Prehabilitation before surgery, alcohol's impact on clinical care, and life after a cardiac arrest
Exercise and a better diet, prior to surgery, can improve outcomes. Daniel McIsaac, a professor of anaesthesiology from the University of Ottowa and lead author of that research, joins us to talk about getting those results into practice.
Julia Sinclair, professor of addiction psychiatry at the University of Southampton, explains how the NHS has lost sight of the impact alcohol consumption has on clinical care, and why we need a strategy to tackle it.
Finally, Matt Morgan, consultant in intensive care and BMJ columnist, has written another book - this time about patients who are revived after cardiac arrest, and the profound effect it can have on their outlook in life.
Reading list:
Relative efficacy of prehabilitation interventions and their components
UK needs national strategy to tackle alcohol related harms
A Second Act
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40:40
Can a deal be done to keep the US in the WHO?
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw the US out of the WHO. This would cut funding for the UN’s medical agency by one-fifth.
Will they really exit, or can a deal be made? Lawrence Gostin hopes so, and as a professor of law at Georgetown, and director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, he is working with senior US and WHO officials to try and understand what reforms could be made to WHO what would allow a such a deal to be be struck.
Gostin also believes that the president cannot withdraw from the WHO with an executive order, but instead requires congressional approval - and is exploring the options for legal challenge to the move.
00:00 Intro
01:01 US history with the WHO
03:31 Executive order
06:35 WHO’s relationship with China
11:14 Funding
12:47 Benefits to US from the WHO
18:05 H5N1 threat
19:43 World benefits from US involvement
21:57 A deal to be made?
24:55 Legal action?
26:37 Administration responses
Read Professor Larry Gostin’s co-written opinion piece on the dangers of a US withdrawal from the WHO here: https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r116
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29:31
Conviviality and TV doctors, polar bear tales, and Christmas research
In the last podcast of 2024, Richard Smith, former editor of The BMJ and head of UKHACC will be making the case for being more convivial. Tina Korownyk, professor of family medicine at the University of Alberta is the ghost of Christmas past for TV doctors.
Tim Feeny and Navjoyt Ladher take us through this year's Christmas research papers.
And finally, Mari Martensen, a paramedic, explains what makes being a medic in Svalbard bear-able.
Reading list.
The dangers of industrialisation—why we need to rebuild a convivial society
Televised medical talk shows—what they recommend and the evidence to support their recommendations
Christmas 2024: How to transport a polar bear, and other idiosyncrasies for Arctic emergency medical services
The full Christmas archive
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41:06
Big food infiltration of UK Schools, and chocolate consumption and diabetes
Conflicts of interest harm health, and a new investigation uncovers the infiltration of big food manufacturers into UK schools. Emma Wilkinson reports on that investigation. Kamran and Rebecca Coombes, head of journalism, discuss moves to reduce industry's impact on food policy in the UK.
A new research paper has identified a link between eating chocolate and lower rates of diabetes. Binkai Liu, doctoral student and Qi Sun, associate professor, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health explain what they found.
Finally, Sam Hutt is a doctor in the NHS, but is better known by his stage persona “Hank Wangford”. Hank performed a celebration of the NHS at Glastonbury this year, and has now released that song. He joins us to talk about what inspired him.
Reading list
Food industry has infiltrated UK children’s education: stealth marketing exposed
Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes
Hank Wangford
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32:56
"Incredibly distressing and incredibly dangerous"- David Miliband on healthcare attacks, and staff turnover effect on patient outcomes
In today’s episode, new research, which has looked at the impact staff turnover is having on patient outcomes. Giuseppe Moscelli, associate professor at the University of Surrey joins Navjoyt Ladher to explain more.
Also, every year the BMJ has a Christmas appeal - and this year we have chosen the International Rescue Committee as our partner. To talk more about what they do, and to give us some insight into how geopolitics are affecting health we're joined David Milliband, president and chief executive officer of the International Rescue Committee, and former UK foreign secretary.
Reading list;
Nurse and doctor turnover and patient outcomes in NHS acute trusts in England
The BMJ Appeal 2024-25: David Miliband on hospital attacks, Trump, and the International Rescue Committee in a “flammable world”
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33:19
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