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In this article the author looks out at implications of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in postmenopausal women. In 2002, a research paper in the periodical "Lancet," showed that the use of HRT over a five-year period by healthy postmenopausal women in western countries was estimated to cause an extra case of breast cancer in about six per 1,000 users aged 50-55 and in 12 per 1,000 aged 60-69. The author kept an open mind on the subject. HRT certainly seemed to work for hot flushes. The positive spin suggested that it also helped prevent cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. The author lists side-effects as well as then-known benefits.

The article informs that trials of a male contraceptive in Great Britain are being hampered by a lack of male volunteers. In contrast, here's a study likely to encourage plenty of volunteers— flavanol-rich cocoa induces nitricoxide-dependent vasodilation in healthy humans. The article further informs that the paper on the impact of erectile dysfunction and its treatment with sildenafil, published in the "British Medical Journal," contains some bizarre quotes from patients.

This article reports that dogs only eat prescriptions for methadone. There are two major types of dogs. Canis minor digestivum, generally only reported by school principals, is friendly family animal and attempts to augment its meagre intellect by eating homework. Being shy and nocturnal, it has not been actually seen for many years, but evidence of its behaviour is widespread. It should be ignored, as it does not strike twice. The second type, Cam's major cocacinnium, eats methadone prescriptions. It has to have fresh food and the prescriptions are often consumed within 24 hours of their receipt by the patient. However, the remedy is straightforward — remind the patient that prescriptions are written on digestion-proof, acid-fast paper. The same dogs are responsible for snatching handbags and breaking into cars and houses containing these prescriptions. They also do the washing and often forget to empty pockets.

In the article, the author provides information on the changes that have taken place in this issue of the journal "Update," and responds to several readers' comments on the journal. He informs about the results of a reader research program earlier this year. More than two-thirds of the readers said they would be happy to receive Update as a monthly journal, so the journal has taken the plunge. This also means much bigger issue sizes, to cover a wider range of topics in each issue. These aim to bring everything a reader need to know this month--hot research papers, news from NICE and the department of health, new products and more--in easily digestible snippets. The backbone of the magazine will, however, remain the in-depth clinical articles, written by experts in their field.

This article reports developments related to the field of medicine. The consultation paper "Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier," was published in December 2004. It sets a range of public health initiatives for English PCTs to implement over the next four years. The DoH has published the results of the GP Recruitment and Retention Survey 2004. Thirteen percent of respondents who expressed an opinion perceived the recruitment process to be easier than in the past 5 years, compared to 9 percent in 2003.

This article presents information about the health policy in Great Britain. The British government has published a delivery plan for its Choosing Health White Paper. The plan is backed up by two action plans, Choosing a. Better Diet: a food and health action plan, and Choosing Activity: a physical activity action plan. Results of the first three and a half years of the Great Britain Dept. of Health's mandatory MRSA surveillance system in acute Trusts in England have been published. The total number of MRSA bacteraemias in England in April-September 2004 fell to 3519.

This article focuses on the MRCGP exam. One is weeks away from the exam and some candidates will be feeling overwhelmed with the sheer volume of material to tackle. It is not too late for a coordinated systematic approach to one's revision. Good planning is essential. The written paper consists of 12 questions to be answered in 3 hours. Paper 2 is the 3-hour multiple choice question (MCQ) paper. The vast majority of questions in the MCQ paper are based on medicine. Fifteen percent of questions are concerned with administration and management, and one in five questions are dedicated to research, epidemiology and statistics.

The article presents information on a research paper aimed at examining whether vitamin E supplements decrease the risk of cancer and cardiovascular events in patients at elevated cardiovascular risk. Vitamin E, as an antioxidant, may reduce mortality from both atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and cancer. The paper was designed as a factorial trial in order to evaluate the effects of ramipril (10 mg per day) and vitamin E (400IU per day) both separately (in comparison with placebo) and in combination.

This article discusses about the papers on asthma. After years in which little seemed to change, the past month has seen two new research papers that offer different ways of thinking about the disease. It has been accepted in the Great Britain that regular use of inhaled corticosteroids is the key to good asthma control. Yet research from the U.S.; where attitudes to steroids are more cautious; suggests patients with mild disease who take medication only when they feel they need it suffer no ill-effects.

The article presents information from the field of medicine. A recent paper in pediatrics showed that employing clown in the operating suite helps to relax anxious children about to be given an anesthetic. Adolescents who eat large amounts of fried food away from home are heavier and more likely to have a poor quality of diet. When it comes to how patients prefer to take medication, there is a stereotypical picture that the French prefer to take medication rectally, Germans by intramuscular injection, and the British prefer a long course of tablets.

The article presents a questionnaire which is an officially approved distance-learning programme, accredited by the Great Britain Conference of Educational Advisers. The questions are a mix of four types: multiple choice questions, modified essay questions, short answer questions and a critical reading exercise. Multiple type questions are based on the topics like diabetes, lichen planus etc., easy question is based on a case history given in the paper, and the short answer questions have several questions based on different topics including respiratory tract infections and pruritic rash. Critical reading exercise is based on insomnia.

The article presents a question paper, part of an exercise module for Update Plus, an officially approved distance-learning program. The questions are a mix of four types: multiple choice questions, modified essay questions, short answer questions and a critical reading exercise. The questions are related to the field of medicine. The multiple choice questions are based on topics like genital herpes, lymphogranuloma venereum, chlamydia infection and lichen sclerosis et atrophicus. The essay type question presents a case history and a number of relevant questions.

The article presents the author's suggestions on how to prepare for multiple-choice examinations (MCQ) as they are the key component in the examination for the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners. MCQ is a paper of 3 hours which contains nearly 200 questions. The author says that the areas of relative weakness in one's core knowledge need to be identified. There is no negative marking in the MCQ paper.

The article offers some tips for general practitioners (GPs) to prepare for the Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) exam. It's advised to download the MRCGP regulations from the website of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), London, England. Downloading previous years' question papers are also said to be useful. Getting familiar with video consultations is also suggested.