The first time I heard about neuro-linguistic programming, I was intrigued. By scrutinising and changing a person’s speech and body language, NLP promises to improve social and professional interactions. It has, we’re told, the power to “unlock your capabilities”. Negative psychological patterns are identified, and can be “reprogrammed”. Sensitivity to others’ behaviour is also heightened. […]
Continue Reading →Cancer drugs: when NICE says no
What happens when NICE says no? If NICE refuses to fund an expensive intervention to treat cancer, but the patient wishes it anyway, the patient must forgo all ‘free’ NHS care and pay for the intervention, plus all the rest of their care – ie be subsequently treated entirely as a private patient. Care then becomes […]
Continue Reading →Congratulations from Gordon Brown
Hospital acquired MRSA infections in the UK have apparently fallen by a third in the last year according to the Health Protection Agenc y. Gordon Brown is writing to all NHS staff to say well done. I foresee problems. There have been a couple of political drives on MRSA recently which have been non-evidence based; the […]
Continue Reading →Is being vegetarian good for you?
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, wants us to eat less meat. Pachauri is an economist (and a vegetarian) who believes that reducing meat consumption could also cut greenhouse gas emissions. The idea seems to make sense, since about one-fifth of global emissions are produced by the meat industry. […]
Continue Reading →Junk food, fish oils and prisons
Lots of media coverage on a new study today, which is apparently going to compare the reported offences of prisoners while taking either placebo or a fish oil+multivitamin+mineral supplement. Some headlines have interpreted this as ‘Prison study to investigate link between junk food and violence’. I think that’s an extrapolation too far; the quality of the food the […]
Continue Reading →Clinical trials and TV
Just as I was working out how to play a Harry Potter DVD an amazing television advert came on. It’s only broadcasting in Scotland but you can see clips at Get randomised. The website doesn’t say who is funding the ads, but I am impressed at the way that fair clinical trials are being promoted as a good thing […]
Continue Reading →The Professor Peter Higgs Fan Club
I don’t think that Peter Higgs has a fan club – yet. An interview with him in New Scientist this week reveals why he should have one. He is the theoretical physicist who has predicted the existence of a particle now known as the ‘Higgs boson’ which explains the origin of mass and which the […]
Continue Reading →Column: Is warming up before you exercise a waste of time?
Exercise is good for you. This is the gospel that we doctors are enjoined to preach to patients – we even have prescription pads to refer people to the gym. But there is a snag: the more you exercise, the more likely you are to pick up a sports-related injury. We are taught from an […]
Continue Reading →Military medical ethics
Excellent pieces in the New England Journal of Medicine on military medical ethics, and psychiatrists‘ position in interrogations. There are concerns that army psychiatrists are being trained in areas which could conflict with professional ethics. Doctors are not meant to either conduct or participate in interrogations. However obtained documents suggest that the Department of Defense still wants doctors […]
Continue Reading →Reality TV and mental health
There is a piece in the Observer this week about the Jeremy Kyle show. The author says that people with serious mental health problems are prey to the exposure these kinds of shows bring. These shows – where aggressive confrontation and public goading are to used to provoke and taunt people about personal problems or issues – are nasty to watch. […]
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