It is reported that Peter Mandelson recently ended up in hospital to be treated for a kidney stone. It is also reported that Lord Darzi, the health minister who believes polyclinics are the future, dined with Mr Mandelson, and was later called upon to see him professionally. Who knows what actually happened, but ‘dinner party’ consultations are an overwhelmingly […]
Continue Reading →Screening complications
Regular readers will know that I have concerns about many tests used in the UK for screening. Screening tests are used when people are well, with no symptoms of disease. The aim of screening is to pick up a disease process at an early, pre-symptomatic stage such that an effective intervention can be used to prevent complications. […]
Continue Reading →Testing, testing…
Free on the 6th November? You might be interested in this event on health testing. I do think there is a need for a public debate about the amount of medical testing kits or check-ups available over the counter, and outwith the NHS; their variable use, indications, drawbacks, regulation and – my main discontent – lack of fair information […]
Continue Reading →Home health check
High blood pressure is one of the most common diagnoses in primary care. Doctors are encouraged to treat it in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications, such as heart attacks and strokes. There is, however, no fixed threshold for “high” blood pressure. It is a sliding scale, and when high becomes “too high” […]
Continue Reading →Pain and the Virgin Mary
There are lots of reports that “faith in God really can relieve pain” and such in the press at the moment. These reports are based on a study published in Pain (yep, medical journals have all the most exotic titles: Gut, Brain, Breast, Lung….) and the abstract is available here. Unsurprisingly, the research does not prove anything […]
Continue Reading →Cancer, poverty and pay-to-access journals
I had intended to use this evening to read the paper published by the British Journal of Cancer about survival rates from cancer over the past 20 years. This paper has had a lot of media attention. The upshot seems to be that people are living longer after a diagnosis of cancer, but those living in affluent areas (still) […]
Continue Reading →The medical mother
There are few things quite so embarrassing as being phoned by the school to be informed that your child, whom you saw just a few minutes earlier, is too ill to be at school. Then there is also the issue of the semi-miraculous recovery whereby a child claims severe symptoms in the morning, requiring room service, extra pillows, continuous supply […]
Continue Reading →Column: Do the claims for neuro-linguistic programming stand up to scrutiny?
The first time I heard about neuro-linguistic programming, I was intrigued. By scrutinising and changing a person’s speech and body language, NLP promises to improve social and professional interactions. It has, we’re told, the power to “unlock your capabilities”. Negative psychological patterns are identified, and can be “reprogrammed”. Sensitivity to others’ behaviour is also heightened. […]
Continue Reading →Cancer drugs: when NICE says no
What happens when NICE says no? If NICE refuses to fund an expensive intervention to treat cancer, but the patient wishes it anyway, the patient must forgo all ‘free’ NHS care and pay for the intervention, plus all the rest of their care – ie be subsequently treated entirely as a private patient. Care then becomes […]
Continue Reading →Congratulations from Gordon Brown
Hospital acquired MRSA infections in the UK have apparently fallen by a third in the last year according to the Health Protection Agenc y. Gordon Brown is writing to all NHS staff to say well done. I foresee problems. There have been a couple of political drives on MRSA recently which have been non-evidence based; the […]
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