Archive for January, 2010
The ‘English Disease’ is no joke
Giving diseases a national identity, an inanely xenophobic practice at best, is now regarded as politically incorrect. Referring to rubella as ‘German measles’ might still be considered merely naïve, but any mention of ‘mongolism’ (once a widely used synonym for Down’s Syndrome) is likely to be met with severe censure. The term ‘French letters’ has [...] Read more »
Pill Poppers, Pharmacology and Medical Marketing
In it’s TV programme Pill Poppers, Horizon has just given BBC2 viewers an unforgettable lesson in pharmacology of unprecedented educational value. The curative power, paradoxical effects (even ‘homeopathic’ eg. in the case of Ritalin), addictive qualities and side effects of modern pharmaceuticals were brilliantly conveyed to the lay viewer. But wait a minute! Not everybody [...] Read more »
Surprise! Surprise! Stress can cause heart attacks!
In a discovery of cosmic significance, it has just been proved scientifically that men are more likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes after enduring great stress. Didn’t we already know this? Apparently not. Let me explain… Organisations such as the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have until now claimed that ‘there is no evidence to [...] Read more »
The Best Kept Secret in Medicine?
The word ‘stress’ is so commonly heard these days that it’s difficult to believe that it has only been used in the context of the human condition for about 80 years. It was introduced by endocrinologist, Hans Selye, who did a huge amount of work that demonstrated the role of stress hormones (mainly adrenalin and [...] Read more »
The Disappearance of the G-spot
In the history of anatomy, it is an extremely rare occurrence for a part of the body to be declared not to exist. Yet this week the Journal of Sexual Medicine will publish an article that claims that the ‘idea of a G-spot is subjective’ – which means that the much written and chattered about [...] Read more »
2010: Will irony will show us the way?
Meditating on the decade that was, the words of the poet W.H. Auden came to mind: The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman and each man [...] Read more »
