Dr Briffa's Blog - A Good Look at Good Health
A health-focused blog that makes sense of science, and offers accurate, trustworthy and practical advice about all aspects of healthy living.
It’s early October, and here in the UK there’s a distinct sense that the days are becoming ever-shorter and the nights are drawing in. This change in lighting condition can, for some, spell a distinct downturn in general levels or energy and wellbeing. Others can be prone to food cravings in the winter. Still others [...]
Back in March one of my blog posts focused on the effects of green tea constituents known as catechins had on the metabolism of fat in the body. A recent study has found that green tea catechins stimulated fat-burning in the body, something which is an obvious boon to individuals seeking to attain or maintain [...]
Garlic is an oft-touted natural remedy, particularly with regard to affairs of the heart: regular garlic consumption has been said to improve cardiovascular health. In the past, one mechanism that has been said through which garlic can exert a heart-healthy effect is by some ability to reduce blood pressure. A previous review of the evidence [...]
I don’t have anything against pharmaceutical medicine per se, but if there’s a less-toxic, effective and accessible alternative available, then I’ll opt for this every time. So, I was very interested to learn this week of a newly published study which assessed the effect of honey on childhood cough [1]. The study involved more than [...]
Recently, a press release alerted me to a study which found that one in four men aged 30-79 suffers from low testosterone levels [1]. While male menopause (sometimes to referred to ‘andropause’) has not received nearly as much attention as female menopause, the fact is that dwindling testosterone levels can lead to problems with mood [...]
Garlic is an herb that has gained a reputation for enhancing the health of the heart and circulation (see below). However, perhaps what is less well known is that garlic has been implicated as a cancer-preventive agent too. Within the body, garlic is metabolised into a variety of sulphur-containing compounds that may have anti-cancer properties. [...]
Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) is a term used to describe a combination of various physical and mental symptoms that may occur in the week or two prior to menstruation. Typical features of PMS include irritability, depression, tearfulness, fatigue, food cravings, abdominal bloating, breast tenderness, fluid retention and weight gain. The condition is highly individual, with the [...]
My experience is that when individuals hear the word ‘infertility’, they often think of the female variety of this condition. However, I remember being taught at medical school that only about a third of infertility were solely due to problems with the prospective mother. About a third of cases are a combination of female and [...]
In my practice from time to time I m consulted by women who complain of excess hairiness. Many of them tell a story of finding hairs sprouting in places where they weren’t there before such as their chins and around their nipples. This condition ” the medical term for which is ‘hirsutism’ ” is often [...]
I was interested to read about a study published recently which charted the vast number of sick days taken off in Australia due to hangovers. A study published in Medical Journal of Australia found that 2.6 million ‘sickies’ were taken in 2001 because of booze. The estimated cost to employers is some 473 million Australian [...]
