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The bowels, the bowels A phrase of which Quasimodo was particularly fond. Although we do not generally discuss it, we all have a bowel habit. For some it might be once a day, others three times a day and yet others once a week. If there is a change in our habit, we can usuallyRead more

Yogi Berra was said to have used the phrase  ‘its deja vu, all over again’. Well, I feel the same. 15 or so years ago, two very large meta analyses were published that caused consternation in women and doctors. They suggested that the risks of HRT were greater than previously thought. Over the years, subRead more

Charlie Munger, is a sage and famously the business partner of Warren Buffett, the worlds greatest investor. He has said that he wants to know where he will die, so that he can ensure he never goes there! We cannot accurately predict where we will breath our last breath, but it seems we can quiteRead more

Genetic testing with your Private GP has increasingly become a possibility as testing gets more extensive and a little cheaper. It remains quite an expensive test and takes several weeks for results to become available as the testing of your saliva is a very laborious and time-consuming process. It does not require a blood test,Read more

Researchers in America have found the bacterium Veillonella to be much more common in the bowel of marathon runners, when compared to sedentary people. What is more, the numbers of Veillonella increase soon after a race. Using this information, the researchers fed mice pellets, containing Veillonella, that had been isolated from a marathon runner. Amazingly,Read more

In a study published this month in the Journal of Preventative Medicine, a team reported findings from their study on the DASH diet. The DASH eating plan is high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as beans, nuts, low-fat or fat-free dairy, poultry, fish, and vegetable oils. It is low in saturated fats,Read more

Diabetes can essentially be divided into Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes results from failure of the insulin producing pancreas and patients requires insulin to survive. This blog refers only to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is more complex. Most cases result from resistance to insulin, so patients with Type 2 diabetesRead more

The risks and benefits of statins.   An interesting if impenetrable paper this year looked at the risk/benefit profile of statins in different age groups and for four different statins.   The paper itself was scarcely readable unless you are familiar with advanced statistics and biomedical jargon but the conclusions bear discussion.   First, someRead more

The new shingles vaccine seems to be a huge success!   The shingles vaccine is proving to be very effective. A recent paper in the Lancet looked at uptake of the virus by patients between 2013 and 2016.   72% of eligible patients requested the vaccine in the first year and around 60% in theRead more

    BBC Horizons’ fascinating programme, ‘Can my brain cure my body’, looked at the impact of the placebo affect and that of longer consultations.   They looked at a population in Blackpool with backpain. Staggeringly, one in five people in Blackpool suffer disabling back pain. They set out to see if fake pills couldRead more