Total Failure

A quotation commonly attributed to Albert Einstein defines insanity as repeating the same thing multiple times while expecting a different outcome. Milton Friedman observed that, every so often, we should examine the results of policies, regardless of the good...

Outcome vs Intention

There is a great quote by the late economist Milton Freriedman. In fact, quite a lot of good quotes from him. I think the man was a um, a genius. But that's beside the point. One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than...

Money Talks

A wise senior colleague told me in the 1990s, when I was involved in some medical committees, “Never stand between your colleagues and a barrel of money.” Maybe that’s a little harsh. I think Paul Keating, when he was Prime Minister, made similar observations about...

Life Is Complicated

Life is complicated. True, but does it have to be? How much of life’s complexity do we create for ourselves? A lot. How complicated have we made health?

Values, Parenting And Behaviour

We need to reinstate basic simple values and be prepared to say when something or someone is wrong. We also need a reinstatement of people being held accountable for the actions they take.

Three Simple Ways To Enhance Fertility

Three Simple Ways To Enhance Fertility

Advances in assisted fertility over the last 30 years have taken us from science fiction to “test tube babies”. Whilst In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) gets the most media attention there are many other forms of assisted fertility. Yet there are two things I have noticed....

Will The Real Hamburger Please Stand Up?

Is Michelle Obama really more like the Hamburgler in disguise? Or is she simply an American woman who, according to a Washington Post reporter, had a craving for, and subsequently ordered some of her favorite comfort foods.Should we even care?

Thoughts On Laughter And On Being Responsible

The health benefits of laughter are many. So when we tune in to watch shows,like Two And A Half Men, that make us laugh we are not wasting time, we are doing something good for our health.There is one other aspect to this story. Charlie Sheen himself.

Prescribing Is Not The Same As Caring

After many years in medicine you have seen most things. Then one day something takes you by surprise. This was a person who was on 19 different medications. We confuse prescribing with care. This is particularly the case in the elderly.

Why Work On Marriage Or Relationships

Why Work On Marriage Or Relationships

When we get married, many of us are idealistic about our futures together. However, fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. Research has found that only half of those who stay married actually consider themselves “happily married” which means only 25% of couples consider themselves happily married. Kind of sad statistics.

Chewing The Fat

It has become “settled science” that fat is bad for us. What if we have been led up the wrong path? Despite all the years of study and all the claims by authorities that going low fat is good for the heart-there is not actually any evidence to support this.