Cellulose, which is harvested from trees and plants, is a very common material used to make paper and cardboard. But some harmless bacteria found in a kind of fermented tea, also produce a very strong and pure form of cellulose. When tea aficionados ferment their kombucha tea (a form of green tea) a clump of […]
Sometimes very distressed doctors in the NHS do make the news – as with Daksha Emerson, a young psychiatrist who killed herself and her baby whilst suffering from post natal psychosis, and also more recently, junior doctor Rose Polge, whose body was found in the sea off Devon in April. In my experience, the vast […]
Dr Clare Gerada I’m not against medical programmes and I’m not against Embarrassing Bodies. There is a long history of showing our bodies in public dating back centuries to the Ancient Greeks when they extolled the body beautiful. But I’m becoming worried that we are moving from extolling the beautiful body to gawping at the […]
Shortest consultation ever. An elderly gentleman walked into my consulting room and sat down. “Morning doctor.” And good morning to you too I reply. And how are you? “I’m very well” he replied, “Good day!” And with that he up and left. 60 seconds. If only they were all like that. Sadly, the old boy […]
Dr Ian Campbell I don’t agree with Clare and in this matter you are wrong. I was first on TV many years ago when I was saying the Hippocratic Oath at my graduation. It just so happened that the BBC were there filming it so TV doctoring is not a new concept to me. My […]
Thirty years ago, when I first started working as an obstetrician and gynaecologist in the NHS, I hardly ever saw a patient who was worried about the size and shape of her labia. If I did get a referral, it would be a genuine case where the woman had abnormal labia. Today, I see girls […]
Read More… from Why 13 year old girls are out of love with their labia
I am a hospital doctor who is thinking about leaving the profession I love. It is not because I doubt my calling, or because I am not competent. I have received many accolades over the course of my career and have an outstanding record of excellent outcomes and high patient satisfaction. But for every 99 cases I take on, […]
Every five minutes in the UK, one person dies from lung disease, a statistic that underlines the massive impact of conditions such as COPD, chronic asthma and lung cancer. Yet, despite the fact that lung disease is one of the three big killers in the UK, alongside cancer and cardiovascular disease, it comes a very […]
The beautiful show gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show are examples of garden designers’ art and horticultural skill, but gardens throughout the UK showcase a wide range of potent medicinal plants in nature. Galantamine, which is used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and various other memory impairments, is an alkaloid […]
I have just returned from my first mission with Medicins Sans Frontieres in the Yemen and I can definitely say it was a life-changing experience. I was working in the emergency department of a hospital in the north for three and a half months. The biggest difference between working in an A&E in an NHS hospital in Manchester and […]