Edward Picot’s blog (incorporating Dr Hairy)

Dr Hairy’s Research Summaries + Quiz for May 2019 are now online. To access them, or find out more about Dr Hairy’s Research Summaries, go to http://www.drhairy.org/concrete5/index.php/research-summaries/

Subjects covered this time:

How to prescribe loop diuretics in oedema

BMJ 2019;364:l359

Effects of a low carbohydrate diet on energy expenditure during weight loss maintenance: randomized trial

BMJ 2018;363:k4583

Lifestyle changes may be more important than drugs for mild hypertension

BMJ 2019;364:l571

Understanding compassion in family medicine: a qualitative study

Br J Gen Pract 2019; 69 (680): e208-e216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X701285

GPs should lead process of defining diseases to cut overdiagnosis, panel recommends

BMJ 2019;365:l1660

Can treating vitamin D deficiency reduce exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

BMJ 2019;364:l1025

A borderline HbA1c result

BMJ 2019;365:l1361

When you live with a degenerative illness, no symptoms are mild

BMJ 2018;361:k1670

Restoring biomedical literature with RIAT

BMJ 2018;361:k1742

Leadership on climate change is leadership on health

https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2018/04/30/laurie-laybourn-langton-leadership-on-climate-change-is-leadership-on-health/

‘The Doubter’s Mysteries’ are an attempt to write a short cycle of Mystery Plays – ie. plays based on Bible stories, like the Medieval Mystery Plays of York, Chester and Wakefield – from the point of view of a sceptical modern audience; an audience which either doesn’t believe in God, or can’t work out what he’s playing at.

There are fourteen of these plays, and the ninth is now online: ‘The Nativity of Jesus’.

http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries/09nativity.html (or for the full series so far, visit http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries)

Bangers the boxer dog, from The Cake Maker of Transylvania, the new picture-book I’m working on with Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.

These images are both taken from The Cake Maker of Transylvania, the new picture-book I’m writing with Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.

Featuring my work colleague Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis. Not really a pork pie, but a raised vegetarian pie that looks a bit like one and has a similar meaty texture when you cut into it. Ingredients for the hot-water pastry: flour, butter, salt, caster sugar, nutmeg, hot water. Ingredients for the filling: onions, black beans (or kidney beans), red lentils, breadcrumbs, cheddar cheese, parsley, salt, cumin, paprika, black pepper, egg. Plus one beaten egg to brush the pastry with.

‘The Doubter’s Mysteries’ are an attempt to write a short cycle of Mystery Plays – ie. plays based on Bible stories, like the Medieval Mystery Plays of York, Chester and Wakefield – from the point of view of a sceptical modern audience; an audience which either doesn’t believe in God, or can’t work out what he’s playing at.

There are fourteen of these plays, and the eighth is now online: ‘David and Bathsheba’.

http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries/08davidandbathsheba.html (or for the full series so far, visit http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries)

The Research Summaries + Quiz for March 2019 are now online. To find out more about Dr Hairy’s Research Summaries, visit http://www.drhairy.org/concrete5/index.php/research-summaries/

Subjects covered this time:

Cannabis based drugs: GPs will have to manage patients’ expectations, says expert
BMJ 2018;363:k4354
Long term adjuvant endocrine therapy and risk of cardiovascular disease in female breast cancer survivors: systematic review
BMJ 2018;363:k3845
Serial circulating omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and healthy ageing among older adults in the Cardiovascular Health Study: prospective cohort study
BMJ 2018;363:k4067
Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and healthy ageing
BMJ 2018;363:k4263
Pre-eclampsia and risk of dementia later in life: nationwide cohort study
BMJ 2018;363:k4109
Psychiatrists cancel cannabis debate after no one would argue for criminalising users
BMJ 2019;364:l417
Artificial Intelligence
Extracted from ‘Seven Days in Medicine’, BMJ 2019;364:l426
Farewell London, hallo Amsterdam: EMA lowers flag on 24 years in UK
BMJ 2019;364:l442
The pill and women’s sexuality
BMJ 2019;364:l335
Effect of breakfast on weight and energy intake: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
BMJ 2019;364:l42
Breakfast—the most important meal of the day?
https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/01/30/tim-spector-breakfast-the-most-important-meal-of-the-day/

Ingredients: potatoes, tandoori masala, salt, oil.

With thanks to Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis!

I’ve now uploaded these to Red Bubble, so you can buy cushions, coffee-mugs etc with these images on them, should you feel so inclined: my Red Bubble page is https://www.redbubble.com/people/edwardpicot?asc=u

Just for a change, I thought I’d make a cookery video.

Ingredients:

Filling:
1 large onion
2 carrots
half a celeriac
2 small parsnips
4 small potatoes
butter, salt, pepper

Gravy:
Red wine
Yeast extract
Damson jam
1 tablespoon of flour
hot water

Pastry:
12oz flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
half a pack of butter
hot water

With special thanks to Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis and Isaac the Dog!