The prevalence of pre-diabetes – higher than normal blood glucose levels – has tripled within the space of 8 years in England, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open. More than a third of adults in England now have pre-diabetes, the findings suggest, with those who are disadvantaged and of black and minority […]
Category: In the news
Divorce may be linked to higher risk of overweight/obesity among kids involved
Divorce may be linked to a higher risk of overweight and obesity among children affected by the marital split, suggests research published in the on-line journal BMJ Open. Boys may be especially prone to excess weight gain, the findings indicate. The researchers base their findings on a nationally representative sample of more than 3000 pupils […]
Bringing old trials to light in BMJ Open
Today we have published the first trial prompted by the Restoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials (RIAT) initiative. Dr Tom Treasure from UCL, with colleagues from University of Sussex and Imperial College, have brought back from obscurity the results of the ‘CEA Second-Look’ trial. The study asked the question: in patients who have undergone a […]
The CEA Second-Look Trial: a randomised controlled trial of carcinoembryonic antigen prompted reoperation for recurrent colorectal cancer
A trial that remained unpublished for 20 years casts doubt on the survival benefit of repeat (“second look”) surgery for bowel cancer. The trial is published in BMJ Open today. It is the first to be restored under the restoring invisible and abandoned trials (RIAT) initiative that allows third parties to publish previously abandoned studies […]
Very overweight teens face stigma, discrimination, and isolation
Very overweight teens face a social world of stigma, discrimination, and isolation because of their body size, reveals an analysis of their views, published in the online journal BMJ Open. And they have to overcome many other additional barriers to lose weight, making it especially hard for them to shed the pounds, the findings suggest. […]
Lower salt intake likely to have had key role in plummeting cardiovascular disease deaths in past decade
The 15% fall in dietary salt intake over the past decade in England is likely to have had a key role in the 40% drop in deaths from heart disease and stroke over the same period, concludes research published in BMJ Open. But average intake across the nation is still far too high, warn the […]
The perception that eating disorders are a women’s problem delays men getting help
The widespread perception that only women have eating disorders is preventing men with these problems from getting the help and support they need, indicates a small study published in the online journal BMJ Open. Estimates suggest that around 1 in 250 women and 1 in 2000 men in the UK have anorexia nervosa, one of […]
Painkillers linked to heightened irregular heartbeat risk in older adults
Current and recent use of painkillers/anti-inflammatories may be linked to a heightened risk of an irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) among older adults, finds a large population study published in BMJ Open. Atrial fibrillation has itself been linked to stroke, heart failure, and reduced life expectancy, while previously published research has linked the use of non-steroidal […]
Girls born small or underweight twice as likely to be infertile in adulthood
Girls born unexpectedly small or underweight seem to be twice as likely to have fertility problems in adulthood as those of normal size at birth, suggests research published in BMJ Open. Medical advances mean that more underweight and very small babies will survive into adulthood, which might therefore increase the prevalence of fertility problems, say […]
BMJ Open’s 2013 year in review
2013 was another successful year for BMJ Open. Credit and thanks as always goes to our editorial board and especially our peer reviewers for helping make this happen. BMJ Open’s status as a global journal was confirmed as we received over 2000 submissions from 89 countries and published papers from 60. We published 962 […]