Is a calorie just a calorie? Or is the energy derived from carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, qualitatively different from that derived of fat? Put another way, is obesity a disorder of energy balance in the body, wherein we consume more calories than we expend, or is it a disorder of hormone regulation, one that has […]
Category: Guest writers
Partha Kar: The consultant of the future
Type “define an NHS consultant” into Google and you’ll get more than 5 million results—none of which actually crystallises what the role involves. It’s a term that’s ever more shrouded in ambiguity as the NHS morphs and changes while moving into the unknown future. […]
Katy Cooper: NCDs, MDGs, and SDGs – latest update
This is an update of an earlier blog (15 November 2012 – here), which described what is happening around the global framework on non-communicable diseases, and how NCDs link into discussions on the successors to the Millennium Development Goals (due to expire in 2015) and the proposed new set of Sustainable Development Goals (as proposed […]
Marge Berer: Depo Provera
The recent news that Ethiopian Jewish women had been given the injectable contraceptive Depo Provera without their knowledge or consent awakened a strong feeling of déjà vu for me. When I came into the field of reproductive health, 35 years ago, Depo Provera had just come onto the market. There were far fewer contraceptive methods available […]
Vivienne Nathanson: An update on Cyril Karabus
In August 2012 the retired South African paediatrician, Professor Cyril Karabus, was detained as he passed through Dubai airport on his way home from a family wedding in Canada. When I wrote an editorial on this in October last year, I outlined the charges against him. Around that time he was finally freed from the […]
Suchita Shah: The lamb’s mother and the room of hope
A day in the life of a Chilean family doctor She wipes her eyes with the backs of her hands. A thin circle of white skin against the dark tan of her left ring finger is the only visible sign of her recent loss. She sits in the ‘sala de espera’. Esperar, in Spanish, means […]
Krishnan Ganapathy: Is surgery not more than stitching and cutting ?
The genesis for this blog was listening to 34 fascinating, highly technical lectures including “How I do it” sessions at an international neurosurgical update for young neurosurgeons. Operating theatres resembled the control room of the Mars mission. As one trained in the BC era (Before Computers = Before Christ) it is obvious to me that surgery is changing. […]
Krishnan Ganapathy: Is your doctor healthy enough?
Several years ago in a study carried out at the Dept of Neurosurgery in AIIMS New Delhi, the authors continuously monitored the pulse rate, blood pressure and ECG of neurosurgeons while they were operating, and correlated it with the actual surgical steps in different procedures. It was observed that the pulse rate and blood pressure […]
Julian Sheather: Should I sign him off sick?
Thou shalt not judge. A GP asked me recently whether he should sign patients off sick when he thought they were swinging the lead. I talk to a lot of GPs and I get asked a lot of difficult questions – it goes with the ethics territory – but this one looked like a no-brainer: […]
Rob Hampton: Fit for work
In January the government announced the establishment of a new service that will be operational in 2014. While this news seems to have gone under the radar so far, I’m confident that every GP in the country will be referring people to this service every week. The new service is an Independent Assessment and Advisory […]