Edward Picot’s blog (incorporating Dr Hairy)

‘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 sixth is now online: ‘Moses’.

http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries/06moses.html (or for the full series so far, visit http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries)

The Research Summaries + Quiz for Jan 2019 are now online. To find out more go to http://www.drhairy.org/concrete5/index.php/research-summaries/ . Subjects covered this time:

Effectiveness of an intervention to optimise the use of mirabegron for overactive bladder: a quasi-experimental study in primary care
Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (677): e852-e859. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X699953

What is the root cause of the GP workforce crisis?
Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (677): 589-590. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X700145

Quaternary prevention: a balanced approach to demedicalisation
Br J Gen Pract 2019; 69 (678): 28-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X700517

Relationship between prescribing of antibiotics and other medicines in primary care: a cross-sectional study
Br J Gen Pract 2019; 69 (678): e42-e51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X700457

Nasal balloon autoinflation for glue ear in primary care: a qualitative interview study
Br J Gen Pract 2019; 69 (678): e24-e32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X700217

Spiritual care is stagnating in general practice: the need to move towards an embedded model
Br J Gen Pract 2019; 69 (678): 40-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X700613

Association between intake of non-sugar sweeteners and health outcomes: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials and observational studies
BMJ 2019;364:k4718

Non-sugar sweeteners and health
BMJ 2019;364:k5005

The health benefits of three wheels
BMJ 2019;364:k5192

The vanishing art of doing
BMJ 2019;364:k5326

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

From The Cake-Maker of Transylvania, a new book I’m working on with Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis.

‘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 fifth is now online: ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’.

http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries/05sodomandgomorrah.html (or for the full series so far, visit http://edwardpicot.com/mysteries )

You can now get Pilchards-related merchandise via the Redbubble site, at https://www.redbubble.com/people/edwardpicot . Cushions, t-shirts, posters, coffee-mugs etc.

Check out this cool Kevin the Carrot t-shirt, for example!

The Research Summaries & Quiz for December 2018 are now online. To find out more, go to http://www.drhairy.org/concrete5/index.php/research-summaries/ . Subjects covered this time:

Braced for Brexit
BMJ 2018;363:k4724
Causes of concern for the NHS after Brexit
BMJ 2018;363:k4767
Reciprocal healthcare arrangements after Brexit
BMJ 2018;363:k4727
Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors and risk of serious adverse events: nationwide register based cohort study
BMJ 2018;363:k4365
Triple therapy in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: systematic review and meta-analysis
BMJ 2018;363:k4388
Sixty seconds on . . . meat tax
BMJ 2018;363:k4769
Cannabis based drugs: how will they be used in practice?
BMJ 2018;363:k4665
Mycoplasma genitalium: the next sexually transmitted superbug?
BMJ 2018;363:k4376
Could artificial intelligence make doctors obsolete?
BMJ 2018;363:k4563
New RCP code of conduct aims to challenge #MeToo behaviours
BMJ 2018;363:k4678

From a new picture book I’m working on with Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis, The Cake Maker of Transylvania, a macabre tale of cake-making and vampirism:

Just in time for Christmas – ‘Pilchards’, a picture-book by myself and my lovely friend Mollie Macgregor-Kinnis, has just been made available from Amazon.

Two naughty spuds keep shouting ‘pilchards’ at Kevin the Carrot. What’s that all about?

A funny story about teasing, suitable for children aged 4 and up.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1790338204

Dr Hairy’s Research Summaries & Quiz for November 2018 are now online. For more information, visit http://www.drhairy.org/concrete5/index.php/research-summaries/

Subjects covered this month:

GP-delivered brief weight loss interventions: a cohort study of patient responses and subsequent actions, using conversation analysis in UK primary care
Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (674): e646-e653. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X698405

Patients’ perspectives on GP interactions after cognitive behavioural therapy for refractory IBS: a qualitative study in UK primary and secondary care
Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (674): e654-e662. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X698321

Addressing the needs of patients with medically unexplained symptoms: 10 key messages
Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (674): 442-443. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X698813

Localised hypopigmentation: clarification of a diagnostic conundrum
Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (674): 444-445. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X698825

Statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular events and mortality in old and very old adults with and without type 2 diabetes: retrospective cohort study
BMJ 2018;362:k3359

Diclofenac use and cardiovascular risks: series of nationwide cohort studies
BMJ 2018;362:k3426

Focusing on overdiagnosis as a driver of too much medicine
BMJ 2018;362:k3494

Doctors who turn down flu vaccine could be redeployed
BMJ 2018;362:k3872

Compliance with requirement to report results on the EU Clinical Trials Register: cohort study and web resource
BMJ 2018;362:k3218

Fetal microcephaly
BMJ 2018;361:k2232