This month’s top ten most accessed articles includes a systematic review by Abu Dabrh et al. on the health assessment of commercial drivers, Marston et al’s study on anal sex and young people is still proving to be a popular read, Timm’s survey reporting on medical undergraduate students and bullying is a new entry, whilst Lusignan et al discuss patient’s online access […]
Category: In the news
Moderate weekly alcohol intake linked to poorer sperm quality in healthy young men
Moderate alcohol intake of at least five units every week is linked to poorer sperm quality in otherwise healthy young men, suggests research published in the online journal BMJ Open. And the higher the weekly tally of units, the worse the sperm quality seems to be, the findings indicate, prompting the researchers to suggest that […]
Skirt size increase linked to 33% greater postmenopausal breast cancer risk
Going up a skirt size over a period of 10 years between your mid 20s and mid 50s is linked to a 33% greater risk of developing breast cancer after the menopause, finds a large observational study published in BMJ Open. Overall weight gain during adulthood is known to be a risk factor for breast cancer, […]
Gun deaths twice as high among African Americans as white citizens in US
Gun deaths are twice as high among African Americans as they are among white citizens in the US, finds a study of national data, published in the online journal BMJ Open. But the national figures, which have remained relatively steady over the past decade, mask wide variation in firearms deaths by ethnicity and state, the […]
Plain cigarette packs don’t hurt small retailers or boost trade in illicit tobacco
Plain packs for tobacco products don’t hurt small retailers, flood the market with very cheap cigarettes, or boost the trade in illicit tobacco, finds research on the early experience of the policy in Australia, and published in journal BMJ Open. The findings suggest there is no evidence for these particular arguments against the policy, put forward […]
Anal sex between young men and women often seems coercive and painful
Anal sex between young men and women often seems coercive and painful, suggests research published in BMJ Open. Feedback from young people reveals an oppressive culture around anal sex, with some young men apparently neglecting or not caring about young women’s consent or pleasure – both when they have anal sex and when they talk […]
Cheese still laden with salt, despite many products meeting reduction targets
The salt content of cheese sold in UK supermarkets remains high, despite many products meeting the recommended government targets on salt reduction, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. And salt content varies widely, even within the same type of cheese, the findings show, prompting the researchers to call for much tougher targets […]
Premature newborn survival 30% higher in high volume neonatal centres
The survival of premature newborns in England is 30% higher in specialist units treating large numbers of neonates, reveals an analysis of national data published in BMJ Open. The advantage is particularly evident for very premature babies born after less than 27 weeks of pregnancy, where the figure rises to 50%, prompting the authors to […]
Poorly understood postural syndrome blights lives of young well educated women
A debilitating syndrome that causes an excessively rapid heartbeat on standing up, predominantly affects young well educated women, and blights their lives, because it is so poorly understood and inconsistently treated, reveals a small study published in the online journal BMJ Open. Postural tachycardia syndrome, or PoTS for short, is a by-product of orthostatic intolerance […]
Use of cement in partial hip replacement linked to risk of death
The use of cement in partial hip replacement surgery may be linked to a risk of death – often occurring within minutes – finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The risk is relatively rare. But the alarm was first sounded in 2009, and most of the cases that have come to light […]