Would you know what to do if you were first on the scene of a terrorist outrage where dozens of people were injured and dying? Last week, ordinary members of the public found themselves in exactly that position, faced with unimaginable scenes of suffering and carnage in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in London […]
When I had my double mastectomy in February 2015, following a diagnosis of breast cancer, there was very limited information out there about how diet and nutrition could aid my recovery. The whole focus was on taking drugs to reduce pain and swelling. There is a still a dearth of facts about how you can […]
Around one in every 2,000 people has Age-related Macular Degeneration at 60. However, by the age of 90 it affects one person in five. We are all living longer so the number of people affected is increasing. There are however, quite simple steps to take to lessen the impact of macular conditions. These include changes […]
Nurse Helen Cowan talks about starvation, dehydration and death in hospitals. “Kill by mouth” read a recent headline in the Sun newspaper. Readers were informed that “malnutrition was mentioned on the death certificates of 297 patients who died in hospital during 2015; dehydration was cited for 429 patients. For care homes, the figures were 54 and […]
Immunotherapy, which was first trialled on hay fever patients in London in 1911, has an excellent record in helping reduce allergy symptoms. But how long it works after treatment stops seems to depend of how long patients receive the therapy, which involves increasing exposure to grass pollen over time. This is the conclusion of researchers at […]
In Cast Away, the epic survival drama film, Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is stranded on a deserted tropical island for four years, with a volleyball named Wilson as his only friend. In the nursing home, residents are sometimes abandoned for years on end. In fact, there are a surprising number of similarities between Chuck Noland’s […]
Since the opening of the first modern hospice, St. Christopher’s, in south London in 1967, hospice care has grown into a worldwide movement that has radically changed the way we approach death and dying. The driving force behind hospice, or palliative, care is the desire to transform the experience of dying. Teams of nurses, doctors […]
The healthcare industry in America is so focused on pathology, surgery and pharmacology — on what doctors “do” to patients — that it often overlooks the values of the human beings it’s supposed to care for. Palliative care physician Timothy Ihrig explains the benefits of a different approach, one that fosters a patient’s overall quality […]
Hormones, which are produced in endocrine glands throughout the body, regulate our metabolism, our sex lives and even our moods. If hormone balance is disturbed for any reason, the result can health problems such as depression, weight gain and even infertility. ‘An imbalance of hormones is something which should be taken seriously. But seeking help as soon as you notice […]
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 […]