E CIGARETTES smoking stats Click to access smok-eng-2014-rep.pdf lancet review http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(15)00521-4/fulltext Nicotine replacement therapy http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23152200, NNT about 15 http://www.aafp.org/afp/2015/0701/od1.html comparative QALYS for smoking cessation Click to access OS_SmokingCessation(1).pdf cystine http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1407764 MHRA details Click to access con616843.pdf owned by BAT http://www.newsjs.com/url.php?p=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/04/british-american-tobacco-e-cigarette-wins-uk-medicine-licence cochrane on EC http://www.cochrane.org/CD010216/TOBACCO_can-electronic-cigarettes-help-people-stop-smoking-or-reduce-the-amount-they-smoke-and-are-they-safe-to-use-for-this-purpose current stats (inc e cig use) http://www.smokinginengland.info safety http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/08/09/pubmed.fdu055.short http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/15-10185/

WHO advice  NHS advice  RCOG advice Uncertainty over numbers of children affected in Brazil 

Notes on SPRINT Trial: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1511939#t=articleResults also of note http://www.cochrane.org/CD006742/HTN_benefits-of-antihypertensive-drugs-for-mild-hypertension-are-unclear http://cks.nice.org.uk/chronic-kidney-disease-not-diabetic#!scenariorecommendation:5 http://cks.nice.org.uk/hypertension-not-diabetic This was a randomised controlled trial 9391 people without diabetes at high risk of CVS events and with BP of over 130mm HG not blinded average bp 121 in rx group, 134.6 in normal rx group outcomes – MI, stroke, HF, death from CVS […]

http://www.ffinetwork.org/regional_activity/europe.php all wheat flour (except wholemeal) produced in the UK is subject to legislation which requires calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin to be added at certain specified levels Folic acid factsheet – women wanting to be/pregnant – https://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/FolicAcid.pdf 1st reading of a bill to make mandatory in house of lords awaiting second reading – england […]

The ‘ 20% more likely to have a stroke at the weekend’ quote used by various politicians – seems to have come from study in PLOS 2004 – 2012 DATA http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131836#sec014 However ,20% is relative risk – one needs to know the absolute risk to make sense of that. If admitted at weekend death rate […]

Exercise special. I am addicted to parkrun.  I’ve written about it here in the BMJ and you can find out more here . The SPARKLE studies are here and here. The parkrun community are warm and welcoming and new runners/joggers/walkers are always welcome. Links to research I was talking about today NHS guidelines (which I think are too […]

: Whistleblowing policy I raised concerns that this should be enshrined in college policy and clear to all members. : ‘Be the best you’ meeting proposal for membership to increase resilience – it sounds like a Martin Lukes column. Resilience comes from strong systems and the best doctors will fail without that. Continuity of care […]

in Spectator 

PFI http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/11748960/The-PFI-hospitals-costing-NHS-2bn-every-year.html Transitional costs to HSCA 2012 https://fullfact.org/factchecks/health_and_social_care_act_costs_benefits-29070 Nottingham ISTC buyback http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/commissioning-news/nhs-england-paid-42m-to-buy-independent-treatment-centre-from-private-provider/20004316.fullarticle dementia screening https://www.gov.uk/government/news/recommendation-against-national-dementia-screening healthchecks http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/63456/ private sector http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-implants/pages/pip-introduction.aspx Cancer drugs fund https://www.england.nhs.uk/2015/01/12/cancer-drug-budget/ 7 day GP working  over use low value rx – e.g. arthroscopy part time spiritual healer     Epping Breast Unit is one of the largest breast cancer research facilities north of […]