There are strong parallels to be drawn between last week’s Woolwich murder and the Boston bombings in April, and not just because of the terrorism connection. The subsequent shooting and hospitalisation…
The Hadron Collider was built to find the Higgs Boson but it might also help us discover better ways to treat cancer.
PA/CERN
The recent case of Neon Roberts and the legal dispute over his treatment for a brain tumour threw the spotlight on the potential risks of using radiotherapy to treat complex cancers in children. Radiotherapy…
Many hospitals are carrying out caesareans before 39 weeks despite official guidelines.
Wikimedia Commons/Mediajet
Hospitals provide much-needed medical care and treatment for women who run into difficulty in childbirth. But many women and babies have medical intervention and treatment without good reason. We’ve become…
We really should have seen the crisis coming. It isn’t as if older people are a forgotten minority. Most of us, whether or not we are old, interact with people who are on a daily basis. And much of our…
Musician Courtney Pine might not be able to operate in A&E but his work has some similarities to surgery.
Flickr/Richard Kaby
What could music and surgery have in common? At first sight, not much. Operations aren’t done on stage in front of a large crowd - and nobody dies after a concert if someone plays a wrong note. As an amateur…
A teddy bear bought by murdered soldier Lee Rigby for his son, Jack, sits alongside a family photograph.
PA/Dave Thompson
The brutal killing of Drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich has raised serious questions about the safety of our soldiers at home, and how such violence could affect their recovery from the psychological…
Telling people there’s no “cure” for depression or bipolar can leave them feeling like a victim.
PA/Paul Faith
An increasing number of people are trying to cope with depression and bipolar in the UK. But we also have an over-reliance on drugs and waiting lists can be a year long for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy…
Advances are being made towards a HIV cure but with 34 million affected worldwide there’s still a lot of work to be done to help manage it.
Wikimedia Commons/C Goldsmith
Until a few years ago there was no talk of curing HIV. Research focused on making anti-HIV drugs better, trying to find a vaccine or understanding why they didn’t seem to be working. Another area was public…
Research has shown benefits to mothers and babies when fathers are involved.
Pixabay
We all have different expectations about how involved dads should be during pregnancy and childbirth. In the UK, it’s generally seen as a good thing and research is now beginning to show that it matters…
Alcohol: your arms can carry more than your liver can handle.
PA/David Cheskin
The evidence is in. Sales of alcohol in Scotland have decreased since the 2010 Alcohol Act was introduced. The act restricted the display and promotion of alcohol to a single area of any store. It banned…
The real problem in care for the elderly is not so much about protection from costs as eligibility for council help.
PA/John Stillwell
Despite a big overhaul in the way care for the elderly will be funded, there are still fears that it isn’t enough and we’re surely “heading towards disaster”. The government is keen to emphasise the importance…
Prescriptions for pain relief are easy to get in the UK but not if you live in certain countries.
PA/Julien Behal
Ten percent of the world consumes 90% of the morphine. At first glance that’s just another statistic about haves and have nots. But it’s more stark than that - particularly if you have cancer in a country…
GPs and hospitals aren’t incentivised to properly manage demand, which has contributed to the crisis in Accident & Emergency.
PA/Stephen Kelly
Our increasing use of hospital services is out of control and unsustainable and is contributing to the current crisis in accident and emergency (A&E). But the problem isn’t new and 30 years of NHS…
Sufferers of internet disorder might find it starts to impose on real life, such as causing difficulties in socialising.
Flickr/Fle
Since it was first published in 1952, the DSM has been the has been the diagnostic bible for many psychiatrists. Each time the manual is updated, new conditions are introduced, often amid much controversy…
DSM-5 has been described as the bible of psychiatry but the assumption that professionals use it for their own gain is far fetched.
PA
DSM-5, the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, was published in the US at the weekend. Given that not even its most passionate supporters would…
Psychiatric diagnosis relies on identifying a patient’s signs and symptoms rather than clinical tests.
PA/Ben Birchall
Traditional psychiatry uses the approaches of medicine to try to understand mental health problems and guide treatment. This means relying on diagnosis – identifying what are believed to be mental illnesses…
Medication misuse is out of control in the US and more psychiatric labelling in DSM-5 will not help.
Whale05/Flikr
“We are all mad here” explains the Cat to Alice when she wonders about the strangeness of Wonderland. Well, life is starting to follow art. If people make the mistake of following DSM-5, the new diagnostic…
It’s never easy when someone we’re close to is dying but there are things we can learn from the professionals who deal with this every day.
PA/David Cheskin
It’s not always easy to talk to someone who is dying. Conversations about future plans and wishes may appear insensitive and fuelled with great pain and distress when it’s somebody we love. For some, not…
If we have good weather in June the grass pollen count could be severe.
PA
When I was a child and was first diagnosed with hay fever, the doctor told me I would grow out of it. I didn’t ask for a rough date when that might be – I just went away and each year I suffered I hoped…
Many of us love helium balloons but we need to find and conserve more for use in MRI scanners.
PA/Matthew Fearn
Helium is God’s gift to humankind. It’s particularly fantastic for science and medicine and has allowed us to make an enormous number of fundamental advances. We use it for a whole vast array of things…
Are women are more likely to survive broken heart syndrome?
Gabriela Camerotti
It’s not a thought that occurs to most of us, but flushing the toilet doesn’t just mean disposing of our bodily waste. We’re also flushing away some of the medicine we take down with it. Our contraceptive…
David Cameron meets nurses during an NHS tour but the government doesn’t want to introduce mandatory staffing levels.
PA
Senior nurses warned this week that the number of patients looked after by nurses has become dangerously high in some hospitals. Quoting research from the University of Southampton, the Safe Staffing Alliance…
The convictions of Asian sex-grooming gangs have thrown social work into the spotlight.
PA/Peter Byrne
The conviction of seven men for rape, child prostitution and trafficking in Oxford on Tuesday brings to an end another horrific case of child sexual exploitation. Social services were again in the firing…