There has been an alarming increase in the number of reported deaths due to brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, a parasite that invades the brain through the nose via water. [1] […]
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Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Sanguine—hopeful, not bloody minded
The first of Galen’s four fluid humours of the body, αἷμα, blood, was associated with the temperament that came to be known as sanguine, from the equivalent Latin word, sanguis. […]
Paul Buchanan: No decision about me without me
Many are the conversations, opinions, statements, and arguments within the patient world about the meaning of that phrase “No decision about me without me”—but what does it actually mean, and […]
David Shaw: Delaying surgery for obese and smoking patients is illogical and unethical
It was recently reported that Vale of York clinical commissioning group (CCG) plans to delay all elective surgery for obese patients for a year until they lose 10% of their […]
Arthy Santhakumar: The verdict is out on superbugs
A global health peril that demands global action. For only the fourth time in history, a health issue has reached the great political heights of the United Nations General Assembly. […]
Peter White et al: Releasing patient data from the PACE trial for chronic fatigue syndrome
The PACE trial was the largest clinical trial to date into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also sometimes referred to as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). This randomised controlled trial involved 641 UK […]
Simon McGrath: PACE trial shows why medicine needs patients to scrutinise studies about their health
Like all patients, what I want most from clinical research is treatments that work, not ones that merely look good on paper. As The BMJ has pointed out, patients are […]
William Cayley: What is your story?
Much has been written in recent years about “narrative medicine” or “narrative based medicine,” and there has even been discussion of how to integrate “narrative” and “evidence based” medicine in both journal […]
Matthias Wienold: Patient safety—when patients take centre stage
It is a rare moment for most physicians to engage with patients beyond the professional encounter. Some friends may become our patients, and sometimes patients can become friends—few physicians, however, […]
Richard Smith: Teaching children to make better health decisions
After 30 years of trying to teach clinicians, policymakers, journalists, and patients the basic concepts of deciding if claims about health interventions are valid, Andy Oxman, one of the originators […]