The MB ChB medical degree confers a Bachelor’s degree only. True doctorates are PhDs. However, I am guilty of having the title of “Dr” on my bank card. This was only because I thought it might help me get a (larger) overdraft when first out of medical school. But otherwise, at the hairdressers, school gates, and in […]
Continue Reading →Cleaning up the superbugs
I am pleased to see that PatientPak (“introducing the world’s first antisuperbug kit”) have been admonished by the Advertising Standards Authority . I wish I had been able to mention it in this piece for the BMJ before it went to press….
Continue Reading →To D or not to D?
One could be forgiven for thinking, after reading certain recent media reports, that vitamin D can perform miracles. This humble supplement, it was claimed, had the power to prevent no less an evil than multiple sclerosis, prompting reports of a rush on health food shops and pharmacies. MS is a chronic illness that affects the […]
Continue Reading →Integrated mental health – please,no
More from the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health: we should look forward to May, when publication of guidelines with an “integrated approach… bringing together mainstream medical science with the best of other traditions… movement including exercise, yoga, tai chi/qi gong…” will apparently be published. The PFIH is working with Mind and the Royal College of […]
Continue Reading →A test of tolerance
Autism is not the only developmental disability that a child can be born with. It does, however, garner a lot of attention. Part of the reason is that we still don’t understand the condition as well as we would like. And we still have no way of testing for it through prenatal screening. Recent research […]
Continue Reading →The problem with breast screening (continued…..)
This follows on from a post a couple of weeks ago about this paper in the BMJ and the duty of doctors to explain both pros and cons of breast screening to patients. Here is a letter and article on this subject today in the Times.
Continue Reading →Antibiotics, antibiotics, available everywhere
Antibiotics don’t work on most colds, flu or sore throats. This is old news, but the Department of Health is re-launching their Antibiotic Awareness Campaign to remind us. Indeed, the more antibiotics are used, the bigger the problem resistance becomes. So I’d like to know what the sense is in making antibiotics prescribable by more healthcare […]
Continue Reading →Drug Truths: just not getting it
I’ve been reading a brave book that I wanted to like but I don’t. It is called Drug Truths: Dispelling the Myths about Pharma R&D. The author is John L LaMattina, who is the retired president of Pfizer Global Research and Development. The pharmaceutical industry has had a bad press over the past couple of […]
Continue Reading →Do St John’s wort and echinacea work?
Duchy Originals was established by the Prince of Wales in 1990 to raise the profile of organic food and farming. Lines from the company, which gives its profits to the Prince’s own charities, include Rose and Mandarin Shampoo, oaten biscuits, sherbet lemons and handmade Sandringham Strawberry Preserve. With regal glee, the Duchy website recently announced […]
Continue Reading →Brain training: better off dancing
The number of computer programs that promise to sharpen, train and preserve brain function seem to be proliferating. There has been a lot of press coverage about a paper in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia . The authors reviewed all the evidence available on interventions aimed at preserving cognitive function in healthy elderly people. Just as I […]
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