BMJ Best Practice Podcast

Age-related macular degeneration: an update on diagnosis and management

Age-related macular degeneration is the third most common cause of visual impairment worldwide. The main risk is advanced disease and resultant visual loss.
Prompt diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference to the outcome - so it is vital that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.
In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on macular degeneration, Kieran Walsh talks with Dr. Sajjad Mahmood, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Medical Retina Specialist, and Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Manchester.
For more on age-related macular degeneration, visit BMJ Best Practice: bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/554
Competing interests: SM has done consultancy work and received honoraria for lecturing and travel from Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Novartis. He has also been a principal investigator for clinical trials on behalf of Bayer, Novartis, and Roche.

Cluster headache: an update on diagnosis and management

The prevalence of cluster headache is about one in 500. In people coming to a headache clinic, the prevalence is about 10%.
Cluster headaches are excruciating and incapacitating, and affect quality of life. Prompt diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference to the outcome - so it is vital that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.
In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on cluster headache, Kieran Walsh talks with Professor Amaal Starling, Associate Professor of Neurology at the Department of Neurology in the Mayo Clinic.
Further resources: clusterbusters.org/.
Competing interests: AS has received consulting fees from AbbVie, Allergan, Amgen, Axsome Therapeutics, Everyday Health, Lundbeck, Med-IQ, Medscape, Neurolief, Satsuma, and WebMD.
We release episodes fortnightly.

Spinal cord compression: an update on diagnosis and management

Spinal cord compression is an extremely serious disorder that can have devastating consequences. These include weakness of the legs, bladder and bowel dysfunction, and loss of sensation.
Rapid diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference to the outcome - so it is vital that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.
In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on spinal cord compression, Kieran Walsh talks with Professor Kenneth Casey, Clinical Associate Professor in Neurosurgery at Michigan State University and Clinical Associate Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Competing interests: none declared
We release episodes fortnightly.

Halitosis: an update on diagnosis and management

Halitosis is common and can affect people of all ages. Severe halitosis is less common but it can affect confidence and quality of life. It can even result in social isolation. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.
In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on halitosis, Kieran Walsh talks with Professor Stephen Porter, Director of the UCL Eastman Dental Institute in London.
Competing interests: none declared

Osteoarthritis

We release episodes fortnightly. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. It is more common in women than in men, with incidence increasing sharply around the age of 50. And it can cause complications - including the inability to perform activities of daily living and spinal stenosis in cervical and lumbar osteoarthritis. So it is vital that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on osteoarthritis, Kieran Walsh talks to Fadi Badlissi, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Musculoskeletal Medicine Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Competing interests: None

Data, AI, oncology and patients

We release episodes fortnightly. Data, AI, oncology, and patients are a wide range of subjects to be addressed in one podcast. Individually they are big topics and when you put them together you really get to high levels of complexity. In this BMJ Best Practice podcast, Kieran Walsh delves into all these topics with Dr Arun Sujenthiran, Senior Medical Director and UK Clinical Lead at Flatiron Health. Flatiron Health is a healthtech company that specialises in data science and oncology. Competing interests: AS is an employee of Flatiron Health Inc, an independent subsidiary of Roche, and holds stock in Roche.

Carotid artery stenosis: an update on diagnosis and management

We release episodes fortnightly. Stroke is the fourth and fifth leading cause of death in the UK and US, respectively. There are more than 100,000 strokes in the UK every year. And approximately 10% to 15% of all ischaemic strokes are associated with carotid artery stenosis. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on carotid artery stenosis, Kieran Walsh talks to Brajesh Lal, Professor of Vascular Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine and Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic.
Competing interests: None

Bell’s palsy: an update on diagnosis and management

We release episodes fortnightly. Bell's palsy is the most common unilateral facial palsy in adults. It is most prevalent in people between 15 and 45 years of age. And it can cause a range of complications - including ongoing facial weakness, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, exposure keratopathy, and ectropion. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. In this BMJ Best Practice podcast, Kieran Walsh talks with Professor Matthew Miller about Bell's palsy. Matt is Assistant Professor Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Competing interests: none declared

Hypothermia: an update on diagnosis and management

We release episodes fortnightly. Hypothermia is a serious condition - it can cause rhabdomyolysis, electrolyte disturbances, and cardiac arrhythmias. It can also kill. In the UK, the annual number of hypothermia-related deaths is about 300. And in countries with colder climates, the numbers are far higher.
So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. In this BMJ Best Practice podcast, Kieran Walsh talks to Dr Alexander Alexiou, Emergency Medicine Consultant, Barts Health NHS Trust about hypothermia.
Competing interests: none declared

Rosacea: an update on diagnosis and management

We release episodes fortnightly. Rosacea is a common disorder. Studies suggest a prevalence of 5% for women and 4% for men. And rosacea can cause a range of problems including papules and pustules, telangiectasias, and eye problems. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.
In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on rosacea, Kieran Walsh talks to Dr Abel Jarell, Dermatologist and Dermatopathologist, Northeast Dermatology Associates, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Competing interests: none declared