Had intended to be in London but lots of cancelled trains and I had to be back in Glasgow at the weekend. So attended remotely, it’s never quite the same. As ever I try never to repeat points someone else has made. It’s enough I think to say you agree and move on. Otherwise it […]

Links to things I’ve written before: Waterlogged? BMJ the mad colour chart (zillions of versions online, how much money have the NHS spent creating these? ffs) BMJ on this and some links to the primary science: First report I can find of using colour charts of some type to assess urine colour studies in 1990s […]

Lancet report https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02724-0/fulltext persistent urban myth that green sputum means you have a chest infection that needs antibiotics not the case. Special rules if you have serious lung condition eg cystic fibrosis or COPD, but for people who are otherwise well, green sputum does not = a need for antibiotics.  https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-021-01767-6 and https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/39/6/1354) the colour can’t distinguish between viral and bacterial […]

Study in the news (Canada) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Angela-Jerath/publication/356887012_Association_of_Surgeon-Patient_Sex_Concordance_With_Postoperative_Outcomes/links/61b2bb4c358cc06c3f9a801b/Association-of-Surgeon-Patient-Sex-Concordance-With-Postoperative-Outcomes.pdf Other studies of note: USA study of surgery – didn’t find a link between sex of patients/surgeons and outcomes (but found the older surgeons have lower mortality rates) also found here Canadian study comparing male and female surgeons outcomes (better as elective, no difference in emergency) US study of […]

Dry January https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08870446.2020.1743840 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339212416_Temporary_abstinence_during_Dry_January_predictors_of_success_impact_on_well-being_and_self-efficacy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29730627/ https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/5/e020673 exercise and sleep https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3716674/ https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/5/479 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34163383/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25903450/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1836955312701066 https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-020-0913-3 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5385214/ making new habits https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505409/

UK Gov review (spot the non sig outcomes, the stat but not clinically sig outcomes….the lack cost effectiveness detail) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diabetes-prevention-programmes-evidence-review rollout analysis https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/2/e019467 National guidance – NHS Healthcheck https://www.healthcheck.nhs.uk/commissioners-and-providers/national-guidance/ NICE diagnosis categories https://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/preventing-type-2-diabetes#path=view%3A/pathways/preventing-type-2-diabetes/managing-risk-of-type-2-diabetes.xml&content=view-node%3Anodes-high-risk good BMJ analysis on key overdiagnosis issues Click to access 760940 and another from BJGP Click to access 172.full.pdf Prevent diabetes cluster […]

Fluoride in water supplies – and old one and a good one https://www.bmj.com/content/335/7622/699.long and Scotland https://dwqr.scot/public-water-supply/drinking-water-quality-faqs/fluoride/ Cochrane review https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2016.257 impact in Scotland Click to access NDEP_for_England_OH_Survey_5yr_2019_v1.0.pdf impact on hospital admissions https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-021-2945-8 Consultation on folic acid https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/adding-folic-acid-to-flour/proposal-to-add-folic-acid-to-flour-consultation-document#sacn-reports and impact assessment Click to access folic-acid-impact-assessment.pdf and https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/adding-folic-acid-to-flour/proposal-to-add-folic-acid-to-flour-consultation-document#current-advice systematic review https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/impact-of-folic-acid-fortification-of-flour-on-neural-tube-defects-a-systematic-review/EE00B553A9BD987BADF495B21E3CCF6C controlled trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27005659/ impact assessment of fortification […]

NHS Digital https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research Polls on citizen views https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/news/2021-07-20/patient-data-crucial-planning-health-services-and-so-building-trust-how-nhs-uses-it and https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/news/2018-05-17/how-do-people-feel-about-their-data-being-shared-nhs Manchester Uni citizens jury Click to access New%2012621_NIHR_Juries_Report_WEB.pdf Other ways of doing things OpenSafely https://www.opensafely.org/ SPIRE scotland https://spire.scot/ Wellcome excellent resource https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/news/trustworthy-use-gp-data-what-must-happen-now Caldicott review https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-data-security-consent-and-opt-outs caution on pseudo nmyised data https://techscience.org/a/2018100901/ Good briefing from Med Confidential Major health data breaches and scandals not forgetting google […]

old licensed menstrual light/absent rx in US Seasonale 2003 – 4 periods a year Lybrel 2007 – no periods at all https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2008/issue40/ – logical progression Long v interesting essay on the prehistory 2015 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462239/ clearly being prescribed for ‘heavy periods’ / regulation rather than contraception in Ireland https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09612025.2020.1833495 John  Rock  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/664981 cochrane review https://www.cochrane.org/CD004695/FERTILREG_combined-hormonal-contraceptives-taken-extended-regimens-more-28-days-compare-favorably-traditional safety […]

I am making no apologies for this! It’s really important and there is not a lot of evidence out there considering how disabling it is to many people. links: This is the most important one! About the use of a bulb syringe https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18186996/ text is https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2148238/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21403136/ systematic review and economic evaluation Parliamentary questions […]