We know that we are in the middle of an obesity epidemic—and we know it is really difficult to treat. But it’s nigh on impossible to treat if we don’t […]
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Anand Bhopal: Alcohol in society—the search for nuance in a fractious debate
Alcohol is a historical part of British culture, and pubs remain central to communities across the country. Yet the same liquor is also responsible for filling A&E departments; absorbing police […]
Bernard Merkel: U-turn on the European Commission’s health portfolio still leaves unfinished business
It is not often that an issue about how the European Commission is organised in relation to a specific part of its work on health comes to the top of […]
Sally Norton: Weight loss—help us to help ourselves
If I hear one more time that keeping your weight down is all about personal responsibility—”just eat less and exercise more”—I will take a double chocolate, banana, and salted caramel, […]
Richard Graham: Is technology changing the brain—how to interpret and advise on the evidence
The recent release of a study by the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, which said that it had found changes in the structure of the brain caused by technology […]
Wilm Quentin: NCDs and the private sector—part of the problem or part of the solution?
One of the last sessions of the European Health Forum Gastein aimed to find answers to the question of how to engage the private sector in the prevention and control […]
Kate Adlington: Should the UK move towards greater regulation of doctor-industry relations?
International interest in the interaction between physicians and industry has been mounting since the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (PPSA) was passed in the United States in 2012. The first data […]
Carolyn Thomas: My experience of patient peer review
I’ve finally hit the “Submit” button on my patient review of a research paper submitted to The BMJ—and in time for its deadline. Hurray! This is the first project of this […]
Ahmed Rashid: Junk food history taking
“Listen to the patient and they will tell you the diagnosis.” Widely attributed to Sir William Osler, this quote is often shared with new medical students, and I often find […]
Aser García Rada: Abortion in Spain
This year´s Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, celebrated on 28 September, was especially welcomed in Spain. Earlier that week, Spain’s prime minister and leader of […]