Please remember to credit the BMJ as source when publicising
an
article and to tell your readers that they can read its full text on
the
journal's web site (http://bmj.com).
If your story is posted on a website please include a link back to
the source BMJ article (URL's are given under titles).
(2) ACUPUNCTURE
MORE EFFECTIVE THAN
MASSAGE FOR
CHRONIC NECK PAIN
(3) OVER
40 PER CENT OF DOCTORS WANT TO
WORK PART TIME
(1) CRANBERRY
JUICE REDUCES URINARY TRACT
INFECTIONS IN WOMEN
(Randomised trial of cranberry-lingonberry
juice and
Lactobacillus GG drink for the prevention
of urinary tract
infections in women)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7302/1571
Regular drinking of cranberry juice seems
to reduce the
recurrence of urinary tract infections
in women, concludes
a study in this week's BMJ.
One hundred and fifty women with a urinary
tract infection
were randomly allocated into three groups.
The first group
received 50ml of cranberry-lingonberry
juice concentrate
daily for six months. The second group
got 100ml of
lactobacillus drink five days a week for
one year, and the
third group received nothing.
At six months, episodes of urinary tract
infection were
reduced by about half in the cranberry
group, whereas the
lactobacillus drink was ineffective. Only
eight (16%)
women in the cranberry group had at least
one recurrence,
compared with 19 (39%) in the lactobacillus
group and 18
(36%) in the control group.
This confirms the common belief that recurrences
of urinary
tract infection can be prevented with
cranberry juice, say
the authors. Since cranberry juice is
a readily available
product, it provides an alternative means
for preventing
urinary tract infection and could reduce
the need for
antimicrobial drugs.
Contact:
Tero Kontiokari, Assistant Professor, Department
of
Pediatrics, University of Oulu, Finland
Email: tero.kontiokari@oulu.fi
(2) ACUPUNCTURE
MORE EFFECTIVE THAN
MASSAGE FOR CHRONIC NECK PAIN
(Randomised trial of acupuncture
compared with
conventional massage and "sham"
laser acupuncture for
treatment of chronic neck pain)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7302/1574
(Commentary: Controls for acupuncture
? can we finally see
the light?)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7302/1574
Acupuncture is an effective short term
treatment for
patients with chronic neck pain, but there
is only limited
evidence for its long term effects after
five treatments,
concludes research in this week's BMJ.
A total of 177 patients with chronic neck
pain were
randomly allocated to five treatments
over three weeks.
Fifty-six patients received needle acupuncture,
60 were
given conventional massage, and 61 received
"sham" laser
acupuncture (a dummy procedure to control
for
acupuncture).
One week after treatments, the acupuncture
group showed
a significantly greater improvement in
motion related pain
compared with massage but, surprisingly,
not compared
with sham laser acupuncture. However,
after three months
follow up, there were no significant differences
in mobility
and pain between the groups. This is consistent
with
previous trials that show that a single
treatment approach in
chronic pain does not result in long term
effects in the
majority of cases, add the authors.
We conclude that acupuncture can be an
effective and safe
form of treatment for patients with chronic
neck pain, say
the authors. However, as neck pain may
be a chronic
condition, single forms of treatment may
not always be
adequate. Future research is necessary
to evaluate the
optimum number of acupuncture treatments
for the
management of these patients.
Contact:
Dr Dominik Irnich, Research Fellow, Department
of
Anaesthesiology, Ludwig-Maximilians University,
Munich,
Germany
Email: Dominik.Irnich@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
(3) OVER 40 PER
CENT OF DOCTORS WANT TO
WORK PART TIME
(Specialist registrars' plans for
working part time as
consultants in medical specialities:
questionnaire study)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7302/1578
More than 40% of all specialist medical
registrars are
considering working part time as consultants,
finds a survey
in this week's BMJ. These results are
entirely consistent
with other recent surveys of trainees
and consultants, and
their impact on the future supply of consultants
is potentially
devastating.
The Royal College of Physicians in London
sent a
questionnaire in December 1999 to all
2,495 trainees in
England, Wales, and Northern Ireland holding
national
training numbers in medical specialties.
Replies were
received from 1,362.
Of 1,311 who answered the question "would
you like a
part time post when you become a consultant?"
41% (69%
of women and 22% of men) replied "yes."
Of 1,309 who
answered the question about whether they
would consider
a "job share" consultant post at some
stage in their career,
46% (77% of women and 25% of men) replied
"yes."
Whether those who expressed an interest
in part time work
actually take up such posts depends on
many factors, says
the author. Yet feedback from focus groups
has confirmed
that most women trainees envisage working
part time when
they have young families, and that an
increasing proportion
of men seek greater participation in family
life and perhaps
a more balanced lifestyle.
The impact of these factors on the future
supply of
consultants is obvious and potentially
devastating,
particularly in specialties with a high
proportion of female
trainees, yet no allowance has been made
for this, argues
the author.
Many more part time consultant posts will
be needed to
use the skills of women and men who seek
part time work,
and correspondingly, more trainees will
be required to
maintain an adequate supply of consultants
in future years,
he concludes.
Contact:
Hugh Mather, Specialist Registrar Adviser,
Royal College
of Physicians, London, UK
Email: hmather@onetel.net.uk
FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS
Embargoed press releases and articles are available from:
Public Affairs Division
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9JR
(contact: pressoffice@bma.org.uk)
and from:
the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
(http://www.eurekalert.org)