The media has not been impressed, and controversy […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—7 July 2014
NEJM 3 July 2014 Vol 371 11 I don’t envy anyone with central lumbar spinal stenosis. The odds of benefit from surgery are slight. The pain can be there all […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—30 June 2014
NEJM 26 Jun 2014 Vol 370 2478 Cryptogenic is a good word. It’s up there with “idiopathic” and “pleiotropic” and “diathesis” for covering gross ignorance with a smattering of Greek. […]