And lo, the government said, we must woo voters. And they had a great idea: check ups. Let’s not leave them to the private providers. Let’s put them on the NHS. Everybody loves a check up. The Department of Health sets out its new idea in a policy paper “Putting prevention first – vascular checks: […]
Continue Reading →X-rays exposed
We all know that radiation from X-rays, along with other ionising radiations, is potentially harmful. Indeed, it’s quite easy to start worrying about the “risk” involved in having an X-ray – even though most of the radiation we’re exposed to comes from naturally occurring environmental sources. Still, the sensible use of X-rays is rightly drummed […]
Continue Reading →Prostate troubles
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published research findings on prostate cancer screening. The results, from my reading at least, showed that screening was not terribly useful. So I was bewildered by subsequent media coverage that urged men to exercise “their right” to a prostate specific antigen blood test or PSA. A number of […]
Continue Reading →Making over the pharmaceutical industry
Or perhaps not so much a makeover, but a radical shift in how drug research is decided upon, performed and reported. The suggestions come from Sir Iain Chalmers, who is editor of the James Lind Library in Oxford, and Silvio Garattini, director of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan. Writing in the […]
Continue Reading →Breast screening in the USA
Pleased to see that ripples from the UK have now reached the US.
Continue Reading →In praise of slow medicine
I have been inspired by Harry Eyres’s piece on Slow London in the FT over the weekend. So much of working in medicine feels like a sprint. Short and overbooked appointments, busy clinics, multiple bits of administrative work to be ticked, crossed, signed and dated; e-mails and correspondence to deal with, questions from patients and […]
Continue Reading →The nipple effect
“And so,” said my extremely pregnant friend while ordering lunch, “we’ve talked about it, and we’re going for nipple stimulation.” Nipples do not normally come up over coffee. I must have looked alarmed. No, no, my friend insisted, this was an evidence-based endeavour to bring on labour. She thought that I would approve. And what’s […]
Continue Reading →FAST, and furious
The FAST campaign wants you to call 999 if you can answer, about someone you’re with, “yes” to the question “Has their Face fallen on one side?”, “no” to “Can they raise both Arms and keep them there?”, or “yes” to “Is their Speech slurred?” The idea is to get people with strokes to hospital as quickly […]
Continue Reading →The dangers of databases
The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust is today launching a report, “Database State”, which examines the rationale, security and consequences of 46 public sector databases. It is co-authored by Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, who is an outspoken critic of government databases. The results are startling. Two databases, the NHS Detailed Care […]
Continue Reading →In praise of wild swimming
Indoor swimming pools have many attractions. Heated and disinfected water, private changing space, and even the occasional Jacuzzi on the side. So why would anyone want to swim outdoors? Britain’s seas and rivers are often shockingly cold, and they are also inhabited by all […]
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