BMJ Best Practice Podcast

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

Parkinson’s disease

We release episodes fortnightly. Parkinson's disease is a common and serious condition. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world - only Alzheimer's disease is more common. And Parkinson's disease can cause a range of complications - from dyskinesias to depression to dementia. 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 Delaram Safarpour, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University.
Competing interests: DS has received honoraria for participation in advisory boards for Boston Scientific (the manufacturer of Deep Brain Stimulation devices) and Abbvie (the manufacturer of Duopa). She has received consultation fees from Abbott (the manufacturer of Deep Brain Stimulation devices). DS has received an institutional grant and has received an honorarium for lectures from the Parkinson’s Study Group.

Data and healthcare

Data and big data in healthcare are both important and topical. Big data has the potential to transform how we provide healthcare but can also be problematic. There can be problems with how data is captured, cleaned, and corrected or with how we update data. BMJ is playing an increasing role in this field. We have our own BMJ Data Set which provides AI healthcare technologies with current, credible, and AI-ready content. In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on healthcare and data, Kieran Walsh talks to Professor Dipak Kalra, President of The European Institute for Innovation through Health Data.

Herpes zoster infection

Herpes zoster: an update on diagnosis and management
The annual incidence of herpes zoster in the UK is between 2 and 4 patients per thousand population. It can cause a range of complications including post-herpetic neuralgia, herpes zoster of the eye, and disseminated zoster. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. In this BMJ Best Practice podcast on herpes zoster, Kieran Walsh talks to Professor Michael Rothberg, Center for Value-Based Care Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. MR declares that he has no competing interests.-
The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. The content of this podcast does not constitute medical advice and it is not intended to function as a substitute for a healthcare practitioner’s judgement, patient care or treatment. The views expressed by contributors are those of the speakers. BMJ does not endorse any views or recommendations discussed or expressed on this podcast. Listeners should also be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. By listening to this podcast, listeners agree not to use its content as the basis for their own medical treatment or for the medical treatment of others.