Post Archive by Month

How much do you love your dog? Are the two of you really close? Really really close? So close you share a disease? Well, a new study has revealed a shared risk of diabetes between dog owners and their pets. Swedish researchers … Read More

Now here’s an interesting one. Could having an infection with coronavirus make your vaccination more powerful, as a study suggests? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised. I know when I had my first jab I still had antibodies resulting from my Covid infection … Read More

Classical medical teaching is that cervical cancer is a ­condition affecting primarily “young women”. That is, women under the age of 50. As a ­consequence, cervical screening with the smear test stops abruptly at age 65. This always struck me … Read More

Over the years a lot of medical treatments have been abandoned as new ones are discovered and take their place. But one treatment from the First World War persists to this day. It’s the use of exercise not only to … Read More

Nearly a year ago I came across research from New Zealand showing children didn’t infect their teachers with Covid-19. And now, Scottish research shows they not only don’t pass Covid on to their parents, they protect them from it. The study … Read More

There’s a lot of ­confusion about the Covid ­vaccine and whether it’s safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their babies. Mums-to-be have written to me, asking why they were not given it from the start of the rollout if it is … Read More

When I was studying for my medical finals there were all sorts of theories doing the rounds on how to retain all the facts we were attempting to remember. One was to read the stuff you wanted to recall just … Read More

Motor neurone disease isn’t common but when it strikes it can be a tragedy and more than 1,500 people a year have to cope with that when they get the diagnosis. Motor neurone disease (MND) is a degenerative disease where … Read More

As if our teenagers don’t have enough to worry about at the moment, it seems more of them than ever are obsessed with their weight. In 2015, 42% of 14-year-old girls and boys said they were trying to lose weight, … Read More

No one likes their pet to be ­accused of spreading disease. I remember some time ago there was news that a parasite from dogs, Toxocara canis, could be passed on through contamination from dog faeces – and the campaign to … Read More