Fadumo Omar Mohamed joined Médecins Sans Frontières in 2013 as a Mental Health Activity Manager. Her latest assignment took her to Zimbabwe. This blog explains MSF’s mental health project in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare. ‘As human beings we must be aware that without a “healthy mind” we have no health at all. Almost […]
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The controversial documentary Vaxxed: From Cover Up to Catastrophe, is based on extensive recorded interviews with whistleblower, Dr William Thompson, a former senior scientist at the CDC, (Centres for Disease Control) the US agency concerned with safeguarding public health. The film looks at whether his claims – that he, and four others at the CDC, skewed data […]
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 […]
I am not an apologist for Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who proposed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism via the guts nearly 20 years ago. Since then Wakefield has had his licence to practice withdrawn and the link declared disproved. But I do feel that we should not simply shut down the discussion […]
The Learning Disabilities Mortality Review Programme (LeDeR) in 2015 studied the mortality rates for people with learning disabilities (LD). Although LD is not shown on death certificates, it is clear that people with LD have a shorter life expectancy and increased risk of early death compared to the general population. Some of this is disability-specific. […]
Autism brings into sharp focus what it is to be human. I’d summarise autism as being a different way of living. Autism is a lifelong disorder affecting some 700,000 people in the UK. Many (55 per cent) are below the historic cutoff point of 70 IQ. Others, often described as having Asperger’s Syndrome, are highly […]
There was a time when infertility was seen as a women’s problem. Not anymore. Older dads are more likely to pass on genetic mutations to their offspring than older mums, according to research. And studies show that male infertility is behind half of all cases where couples fail to conceive after one year. Sperm counts […]
This is not going to discuss Art Therapy – the medicine of the creative process in art – one of several medicines to create peace in the patient’s mind. But rather how two or three-dimensional artistic images encourage reflection – we meditate on them and “listen” to what they have to tell us. It is […]
I hate to be bored. And always want to do new things and make new things happen. So I’ve always been involved with research. I started aged 18 as an IT researcher prior to managing computer systems, electronics, avionics and atomic research for the government. Nowadays I fund medical research in autism spectrum disorders. Despite […]
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Elusive Autism in girls: I had seen one paediatrician, one educational psychologist, three psychiatrists, multiple therapists, and required at least three Crisis Home Treatment Teams before my Asperger’s was spotted. Some of my diagnoses included Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Stomach Migraines, Depression, Anxiety, Anankastic Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Traits, and general mood instability. I do not […]