Editorial

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Roseveare ◽  

So the brief ‘respite’ of summer is over, and we find ourselves plunging, once more towards the abyss of winter bed pressures. Hopefully those of you working at the coalface will find time to browse through the following pages. The production of a third issue in this ‘shortened’ year, following the launch of the Journal in July, is a credit to the hard work of the editorial and publishing teams. I am, as ever, grateful for their support. Next year will see a return to the planned 4-monthly cycle, with issues anticipated in March, July and November. One casualty of the tight schedule has been a minor adjustment to the cycle of reviews – COPD will now appear next Spring. In its place we have included an interesting paper reviewing the management of Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Serotonin Syndrome, submitted by Consultant Psychiatrist David McNamara. Gastrointestinal haemorrhage and atrial fibrillation will be more familiar to readers, while Dr Joanna Girling’s review of the management of medical emergencies in pregnancy is essential reading for any physician working close to a maternity unit. Myasthenia gravis may not be the commonest medical emergency; nonetheless it is important that physicians are able to suspect, diagnose and initiate treatment for this condition. As I mentioned in my last editorial, I am keen to encourage submissions of case reports, audits, and pieces of original research provided they would appeal to a general medical readership. Cases need not be rare conditions, but must contain a clear teaching message for the reader. In future editions case reports will be categorised as ‘Tales of the Unexpected’, and ‘A Case to Remember’ (a memorable case or one with a message that readers should remember in future). The report on page 106 is an example of the latter – an important reminder that a radiological diagnosis of ‘pneumonia’ does not always imply an infective cause. Finally, I would like to thank those of you who have written with feedback following the previous edition of CPD Acute Medicine. We are clearly attempting to appeal to physicians from a broad range of backgrounds, and I hope that all readers find something which appeals to them in the pages which follow. Please feel free to write with your comments on any issue which you would like to share with the editorial team – depending on the response we may consider including a correspondence section in future editions of the journal.

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  

When I was invited to take over as Editor of this journal, I had little idea of the amount of work which went into its production. I am indebted to Paul Jenkins for staying on in the role of sub-editor, and for helping me up a very steep learning curve over the past few months. I am certain that regular readers will wish to join me in thanking Paul and his editorial team for all their hard work during the last three years. The new editorial board has been expanded to include physicians with a broad range of specialty interests. We will be making use of their expertise and their contacts within their fields to commission reviews on a range of topics relevant to Physicians involved in the Acute Medical take. The intention is to cover all of the common (and some less common) conditions presenting as medical emergencies over a four yearly cycle. Ultimately this will mean that regular subscribers will have access to a comprehensive ‘textbook’ of acute medicine, with ongoing regular updates. The cycle schedule has already been determined, and a provisional plan is listed on page 71. The second section of the journal will include some new features. Some of these will be commissioned, but we would also like to encourage submissions from the readership. Case reports of a ‘General Medical’ nature, pieces of original research and audits relevant to Acute Medicine would be most welcome for this section. ‘Viewpoint’ is intended as a soapbox for anyone with a strong opinion which they would like to air in around 1000 words. This edition contains reviews of the management of suspected pulmonary embolism, diabetic ketoacidosis, anaphylaxis and cellulitis, all relatively common presentations on an Acute Medical take. In addition, we have a detailed review of the management of severe asthma, written from an intensivist’s perspective. This should provide an insight into the management of this complex group of patients, for those of you who are unfamiliar with what goes on beyond the ITU doors. Our ‘How to do it’ feature for this edition is an ophthalmologists’ view of fundoscopy, and some key abnormalities of the optic disc. Self assessment questions and answers are included at the back of this edition. Unfortunately, external CPD credits cannot currently be accrued by completion of these, although we hope to remedy this in the near future. I am sure this will not detract from the enjoyment of reading the journal, which I hope you find as educational an experience as I have had in editing it.


2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F Jenkins ◽  

As you can see, the title of the Journal has changed and this is intended to emphasize its educational direction. It will continue to commission articles covering general medical topics with a particular emphasis on the management of acute medical emergencies, aiming to reflect the challenges that face those physicians responsible for supporting the acute medical intake. The CME component will continue,so helping to facilitate the accumulation of CPD points in General Medicine. As always we welcome submissions for publication and these can take the form of original research in areas of relevance to Acute Medicine or case-reports. We will continue to commission review articles as otherwise it proves impossible to maintain the cycle and the combination of articles we have planned. I am particularly enthused by the combination of topics covered in this Edition and I do hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed my editing duties. Profound thanks as always to those who have so kindly contributed;we do appreciate the extra commitment, especially in these days of inexorably heavier work-load for clinicians. This is my last Journal as Editor and I must extend my gratitude to those who have written articles over the past four years, to the member of the Editorial Board and of course to the Staff at RILA who have self lessly supported the Editor’s task. Unfailingly efficient they have been a complete pleasure to work with and very under tanding of the occasional memory lapse of this particular Editor! Chris Roseveare, Consultant in Acute Medicine in Southampton, takes over and the new editorial board will be announced in the next issue. Chris has some brilliant ideas and will lead this Journal to renewed success I am sure. I wish him the best of luck.


2015 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. iv-iv
Author(s):  
Tim Lane

This year will see some fundamental changes at the Annals – changes that are aimed at both enhancing and maintaining its appeal across the broad range of surgical specialties. In this respect, there have already been some important refinements to the structure of the Editorial board. The Annals will now have representatives on its panel from the diapason of subspecialties. It is hoped that this will ensure an equitable apportionment of high-quality original research, review articles and case reports from across the surgical spectrum. It represents the single most tangible adjustment to the structure of the Annals in a generation and one of which I am sure Sir Cecil Wakeley would have approved. I would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome our new board members and invite them to join with our other long-term stalwarts into what is a uniquely collegiate editorial team. As many of our fellows and members will already be aware, there has been a significant shift made over the last few months in the handling of research contributions to the Annals. In recent weeks we have completed the transition to our new submissions portal and it is encouraging that reviewers and authors alike have commended it in equal measure. While we are sadly not in a position to accept much of the material submitted to the journal (we currently accept only one tenth of all the articles subjected to peer review) we can at least aim to improve and enhance the experience for all those involved. In many ways this digital migration is a precursor to a number of innovations that will fundamentally transform the way in which we produce the Annals, the most significant of which is the launch of our new digital platform this month. These innovations signal a gradual move away from the printed version as the principal conduit by which the Annals is distributed. Inevitably, there will be those who will lament the passing of this hitherto more familiar and tactile media and so measures are in hand to allow for a more limited production of a paper version of the Annals for RCS fellows and members who continue to elect to receive their Annals in the traditional format. Medical colleges around the world are currently undergoing similar deliberations and for some a digital version may represent the only opportunity to maintain editorial independence – unhindered by the implications of a commercial publishing partner. It is however hoped that for the vast majority of fellows and members, the new and enhanced digital platform will offer significant advantages such that the digital version becomes the de facto medium of choice. Matt Whitaker and the team at the Annals should be congratulated for their sterling efforts in making this transition. The new site, now live at http://publishing.rcseng.ac.uk , will enhance the experience of finding, accessing, reading, citing, sharing and saving articles from the Annals, Bulletin and FDJ. Sign-on will be much easier; page load times quicker and the search engine more powerful and intuitive. The new platform boasts improved functionality, full in-page article text and multi-media, citation tracking, reference generators and advanced social media integration. We are simultaneously launching a new video library where we will be hosting our technical videos. It will, I am certain, become a huge resource for our surgical fraternity. Our new platform will be followed later this year by the inevitable and ubiquitous app, which will allow readers to download issues of the Annals and read them offline and at leisure on whatever their tablet of choice might be. It is my belief that these and forthcoming changes herald the transformation of the Annals into a truly modern journal with all the digital services that authors and readers now rightly expect from their RCS publication. Tim Lane Editor-in-Chief, [email protected]


Author(s):  
Christine Wittenburg ◽  
Jean Ellen Duckworth

Toxicology forms part of homeopathy. The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, incorporated many toxicological symptoms in his Materia Medica. These symptoms are part of the information homeopathic practitioners relay on to choose the appropriate medication for their patients. This medication is administered in form of ultra-high dilutions. Hahnemann also developed Materia Medica on the base of provings done with high diluted substances only – simply because these substances did not have a known toxicology at his time. Alumina is one of these substances. Today we possess a reliable toxicology of aluminum and its compounds. The objective of this study was to determine the grade of concordance between homeopathic (highly diluted) Alumina and aluminum toxicology. A striking concordance will add to evidence of homeopathically potentized substances. The present was a literature-based investigation conducted from a phenomenologist stance. The design is a novel one. Symptoms of aluminum intoxication were obtained from case reports published in scholarly journals. 70 original research articles containing case-reports of 5 aluminum-induced diseases served for the extraction of over 300 symptoms. These symptoms were compared to Hahnemann´s Alumina proving symptoms. A review of modern investigations of the toxic effects of aluminum showed that the conventional medical paradigm and basic science are just starting to explore the huge number of noxious effects the metal has on human, animal and plant health. Qualitative explorations of the relevant homeopathic literature (toxicology in homeopathy and Alumina in randomized controlled trials) resulted in the finding that toxicology plays a minor role in modern homeopathy and that Alumina has been poorly investigated. The result of the quantitative part of this study – the comparison of proving and toxicology obtained from clinical cases – shows an uneven picture. It leads to only partly significant concordances between symptoms from both sources which are strong in core areas of Alumina´s remedy action while the overall comparison shows a coincidence of 50.76% (39.76% for symptoms probably produced by UHDs). This study has to be seen as a pilot for a literature-based proof of the evidence of homeopathic potencies. There remains much to be done, especially in the realm of homeopathic proving and its design. Hahnemann´s procedure – to rely on sensible provers – should be reconsidered. The reproving of Alumina should be envisaged. Keywords: Homeopathy, proving, toxicology, homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT), Alumina, aluminum


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 155-155
Author(s):  
Chris Roseveare ◽  

My time has come. After 15 years and over 50 editions it is time for me to hang up my metaphorical red biro, and hand over the role of Editor. It has been an interesting job, and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed and supported the journal over this period. When I took on the position in 2002, this journal was very different to how it is today. Some readers may recall its original incarnation as the CPD journal of Internal Medicine, part of a series of publications produced at that time by Rila. Initially this was comprised predominantly of commissioned review articles, running over a 5 year cycle which was designed to cover the common conditions managed by ‘general’ physicians. As time progressed, the number of unsolicited submissions grew steadily – initially (and continually) dominated by case reports, but with a slowly increasing number of research-based articles as the readership expanded. The quality of these submissions improved further when we finally attained indexing in PubMed, which also attracted more international submissions. I am delighted that the current edition features research papers from the Netherlands and Singapore, both of which have a growing community of Acute Physicians. I remain hopeful that the number of acute medicine-related research submissions from the UK will rise as the speciality grows. The number of high quality abstracts presented at the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM) meetings is indicative of the amount of work that is going on, but it is disappointing that so few of these turn into publications in peerreviewed journals. Acute Physicians are busy people with constant and year-round operational pressures, which may mean that writing up research is continually pushed down the list of priorities. Perhaps also the fact that the number of consultant posts across the continues to exceed the number of Acute Internal Medicine trainees removes some of the ‘pressure to publish’ which is felt by trainees in other hospital specialities. My hopes for the future of this journal have been boosted by the appointment of Tim Cooksley as my replacement ‘Editor in Chief’, who will take over from the Spring 2018 edition onwards. Tim has been a hard working member of the editorial team over recent years, and prior to this was a regular contributor to the journal. He has a strong research background and is a leading member of the SAMBA academy and SAM research committee. I would also like to thank the other members of the editorial board without whose support and contributions this job would have been completely untenable. I understand that Tim plans to keep many of these colleagues in post, as well as bringing in some ‘new blood’ to create a fresh new vision for the future. I wish them all well, and will look forward to reading (as opposed to writing) these editorials. Thanks, finally, to all of the loyal readers who have stuck with the journal over the past 2 decades. I hope that we have managed to keep you entertained and educated on those occasional moments of respite during the acute medical on-call. I wish you all well for the future.


Author(s):  
Surendra Man Shrestha

It gives me great pleasure to publish first issue of journal of NSPOI. We intended to publish case reports, review articles, with main focus on original research articles. Our objective is to reach all the clinical practitioners, who have knowledge and interest but have lack of time to record the interesting cases, research activities and new innovative procedures which help us in updating our knowledge and improving our treatment. Our main emphasis is to promote scientific papers of good quality and we extend our boundaries right from periodontal care to allied sciences. We feel that there is a wide scope to explore various fields of dental sciences. With clear intentions we welcome you to post comments related to the journal by sparing your valuable time and request you to send articles. Finally, I thank my editorial team, technical team, authors and well wishers, who are promoting this journal. I specially thank the president of NSPOI, Dr Shaili Pradhan who has trusted me and given this responsibility. With these words, I conclude with thanks to Dr. Bhageshwar Dhami, Executive editor for his continuous effort to publish this journal. Prof. Dr. Surendra Man ShresthaJNSPOIEditor-in-Chief


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-94
Author(s):  
Chris Roseveare ◽  

As we look forward to the warmer months. Last year saw a dramatic rise in the number of training posts in Acute Medicine, a trend which will continue this August. The Department of Health considers Acute Medicine to be one of the few hospital specialities with the potential for future expansion, and additional funded NTNs have been made available. This is undoubtedly good news for the speciality; however, it is clearly important to ensure that any additional numbers can be accommodated without diluting the opportunities for our existing trainees. From discussions with trainers and trainees alike, it is clear that there remains wide variation in Acute Medicine training programmes across different regions. The recently formed Acute Medicine Programme Directors group has started to address these issues, and has presented proposals for a more formalised training structure to the JRCPTB. Speciality skills training remains one of the most contentious areas, which is likely to increase as trainee numbers rise. The feasibility of providing every acute medicine trainee with suffi cient exposure to a practical procedure such as echocardiography or ultrasound may require a rethink in future training plans. Development of a special interest in Medical Education, management or research may be more appropriate and arguably more useful to future consultants and employers. A respiratory fl avour fl ows through many of the articles in this edition of the journal. Alistair Proudfoot’s article on the treatment of pulmonary embolism follows on from his review of the diagnosis of this condition in the previous edition. If there were a prize for the most comprehensive referencing this review would certainly win by some margin. Of course this list would have been pruned, were it not for his inclusion of the editors own paper at citation number 106. It clearly pays to save the best until last! In another sequel Mayank Patel follows up the previous review on the management of acute symptomatic hyponatraemia with a comprehensive summary of the more common scenario of the asymptomatic hyponatraemic patient on the AMU. The article on pleural effusion is the fi rst of two papers on management of pleural disease; pneumothorax will follow in a future edition. As usual the case reports have been selected for publication to highlight important teaching messages. Orthodeoxia platypnoea may be unfamiliar to acute physicians, but the case illustrates the importance of apparently minor details in the history in this case the marked variation in symptoms relating to posture. The challenges of risk versus benefi t for anticoagulation in patients with metallic heart valves are highlighted by the case of fatal intra-hepatic haemorrhage; this month’s picture quiz demonstrates the importance of the history when considering intercostal tube insertion for a ‘radiological diagnosis’ of pneumothorax. ‘Viewpoint’ is intended as an opportunity to stir up debate, and the article by Clare et al in the last edition produced a ripple of disquiet amongst some readers. The interface between acute and emergency medicine remains a contentious area, and further contributions to this debate are welcomed for consideration in future editions.


Author(s):  
Surendra Man Shrestha

It gives me great pleasure to publish the second issue (Jul-Dec, 2017) of Journal of NSPOI (JNSPOI). We intend to publish original research articles, case reports, review articles, personal communications, viewpoints, book reviews, letters to the editor and editorials with the main focus on original research articles. Our objective is to reach out to all the clinicians, who have knowledge and interest but lack time to record the interesting cases, research activities and new innovative procedures that help us in updating our knowledge and improving our treatment protocols. Our main emphasis is to promote genuine scientific papers and we extend our boundaries right from periodontal care to allied health sciences. We feel that there is a wide scope to explore in various fields of dental sciences. With these intentions, we welcome you to post comments related to the journal by sparing your valuable time and request you to send articles. Finally, I thank my editorial team, technical team, authors and well-wishers, who are promoting this journal. I specially thank the president of NSPOI, Dr. Shaili Pradhan who has trusted me and given this responsibility. With these words, I conclude with thanks to Dr. Bhageshwar Dhami, Executive Editor and Dr. Sujaya Gupta, Assistant Executive Editor for their relentless effort to publish this journal.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-2
Author(s):  
Chris Roseveare ◽  

The nature of Acute Medicine requires physicians to make ‘high stakes’ decisions on a regular basis. The constant pressure to create space within a busy Acute Medical Unit needs to be weighed up against the dangers of missing serious pathology due to a premature discharge. A visit to the Coroner’s court or the fear of litigation may make us more cautious, but even the most cautious physician will ‘get it wrong’ on occasions. Case reports submitted to this journal frequently highlight these dangers; rare or serious pathology masquerading as a common or benign illness, followed by an unexpected deterioration, is a regular theme. Early Warning Scores have helped to improve safety for those patients who remain in hospital – Katherine Rowe’s article on p8 discusses the value of Critical Care Outreach in supporting this process. However neither of these innovations is of use for those patients discharged home. The ability to provide early AMU-based follow-up clinics is an important element in reducing risk for this group. The case report on p24 from the team at Hutt Valley Hospital in New Zealand illustrates the value of early reassessment following discharge. In this case the diagnosis of lead poisoning was not considered as a cause for the patient’s myalgia at the time of admission – an understandable ‘miss’, given the apparent chest x-ray abnormality. However, early outpatient CT with follow-up enabled revisitation of the history and the correct diagnosis was made – with a favourable outcome. As finances become stretched over the coming months there will be pressure to reduce hospital follow-up visits. However any drive from Primary Care Trusts to reduce AMU follow-up clinics as a cost-saving measure needs to be resisted if we are to optimise the safety and efficiency of our service. On a different note, I am grateful to those of you who completed the on-line journal survey which was circulated to Society for Acute Medicine members earlier this year. I will aim to include a summary of the results in the next edition. The free-text sections have generated a number of interesting ideas, which we will try to incorporate into future editions on the journal. Many respondents indicated that they would like to see inclusion of more original research; however we remain dependent on submissions we receive, which explains the predominance of case reports in this, and previous, editions. The content of the journal can only be as good as the material we receive, so please keep the submissions coming, particularly AMU-based research projects and completed audits. I am also keen to expand the pool of expert referees for future articles. If any readers would like to contribute to this process, I would be grateful if you could contact me directly at the email address shown on this page, indicating your particular area of interest or expertise.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-2
Author(s):  
Chris Roseveare ◽  

Welcome to this special 10th anniversary edition of the Acute Medicine journal. Yes – there really have been 30 editions since Vol 1 issue 1, then the ‘CPD Journal of Acute Medicine’ rolled off the press. The journal has clearly evolved and expanded since then – both in terms of circulation and page count; submissions continue to rise in number and quality, ref lecting increased readership and developing interest in acute medicine as a speciality. We are marking the anniversary with a series of guest editorials, from inf luential figures in the development of the speciality over the past decade. I am delighted that Sir George Alberti agreed to write the first of these. George was the President of the Royal College of Physicians of London at the time of this journal’s first edition, and was instrumental in the developments leading up to the creation of the speciality of Acute Internal Medicine. After describing the challenges which the speciality has faced in its ‘gestation and birth’, he concludes that Acute Medicine has now reached its ‘rumbustious’ infancy with a bright future. ‘Overly exuberant or uncontrollably boisterous’, its definition, according to my Google dictionary are terms reminiscent of the past few weeks on our AMU. Hopefully, by the time this reaches printing, spring will be in the air and the dark days of winter, f lu and norovirus will be a distant memory. Optimism is as important as exuberance when working at the front line! As I mentioned in my last editorial, this year will see an increase from three to four issues, with the addition of a ‘trainee section’ containing a variety of new features. I hope that these will be of general interest, not just for the trainees. We have included a number of research-based articles this time, ref lecting some of the excellent work being done on acute medical units around the country. We still need to attract more research submissions if we are going to maintain the quality of the journal and develop into the high impact publication which the speciality so badly needs. Case reports continue to f lood in to the publishers and I am pleased that we are able to include a selection of these. The correspondence section is empty this time, after none was received in time for the publication deadline, but I hope this will return in the next edition. Finally, a word of thanks to the editorial committee, our external referees and, of course, the readers, for all the support over the past decade. The editorial team have worked tirelessly filtering, refereeing and selecting suitable articles for publication. Additional offers of help are always welcomed – please email me with details of any special areas of interest or expertise which you may be able to offer. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading this edition, and look forward to meeting some of you at the SAM meeting in May.


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