Post Archive by Month

Vaccine hesitancy is a major concern because it may put a limit on how effective our ­vaccines could be, and consequently threaten our control over the Covid-19 pandemic. I believe we all have the right to decide for ourselves. The … Read More

How about an antiviral treatment that would make Covid-19 symptoms milder and help speed up recovery? Well, it could be on the cards. A new procedure, focusing on fixing cell damage rather than fighting the virus itself, is already effective … Read More

The placenta is a complex and mysterious organ and a lifeline for babies. It forms and grows from the fertilised egg, and ­attaches to the wall of the uterus, ­allowing nutrients and oxygen to flow from mother to child, while … Read More

The argument over whether to vaccinate ­children or not against Covid-19 is thorny, and there are not as many pros as cons in my opinion. Several countries are considering child vaccination and several vaccines have been approved for use in … Read More

Now here’s an interesting one. Apparently people who are scared of catching Covid are also the most judgmental and disapproving – and not just about being careless with ­restrictions, but any wrongdoing. Yes, researchers have been looking into how we … Read More

Motor neurone disease has dogged my medical career. As a student taking medical finals, one of the patients I was tested on had a particular form of MND, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and I’ve never forgotten it. Then, in middle age, … Read More

Have you ever wondered why some people who catch Covid only have a mild illness, while others become seriously ill? Well, a scientific and medical team at Newcastle University have shown that a particular gene, called HLA-DRB1*04:01, is found three times more … Read More

We currently have some successful antiviral drugs. Acyclovir is potent against herpes, particularly genital herpes, taken orally and used locally as a cream. So why, you may ask, do we not have an antiviral drug to treat Covid? Well, we could … Read More

Newborn babies can have some heart-breaking illnesses, for which there are no treatments. Spinal muscular atrophy used to be one of them, with ­babies rarely living longer than two years old. But now there’s new hope for SMA – gene therapy. Costly … Read More

We’re not through this one and already there are ­rumblings about the next pandemic. According to experts another is on the cards. And they’re asking big questions – how can we detect it early enough to head it off? What … Read More