Volume 2, Number 4, September 2008

EDITORIALEditorial
Monica Fletcher

The year is racing by – autumn is already upon us! It’s a time which fills me with great expectations, with memories of starting a new academic year at school or university. Many of you may still be experiencing this through your children! I love the feeling of opening a clean ‘exercise book’! Some of you may even be contemplating starting up studies again. The Education for Health graduation ceremony is being held in October; it is one of the most thrilling events in our academic calendar – seeing the smiles on the faces of the mature graduates and their families as they attain awards that they never felt would be possible! Let them be an inspiration to you all; it is never too late to start! Our team here at Education for Health would be delighted to discuss any programmes you might be interested in.

EVIDENCE IN PRACTICEEvidence in Practice

There are just not enough hours in the day to read all the research journals, even if you wanted to. This section of BJPCN – Evidence in Practice – will keep you on top of relevant research without having to spend hours in the library. Each review gives you a bite-size summary of new research, pulling out key points for primary care and recommending the action that you might consider taking.

POPULAR
TOPICNEWSNews from Education for Health

NEWSNews from General Practice Airways Group (GPIAG)

DISEASE FOCUSLung Cancer: Diagnosis and Therapy
Dr Carol Min, Dr John Wiggins

There are over 37,000 new cases of lung cancer each year in the UK and it is the most common cancer in males and second most common after breast cancer in females. The role of the multidisciplinary team is essential in the management of these patients and it is important for all members of the team to know the signs to look for and actions to take in cases of suspected lung cancer. This article reviews the current methods of diagnosis and treatments available for lung cancer and the role of the primary healthcare professional.

POPULAR
TOPICDISEASE FOCUSAnxiety in Patients with Respiratory Disease
Karen Heslop

Anxiety is a significant problem for many patients with respiratory disease and can have a very negative impact on the disease course and prognosis. Practice nurses have an important role to play in identifying anxiety and referring patients for appropriate treatment. This article will focus on anxiety in such patients and aims to help you understand what anxiety is, how anxiety affects patients, how to recognise symptoms of anxiety and how to use the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A second article, to be published in the next issue, will focus on management of anxiety.

BACK TO BASICSAnaphylaxis and Adrenaline Auto-Injector Pens

DID YOU KNOW?Food Allergy in Childhood
Dr Andrew Clark

Milk, eggs and peanuts are the most common foods causing allergy in early childhood. The prevalence of these allergies is on the increase. A thorough clinical history together with an allergy test allows for a clear diagnosis and implementation of a comprehensive management plan. This article outlines some of the key features in diagnosing and managing childhood allergies.

POPULAR
TOPICDIAGNOSISCough as a Presenting Symptom in General Practice
Dr Paul Stephenson

Cough is a common presenting symptom in primary care. It has a prevalence of 30% in the general European population, and in a US National Medical Case Survey in 1991 cough was the commonest presenting complaint. Between 10% and 38% of all new patient referrals to UK hospital chest clinics are for chronic cough. This article covers the physiological nature of cough and its role as an essential protective reflex, focuses on the differential diagnosis of cough in general practice in both adults and children, and discusses the use of treatment as a diagnostic tool.

HAVE YOU HEARD?Have you Heard?

POPULAR
TOPICRESEARCH MADE EASYHypothesis Testing – Just an ‘Educated Guess’?
Samantha Walker, Jane Upton

POPULAR
TOPICGUIDELINESWhat’s New in the BTS/SIGN Asthma Guideline on Diagnosis?
Monica Fletcher

In the last issue, we highlighted some of the key changes in the new British Thoracic Society and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (BTS/SIGN) asthma guideline. Although this is a ‘live guideline’ and is updated annually on the two organisations’ websites, this is the first comprehensive rewrite since it was published in hard copy in 2003. Here, we fill out some of the detail on asthma diagnosis and discuss the changes that impact primary care.