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Forecast: Uncertain - Editorial - MSKMag Issue 35 · MSKMag OutLoud

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Forecast, Uncertain.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: An editorial by me, Felicity Thau.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: In recent years, I have become obsessed with the Northern Lights.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is good timing,
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: actually,
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: because we've been in a peak of the approximately decade-long cycle
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: of solar activity, meaning space where there is, for a time, madder than usual.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: In 2024,
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: that led to a series of events whereby we paid for flights and trains to
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: the Arctic Circle for the September Only to see the aurora in my actual back garden
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: in the May.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: You might have seen that there was an explosion of solar activity again this mid-October.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: You might, as I did again, have seen the resulting northern lights in your back garden.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I have seen a lot of silly things in my west end of Newcastle suburb,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: but a green haze across the street,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: strong enough to beat city light pollution, might just top the lot.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: As a planner, the best and worst thing about the northern lights is their uncertainty.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be prepared for the weather on Earth,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: for the weather in space, with your photography equipment to find dark skies.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And crucially,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: as anyone who has forked out an arm and a leg for a trip to Scandinavia will attest
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: to for disappointment.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you find yourself in the right place with dark skies,
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: a stable camera and even a professional photographer.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: But the solar activity fizzles out into nothing.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes your Aurora Alert app is dinging nonstop.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: But you can't see anything for blankets of cloud.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the activity of the literal star aligns,
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: your night vision is not ruined by your security light and you get to see the show.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: You will have, I'm sure, felt the same way sometimes in clinical practice.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: We can prepare all we like, but we can't control the conditions.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: The road to recovery for both patients and clinicians alike is riddled with uncertainty.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: We are constantly adapting to ground shifts,
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: atmospheric changes,
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: and forecasts that read uncertain, but that we still need to form a plan for.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and can you do this all on your feet within 30 minutes?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: The challenge is summed up brilliantly by our staff writer,
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Giles Hazan's article this month,
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: The Art of Managing Uncertainty in Clinical Practice,
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: where he puts the problem into words and then shares ideas
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: of how we can best embrace and respond to uncertainty without Without trying
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: to chuck it away like a hot chicken McNugget, which cameos in the piece.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'll do that one again.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: The challenge is summed up brilliantly
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: by our staff writer Giles Hazan's article this month,
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: The Art of Managing Uncertainty in Clinical Practice,
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: where he puts the problem into words and then shares ideas
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: of how we can best embrace and respond to uncertainty without trying
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: to chuck it away like a hot chicken McNugget, which cameos in the piece.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything more uncertain than perimenopause?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Are my symptoms caused by it?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly not my own poor GP.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: But fortunately,
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: we do have experts like Claire Callaghan writing on perimenopause and MSK health.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Essential reading for anyone treating women in their 30s and beyond.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: If there's one thing Helena Bridges headache patients are certain of,
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: it's that they've got a brain tumour.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: But what tools do we have in our kit to rule out the serious pathology
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: and help improve the lives of those living with headache?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Helena's article, Headache Patients, Dream or Nightmare, is packed full of practical tips.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: When, as Jenny Dowley writes,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: vertebral fractures are among the most common fragility fractures caused
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: by osteoporosis,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: but also the least likely to be diagnosed,
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: it's safe to say we need to reduce our uncertainty in diagnosing them
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: and ensuring people receive the right follow-up care for their bone health.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: She helps us do just that in osteoporotic vertebral fractures.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Are we doing enough?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And finally,
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Michael Schumacher is certain
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: that everyone thinks AI can do everything except what they do in a blunt
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: and important analysis of how MSK roles might be threatened by AI and what we can do
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: about it now.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: The future might be uncertain, but we're not helpless.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: We can't control the space weather,
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: but we can make sure we're standing in the right place and armed with the right