As I approach the threshold of old age, I wonder whether I will accept the process of crumbling with good grace, or discover that I have a strong desire to postpone death. I suspect that like most people I won’t be consistent and won’t want to discuss the matter. This is a dilemma raised by […]
I write on Nov 11th, when we remember the dead of all wars, but especially those of the Great War, which ended with an armistice on this date, allowing the world to prepare for newer and greater brutalities. A quarter of those sent out from Britain lay dead. Nobody who took part was unmarked. […]
The cover of this week’s Lancet declares that “It is less contentious to promote abstinence and faithfulness than sex education, condoms, and safe abortion, but these are what is needed. […]
In an early episode of Blackadder, our hero has to fend off the eager amorous attentions of a large hairy infanta from Spain, played by Miriam Margoyles. This study from Madrid shows that ladies of such physique are by no means rare in Spain: 28% of overweight and obese women there have polycystic ovarian syndrome, […]
The Lancet rarely condescends to publish qualitative research, but this paper slips in because it calls itself a systematic review and deals with factors which shape young people’s sexual behaviour. Understanding these is critical to limiting the HIV epidemic, since half of new infections are acquired between the ages of 15 and 24. So this […]
This easy-to-spot fungus has spines instead of gills, and is therefore known as the hedgehog in England. The French name for it, pied de mouton, is a fanciful description of its overall shape. On some lucky late autumn afternoon in the woods you may catch sight of its creamy caps glowing amongst the moss or […]
The National Epirubicin Adjuvant Trial (NEAT) was conducted in the Nation of England, while a very similar trial, BR9601, was conducted in Scotland. Both show that this agent reduces rates of death or recurrence when given for early breast cancer before the standard cocktail of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluouracil. […]
How do you get someone to use their disabled arm after a stroke? Why, put the other one out of action. Not all the time of course, but for periods of repetitive exercise. It’s a pretty basic idea, but successful enough to justify the trial eponym – EXCITE. It’s a lot more exciting than yet […]
Those interested in the hospital volume/quality debate may like to take a look at this study from the USA which shows that admission to the highest-volume centres there is strongly influenced by social class, race and insurance status. Once upon a time, our National Health Service would have been the ideal place to carry out […]
This is a classic example of a certain kind of screening study—the sort that tells you how marvellous it is that we can now spot (in this case) lung cancerat a stage early enough to cure it by surgery in 80% of cases. […]