Behind The Medical Headlines aims to provide the public and health professionals with equitable access to authoritative and independent commentaries from leading medical experts on articles or news items which appear in the media in an attempt to reduce the confusion which can often arise from conflicting, incomplete or misleading media reports of medical areas. Published articles cover a diverse range of areas and are intended to provide a longer term overview rather than an instant response.
Latest articles
NEW PATIENT/PUBLIC SUMMARY ARTICLE No.1 (pilot): Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
We are currently piloting the production of plain English ‘Patient/Public’ summaries of original clinical review articles published on the BTMH website in order to increase public access to, and understanding of, the clinical content of these articles. Please access this short Patient/Public summary of Dr Albert and Professor Calverley’s overview of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and complete the short survey at the end of this article in order to provide us with your feedback. [Read…]
NEW PATIENT/PUBLIC SUMMARY ARTICLE No.2 (pilot): Vaccination for cervical cancer
We are currently piloting the production of plain English 'Patient/Public' summaries of original clinical review articles published on the BTMH website in order to increase public access to, and understanding of, the clinical content of these articles. Please access this short Patient/Public summary of Professor Ian Frazer's overview of Vaccination for Cervical Cancer, and complete the short survey at the end of this article in order to provide us with your feedback. [Read…]
NEW PATIENT/PUBLIC SUMMARY ARTICLE No.3 (pilot): Fetal interventional surgery
We are currently piloting the production of plain English ‘Patient/Public’ summaries of original clinical review articles published on the BTMH website in order to increase public access to, and understanding of, the clinical content of these articles. Please access this short Patient/Public summary of Dr Welch and Mr Dupuch's overview of fetal surgical intervention and complete the short survey at the end of this article in order to provide us with your feedback. [Read…]
Mercury: answering some of the current controversies about it (update)
In recent years there has been increasing concern about mercury and its potential toxicity to humans. Concerns have focussed primarily on the safety of eating fish containing mercury and the possible risk to children, as a result of receiving childhood vaccines containing mercury. In this article Dr David Wood and Prof Alison Jones review the evidence and aim to answer some of the current controversies about mercury. [Read…]
Norovirus: an established viral plague. What is it, how does it spread and what can we do to protect ourselves?
The norovirus, or winter vomiting virus as it has become more commonly referred to, is responsible for acute epidemics of gastroenteritis and diarrhoea throughout the year and has gained much public notoriety due to its impact on semi-closed communities such as schools, hospitals, offices and cruise liners. In this article Dr Stephanie Dancer provides an expert overview of norovirus and what can be done to stop it spreading. [Read…]
