Inside Health – choirs are good for you

Here are the references – it will be up here probably tomorrow. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22495689   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9783861   http://www.bmj.com/content/314/7086/1037   http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.1242/abstract;jsessionid=3D0C17206FD3C96227DFD224D616F5FA.d02t03   http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/24/45760738.pdf   http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.1242/pdf   http://www.york.ac.uk/res/herc/documents/wp/11_21.pdf   http://www.bmj.com/content/313/7072/1577?view=long&pmid=8990990   http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2466-10-41.pdf

Continue Reading →

Pod delusion transcript

  From here, since my self-created recording is so bad.   Last week, Georgia Gale Grant argued that, rather than praying for the recovery of Fabrice Muamba, it would be better, for humanists, sceptics and aethists,  if aged between ‘14 and 35’ to ‘ get regular ECGs to make sure you’re not at any known risk […]

Continue Reading →

Pod delusion references

            Here are the references for a piece on the Pod Delusion podcast last week. The dreadful quality of the recording is all my fault.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16569567   http://www.amazon.co.uk/Screening-Evidence-practice-Angela-Raffle/dp/0199214492   http://whqlibdoc.who.int/php/WHO_PHP_34.pdf   newbornbloodspot.screening.nhs.uk/getdata.php?id=11648   http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/rac/v76n2/en_v76n2a20.pdf     http://www.screening.nhs.uk/cms.php?folder=2898   http://www.annals.org/content/147/12/854.full   http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001877/screening-for-breast-cancer-with-mammography   http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/decisionaids   http://www.screening.nhs.uk/hcm#mce_temp_url#       http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa070972 […]

Continue Reading →

Inside health and cycle helmets

The references I used for Radio 4’s  Inside Health are here   http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/165/12/1343.abstract http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4521 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM198603063141003 http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/165/12/1343.abstract http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/userfiles/ccoch/file/Safety_on_the_road/CD001855.pdf http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.0901747 http://www.dot.state.fl.us/research-center/Completed_Proj/Summary_RD/FDOT_BDK82%20977-01_rpt.pdf http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/13/3/190.full http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457506001540   http://drianwalker.com/overtaking/overtakingprobrief.pdf http://www.eta.co.uk/2011/04/01/safest-bicycle-helmet-has-built-wig  

Continue Reading →

Myrios and their adverts on the tube

Myrios are running adverts on the London tube. This company offers blood testing for various conditions. I am troubled by the evidence and practice of their testing.   “We always advise you visit your local pharmacist who will be able to recommend the right test based on your health concerns.” They also say, in their […]

Continue Reading →

The Lancet and aspirin and all cause mortality

  There are three papers today in the Lancet about aspirin. I’m going to ignore the two papers about the effect on cancer metastasis, just now, and concentrate on the third, which is titled Short-term effects of daily aspirin on cancer incidence, mortality, and non-vascular death: analysis of the time course of risks and benefits […]

Continue Reading →

New things – Inside Health and screening

My favourite subject – screening. There’s a column on Inside Health about it, as well as a feature on private companies who offer screening for aortic aneurysms. The references I used are here http://www.annals.org/content/152/8/505.full?aimhp http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/rac/v76n2/en_v76n2a20.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK33513/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK33507/ http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001923/carotid-endarterectomy-for-asymptomatic-carotid-stenosis http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Newspublications/News/MRC006173 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa070972 There is also a feature in the Times today, but it’s behind a paywall, about […]

Continue Reading →