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Drug-eluting stents revolutionised interventional cardiology owing to their pronounced ability to reduce restenosis compared with bare-metal stents. Attention has now shifted to safety of these devices because of evidence suggesting an association with late stent thrombosis. In a review, Anthony Bavry and Deepak Bhatt assess current evidence from randomised trials, and propose guidelines for the a...

In this week's podcast, David Shlim from Jackson Hole Travel Centre, Wyoming, USA, assesses the phase II study of Frech and colleagues suggesting that a skin patch could have therapeutic value in protecting against the most common cause of travellers' diarrhoea, that caused by the pathogen enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.

A review highlights how moderate hypothermia - reducing core body temperature to around 35C - is underused in clinical practice after traumatic events such as heart attack, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Author Kees Polderman discusses the potential of moderate hypothermia in this week's podcast.

In this week's podcast, editor Sally Hargreaves talks to the author of a Research Article published early online on sudden unexplained death in infants (SUDI). Although sudden infant death remains one of the most common presentations of post-neonatal infant death in the UK, there still remain numerous theories about its cause. Dr Neil Sebire from the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children,...

A staggering quarter of a billion people worldwide have diabetes, with this figure set to rise to 380 million by 2025. In this week's podcast, Jane Godsland discusses many of the topics in the May 24-30 diabetes issue of The Lancet: research showing that intensive insulin therapy given early after diagnosis of type 2 diabetes can reverse disease progression; public-health interventions in a Ch...

John McCain entered typical Democratic turf last month by announcing plans to reform health care in the USA if he is elected as the country's next president. His blueprint is one that may prove popular with employers, but will it impress voters? The thrust of McCain's plan is to replace employment-based health insurance schemes with tax credits—so individuals will have to 'shop a...

Teenage smoking is a global public-health problem. In this week's podcast Professor Rhona Campbell outlines the results of the ASSIST (A Stop Smoking In Schools Trial) training programme. Smoking rates reduced by nearly a quarter in schools using peer-group leadership to encourage teenagers to quit compared with a conventional teacher-led educational approach.

Authors of a research Article discuss in this week's podcast how two genetic variants of key biological proteins increase both the risk of osteoporosis and osteoporotic bone fractures. As these variants are present in more than one in five people, the investigators conclude that there is a potential role for screening. An accompanying Comment describes the report as an important step towards u...

'The pieces are increasingly in place to achieve the Secretary General's vision for universal coverage and make rapid gains toward ending malaria deaths in Africa. With one child dying every 30 seconds from malaria in Africa, we have not a moment to lose'. In a joint podcast between The Lancet and The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Sally Hargreaves assesses renewed efforts to scale up pre...

A randomised trial highlights how multislice computed tamography (MSCT) without ultrasonography of the leg is a reliable technique for detecting pulmonary embolism. Lead author Marc Righini (Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland) discusses the study in this week's podcast.

Key findings from the Countdown special issue were presented at a press conference held at the Science Media Centre, London, UK, on Thursday April 10. Listen to highlights in this week's podcast.

Doubts over the long-term safety of the HIV nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor abacavir and the less commonly used antiretroviral drug didanosine are raised in a research Article. Both drugs were found to be associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction. Jens Lundgren (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) discusses the study in this week's podcast.

Seminar author Murray Stein from the University of California San Diego, USA, discusses social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, in this week's podcast. While causes remain uncertain, diagnosis and treatment are relatively straightforward, although the disorder needs greater awareness among the estimated 5% of the population who experience social anxiety, and among physicians who...

Josef Smolen from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, discusses in this week's podcast how the monoclonal antibody tocilizumab could be effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis. Tocilizumab blocks interleukin 6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in the biological process behind rheumatoid arthritis

Many patients diagnosed with acute rhinosinusitis are prescribed antibiotics, even though there is no proven efficacy for this treatment strategy. In this week's podcast, two authors of an Article conclude that, in most cases, antibiotics are over-prescribed and their use is not justified, even among patients who have rhinosinusitis symptoms for more than 7-10 days.

In this week's podcast, Martin Bachmann discusses results of a phase II study showing how a vaccine to inhibit angiotensin II is safe and well tolerated; the vaccine also shows promising results in reducing blood pressure for people with hypertension. Authors of a Comment state: "Vaccination for hypertension may turn out to be very useful in many patients."

In this week's podcast, Andy Beswick from the University of Bristol, UK, discusses the systematic review and meta-analysis highlighting how complex interventions (such as preventive home visits and community-based care after hospital discharge) can help improve physical function and maintain independent living among elderly people.

This week's podcast focuses on human resources for health, the theme of this week's Lancet. Rhona MacDonald interviews several authors from the issue, including Francis Omaswa, Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance, whose organisation is hosting an international conference about huamn resources for health early next month in Kampala, Uganda.

Previous studies have suggested an association between increased body mass and risk of some common cancers. In this week's podcast, Andrew Renehan discusses a meta-analysis in this week's issue, and highlights new findings relating to gender and ethnic variations concerning body weight and risk of cancer.

Rhona MacDonald interviews Manjinder Sandhu about a genome-wide association study which looks at LDL-cholesterol concentrations and a novel locus on chromosome 1p13.3. Dr Sandhu also explains more about the principles of genome-wide studies and also discusses their potential to influence clinical practice.

More than half of hospital patients are likely to be at risk of venous thromboembolism, and measures should be taken to ensure appropriate preventative treatments (prophylaxis) are given, concludes Alexander Cohen, Kings College London, UK, lead author of the ENDORSE study, in this week's podcast.

In this week's podcast Pam Das discusses the Editorial calling for oral contraceptives to be made more widely available to women 'over the counter'. This is in response to a study showing how long-term use of oral contraceptives is protective against ovarian cancer, discussed by Professor Valerie Beral (University of Oxford, UK).

Includes highlights from the London launch of The Lancet maternal and child undernutrition series, with new figures showing how a third of child deaths and 11% of the global disease burden arises from por nutrition in childhood.

At least 170 million people worldwide are estimated to have diabetes mellitus, and this number is predicted to more than double by 2030. In this week's podcast Professor Colin Baigent from the Cholesterol Treatment Triallists Collaboration at the University of Oxford, UK, discusses a large meta-analysis which shows how people with diabetes can reduce their risk of cardiovascular events from st...

In this week's podcast, The Lancet's North American Senior Editor Faith McLellan discusses a recent ruling by the state of New Jersey, USA, and the work of the US Supreme Court in 2007-08 that could have a profound effect on state execution, a major health and human rights issue still confronting many countries worldwide.