Insomnia is common and can be serious.

It is estimated that 10% to 30% of the population may have insomnia. Insomnia can cause accidents and poor productivity at work. Psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety and depression, are common comorbidities.

To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with John Winkelman, Chief of the Sleep Disorders Clinical Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School.

To find out more about insomnia, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Competing interests: JWW has received honoraria for consulting to Avadel, CVS, Eisai, and Merck, and research grants from Merck and the RLS Foundation.

Hypercholesterolemia is common condition with serious consequences. It is important that we assess, diagnose and manage it appropriately.

To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Thorsten Leucker, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

For more on hypercholesterolemia, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Competing interests: TL has received grant funding for his university from Amgen and Merck.

The purpose of BMJ Best Practice is to provide knowledge that will help healthcare professionals deliver better care. In this podcast, Dr Clare Mock explains how you can put evidence based knowledge into practice to ensure that we achieve high quality and safe healthcare.

Clare is Clinical Engagement Physician at BMJ and has a great deal of experience in safety, quality improvement and implementation science.

Competing interests: CM works for BMJ. 

Hyperkalemia is common and can be serious. It can result in life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. So it is important that we assess this problem properly, find an underlying diagnosis if there is one, and manage appropriately.

To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Sri Yarlagadda, Associate Professor at The University of Kansas Medical Center.

Competing interests: None declared

For more on hyperkalemia, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Hypothyroidism is common. The prevalence of overt hypothyroidism in the general population ranges between 0.2 and 5%. And it can cause a range of complications - from heart to brain problems to problems during pregnancy. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.

To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, listen to this interview with Dr Wail Malaty who works as a physician in Houston, Texas. Wail is our BMJ Best Practice author on hypothyroidism. Competing interests: None

For more on hypothyroidism, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Cervical spine injuries result primarily from car accidents, falls, and sports activities (such as rugby or diving into shallow water).

They can occur in young and old, and can cause considerable complications - from chronic pain to medication dependence.

So what if anything can we do to ensure that it is diagnosed and managed correctly?

To answer this and other important questions, please do have a listen to this interview with Muhammad Dherijha, Consultant in Complex Spinal Surgery at the Northern Care Alliance in Manchester.

For more on cervical spine injuries, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Competing interests: none

Comorbidities are common and important in all countries around the world. They have a significant impact on patients and healthcare providers. The BMJ Best Practice Comorbidities Manager has been designed to help healthcare professionals better manage patients with common combinations of comorbidities. This BMJ Best Practice podcast is an interview with Professor Neera Ahuja, Professor of Medicine, Associate Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at Stanford Healthcare. Competing interests: NA has received honoraria for editorial work on BMJ Best Practice

Acute severe asthma is common. The global prevalence, morbidity and mortality, and economic burden caused by asthma have progressively increased over the last few decades. About 300 million people worldwide currently have asthma. About 180,000 deaths annually are caused by asthma. And most asthma deaths are preventable. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to his podcast interview with Richard Russell, Specialty Registrar in Respiratory Medicine, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK. Richard is one of the authors of our topic on acute asthma on BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: RR has received support from Chiesi.