Labour has a reputation for being painful. Personally, I like pain relief and avoiding complications, so I chose to give birth in what I thought were the safer environs of the hospital. But in hospitals, medical staff may be rather too close to hand, and this can mean a higher risk of medical intervention without, […]
Continue Reading →One size fits all: column
Wonder drugs are rare. Applying the criteria of effectiveness, usefulness and cost, I’d put paracetamol, morphine and penicillin high on my list. The number one position, however, would go to aspirin. Not only is it good for pain relief, as an anti-inflammatory and to reduce fever, it also works as a blood-thinning agent, to decrease […]
Continue Reading →Health alert on the lure of cancer screening
A rather disappointing debate recorded in Hansard on the subject of screening for cancer in men. Unfortunately the extremely important issues of effectiveness, evidence, and potential harms seem to have become lost, e.g. “the government is committed to introducing screening for prostate cancer” – but since the evidence is mixed but much of it shows that it does more harm than […]
Continue Reading →Health choices: and smoking in psychiatric hospitals
An interesting survey has been published by the Foundation for Mental Health. It’s called “Death of the smoking den, The initial impact of no smoking legislation in psychiatric units in England in 2008.” In the introduction to the report, Louis Appleby, the National Director for Mental Health is quoted as having said in 2007 “The rest of […]
Continue Reading →4D Antenatal scans need careful consideration
Not content to prescribe a shopping list of buggies, cots, Moses baskets, bibs, nappies, changing mats, slings, car seats, blankets, hats, romper suits and bootees, a contender on the pregnancy to-do list is the 4D baby scan. No, the fourth dimension is not really recordable (although my understanding of quantum physics is rather shaky) it refers instead to […]
Continue Reading →Research misconduct: rare or real?
Many people will be aware of the high profile examples of research misconduct which have occured over the past few years – for example, the Korean cloning research which was found to be fake. But what about the research we don’t know is fake or doctored? A systematic review and meta-analysis of survey data has […]
Continue Reading →The obesity paradox: column
Jamie Oliver, chef-champion of the British waistline, is taking his healthy-eating campaign to the US. We’ll see the results next year, when the six-part series is due to be broadcast. Meanwhile, in the UK, public health adverts feature small girls eating fairy cakes under the slogan: “is a premature death so tempting?” Guilt is ladled […]
Continue Reading →Swine flu in Scotland
There’s lots of it about, it seems: 160 cases in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and all but 8 acquired it locally. And most are only mildly unwell. Our locally issued guidelines have changed subtly too: testing was, until recently, limited to those who had particular risk factors for H1N1 (symptoms starting within seven days of […]
Continue Reading →Putting the emphasis on ‘sell’
My interviewee has asked for her surname and current place of work not to appear here. Louise is the perfect science pin-up girl: blonde, slim, and dressed in denim and boots when I meet her on campus. She works as a university teacher, facilitating medical students in “problem based learning” sessions. I have arranged to […]
Continue Reading →Management consultants in the NHS
If you have read the book Plundering the Public Sector (David Craig and Richard Brooks) or NHS plc (Allyson Pollock), then the concerns over the costs to the NHS of management consultants will not be news. A report echoing this was released by the House of Commons Health Committee at the end of last week […]
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