..another study tells it like it is, this one, from JAMA. This isn’t the first bit of evidence that says so, either. Yet every year I have to go and be ‘refreshed’ in the finer points of CPR. We have to pay lots of this, and it is becoming silly – for the last three […]
Continue Reading →Mass effect
I don’t think that most public health messages work effectively. For example; ‘Make a date for cervical screening” “check your breasts” “have you been immunised against flu?” etc, etc. Mainly, I don’t think soundbites tell the whole truth, and I don’t think that mass messaging treats people as individuals. Nor do public health campaigns seek […]
Continue Reading →If you are suffering from…
homophobic bullying and especially if you are still at school, do watch this. Truly heartwarming.
Continue Reading →Bleak October for breast awareness
What do a prawn sandwich, a pair of Laura Ashley pjamas, crocus bulbs and some raspberry chocolate got in common? You can buy them all in aid of Breast Cancer. This is ‘breast cancer awareness month’. I have been attempting to suggest that perhaps it isn’t such a good idea for the last decade at […]
Continue Reading →Emperors with their cuffs rolled up
The DoH ‘Bare Below the Elbows’ theme has been going on for a few years now. The original document, you may remember, is here, from 2007, and stated that research on workwear and infection prevention had been done, was not yet published, but contained the following: “There is no conclusive evidence that uniforms (or other […]
Continue Reading →Best new website
Well done to the people behind NNT.com – good information about Numbers Needed To Treat, all in one place. I will be using this in the day job, so thank you. I’d urge them though, next revision, to think about graphical illustrations which there is research suggesting is best understood by patients. Read the one […]
Continue Reading →“He just looked at it”
An amazing defence for a PCT employee spending his time looking at medical records of patients. This is a prime reason for joining the Big Opt Out – the easier it is for people to access your confidential data, the more it will be done.
Continue Reading →Modern quackery
..is rife, and I am so pleased that the Daily Mail have had a hand in upholding a GMC complaint against one doctor offering expensive unproven treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. Shall the GMC now going to reach further and wider and root out some more examples of non evidence based treatments being offered by their […]
Continue Reading →Oliver James vs Genetics
Rather a nasty spat on the Today programme this am; the issue being that of a paper on the genetics in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, published online in the Lancet. The paper had found a slightly increased risk of ADHD with a particular genetic pattern. Having this pattern did not necessarily lead to autism. Children with […]
Continue Reading →Thank you
I’m so touched by the emails in response to my last in the FT: I will reply to each one (just back from a September weekend in wild woods, no batteries on iphone) over the next few days. In the meantime, here’s a quickie from the Times today about risks and benefits of aspirin (or […]
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