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Marginal gains revisited As mentioned in another blog, I love Dave Brailsford, now Sir DB’s, idea of marginal gains. With British Cycling he took every aspect of cycling from biomechanics to diet to helmets and broke them down to their component parts. He then worked on each to develop a marginal improvement. It might onlyRead more

Insomnia Most of us have had problems sleeping at some time but a few of us have chronic or long-term insomnia. This can be quite disabling in some cases and naturally people often come to us for a solution. It is important first of all, to understand what is causing your insomnia. Common causes include;Read more

  My attention was drawn to a wonderful little youtube video this week, called 23 and a half hours, by Dr Mike Evans, a specialist in preventative medicine.   In it, he summarises the evidence for a wonder drug.   He stresses the importance of not losing sight of the benefits of weight loss, reducingRead more

Prostate Cancer and Stephen Fry’ Aggressive Little Bleep.   Steven Fry hit the headlines this week with a moving and informative podcast about his recent experiences (http://www.stephenfry.com/2018/02/mischievous/) . Stephen was recently diagnosed with a Gleason score 8 prostate cancer, subsequently upgraded to Gleason score 9 after his prostate was removed. Gleason scoring adds together twoRead more

Cough Cough is a normal reflex, something automatic that was ‘put in place’ to ensure the vital function of the lungs is unimpeded. There are numerous causes for cough, just as there are numerous irritants to our airways. The commonest by far is a viral cough, induced by irritation of the upper airways and theRead more

Those who were asking for our presentation to CQC are welcome to download it. cqc-presentationRead more

  I came upon this post by Dr Caldwell, a fellow twitteree. I think this summarises beautifully the essential components of a good consultation. We do well to remember them. 1 The patient should be as prepared as possible. 2 The clinician should be as prepared as possible. 3 The clinician should know the personRead more

The Self-Help Forum   This is one of the best ideas I have seen for some time.   http://www.selfcareforum.org/   It is a gold mine of advice, covering;   Common conditions with excellent fact sheets on Low back pain Eczema Heartburn/indigestion Children’s fever Constipation Headache/migraine Cough (adults) Acne Sprains and strains Sore throat   SelfRead more

I am not sure I entirely have my head around this. I understand apps of course. I certainly use medical apps to calculate certain scores like CHADSVasc2, HASBLED, Wells scoring and the like. But there are now hundreds of new apps. There is an excellent app from Skinvision, which you can use to photograph moles.Read more

Freda’s Fall is an interactive e-learning film focused on the prevention and management of falls. It has been funded by Health Education England North West London, as part of development of a Community Education Provider Network (CEPN) called ALIGN (An Allied Health Professions Innovative Learning Network in Falls Management and developed by the Allied HealthRead more