British medical bulletin
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The escalation in the prevalence of obesity throughout the world has led to an upsurge in the number of obese surgical patients to whom perioperative care needs to be delivered. ⋯ What results in an obese patient developing 'unhealthy' obesity?
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Since 2015, an epidemic of Zika virus spread across the Americas. This coincided with an increased incidence of microcephaly reported at birth in Brazil, with subsequent evidence of a causal association. ⋯ Follow-up studies of affected infants are vital to inform on prognosis and guide screening programmes of the future.
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British medical bulletin · Dec 2017
ReviewFaecal transplantation for IBD management-pitfalls and promises.
Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as a potential treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an area of active current research, having been stimulated by the remarkable efficacy of FMT in treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated colitis. ⋯ Future trials of FMT will likely revisit Crohn's disease and patients undergoing pouch surgery. Advances in microbial culture complementing genetic sequencing and investigations into the virome and mycobiome in IBD will be of great future interest.
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British medical bulletin · Dec 2017
ReviewFriedreich's ataxia: clinical features, pathogenesis and management.
Friedreich's ataxia is the most common inherited ataxia. ⋯ Management of Freidreich's ataxia is currently focussed on symptomatic management, delivered by the multidisciplinary team. Phase II clinical trials in agents that address the abberrant silencing of the frataxin gene need to be translated into large placebo-controlled Phase III trials to help establish their therapeutic potential.
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British medical bulletin · Dec 2017
ReviewWho bears the cost of NICE public health recommendations?
In the UK, NICE issues guidance on public health initiatives. Failure to report which sectors of the economy are affected by their implementation precludes the appropriate accounting for the full opportunity costs, and has the potential to result in erroneous decision making and inefficient budgetary planning. ⋯ Future NICE guidance should report disaggregated costs across the sectors where they fall. Further research is needed to conceptualize the opportunity cost of financial burdens falling on non-health budgets before optimal decision making in public health is possible.