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that view has been challenged https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592645/ the authors retrieved unpublished information for 274 (52%) of the trials included in the meta-analysis. still huge uncertainties lots of unpublished data – known publication bias http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa065779 eg a study 10 years ago NEJM – found trials done but not published 94% of […]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

Glasgow ‘effect’  http://www.gcph.co.uk/publications/635_history_politics_and_vulnerability_explaining_excess_mortality   Asbestos https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1522094/ Click to access exposure.pdf Click to access Asbestos_general_informtation.pdf http://pmj.bmj.com/content/80/940/72

HPV http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.31094/full  modelling study – ? how long the vaccine will work well for, longest studies 10 years http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/hv.29532, http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/8/e015867, https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cid/cix797/4283361?redirected england currently https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cervical-screening-programme-overview HPB pilots: colposcopy rates go up at least at first Click to access Julia-Palmer-HPV-Colposcopy-BAC-ASM.pdf https://www.bsccp.org.uk/assets/file/uploads/resources/NHSCSP_20_Colposcopy_and_Programme_Management_(3rd_Edition)_(2).pdffor those women who were referred to colposcopy, the positive predictive value for high-grade disease (CIN2+) varied from 9.1% to […]

bear in mind that I can only tweet what I said – there is no point in repeating someone else’s point in council – it wastes time.   things I said today: we should surely move to a central recording system of all declarations of interest – it’s not always obvious when a conflict arises […]

English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance ESPAUR 4th report October 2017 Click to access ESPAUR_report_2017_.pdf https://academic.oup.com/jac/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jac/dkx323/4161408/Trends-and-patterns-in-antibiotic-prescribing resistance systematic review bmj 2010 http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c2096 Individuals prescribed an antibiotic in primary care for a respiratory or urinary infection develop bacterial resistance to that antibiotic. The effect is greatest in the month immediately after treatment but may […]

Dr Google https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/uk/doctors-gps-dr-google-patient-list/   formal evaluation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815378/ in people referred to hospital, other studies found using the web to prepare increased anxiety levels https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5487739/ but overall mixed result German study published in 2017 examined ways that people use internet for web info https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00103-017-2549-2 some early US data saying that potential for some symptoms of obsessional […]