After recent posts delving off into dark woodlands of some methodologically challenging brain imaging studies, we are coming back to a more simple idea: repeatedly scanning the same people from before they develop a disorder through to receiving a diagnosis. What is different about this study is that it was done with infants aged 6-36 [read the full story…]
Earlier this week (Dental Elf 15th Oct 2013) we looked at a systematic review that looked at a range of the newer aids for detecting caries. The aim of this review was to synthesize the findings about the accuracy of fluorescence-based methods in detecting caries lesions on occlusal, approximal and smooth surfaces of both permanent [read the full story…]
Caries is one of our commonest diseases and increasing emphasis is being placed on identifying its earliest stages in order to employ effective interventions. Visual examination and radiographs have been the traditional approaches to caries detection but newer adjunctive methods based on fiber-optics, fluorescence or electrical impedance have been developed and introduced during the past [read the full story…]
As part of its excellent ‘Too Much Medicine’ series, the British Medical Journal last week published an important analysis of the current direction of travel in the field of dementia care. The article is hard to ignore, written as it is by highly authoritative academics from the UK and Australia, including Professor Carol Brayne, an [read the full story…]
Introduction The quality and outcomes framework was set up in 2004 to incentivise aspects of clinical practice within general practice in the UK. Two standards which are incentivised in depression are DEP4 (the percentage of patients who have had assessment of severity at diagnosis using a tool validated for use in primary care (PHQ-9, BDI-II, [read the full story…]
Today we feature another guest blog from Professor Simon Hatcher’s excellent blog. We’ll be posting one blog every month from Simon who is Full Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Ottawa – Editor. Well it’s not actually a journal article but as everyone and their dog has an opinion on the launch of DSM-5 (the Fifth [read the full story…]
I wonder if the timing of this publication was planned to be so close to the release of DSM-5, but this debut guidance on social phobia (now known as social anxiety disorder) is certainly going to ruffle some feathers. It fuels the discussion about the medicalisation of human personality traits and some will see it [read the full story…]
Introduction This good practice guide is a collaborative effort between the Royal College of Radiologists, the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the Society and College of Radiographers. It has been developed to improve imaging services in the early stages of illness, particularly in primary care, by building strong partnerships between diagnostic imaging departments and [read the full story…]
Have you ever had a painful shoulder? Did it get better on its own? I have a friend, not another Elf, who had bilateral frozen shoulders. It was a most functionally limiting and painful problem. Fortunately intra-articular steroid injections saved the day and made a huge difference to both pain and function. If you have [read the full story…]
There are many tests available to clinicians when performing a physical examination of the shoulder in the attempt to reach an accurate diagnosis. In many instances there is more than one test that can be used to test a structure. The difficulty with physical examination tests recommended for shoulder is that many of these tests [read the full story…]
