Dr Joe Unplugged

Dr Joe Unplugged is your home for open commentary on health, wellbeing and life in the broadest sense. We will explore diet, exercise, sleep and stress amongst other health matters as well as issues that may impact you and your wellbeing in direct or indirect ways....

It’s Christmas!

If Christmas did not exist it would need to be invented. Perfectly timed at the end of the year, it allows for many people worldwide to celebrate in some way, shape or form. This may be the formal religious celebration or simply a catch up with friends and family....

We Need Our Sleep

Human beings spend more time being asleep than anything else. It is estimated that at the turn of the twentieth century the average American slept nine hours each night. By the turn of the twenty first century this figure has dropped to under eight hours. Lack of...

Today Show – Tummy Pains In Children

  The commonest cause of abdominal pain in children is constipation. Learn about the causes and simple ways to treat it. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3XiliIY5Fs[/youtube]

Using Medication as Social Control

Using Medication as Social Control

Tom Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH,) in his recent blog post Are Children Overmedicated? seems to suggest that perhaps more psychiatric medication is in order. Comparing mental illness in children to food allergies, he dismisses the...

Healthy Chilies

Healthy Chilies

A while back I was asked to help judge a Chili eating contest. This was timed to coincide with the annual chilli festival. Chillies trace their origins back 7500 years. Previously regarded as the domain of eccentrics Mexicans and Thais it is only recently   that many...