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.
A key underlying factor in cardiovascular conditions such as heart disease and stroke is a process known as atherosclerosis (also known as arteriosclerosis), which is essentially a furring up of arteries with a fatty ‘plaque’. For decades now, we’ve had it instilled in us that the chief dietary factor influencing atherosclerosis is fat, which saturated [...]
Physical activity is often advocated for improved health, and there’s a considerable body of evidence which supports this. For example, studies have linked regular physical activity and/or exercise with a reduced risk of chronic, life-threatening conditions including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. There has even been some research that has linked physical activity with [...]
When men middle-aged or elderly men have some difficulty with urination, their doctor’s attention will usually focus on their prostate ” the gland that encircles the pipe that takes urine from the bladder to the outside (the urethra). An enlarged prostate can impinge on the outflow of urine from the bladder and therefore cause symptoms [...]
Last month, one of my blog posts featured recent research which has linked the consumption of coffee with a reduced risk of death in women. The improved survival seen here appeared to essentially be down to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (of which heart attacks and strokes are the most common forms). This research [...]
You don’t have to wait too long before reading some statistic or other that tells us about how rates of obesity are soaring left, right and centre. As ever, though, the advice to ‘eat less and exercise more’ remains the same. That’s a shame, seeing as there is abundant evidence that neither of these approaches [...]
Just yesterday I was being consulted by an individual keen to lose weight who was neither sedentary nor ate a rubbish diet. In fact, her diet was what I would call ‘restrained’. It’s easy to be cynical about individuals like this, and just assume that they are eating more than they think or simply not [...]
On Monday I reported on a couple of recently published studies which support the notion that fish fats are good for the brain. In particular, these studies assessed the potential impact fish-eating and higher levels of so-called omega-3 fats have on the ageing brain. And hot on the heals of this research has come a [...]
While I think it’s possible to give nutrition advice that can be applied broadly to a population, there is no doubt in my mind that fine-tuning is required for those who are seeking to consume something close to their ideal diet. That’s because, are nutritional needs differ. Physiological studies show, for instance, that some individuals [...]
Here in the UK the weather has turned distinctly autumnal, and the drop in temperature will no doubt herald an upsurge in the risk infections including those affecting the ‘respiratory tract’. There is some thought in natural medicine that certain nutrients have a particular part to play in ensuring a healthy immune response, and may [...]
