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The workplace environment and doctors’ health (ENT)

It is well established that doctors have higher levels of stress, depression and suicide than the general population [1] and most other professional groups (Figure 1 illustrates the factors that can make us ill). In addition they have high levels...

Communicating with patients in 
‘Plain English’

Physicians have long been accused of using unnecessarily complicated language and impenetrable jargon as a way of maintaining their status, prestige and high earnings-potential, bamboozling the public and excluding them from meaningful discussion as part of what George Bernard Shaw...

Imaging tinnitus

Tinnitus is a common sensation with a reported prevalence of 7-32%. The British National Study of Hearing recorded that 10% of adults suffered from prolong spontaneous tinnitus, and approximately a quarter of these are subsequently referred to hospital for investigation...

Maxillofacial and neck surgery in Iraq and Afghanistan

Introduction Over the past 150 years, military personnel wounded in action had a survival rate of approximately 80% [1]. During the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, those servicemen wounded in action have a 90.4% survival rate [2]. During the...

Advances in vestibular function testing

Vestibular function testing has historically been limited by difficulties in testing individual parts of the vestibular apparatus. Jas Sandhu describes new tests available to clinicians that address this problem. Advances in vestibular function testing Vestibular function testing has historically been...

Patient and public involvement in research

One step further from involving patients in setting research priorities is to involve them in the planning and recruitment stages of the subsequent trials and studies. Here, Carl Philpott and Aneeka Degun explain the concept of Patient and Public Involvement...

Staphylococcus aureus as a cause of refractory chronic rhinosinusitis

Staphylococcus aureus has long been linked to chronic rhinosinusitis, particularly recalcitrant cases. In this article, Alkis Psaltis describes how newer techniques have shown higher rates of S. aureus infection than were previously thought, and explains how the bacteria are able...

Tone deafness and perfect pitch

If you think you are tone deaf, do not despair. Singing tuition should help but it is probably too late to hope to develop perfect pitch. Consultant otolaryngologist and keen musician, Chris Aldren, discusses the complex and fascinating subject of...

Are ENT patients who research their symptoms online better informed?

All our patients look up their symptoms online before they visit us, don’t they? And patients who do so are better informed than those who don’t, right? Well, that’s not actually the case… The ‘information era’ More information is now...

Achieving consensus on candidacy for cochlear implantation

The British Cochlear Implant Group’s candidacy working group recently ran a national exercise, working towards a consensus on candidacy for cochlear implantation in the UK. Padraig Kitterick and Debi Vickers were instrumental in this exercise, and in the article below,...

Can we prevent chronic rhinosinusitis?

The old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ is considered by Professor Hopkins in respect to chronic rhinosinusitis, a condition affecting around 10% of the adult population and associated with huge impact on quality of life and economic cost. A...

Active middle ear implants and bone-anchored hearing systems

The implantable hearing device market has grown significantly over recent years. But as conventional hearing aids improve and cochlear implant candidacy widens, what is the role for active middle ear implants and bone anchored hearing systems, and how should we...