One afternoon, 12 years ago, I was doing some gentle exercises in the local gym. I was adjusting the rowing machine when, suddenly, my vision blurred and I fell sideways hitting my head on the floor. The woman on the machine next to me shouted “don’t move.” “Stupid idea,” I thought “I must get up,” […]
Category: Guest writers
Desmond O’Neill: Combating gerontological illiteracy
St Gallen is a fascinating small city in the north-eastern corner of Switzerland. Famed for its fabulous rococo monastic library (including the earliest extant manuscript of the Nibelung legend), the manufacture of sophisticated textiles, and one of the leading business schools in Europe, it is also the home to an intriguing initiative on ageing. For […]
Julian Sheather and Vivienne Nathanson: Todd Akin, rape, and “doctors”
According to the historian Tony Judt, the Red Army, after raping and brutalising its way across Europe in the closing stages of the Second World War, left behind, in Germany alone, somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 “Russian babies.” These figures, he writes, “make no allowance for untold numbers of abortions, as a result of which […]
John Pring: On the Paralympics, DLAs, and PIPs
These are strange, mixed-up days to be a disabled person. Newspapers are littered as never before with stories of the high achieving disabled athletes set to take part in the London 2012 Paralympics, and of a public desperate for tickets to watch them perform. Meanwhile, many of those same national newspapers have fuelled disability hate […]
Edmund Jessop on the selling off of school playing fields and encouraging young people into sport
Our relationship with physical activity starts at such a young age that it is vital that we all—schools, families, society—play our part to get it right for children and young people. The recent furore over the selling off of school playing fields, at a time when Olympians were delighting the nation with their elite achievements, […]
Nicola While: The new EU law for data protection and its impact on healthcare
The provision of healthcare in the UK is often significantly affected by EU legislation despite member states guarding the right to define national health policy and to organise and deliver their health services and medical care. It is often legislation that does not specifically mention health, but covers all sectors that has the greatest impact. […]
Martin Wiseman, Kathryn Allen, and Rachel Thompson: Weighing the evidence on cancer prevention
Scientists gathered at the World Cancer Congress in Montreal, Canada last week to share experience from research and practice, and to consider solutions to reduce the impact of cancer on communities around the world. The theme, “Connecting for Global Impact” highlights the need for continued support and momentum in translating knowledge gained through research and […]
James Drife: Doctors on the Fringe
This week we are in Edinburgh, performing on the Festival Fringe. We’ve been doing this intermittently since 1974, and in fact the personal view that I wrote about our first show was my first-ever article in a medical journal (BMJ 1974;4:766). I’ve just re-read it. It’s a weird experience to meet yourself again after 38 […]
Steve Yentis: Infamous names in anaesthesia—part two
My list of anaesthetists who are famous for the wrong reasons currently has two categories and four entries. The first category, “Anaesthetists convicted of killing Michael Jackson,” would have just one entry and is something of a misnomer, since Conrad Murray wasn’t actually an anaesthetist, though the anaesthetic propofol was very much involved. The second […]
Kailash Chand on Tony Nicklinson and the right to die
As Tony Nicklinson’s case illustrates, there is clearly a desire among some patients with debilitating and incurable diseases, to end their suffering with the support of their doctor and relatives. To deny this right is to prolong the suffering of individuals and families—something I cannot condone. Nicklinson’s is the latest case in which appeals for […]