The dark side of sunscreens
Here in London, UK, the weather today has been quite summery. And it’s this time of year where we generally begin to see a rash of articles in the press warning us about the perils of sunlight and the need to slather on our sunscreen. People generally use sunscreen to prevent burning. But public health [...]
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Declaration of conflicts of interest may make bias worse, not better
The way doctors categorise illness and manage it is usually highly influenced by panels of doctors. One problem here, though, is that these doctors can have financial ties to companies that can gain from those doctors’ recommendations. These ties can come in a variety of forms but include consultancy fees, speaking fees and stock/shareholdings in [...]
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The natural remedy that’s often effective for calming an ‘irritable bladder’
Recently, the British Medical Journal published an article about the management of ‘overactive bladder syndrome’. Symptoms of this can include the sensation of needing to pass urine urgently, frequent urination and the need to get up at night to pass water. Men with these symptoms are often investigated for an enlarged prostate. Women don’t have [...]
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More ‘aggressive’ thyroid management may help reduce risk of heart disease
The thyroid is a gland in the neck that regulates metabolism. Low thyroid function (hypothyroidism) can lead to diverse symptoms including weight gain, fatigue, sensitivity to cold, dry skin, dry hair, hair loss and constipation. In conventional medicine, the diagnosis of low thyroid function is usually made with a blood test. Here’s the classic picture: [...]
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Higher protein diets proven better for a range of health measures
For some time now there has been debate in some nutritional circles about the relative merits of different ‘diets’. Certainly, there has been at least two factions here. One argues for a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet which usually includes plenty of starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potato, rice, breakfast cereals and pasta. Others (including me) argue [...]
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The claim that the British Governments ‘laissez-faire’ approach to flu has killed people is not supported by the science
If you’re British you’ll likely remember the flu ‘pandemic’ of 2009/10. Government-sponsored television adverts and a media awash with stories about the perils of flu led to the dishing out of 800,000 packets of an anti-viral drug (Tamiflu) over the phone and about half the populations dutifully had their ‘flu jab. At one point, the [...]
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‘Earthing’ – important discovery or mumbo-jumbo?
‘Earthing’ or ‘grounding’ has been getting a lot of attention of late in certain communities, so about a week ago I decided to take a look. Here, in summary is what I’ve learned. What is ‘earthing’? Earthing is the practice of connecting the body with earth by touching skin to a conductive material such as [...]
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A brief guide to better sleep
Yesterday, I wrote a post about how a lack of sleep might contribute to unhealthy weight gain. Today, I’m following this up on a guide to how to get better sleep. In no particular order, here are some of the strategies which I’ve found consistent success with in terms of improving sleep quality, and most [...]
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Why statin side effects are likely to be much more common than official statistics suggest
In the UK, the most popular ‘drugs bible’ goes by the name of the British National Formulary (BNF). Within its pages is found a wealth of information about pills and potions that are available over-the-counter and by prescription, including indications and advice of dosages. A significant proportion of the pages in the BNF are taken [...]
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Review highlights several mechanisms through which lack of sleep can cause us to put on weight
The last few decades have seen a rise in rates of overweight and obesity. Average duration of sleep has declined in the Western world too. Could the two be connected? Actually, yes. There are a number of mechanisms through which reduced sleep time might be somehow contributing to the obesity ‘epidemic’, and these were summarised [...]
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