Back in January when I first had the idea of a march to protest against the targeting of healthcare workers in warzones, I couldn’t have imagined how bad things would be by the time we gathered in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 7 May. We marched – doctors, families, medical students, activists, experts and supporters – […]
Demand for weight loss solutions is growing, driven by the rising number of people who are clinically obese (with a BMI of over 30) and the insistent desire for the all-important thigh gap on social media. Our celebrities are expected to bow to the mantra that size zero is not just desirable but required. Beautiful […]
From now on, you won’t see cigarette packs with imperial purple borders, gold lettering and enticing scenes from exotic locations. Instead, all tobacco products will be sold in dull green packets with the brand name in regulation font, without a hint of a swirl or an embossed coat of arms. The UK has become the […]
Across the United Kingdom, communities, organisations, supporters, carers, families and stroke survivors are joining the Stroke Association as we celebrate our fifth annual awareness month, now known as Make May Purple for stroke. All manner of things have been lit up, dressed up, painted, planted and baked purple for stroke (#MakeMayPurple). Everyone’s doing a brilliant […]
The news that there were 33,000 avoidable deaths following heart attacks in England and Wales is truly shocking and highlights the epidemic of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the UK. According to new research published last week in the European Heart Journal, six in seven of the 40,000 non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) heart attack patients a […]
Read More… from Why more needs to be done to reduce heart attack deaths in the UK
Young people’s mental health services are at crisis point. GPs are having to cope with the consequences of our failure to focus on prevention, and a lack of access to specialist services. We may not be able to change the world we have created for our young people, but we need to take action to ensure that help is […]
Orthorexia comes from the Greek word ‘ortho’ meaning correct and it’s a compulsion to eat a biologically perfect diet. Sufferers often hide behind highly restrictive diets, blaming allergies or food intolerances for their disordered relationship with food. You’ll hear orthorexics saying, ‘Eating x gives me migraines, y makes me bloated’. The motivation behind the faddy […]
Orthorexia is not officially recognised as a medical condition. The term was coined back in the 90s by Dr.Steven Bratman in the States. Here orthorexia would probably best slot into the ‘eating disorder not otherwise specified’ category. There are so many forms of disordered eating. These terms are fairly new but I think the condition […]
As the Chairman of Medicins Sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders, I am privileged to work alongside a whole range of committed volunteers who support so many people all over the world. At the last count, we have over 35,000 people in our organisation and around 90 per cent of those are nationals living and working in […]
Bio-identical hormone therapy routinely includes key anti-aging hormones such as oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA, which can be taken orally in tablet form, administered as a topical gel or even injected. But it can also include a wide range of others, depending on the patient’s ‘deficiencies’. Cortisol: This is the body’s stress hormone because it […]