The study published yesterday has made the headlines across the media; ” The study they funded, led by Professor Robert Howard from the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has concluded that the drugs carry on working in people whose illness has become severe. “For the first time, […]
Continue Reading →Are GPs failing new mothers with postnatal depression?
According to the Guardian, on the 1st October, we GPs are. I quote Ann Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, on a survey done of new mothers, which supposedly show most are offered antidepressants, not counselling : “Longfield said that the results of the report were shocking and showed that postnatal depression was not being taken seriously: “It […]
Continue Reading →Adult and child asylum seekers
should be treated with humanity. Free link to BMJ article here.
Continue Reading →Mind and complementary medicines
I’m always looking for good sources of information to share with patients. Sometimes people share what they’ve found with me. My criteria: well explained, fair, evidence based, updated, and clear about uncertainties. And so I must report my unhappiness with the Mind website, in regard to complementary and alternative medicines; their website: “complementary therapy is one […]
Continue Reading →Please don’t let the NHS die
The health bill is capable of destroying the NHS. I wish this was hyperbole. It’s not. I am in Scotland, where things are a bit more sensible. Markets were tried, with Independent Sector Treatment Sectors, but because our hospitals tend to be geographically distant, it’s not really feasible to have a competitive market based system […]
Continue Reading →Instantly diagnosing mild dementia; not possible/not desirable
Today GPs are no good at diagnosing dementia. Clare Gerada did good work on You and Yours today discussing a paper just out from Leicester University. The press release says that “general practitioners (GPs) are struggling to correctly identify people in the early stages of dementia resulting in both missed cases (false negatives) and misidentifications […]
Continue Reading →Sick people die more often: not very surprising
ASSOCIATION IS NOT CAUSATION. Now that I’ve cleared that up, let us examine the paper causing the headlines today . “Over 65s who take more than one medicine should consult their doctors. Taking some commonly used medications in combination leads to an increased risk of death or brain impairments in over 65s” says the Guardian. […]
Continue Reading →Older people and alcohol: Royal College of Psychiatrists gets screening wrong
Much ado about the RCPsych report out today on ‘Our invisible addicts’; supposedly, older people addicted to drugs or alcohol. I don’t think this is a new concern. Part of the ‘problem’ is that the care of people with addictions has slowly got better and people are living longer. Northern Doctor has written very well […]
Continue Reading →Plos Medicine on Guantánamo Bay
A sobering and uncomfortable read. Which makes it important that we do
Continue Reading →Surgery for spectators
There’s a lot of press coverage about a piece by Simon Chapman in the BMJ. He describes a charity auction where one prize was to attend a neurosurgical operation. He thinks it was wrong to do so; so do I. Yet this is the logical outcome of so many voyeristic cameras in the consulting room. […]
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