RE Ruby Wax on Today this am (at 1 hr 44 mins, here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23663295) and Giles Fraser here (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/aug/09/pills-unhappiness-reinforces-sad-human) Comment is free : http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/depression-unhappiness-antidepressants-overprescribed http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/2/2/e000068.full http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15920049 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/10/77/ http://www.bmj.com/content/339/bmj.b3999 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2629838/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2734353/ I recommend www.scottishrecovery.net and don’t forget the http://www.samaritans.org/. Mental illness is one of the most rewarding conditions to be privileged to help people with. People […]

AAA screening (bottom line; it’s complicated. If you are considering having it done, I’d recommend spending a bit of time on some of the excellent resources NHS Screening offer.) http://aaa.screening.nhs.uk/searchwebsite.php?searchstring=tag:Leaflets http://aaa.screening.nhs.uk/patientfilms http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GEuBrMCevo0 http://aaa.screening.nhs.uk/questions http://www.bmj.com/content/338/bmj.b2307   Referral management centres (bottom line; referrals BJGP research paper; they don’t reduce referrals and are more expensive http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rcgp/bjgp/2013/00000063/00000611/art00036 Referral rates […]

Omega 3’s and prostate cancer (bottom line; this recent one wasn’t a very impressive study, and  their press release overstated the findings;  but omega-3’s have no proven clinical advantage in preventing dementia, reducing cancer, reducing all cause mortality, or reducing cardiovascular disease, thus I wouldn’t recommend them anyway.) http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/07/09/jnci.djt174.full   http://www.fhcrc.org/en/news/releases/2013/07/omega-three-fatty-acids-risk-prostate-cancer.html   http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1357266   http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/97/3/531.long […]

The events of the last couple of weeks have brought it into sharp focus: public health is being ruined by politicians who don’t understand the nature of evidence or how inequalities manifest or need addressing. This is the shape of public health 2013;   – a government who have decided that they will delay making […]

Measles http://www.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/mmr-vaccination-rates-children-missing-2641028 http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/page/66389#unvacc http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/health2012/120828/?lang=en http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=457&pid=54144 http://www.immunizationinfo.org/vaccines/measles http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/35/1/84.full http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2631830/ Click to access 299.full.pdf   Prostate symptoms (or why ‘try to hit the wall from 2ft. If you can’t, go to the doctor’ is a very very poor predictor of harmful prostate cancer)   http://www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/guidanceinfocus/WaterworksMenOver50.jsp http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/prostate-cancer/about/should-i-see-a-prostate-cancer-specialist http://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/lower-urinary-tract-symptoms-in-men#content=view-node%3Anodes-initial-assessment http://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/lower-urinary-tract-symptoms-in-men#content=view-node%3Anodes-drug-treatment Click to access 48560.pdf   Doctors, bare below the elbows, […]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019dl1b   http://www.bsaci.org/Guidelines/allergic-non-allergic-rhinitis http://cks.nice.org.uk/allergic-rhinitis#!scenariorecommendation:4   http://www.bmj.com/content/322/7302/1589?tab=responses

New series!   References for Tamoxifen for primary prevention of breast cancer: From NICE – guidance http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp?action=byID&o=14188 media release –  http://www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/news/MoreTreatmentOptionsWomenRiskBreastCancer.jsp BOADICEA risk calculator  http://ccge.medschl.cam.ac.uk/boadicea/ (you can do this for free online, but I’d recommend also discussing it with your healthcare providers) Links to original research http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673613601403 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673602099622 http://www.pec-journal.com/article/S0738-3991(13)00007-4/abstract http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2649664/ http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0201/p618.html Back pain and antibiotics The piece […]

    It’s impossible not to notice the debate around intersectionality which feminists are having on and  offline. An example; being concerned about domestic violence means also being concerned about poverty, sexuality and mental health. As wikipedia puts it; it’s “the study of intersections between different disenfranchised groups or groups of minorities; specifically, the study […]