When it was announced that both the presidential candidates were allowing sight of medical information about them to be read and reported on by journalists, I was slightly perturbed. Sure, I could see that perhaps the knowledge that one had no outstanding concerns with their health might – might – have some kind of relevance […]
Continue Reading →Why randomised trials still work best
The only thing separating reiki and reflexology from rational medicine and progress is evidence. And what evidence-based aficionados like me love best is the randomised controlled trial, the process by which most drugs and treatments aspire to be tested. But are we now hearing its death rattle? In a recent lecture at the Royal College […]
Continue Reading →‘Normal’ cholesterol: to treat or not to treat?
Much ado with a new paper published by the New England Journal of Medicine . This study was placebo controlled and focused on treating people with “normal” cholesterol but a high “c-reactive protein” (a marker of inflammation) with rosuvastatin (which is not a new statin as some media outlets have reported, but one already in use). Reports have […]
Continue Reading →“Professionals” in pay
“GlaxoSmithKline is to make public the level of advisory fees it offers to doctors and medical academics, and will strictly cap the payments they can receive in the US to $150,000 (£88,000) a year each. Andrew Witty, chief executive of the UK-based pharmaceutical company, said he was introducing tougher new rules to impose a cap […]
Continue Reading →A CT scan is not the answer
Free newspapers, a takeaway menu, special offers from the supermarket and, in the pile of mail cascading on to the doormat, a glossy leaflet from a health clinic, advertising a special check-up service. “Put your mind at ease with a health check from Lifescan, the UK’s leading provider of private CT assessments,” it said, alongside […]
Continue Reading →The ASA and Lifescan
The Advertising Standards Authority have announced that they are upholding my three complaints against a leaflet about Lifescan. You and Yours are doing a piece about it at noon today. More on this later.
Continue Reading →The two-tier NHS
Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, has announced that patients will now be allowed to buy and be treated with medicines not available on the NHS – but without affecting that person’s entitlement to NHS care. Previously, the rule had been that if a patient was having additional treatment in the private sector, they lost their […]
Continue Reading →Dealing with the fall-out
In the wake of the subprime crisis and the stock market slide, counselling and psychotherapy services have been quick with offers of help for those dealing with the fall-out. A generation or two ago, discussion of one’s personal problems was more commonly done in the public house, with a priest or parson, or with friends […]
Continue Reading →Lonlieness and social cohesion
Help the Aged have released details of a survey today. They conclude that 1.4m older people in the UK feel socially isolated and that 1.25m are often or always lonely. I am often dubious about the way in which surveys are interpreted. However, the findings of this survey do bear out many of the sadder observations made in general […]
Continue Reading →Praise of songs
One of my favourite things in life is music. There is nothing quite like making music en masse, and Glasgow City Chorus is performing the Missa Solemis on Sunday 3oth November in the City Halls. The second soprano section in particular is quite marvellous (not that I’m biased). There have been various studies reporting the effect of […]
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