There is an old adage about laughter being the best medicine. Indeed there are a number of positive effects on the body from laughing. Laughter lowers stress, lowers blood pressure and heart rate. It promotes the release of endorphins, which are our “happy hormones”...
I have written an article for Australian news websites on how to reduce stress this Christmas. Some tips are a bit lateral and not all will apply to everyone.However amongst the 12 will be something that you will find helpful this festive season. Read it at Perth Now...
We can always learn from those who do things better. Different countries have different life expectancies and different levels of wellbeing. If we can learn what they are doing right we can improve our own health and wellbeing. It is rarely rocket science. This...
As the year draws to a close it is interesting how three of the key themes that I have written about this year have all raised their heads. And those are 1) The medicalization of life 2) Over diagnosis from screening tests 3) Pharmaceutical companies misbehaving...
What’s your blood count? Blood pressure? Bone density? PSA? If it is abnormal, odds are that you will want it to be normal. In doing so, you are making the same leap of faith that your doctor is making when he commences treatment: that treating the numbers will...
A US appeals court has overturned a conviction of a former drug rep for encouraging doctors to prescribe a drug “off label”. The court ruled this violated the First amendment rights and that the federal government had failed to show his comments were false. I am no...
The human body needs “fuel” and gets it in the form of food. Food is converted into energy in the body, which is technically referred to as glucose. Glucose is transferred through the blood and this is why anyone with the medical condition known as...
It is taken as read that check ups and screening are good for us. The logic is almost intuitive. Finding disease early is better than finding it late as treatment can be more effective. Also not everything has symptoms so testing and checking may uncover problems...
We all know that smoking is not good for us. Over the last 50 years there has been a significant reduction in smoking rates in Western countries from nearly 80% in the 1950’s to under 20% today. In the less developed world, large numbers still smoke. This infographic...
Falls are never fun. When we are young we can pretty quickly bounce back and keep going. In the elderly though a fall can lead to a hip fracture. This in turn can trigger a serious chain of events including loss of independence and even death. In the USA each year...
