Every single human is the product of a pregnancy, yet pregnancy has not been a traditional focus in philosophy. My study will investigate important, but previously unexplored, philosophical questions about childbearing: whether foetus and mother are one single organism or two separate organisms, and the nature of the relationship between the pregnant organism and the later […]
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Caroline, a British doctor from Bristol, UK, vlogs from Zataari, Jordan – one of the world’s largest refugee camps. Here they treat people injured during the conflict in Syria, many of whom have lost limbs or have suffered other debilitating injuries. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency […]
For all sorts of reasons, people who have been taking medication for depression (or related conditions including anxiety and OCD) for many years may find that it seems to have stopped working. This is pretty dreadful for them, and presents a challenge for their clinicians. When I used to man a telephone helpline for an […]
The mesmeric impact of an ancient Greek doctor on many hundreds of years of medicine is one of the more remarkable artefacts of the history of the world. I found it so fascinating that more than 20 years ago I wrote a book about Hippocrates and used his famed Oath as a foil to some current […]
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What happens when we stop eating three meals a day? Shift work has been linked to a myriad of health problems. Compared to individuals who work normal hours, shift workers may be at higher risk of a number of disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, digestive problems, and depression. When you think about the […]
Antibiotic resistance occurs when medicines are no longer effective in treating bacterial infections. This is potentially catastrophic, as much of modern medicine would become impossible without antibiotics. Simple infections would become life-threatening and common surgery would become unsafe. Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections, yet they are often used to treat them. Pharmacists are on […]
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When I first met Jenny, she was a very angry woman. She had just discovered that her partner of five years was living a double life, spending half the week with another woman, with whom he had a child. They broke up. Jenny was left feeling betrayed, rejected and lonely, even at times suicidal with […]
Results of our new research, a collaboration between our team of scientists at the Universities of Sheffield, Birmingham and Edinburgh, has shown that patients undergoing emergency surgery in lower-income countries have a three times greater chance of dying than in higher income countries. The study monitored post-surgery death rates and mapped them against the Human […]
It does concern me when I see a nurse brushing off a patient or ignoring little signs of distress. It doesn’t happen often, but compassion fatigue can creep in at the end of a long shift. Compassion and empathy are one of the most important aspects of any job in medicine. Certainly, a nurse who […]
A few years ago, as I was attending a medical dinner in London with 500 or more senior medical colleagues, I was disturbed that the guest of honour began his speech with the phrase: ‘We all understand that the most important ‘qualities’ of any doctor are compassion and empathy.’ I was even more concerned that there appeared […]