Telemedicine in general practice has yet to become the norm. The way we receive healthcare has not changed significantly in over 100 years and is certainly not something that will change overnight. But with the average waiting time for a patient to see a GP in the UK rising to nearly two weeks, there is clearly […]
GPs are in the vanguard when it comes to deciding the treatment options for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and they often have to make decisions after just a few minutes with a patient complaining of typical symptoms like pain, diarrhoea and bloating. Unfortunately, too often, GPs refer patients straight to secondary line specialists, who […]
Informed consent in medicine is essential. In March 2015, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board, which raised the legal standard for what informed consent actually means. The case has shaken the medical profession. Dr Daniel Sokol, barrister and ethicist, discusses its significance to patients and their relatives. Sinister beginnings On 19th August 1947, 20 […]
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On World Cancer Day it is important that we raise awareness of this serious illness and consider the impact of alternative models of care on cancer survivors. Our research, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, found that cancer survivors wanted to get back to their daily lives as quickly as possible, telehealth helped […]
Heart attack symptoms may have been missed in one in six heart attack patients admitted to hospital in England who later died, according to a new study published in The Lancet Public Health. The authors, from Imperial College London, say more research is urgently needed to establish whether it is possible to predict the risk […]
Five years ago, I was very excited about the future of digital healthcare and telemedicine. Today, I take a more nuanced view. In my opinion, digital healthcare, in all its guises ranging from apps to improve lifestyle choices, to home monitoring devices which allow clinicians to follow vital signs of patients without face to face […]
Studies show that around 79% of autistic people have mental health issues and rate their anxiety as the number one problem in their lives. 63% meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder. Indeed, the key patient group for child and adolescent psychiatrists is autism. How can people with a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder like autism, affecting […]
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is much more common than people realise. We now know that it probably affects around one in 250 people in the UK, which is twice the estimate of a few years ago. To give you a sense of scale, that means it is similar to the numbers of cases of childhood type […]
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We have made headway so that most people know that you need folate (also called folic acid) in your diet, especially if you are planning a baby or already pregnant. Folate, a B vitamin which is vital for the formation of red blood cells as well as other important functions in the body, is found […]
If you think pollution is bad in London now, just take a look at what Londoners were forced to breathe into their lungs in the 1960s. And the researchers at the Medical Research Council had it even worse – they were guinea pigs of the day, exposed to soot in a closed room and then […]