Imposter study participants risk undermining patient care, warn experts

Safeguards are needed to protect evidence-based practice Imposter participants threaten the integrity of health research and, by extension, the policies and clinical decisions built on it, warn experts in The BMJ today. Eileen Morrow and colleagues at the University of Oxford say the research community “must acknowledge the problem and dedicate resources to testing and implementing ...

2025-10-16T09:29:34+00:0016 October 2025|Press release, The BMJ|

SGLT-2 diabetes drugs linked to lower risk of autoimmune diseases 

Replication in other populations and settings needed to confirm and extend these observations, say researchers Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors used to treat type 2 diabetes are associated with an 11% lower risk of autoimmune rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, compared with another group of diabetes drugs called ...

2025-10-16T09:27:42+00:0016 October 2025|Press release, The BMJ|

Walking, cycling and swimming likely best exercise for knee osteoarthritis

Experts suggest regular aerobic exercise to improve function and reduce pain For patients with knee osteoarthritis, aerobic activities such as walking, cycling, or swimming are likely to be the best exercise for improving pain, function, gait performance, and quality of life, finds a study published by The BMJ today. While other exercises ...

2025-10-16T09:25:16+00:0016 October 2025|Press release, The BMJ|

Ditch ‘shrink it and pink it’ approach to women’s running shoes, manufacturers urged

Women’s foot anatomy, biomechanics, life stages completely different from men’s Female-based designs might boost women’s comfort, injury prevention, and performance Sports footwear manufacturers need to ditch the ‘shrink it and pink it’ approach to women’s running shoes, because this is failing to differentiate their distinct anatomical and biomechanical needs across ...

Poorer health linked to more votes for Reform UK, 2024 voting patterns suggest

Policy-makers across political spectrum should step up efforts to tackle health inequalities Poorer health is linked to a higher proportion of votes for the populist right wing political party, Reform UK, indicates an analysis of the 2024 general election voting patterns in England, published online in the open access journal BMJ ...

2025-10-15T11:09:40+00:0015 October 2025|BMJ Open Respiratory Research, Press release|

Prostate testing may not target those most likely to benefit, warn experts

Findings reflect lack of consistent guidance and raise concerns about overtesting Current prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing “may not effectively target testing to those most likely to benefit, raising concerns about overtesting” warn researchers  from the University of Oxford in a study of over 10 million men across England published by The ...

2025-10-08T13:17:54+00:009 October 2025|Press release, The BMJ|

Exercise snacks may boost cardiorespiratory fitness of physically inactive adults

Adherence is high and exercise snacks can counter perceived lack of time and motivation Exercise snacks—intentional short bursts of physical activity—may be an effective way of boosting the cardiorespiratory fitness of physically inactive adults, finds a synthesis of the available research, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Adherence ...

Widely prescribed opioid painkiller tramadol not that effective for easing chronic pain

While it likely increases the risk of serious side effects, including heart disease Potential harms probably outweigh benefits, and use should be minimised, say researchers The strong opioid painkiller, tramadol, is not that effective at easing chronic pain for which it’s widely prescribed, finds a pooled data analysis of the ...

2025-10-08T11:34:44+00:008 October 2025|BMJ Evidence Based Medicine, Press release|

Calorie labelling linked to 2% average reduction in energy content of menu items

Changes primarily due to swapping in slightly lower calorie items, rather than reformulation Likely to have “moderate to limited” impact on population health, conclude researchers Calorie labelling, which became law in April 2022 in England, is associated with only a small (2%) average reduction in the energy content of food ...

2025-10-08T12:47:48+00:008 October 2025|BMJ Public Health, Press release|
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