CMAJ Podcasts

Madness is inextricably part of civilization and central to the human experience. Interview with Andrew Scull, professor of Sociology and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Read Andrew Scull’s Medicine and Society essay article published in the CMAJ: https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.151418To request a transcript of this podcast, contact cmajgroup@cmaj.caSubscrib...

This guideline by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care presents evidence-based recommendations for primary care providers on screening for developmental delay in children aged one to four years with no apparent signs of such delay in primary care settings. The guideline does not offer recommendations for surveillance, case finding or diagnosis of developmental delay. Dr. Patricia Park...

Interview with Donna Dickenson, emeritus professor of medical ethics and humanities at the University of London. Consumer genetic testing, and subsequent personalized medicine are, by some accounts, the harbingers of a revolution in medicine. In the sphere of pharmacology, this conceit has ethical and practical implications, says international ethics expert Donna Dickenson. Full article: https://w...

International guidelines recommend limiting the daily intake of added sugars to less than 5% to 10% of calories. Unlike the 2015 US proposal for changes to the nutrition label, Canada’s proposed changes exclude the declaration of added sugars. The authors of a CMAJ commentary call on the new federal government to rethink this in the interests of public health. Mandating transparency about added su...

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) has updated its recommendations on screening for lung cancer. In contrast to its previous guidance, the task force now recommends using low-dose CT to screen adults between 55 and 74 years of age who are at high risk for lung cancer on an annual basis for three consecutive years. The change in recommendation is based on a systematic review...

Women’s health pioneer Dr. May Cohen will soon join other luminaries in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Cohen entered medicine at a time when less than 10% of graduating physicians were female and textbook medical research was based on a 70kg male body. She later went on to shatter that paradigm, co-founding Canada’s first Women’s Health Office at McMaster University, as well as the Women’s Hea...

An examination of clinical data from one Canadian diagnostic centre shows that active surveillance has become an increasingly common management strategy for men with low-grade prostate cancer, instead of immediate treatment. Dr. Rodney Breau, co-author of the research article, explains in this interview podcast. Dr. Breau is a surgical oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital, assistant professor of urol...

Who should be screened for colorectal cancer? How often? What screening method should be used? Dr. Maria Bacchus, internist at Foothills Hospital in Calgary and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary, explains in this podcast. Dr. Bacchus is one of the authors of this 2016 Canadian Task Force colorectal cancer screening guideline published in the CMAJ.Full g...

Interview with two authors of a large population-based study from Ontario. The authors looked at risk of suicide following a concussion. They also compared weekend versus weekend concussion. Dr. Donald Redelmeier is a general internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, professor in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto, and senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evalu...

Interview with Dr. Derek MacFadden, infectious diseases physician practising at the University Health Network in Toronto as well as doctoral student in infectious disease epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Dr. MacFadden is the co-author of a practice article published in the CMAJ. He tells us what we need to know about the Zika virus, which is spreading rapidly thr...

For out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occurring in high-rise residential buildings, the survival rate is lower for patients on higher floors, according to findings of a large retrospective database study from Ontario. The logistics of delivering emergency care in high-rise buildings may contribute to lower survival. In this podcast, Dr. Matthew Stanbrook, deputy editor for CMAJ, interviews Ian Drenna...

RCTs of treatment as prevention have shown significant prevention of onward HIV transmission among serodiscordant couples, but observational studies of clinical practice have not consistently replicated these findings. There are particular concerns among men who have sex with men (MSM). In this podcast, Dr. Paul MacPherson explores some of the issues. Dr. MacPherson is a specialist in the Division...

Diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is essential to improve outcomes for affected individuals and families, and to inform pre-pregnancy counselling to prevent future cases. This guideline from the Canada Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research Network provides evidence-based recommendations for best practices in the diagnosis of this condition. In this podcast, two of the authors of the...

If physician-assisted death becomes legal in Canada, physicians need to know whether and, if so, how to record it on medical certificates of death. In this podcast, Jocelyn Downie, Professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine, and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Law, at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, discusses the best approach by examining current practice a...

There is mounting evidence now suggesting that prematurity may lead to a variety of adult diseases, such as hypertension, obstructive lung disease, or osteopenia. However, there is little guidance for physicians on how to provide proper long-term follow-up for their patients who were born preterm. In this podcast, two of the co-authors of a review article published in CMAJ, Dr. Tuy Mai Luu, clinic...

The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame will soon honour Dr. Mark Wainberg for his achievements in HIV research and AIDS advocacy. From the initial identification of 3TC, one of the most widely used HIV treatments, to drawing unprecedented attention to global disparities in access to antiretrovirals as president of the International AIDS Society, Dr. Wainberg's work has helped save millions of live...

Interview with Dr. Kevin Pottie, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, and Epidemiology & Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Pottie is also Principal Scientist at the C.T. Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre, Bruyère Research Institute at the University of Ottawa. As people age, changes to the structure and the function of the brain may result in cognitive decline. Th...

Some 800,000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East have made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe this year. Many suffer from untreated injuries and medical conditions, and more than 3,000 have died or gone missing at sea. In this podcast, CMAJ News reporter Lauren Vogel interviews Dr. Simon Bryant, an Alberta physician who experienced the crisis first-hand volunteering o...

Interview with Matthew Smith, senior lecturer at the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Smith discusses his humanities article called: "Witchcraft, fad or a racket?" Food allergy in historical perspective. Full article: https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.150575To request a transcript of this podcast, contact...

Interview with Dr. Shannon Humphrey, medical and cosmetic dermatologist in Vancouver, and assistant professor and director of CME in the Department of Dermatology and Skin Science at the University of British Columbia. Acne can adversely affect quality of life and may lead to emotional distress and permanent scarring. This evidence-based guideline was developed to facilitate efficient diagnosis an...

Canada’s new Liberal government must soon decide whether to follow through on plans to replace Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers. Earlier this year, the former Conservative government gave Sapers a temporary contract pending his replacement. Since 2004, Sapers has challenged the government’s treatment of Aboriginal offenders and inmates with mental illness. In this podcast, he joins CMAJ rep...

Interview with Dr. Alvaro Morales, urologist and Professor Emeritus at Queen’s University School of Medicine in Kingston, Ontario. Dr. Morales and a team of experts have published evidence-based guidelines in the CMAJ for the diagnosis and management of testosterone deficiency syndrome in men. This guideline addresses clinical questions surrounding the diagnosis of testosterone deficiency and the...

Interview with Dr. Elissa Abrams, Pediatric Allergist Immunologist with the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Guidelines used to recommend that parents avoid feeding their infants common allergenic foods in their first year, but expert advice has recently changed. Emerging evidence from randomized controlled trials suggests that early introduction of allergenic foods, parti...

NEW FORMAT. Dr. Diane Kelsall, deputy editor, presents highlights of the October 20th issue of CMAJ. As well, listen to in-depth author interviews on selected articles. In this issue: - Outcomes of delivery by family physicians or obstetricians; interview with author Dr. Kris Aubrey-Bassler (0:56–19:06)- Resting heart rate and variability in old age (19:06–20:05)- CMAJ Open highlights: medical and...

Highlights of the October 6th issue of CMAJ, presented by Dr. John Fletcher, editor-in-chief. In this issue: austerity and fiscal prudence are health issues, food insecurity and annual health care costs, physician experience and patient outcomes, psychedelic medicine as a re-emerging therapy, cardiac Lyme borreliosis, voriconazole-induced periostitis, multifocal strokes with HIV infection, and mor...