bmj.com: BMJ - Helping doctors make better decisions

Research

Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of developing diabetes

This prospective cohort study shows that high adherence to a diet rich in olive oil, fruit and vegetables, and little meat was associated with an 83% relative risk reduction for developing type 2 diabetes.

Poll

Statins

Is it feasible for GPs to put all 40-75 year olds on statins based on cardiovascular risk, ethnicity, and family history? Read the summary of NICE guidance: Risk assessment and lipid modification for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, and have your say on the poll.

Research

Patients' attitudes to the summary care record (SCR) and HealthSpace: qualitative study

Despite an extensive information programme in early adopter sites, the public remains unclear about current policy on shared electronic records, though most people view these as a positive development. The "implied consent" model for creating and accessing a person's SCR should be revisited, perhaps in favour of "consent to view" at the point of access. SCR lets NHS staff access a patient�s medical record summary via the internet. Patients can view their own SCR online via HealthSpace.

Comment

Access to NHS dentistry

Has reduced access to NHS dentistry caused an increase in dental abscesses, asks this Analysis article. The number of people admitted to hospital with abscesses has doubled in the past ten years, according to data from 1998/9 to 2005/6. An accompanying editorial says the government recognises that better communication is needed to explain the true situation about being able to access an NHS dentist.

Comment

NHS at 60

In the first of six articles marking the NHS's anniversary, BMJ Deputy Editor Tony Delamothe looks at how "the socialist dream came to be dreamt in the first place" and recounts some of the bitter arguments about funding and sponsorship. Over the next five weeks he examines how the service's founding principles have fared since 1948.

Comment

Stopping clinical trials early

Should we be worried about an apparent rise in the number of clinical trials now being stopped early because the results are so good? Margaret McCartney asks how convincing should results be before trials are halted - and what the implications are for patients.

News

Merck to settle over advertising

Merck & Company has agreed to pay $58m to settle allegations that advertising for its analgesic rofecoxib (Vioxx) played down potential health risks.

News

Italian police arrest drug officials

A scandal involving drug licences for cash has engulfed Italy's drug regulatory agency, and officials have been arrested, along with people linked to drug companies.

Research

Befriending the carers of people with dementia

Access to voluntary befriending made no difference to carers' mood or health related quality of life after 15 months, according to a randomised controlled trial of 236 family carers of people with primary progressive dementia in the UK. Consultant psychiatrist Rob Butler says in an accompanying editorial that existing supports and the quality of services may influence the effects of befriending. The case for offering everyone with dementia and their carer a single health or social care professional contact point is compelling, he adds.

Research

Fetal scalp sampling in labour

Is scalp pH analysis more effective at diagnosing hypoxia in the fetus during labour than scalp lactate analysis? According to this randomised controlled multicentre trial of the two methods, acidaemia at birth, operative interventions, low Apgar scores at five minutes, and admissions to neonatal intensive care units did not differ significantly. James P Neilson, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, asks in an accompanying editorial if less invasive alternatives exist?

Blogs and podcasts

Is depression a problem of meaning or medicine?

Julian Sheather gives two cheers to Paul Biegler's recent analysis of autonomy, stress and depression and reflects on the awe and unease he feels towards antidepressants after spending years avoiding them. Joe Collier (pictured) fears there is something sinister about the UK government's failure to clarify the rationing role of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Fiona Godlee discovers how tragedies such as 9/11 can help medicine to understand its imperfections. Listen to the accompanying podcasts.

Blogs

Science, a wonderful slow tortoise

Science rarely leaps, ambling along along with painstaking steps: one step forward, half a foot back. So says Anna Donald in her latest blog as she contemplates oral chemotherapy and a liver scan that looks like a Jackson Pollock painting. BMJ Associate editor Harvey Marcovitch is worried about the future of the polar bear but optimistic about predictions for disease prevention. And Julian Sheather gives two cheers to Paul Biegler's recent analysis of autonomy, stress and depression and reflects on the awe and unease he feels towards antidepressants after spending years avoiding them.

Poll

Statins

Careers

Violent patients

One in three doctors is attacked at work every year, yet few of these will have been trained on how to handle the situation. General practitioners, doctors working in accident and emergency departments, psychiatrists, and doctors in training are the most at risk.

Students

The M word

When Student BMJ editor Hugh Ip told his medical school colleagues he had chosen health management as a intercalated BSc, one asked "Why don't you do something more useful"? So Should management training should be a compulsory part of medical school curricula? Have your say on the Student BMJ poll.