Scottish CMO letter 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(02)09962-2/fulltext?code=lancet-site .https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-programmes/nice-guidance/nice-guidelines/making-decisions-using-nice-guidelines#professional-guidelines https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg164   https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg164/chapter/recommendations#breast-cancer-risk-category

notes from council please note  – there is no point saying something twice, so if other people make the same comment and it’s accepted, it just wastes time to repeat it . This is what I said today Sponsorship review I want the RCGP to stop all sponsorship of the conference and educational modules – […]

UK National Screening Committee FOBT versus FIT screening tests and here and here Cochrane review  Scottish programme and bowelscope pilot Atkins Lancet paper 

Fish oils: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/intelligenceandmemory/omega_three.shtml http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6991528.stm Fish oil makes children smarter, study claims https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/3083228/Fish-oil-makes-children-smarter-study-claims.html two studies in UK DOLAB 1 and 2 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0043909 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192909 https://theconversation.com/half-of-biomedical-research-studies-dont-stand-up-to-scrutiny-and-what-we-need-to-do-about-that-45149 Click to access 56314e40aac61.pdf adaptive trials: review https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article-abstract/109/6/djx013/3074379?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article-abstract/109/6/djx013/3074379?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01042379 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4706669/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20595245/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25475878    

This whole area is confusing, understudied, and messy. I attach some of the references I used for this area. Never was the term ‘better research is needed’ more fitting…. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4140701/   https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/370338 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)72262-5/fulltext https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7498/9759b62841d088b4b0afc45564aa48e03af7.pdf?_ga=2.238076672.1267186742.1520784025-1252960857.1520784025 .https://nordic.cochrane.org/sites/nordic.cochrane.org/files/public/uploads/theses/Nielsen%20PhD.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3627130/ http://www.psychiatrist.com/jcp/article/Pages/2005/v66n10/v66n1015.aspx https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3627130/

new Lancet paper  other studies https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/#c18 that view has been challenged https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592645/ the authors retrieved unpublished information for 274 (52%) of the trials included in the meta-analysis. still huge uncertainties lots of unpublished data – known publication bias http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa065779 eg a study 10 years ago NEJM – found trials done but not published 94% of […]

This is a note of what I said. Of course there are many other things I could have said – but there is little point in doing so if someone else has just made the point – it wastes time. Minutes from last time:  Babylon – ‘while undoubtedly a quick convenient way ‘ for some […]

cannabis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4307971/ https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3530 Our work on cannabis has been delayed because it turned out that cannabis placebo is considered a Schedule 1 drug in the UK. This meant that placebo had to be added to our licence and that import and export licences were then required for obtaining it from overseas suppliers. As these licences […]

Iron: it’s all very interesting… there is a very nice series of GP studies just waiting to be done that cover side effects, rise in Hb, and patient preferences… eg 2005 study 90 older americans in hospital and with IDA l http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(05)00210-X/fulltext https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2582401/ http://www.who.int/elena/titles/guidance_summaries/iron_women/en/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352302617301825#ceabs50 http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/126/17/1981.long –   aspirin dose and stroke https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/485050