BMJ Best Practice Podcast

As the climate changes, we are getting more diseases associated with extremes of temperature - such as frostbite.

Frostbite is classically associated with mountaineering and winter activities. But it also occurs in armed conflict and of course in homeless people. Frostbite can result in wound infection, gangrene and amputation.

So what if anything can we do to ensure that it is diagnosed and managed correctly? To find the answer to this and other important questions, please have a listen to this podcast interview with Professor Chris Imray, Consultant Vascular and Renal Transplant Surgeon.

For more on frostbite, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Disclosures: CI has been paid for medicolegal work and receives royalties for the Oxford Handbook of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine.  

A US study of high-risk drinking patterns suggests that deaths due to alcohol-associated liver disease are expected to double in the next twenty years. And this condition is associated with a range of complications - including hepatic encephalopathy, GI bleeding, and hepatorenal syndrome. So what if anything can we do to ensure that it is diagnosed and managed correctly?

To answer this and other important questions, please have a listen to this podcast interview with Professor Craig McClain, Chief of Research Affairs and Associate Vice President for Health Affairs and Research at the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University of Louisville School of Medicine. 

For more on alcohol-associated liver disease, visit BMJ Best Practice.

CM acts as a consultant for Nestlé, Durect, Allergan, Intercept, and DISCUS. He works for the Veterans Administration on a part-time basis, has received grants from the NIH and VAMC, and is working on the update of the AGC nutritional guideline.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) has an incidence of 64 per 100,000 per year, increasing by 40% with each decade of life. This means about 200,000 new patients per year in the USA. And BPPV can cause problems - including falls and accidents and of course injuries. 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 podcast interview with Professor Lorne Parnes of the Departments of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery and Clinical Neurological Sciences, University of Western Ontario.

For more on BPPV, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Competing interests: none

In 2019, lower respiratory tract infections affected 489 million people worldwide, and were the cause for approximately 2.5 million deaths. Children less than 5 and adults older than 70 were the populations most affected by pneumonia. Mortality was highest in patients aged over 70.

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

To answer this and other important questions, please do have a listen to this podcast interview with Dr Catia Cillóniz, Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona.

For more on community acquired pneumonia, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Competing interests: none  

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a common disorder affecting 1 in 500 women and 1 in 2000 men aged over 40 years. It can cause a range of complications from osteoporosis to fractures to nephrolithiasis.

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 podcast interview with Dr John Ayuk, Consultant Endocrinologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. 

For more on primary hyperparathyroidism, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Disclosures: JA declares that he has no competing interests.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide. Diabetic foot disease is an all too common complication. And it can cause a range of problems - including the ultimate complication - amputation. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.

In this BMJ Best Practice podcast, Dr. Kieran Walsh talks to Nicole Mottolini about safer management of diabetic foot disease. Nicole is a Podiatrist and Clinical Fellow at NHS Resolution. Competing interests: none

For more on diabetic foot disease, visit BMJ Best Practice.

In the UK, the prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes in children is approximately 2.9 per 100,000. This number is rising and another constant has been the increasing rates of obesity. So it is vital that we get prevention and management of this condition right.

In this BMJ Best Practice podcast, Dr Christine Bowen talks to Professor May Ng, OBE, Honorary Professor at Edge Hill University, Hon Associate Professor at University of Liverpool, and Consultant Paediatrician and Paediatric Endocrinologist at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust.

For more on type 2 diabetes in children, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Competing interests: none

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition defined by endometrial stroma and glands found outside of the uterine cavity. The most common sites affected are the pelvic peritoneum and ovaries.

May present incidentally in asymptomatic women, or more commonly in women of reproductive age who complain of chronic pelvic pain and/or sub-fertility.

M. Jonathon Solnik, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Medical Imaging by Cross-Appointment, Temerty School of Medicine at the University of Toronto, gives us an overview of diagnosis and management of the condition.

For more on endometriosis, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Competing interests: MJS is an author of a number of references cited in the Best Practice topic. He acts as a consultant for AbbVie (manufacturer of depot leuprolide and elagolix), Medtronic, Felix Health and Olympus.

Fibrocystic breasts are common. The incidence peaks at 400 per 100,000 woman-years at the age of 40 to 44.

The condition can cause  pain and tenderness that fluctuate with the menstrual cycle. And there is a higher prevalence of cysts as women approach the menopause.

In this BMJ Best Practice podcast, Kieran Walsh talks with Professor Ingrid Lizarraga, Clinical Associate Professor at the Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Competing interests: None

For more on fibrocystic breasts, visit BMJ Best Practice.

The diagnosis of menopause is clinical, based on the absence of menses for 12 months, and does not require further testing for appropriately presenting patients.

Oestrogen therapy is an effective treatment for the management of menopausal symptoms including hot flushes, night sweats, and urogenital symptoms.

In this podcast, Bradford W. Fenton, Independence Park Medical Services, Anchorage, Alaska, gives us further details of diagnosis and management.

For more on menopause, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Disclosures: BWF declares that he has no competing interests.