Talk Evidence
Episodes
The power and the pitfalls of early diagnosis
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is a growing market of new diagnostic tests being targeted directly to consumers, often before high-quality evidence about their effectiveness i...
Gabapentinoid pain meds linked to self-harm, and getting to the Core of GRADE
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Helen MacDonald and Juan Franco are back to examine the newest in evidence based medicine. Â In this episode: gabapentinoids are medications routinel...
The evidence on physician associates, and the evidence against back pain injections
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Helen MacDonald and Juan Franco are back, magnifying glasses in hand, to take a closer look at what’s happening in evidence based medicine.  In th...
Anti-HIV injections vs. oral medication, and best uses for AI in healthcare
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
 Helen Macdonald and Juan Franco are back, delving into some new evidence.  Studies showing that bi-annual injection that could prevent HIV transm...
UTI dipstick tests, and the effects of staff turnover on patients
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of 2025, hosts Helen MacDonald and Juan Franco focus on hospitals - asking how useful UTI dipstick tests really are for acutely ...
Talking Christmas evidence 2024
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special festive episode, Helen MacDonald, Juan Franco, and guest Tim Feeney discuss three intriguing themes from BMJ's 2024 Christmas edition:...
Starting to measure sustainability, and changes in breast cancer screening
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Measuring the carbon impact of healthcare interventions is essential if we're going to make the sector sustainable, however tracing all of the emmissi...
The evidence on deprescribing
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's a therapeutics evidence feast this month. We start with deprescribing in older adults - Anna Hung, assistant professor at the Duke University Sch...
Will semaglutide buck the trend of other weight loss drugs?
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Macdonald, BMJ's publication ethics and content integrity editor, and Juan Franco, editor of BMJ EBM are back with another episode of Talk Evide...
Insulin without refrigeration and the complexities of consent
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The December edition of the Talk Evidence podcast discusses the complexities of seeking consent from patients who are part of large data sets, and som...
Low carb and cancer screening
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Each episode of Talk Evidence we take a dive into an issue or paper which is in the news, with a little help from some knowledgeable guests to help us...
Talking overdiagnosis
16 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this month's Talk Evidence, Helen and Juan are reporting from Preventing Overdiagnosis - the conference that raises issues of diagnostic accuracy, ...
Ensuring the integrity of research, and the future of AI as authors
05 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this month's Talk Evidence, we're getting a little meta - how do we keep an eye on research to make sure it's done with integrity. Helen Macdonald ...
Talk Evidence - post pandemic pruning, breast cancer screening, and orphan drugs
05 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald, Joe Ross, and Juan Franco are back to update us on what's happening in the world of medical evide...
Talk Evidence - post pandemic pruning, breast cancer screening, and orphan drugs
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald, Joe Ross, and Juan Franco are back to update us on what's happening in the world of medical evide...
Talk Evidence - cloning, reporting, and disseminating
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Macdonald, Juan Franco, and Joe Ross are back with our monthly update on the world of evidence based medicine. This episode delves into new met...
Talk Evidence - automatic approval, evidence apps, and pay for performance data
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this month’s Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald, Juan Franco and Joseph Ross are back to talk us through some of the latest research, They’ll tal...
Talk Evidence - masks, chronic pain, and baby milk formulae claims
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald is joined by Juan Franco and Joe Ross, to bring you the newest evidence in The BMJ. First, chronic ...
Talk Evidence - excess deaths, the ONS, and the healthcare crisis
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode, we're focusing on covid and the ongoing crisis in the NHS. Helen Macdonald, Juan Franco and Joseph Ross cast their evidence s...
Talking evidence at Christmas
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's almost time for the Christmas edition of the BMJ to hit your doormats, and in this festive edition of Talk Evidence we're going to be talking Chr...
Talk Evidence - endometriosis, falling, and better EBM
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this month's episode, Helen Juan and Joe delve into the clinical - with a new review of endometriosis, and why the difficulty in diagnosis has lead...
Talk Evidence - Diabetes data, colonoscopies, and researchers behaving badly
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this month's Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald, The BMJ's research integrity editor, is joined again by Juan Franco, editor in chief of BMJ EBM, and J...
Talk Evidence - Inquiring about covid, burnout, and marginal data
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's October's Talk Evidence, and that means the autumn is upon us including those autumnal viruses. Here in the UK covid is on the rise, and Joe Ros...
Talk Evidence - a new way of understanding antidepressant effectiveness
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode, Joe Ross, professor of medicine at Yale, and The BMJ's US research editor, and Juan Franco, researcher at Heinrich-Heine-Unive...
Talk Evidence - shoulders, knees, and woes
31 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Juan Franco, editor in chief of BMJ EBM, and Helen Macdonald, The BMJ's research integrity editor, sit down to discuss what's new in ...
Talk Evidence - political persuasion and mortality, too much medicine
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode, Helen Macdonald is joined by Joseph Ross, US research editor for The BMJ, and Juan Franco, editor of BMJ EBM. They begin by d...
Talk Evidence - evidence in Roe vs Wade, MI treatment variation, and tribal methodologies
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Macdonald, The BMJ's research integrity editor is back with another episode, and this week is joined by Joe Ross, professor of medicine and publ...
Covid vaccine safety, Methenamine hippurate, and intersectionality
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald, the BMJ’s research integrity editor is joined by Joe Ross, US research editor, and Juan Franco, e...
Talk Evidence - isolation periods, openness, and environmental impacts
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the first Talk Evidence of 2022, we'll be asking about the evidence for isolation - now that isolation periods are being reduced, or even stopped i...
Talking Christmas Evidence 2021
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The BMJ has special criteria for considering Christmas research: first it should make you laugh, and then it should make you think. In this festive ...
Talk Evidence - Bones, nutrition, pain relief, and overdiagnosis.
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this month’s Talk evidence, we’re going back to our roots and avoiding covid - so sit back and listen to Helen Macdonald and Joe Ross discuss a...
Talk Evidence - testing for respiratory tract infections, cannabis for pain, & covid outcomes
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week our regular panelists, Helen Macdonald and Joe Ross, are joined by Juan Franco, editor in chief of BMJ Evidence Based Medicine - to take a p...
Talk Evidence - real world vaccine data, GP records and CVD
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this month's Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald and Joe Ross are back with a wry look at the world of Evidence Based Medicine. They give us a round up...
Talk Evidence - Freedom Day
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The 19th of July in the UK saw the relaxation of covid rules that have been in place for 18 months - social distancing requirements in venues, mask we...
Talk Evidence - GP data, excess mortality and FDA approval
20 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this Talk Evidence, Helen Macdonald, Joe Ross and Duncan Jarvies discuss what's going on in the world of EBM. Firstly, a while ago on the podcast,...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - Research on vaccine safety, treatment for dementia
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's Talk Evidence, Joe Ross, BMJ editor and professor at Yale again joins Helen Macdonald to talk about emerging evidence on Covid-19. The...
Talk Evidence - children and covid, varients of concern, ivormectin update
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The evidence geekery continues, and this week Helen Macdonald and Duncan Jarvies are joined again by Joe Ross, The BMJ's US research editor, and profe...
Talk Evidence - Inside the JCVI, and the key to grading evidence
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In a slightly different talk evidence, Helen Macdonald and Duncan Jarvies are bringing you a couple, of in depth interviews, Firstly, Anthony Harnden...
Talk Evidence - re-hospitalistion for covid-19, remote hypertension intervention
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The evidence geekery continues, and this week Helen Macdonald and Duncan Jarvies are joined by Joe Ross, The BMJ's US research editor, and professor o...
Talk Evidence - Lateral flow tests update, not the best public health approach
16 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Talk Evidence, Jon Deeks, professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, returns to the pod with an update on lateral ...
A (non-systematic) evidence review of 2020
03 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As 2021 hoves into view, we look back at a year of extraordinary evidence. Helen Macdonald is joined by Joe Ross, one of The BMJ's research editors, ...
Talking Christmas evidence - how Christmas research is chosen
28 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you've had time to digest this year's Christmas edition of The BMJ, you might have wondered how those papers get into The BMJ. Well in this Talk E...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - poor public messaging, and vaccine approval data
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The vaccines are being rolled out - but approval is still on an emergency basis, and the evidence underpinning those decisions is only just becoming a...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - uncertainty in treatment, uncertainty in prevention
21 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Uncertainty abounds - even as we get better data on treatments, with the big RCTs beginning to report, and new trials on masks, the evidence remains u...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - talking risk, remdesivir, and relevant research
30 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this talk evidence covid-19 update, we’re taking on risk - how do you figure out your individual risk of dying from the disease? Try QCovid, but ...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - antigen testing and developing non drug evidence
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this Talk Evidence covid-19 update, Jon Deeks, professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham gives us an update on testing technology....
Talk evidence covid-19 update - covid in kids, and the winter cold season
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was recorded on 18 September - just before the news came out about the new lockdown measures. We’ll hear Carl and Helen’s thoughts, b...
Talk Evidence Covid-19 Update - Lockdown, a spoonful of honey, and weight loss
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are have been local lockdowns in the UK, in places such as Oldham, Birmingham, Manchester – but what is the criteria for making that decision?...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - Living meta-analysis and covid uncertainty
15 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1.00) Carl has been looking at PCR testing, and explains why it picks up both viable SARS-cov-2, but also fragments of it’s RNA - leading to potenti...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - How well have physical distancing measures worked?
31 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fresh outbreaks of covid in Europe and a wave of infections in the United States have been in the news this week, highlighting the renewed need for so...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - How will we know if a vaccine works?
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vaccines have been in the news this week - but when you dig into the stories, it turns out that the hype is about phase 1 trials. We're a long way fro...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - drop in excess deaths, HIV drugs, academic promotion
03 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's Talk Evidence we're hearing about how the death rate has dropped below average, disappointment about HIV drugs for covid-19 treatment, ...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - dexamethosone, testing, rehabilitation after covid.
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're looking beyond the press release for dexamethasone, the long awaited review of antibody testing, and how well people are recovering af...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - surgisphere data, and protests in a pandemic
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we’re asking questions about surgisphere data, and how it might have got into such high impact journals, we’re also talking about the p...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - second wave and care home failings
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Talk Evidence, we'll be finding out if second waves are inevitable (or even a thing), how the UK's failure to protect it's care hom...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - remdesivir redux, the overwhelming volume of research
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
That remdesivir study has finally been published - what does it say and is it as independant as claimed. Also, as the world's focus turned to covid, s...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - strategies to end lockdown, more testing
22 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're focussing on what kind of information we need to be able to collect and use as the country transitions out of lockdown - and why local...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - answering questions with big data
17 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Big data is being crunched to help us tackle some of the enormous amount of uncertainty about covid-19, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatmen...
Talk evidence covid-19 update - natural history of covid, include patients in guidelines
09 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - lack of testing transparency, how to give good debate
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - covid ethics, waste and a minimum RCT size
24 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the diseas...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - Remdesivir, care homes, and death data
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the diseas...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - hydroxy/chloroquinine, prognostic models and facemaskss
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disea...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - pneumonia, guidelines, preprints and testing
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the diseas...
Talk Evidence covid-19 update - Confused symptoms, fatality rate uncertainty, Iceland’s testing
27 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the dise...
Talk Evidence - testing under the microscope and opioid prescription
20 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This edition of talk evidence was recorded before the big increase in covid-19 infections in the UK, and then delayed by some self isolation. We'll be...
Talk Evidence - Building an evidence base for covid-19
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We're taking a break from the usual Talk Evidence to focus on the new corona virus that has emerged in China. With a brand new disease, we have to bu...
Talk Evidence - Sepsis, talc and blindsided by blinding
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the festive talk evidence, giving you a little EBM to take you into the new year. As always Duncan Jarvies is joined by Helen Macdonald (re...
Talk Xmas Evidence
31 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the festive talk evidence, giving you a little EBM to take you into the new year. As always Duncan Jarvies is joined by Helen Macdonald (r...
Talk Evidence - aggravating acronyms, a time to prescribe, and screening (again)
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Talk Evidence is back, with your monthly take on the world of EBM with Duncan Jarvies and GPs Carl Heneghan (also director for the Centre of Evidence ...
Talk Evidence - eating less, drinking less, drug approval data
04 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Talk Evidence is back, with your monthly take on the world of EBM with Duncan Jarvies and GPs Carl Heneghan (also director for the Centre of Evidence ...
Talk Evidence - Recurrent VTE, CRP testing for COPD, CMO report, and a consultation
23 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Helen talks about new research on prevention of recurrent VTE - and Carl things the evidence goes further, and we can extend prophylaxis for a year. ...
Talk Evidence - Tramadol, medical harm, and alexa
21 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to Talk Evidence - where Helen Macdonald and Carl Heneghan take you through what's happening in the world of Evidence. This month we'll...
Talk Evidence - smoking, gloves and transparency
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This month we have some more feedback from our listeners (2.20) Carl says it's time to start smoking cessation (or stop the reduction in funding for ...
Talk Evidence - Z drugs, subclinical hypothyroidism and Drazen’s dozen
25 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the podcast, (2.02) a listener asks, when we suggest something to stop, should we suggest an alternative instead? (8.24) Helen tells us ...
Talk Evidence - cancer causing food, prostate cancer and disease definitions
25 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Macdonald and Carl Heneghan are back again talking about what's happened in the world of evidence this month. (1.05) Carl rants about bacon cau...
Talk Evidence - health checks, abx courses and p-values
17 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Macdonald and Carl Heneghan are back again talking about what's happened in the world of evidence this month. (1.20) Carl grinds his gears over...
Talk Evidence - Shoulders, statins and doctors messes
28 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Macdonald and Carl Heneghan are back again talking about what's happened in the world of evidence this month. They start by talking about shoul...
Talk Evidence - Radiation, fertility, and pneumonia
27 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Macdonald and Carl Heneghan are back again talking about what's happened in the world of evidence this month. They start by talking about how d...
Talk Evidence - Devices and facebook vaccines
12 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the second of our EBM round-ups, Carl Heneghan, Helen Macdonald and Duncan Jarvies are joined by Deborah Cohen, investigative journalist and scourg...