BMJ Best Practice Podcast

Migraine is very common, affecting an estimated 1.16 billion people worldwide. It is one of the most disabling neurological disorders. So it is vital that we get diagnosis, management and prevention of this condition right. To find out how to do this, please listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast with Timothy Collins, Associate Professor of Neurology and Chief of the Headache Division, Department of Neurology, Duke University Medical Center. For more on migraine, visit BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: TAC provides expert testimony for legal cases regarding headache disorders and treatment (approximately one or two cases per year). TAC is an author of several references cited in the BMJ Best Practice topic on migraine.

BMJ Best Practice is our clinical decision support resource. It is designed to help healthcare professionals make better informed clinical decisions. But such decisions should be made in partnership with patients - they should be shared decisions. To find out more about shared decision making, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Emma Doble, Patient and Public Strategy Editor at BMJ. Competing interests: None

Pertussis or whooping cough is an acute infectious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. It is highly contagious, highly serious, and highly preventable. To find out more about this condition, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Ashall Professor of Infection and Immunity in Oxford. Competing interests: AP has been chair of JCVI for the past 12 years. For more on pertussis, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Measles is a serious disease. Unfortunately, it is making a comeback. So we need to know how to diagnose, manage and prevent it. To find out more about how to do all of this, listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Linda Nield, Professor of Medical Education and Pediatrics at West Virginia University School of Medicine. For more on measles, visit BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: None

It is difficult to say how common factitious disorders are. A review of psychiatric consultations in a tertiary care setting found about 1% of referrals received a diagnosis of factitious disorder. Using an entirely different approach, researchers examined specimens submitted by patients as kidney stones and found that 3.5% were obviously non-physiological. But whatever the prevalence, the consequences can be serious. They include unnecessary diagnostic procedures or interventions and sometimes self-injury. To find out more about this condition, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with James Levenson, Professor of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University. And importantly James is author of our BMJ Best Practice topic on factitious disorders. Competing interests: None For more on factitious disorders, visit BMJ Best Practice.

In 2016, the estimated number of people globally with active epilepsy was 45.9 million. For the US in 2015, this figure was around 3.4 million. So epilepsy is common and generalised seizures are a common type of epilepsy. And the consequences can be serious - from medication side effects to status to sudden unexpected death. To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Daniel Winkel, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine. For more on generalised seizures, visit BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: DW receives consulting fees from NextSense, Inc.

Hypercholesterolemia is common condition with serious consequences. It is important that we assess, diagnose and manage it appropriately. To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Thorsten Leucker, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For more on hypercholesterolemia, visit BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: TL has received grant funding for his university from Amgen and Merck.

Hyperkalemia is common and can be serious. It can result in life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. So it is important that we assess this problem properly, find an underlying diagnosis if there is one, and manage appropriately. To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to this BMJ Best Practice podcast interview with Sri Yarlagadda, Associate Professor at The University of Kansas Medical Center. Competing interests: None declared For more on hyperkalemia, visit BMJ Best Practice.

Wrist fractures are common. They can occur in older women with osteoporosis and low-impact injury. Or young men with high-impact injuries. And they can cause complications from malunion to joint stiffness to complex regional pain syndrome. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, listen to this podcast with Michael Barrett, Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and BMJ Best Practice author on wrist fracture. For more on wrist fractures, visit the BMJ Best Practice topic. Competing interests: MB is a director of Orthohub.xyz, an online education platform for orthopaedic surgeons. Orthohub.xyz receives sponsorship from the healthcare industry.

Cervical spine injuries result primarily from car accidents, falls, and sports activities (such as rugby or diving into shallow water). They can occur in young and old, and can cause considerable complications - from chronic pain to medication dependence. So what if anything can we do to ensure that it is diagnosed and managed correctly? To answer this and other important questions, please do have a listen to this interview with Muhammad Dherijha, Consultant in Complex Spinal Surgery at the Northern Care Alliance in Manchester. For more on cervical spine injuries, visit BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: none

Acute severe asthma is common. The global prevalence, morbidity and mortality, and economic burden caused by asthma have progressively increased over the last few decades. About 300 million people worldwide currently have asthma. About 180,000 deaths annually are caused by asthma. And most asthma deaths are preventable. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to his podcast interview with Richard Russell, Specialty Registrar in Respiratory Medicine, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK. Richard is one of the authors of our topic on acute asthma on BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: RR has received support from Chiesi.

Panic disorder is common. The prevalence of panic disorder is 2% to 3% in adults and adolescents. And panic disorder can cause distress, substance abuse, and treatment related side effects. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right. To find out more about this problem and what we can do about it, please do listen to his podcast interview with Professor Craig Sawchuk of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester. Craig is the author of our topic on panic disorder on BMJ Best Practice. Competing interests: None