Earlier this year Prozac celebrated its 25th birthday of being approved for use in the USA. It was the first of a new group of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). From humble beginnings their use has exploded. But is the collective...
Eating well, regular exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight (BMI between 20 and 30) are important for your health. If you choose not to do so then it is possible that in due course your health will suffer. However making that choice is NOT a disease, it is a...
There is a human tendency to focus on small rather than big issues. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly life is made up of small things and we can all relate to everyday tribulations better than big picture issues. Also we feel more that small things can be...
Apparently in penalty shots in soccer, the goalkeeper will lunge to the left or right over 80% of the time. However in roughly 80% of penalty shots the striker aims for the middle of the net. The latter makes sense as it allows the greatest chance of getting a goal....
The question, which we must always ask with medication, is whether the benefit outweighs the risk. This question applies to each drug and each individual person. Despite the wishes of academics and governments there is no protocol to fit all. Sadly doctors and...
Sometimes, one reads a statement so obvious that one needs to ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?” So it was that I read on the blog of Dr David Healy a most obvious observation about medications. “Drugs can have a hundred effects … but we only test for one”. In medical...
