More people are being diagnosed with eating disorders every year and the most common type is not either of the two most well known—bulimia or anorexia—but eating disorders not otherwise specified (eating disorders that don’t quite reach the threshold to be defined as anorexia or bulimia), shows a study published online in BMJ Open. Few […]
Category: In the news
Bed sharing with parents increases the risk of cot death fivefold even if the parents are non-smokers
Bed sharing with parents is linked to a fivefold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), even when the parents are non-smokers and the mother has not been drinking alcohol and does not use illegal drugs, according to a large analysis published online in BMJ Open. While the rate of SIDS has fallen sharply […]
Obesity in early 20s curbs chances of reaching middle age
Young men who are obese in their early 20s are significantly more likely to develop serious ill health by the time they reach middle age, or not even make it that far, suggests research published in BMJ Open. It’s well known that obesity in adulthood poses a risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but it’s […]
Painkillers taken before marathons linked to potentially serious side effects
Attempts to ward off pain in marathons and other endurance sports by taking over the counter painkillers may be ill advised, because these drugs may cause serious side effects in these circumstances, suggests research published in BMJ Open. Many competitors try to prevent pain interfering with their performance by taking painkillers that are readily available […]
Baldness linked to increased risk of coronary heart disease
Male pattern baldness is linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, but only if it’s on the top/crown of the head, rather than at the front, finds an analysis of published evidence in BMJ Open. A receding hairline is not linked to an increased risk, the analysis indicates. The researchers trawled the […]
Myth that UK supply of innovative new pharma drugs is drying up
The widely held belief that the UK supply of innovative new medicines has conspicuously dwindled in recent decades, is not borne out by the evidence, reveals research published in BMJ Open. In fact, the reverse may be true, the figures suggest. The prevailing view is that pharmaceutical industry innovation has been in decline, with […]
One in 20 cases of pre-eclampsia may be linked to air pollutant
One in every 20 cases of the serious condition of pregnancy, pre-eclampsia, may be linked to increased levels of the air pollutant ozone during the first three months, suggests a large study published in BMJ Open. Mothers with asthma may be more vulnerable, the findings indicate. Pre-eclampsia is characterised by raised blood pressure and the […]
Around 1 in 10 young mentally ill teens drinks, smokes, and uses cannabis
Around one in 10 young teens with mental health issues also drinks alcohol, smokes cigarettes, and uses cannabis on a weekly basis, indicates Australian research published in BMJ Open. The prevalence of this pattern of substance use increased with age, the study found, prompting the authors to raise concerns that these behaviours are likely to […]
2012 year in review
2012 was a hugely successful year for BMJ Open. We published four times as many papers as in 2011. Credit for this must go, first and foremost, to the hundreds of reviewers who have given their time to assess manuscripts. We are also grateful that so many authors have chosen to publish with us. […]
BMJ Open in the news
BMJ Open research has made the news again. The paper by Peter T Katzmarzyk (Pennington Biomedical Research Center) and I-Min Lee (Harvard) on the impact of sitting and television viewing on life expectancy in the USA has received widespread coverage, from the BBC in the UK, through numerous US news outlets, and as far as […]