Taking an apple a day will certainly not stop you from getting lung cancer if you are a heavy smoker, although if you do have a healthy daily fruit intake there is good evidence that you are less likely to get it. A more proactive approach to cancer prevention using drugs is likely to save […]
Read moreGenetics of Psychiatric Disorders
May 6, 2011 
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The stigma of mental disorders still puts proactive policy in terms of mental wellness promotion on the long finger in many countries. The conditioned approach of burying heads in sand is the norm. Surely the time is nigh for change with recent research beginning to elucidate the complex heritable components of disease? Disorders of the […]
Read moreEye Plasticity
May 5, 2011 0 Comments
Is how the eye remodels itself during foetal development providing a model for changes in our plastic brain? KEY POINTS Early development in the eye provides a model for neuronal plasticity. Elucidating the mechanisms of normal neuronal development will help understand disease processes. Innate immunity mechanisms through the HLA Class I molecules seem to have […]
Read moreFit, Obese and Healthy
June 10, 2013 0 Comments
There is an epidemic of media reporting on the negative connotations of being overweight. Being obese has become a modern stigma. And yet there is good evidence that as much of 30% of those deemed obese seem to suffer no health consequences of their excess weight. Our changing lifestyles and diets mean that we are […]
Read moreBest Measure for Blood Pressure?
June 8, 2013 0 Comments
Monitoring Blood Pressure for Control Blood pressure is a vital sign. Traditional methods of measuring blood pressure can be inaccurate and misleading. Despite over 100 years of dependence on it as a clinical indicator, repeated office measurements can be an unscientific approach to assessing and monitoring blood pressure control. Uncontrolled hypertension is responsible for most […]
Read moreInsulin Resistance
June 1, 2013 0 Comments
Insulin resistance is a phenomenon whereby the insulin in our body loses its effectiveness. Genetics and environmental factors can influence the ability of insulin to do its job. Physical inactivity and high calorie dietary intake are thought to contribute to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is often found with a cluster of other symptoms that make […]
Read moreStimulating the Spine
May 14, 2013 1 Comment
Many people suffer from chronic pain with no relief. If drugs and other management approaches fail, there is a place for spinal cord stimulation in select patients. Chronic complex pain is both intransigent and extremely difficult to manage. Sufferers of chronic pain can become completely debilitated by their permanent, and often excruciating, pain. Life can […]
Read moreIs Cancer a Terrorist of Pain?
April 22, 2013 0 Comments
Is the Cancer Cell a Terrorist of Pain? The histology and site of cancer will determine the type of pain the patient will experience. The evidence is accumulating that cancer cells hijack the human immune system and nervous system to gain a growth advantage. In cancer, one of our cells will break off and reproduce […]
Read moreScaffold Hopping for Drug Discovery
April 21, 2013 0 Comments
Designing new drugs is expensive. Using virtual drug design software to produce novel medicines circumvents some of the considerable costs involved using the traditional approaches to developing new medicines. Many potential new drugs fail to progress through rigorous regulation requirements and clinical trials. The recent steady decline in the number of new drugs that have […]
Read moreSudden Sports Deaths
March 31, 2013 1 Comment
Sudden deaths that occur on the professional sports field make the media headlines. The incidences are well publicised. The sudden collapse and death of a super-fit, young, professional athlete while training, or on their favoured field of play, is a tragedy without doubt. And yet these deaths really are rare, especially when we consider how […]
Read moreMale Teachers in Health Peril
March 11, 2013 0 Comments
The statistics are enlightening and perhaps a little frightening. It is not healthy being a male teacher. Teaching is high stress especially English language teaching with an estimated 30% drop out after first year from burnout. It may be as high as up to 50-70% in Asia. It was Freudenberger who defined burnout as a […]
Read moreWhat is Better than Warfarin?
March 5, 2013 0 Comments
Good long-term anticoagulant medicines are hard to come by. Despite the complications of its use and toxicity, warfarin remains the mainstay of preventative treatment. The key unmet need is for viable alternative long-term oral anticoagulation treatments. Warfarin is a medicine that is far from ideal. It reduces the risk of stroke in patients with atrial […]
Read moreThe Diabetic Foot
February 24, 2013 0 Comments
 Every 30 seconds a lower limb is lost somewhere in the world because of complications related to diabetes. Amputation is the last resort management of diabetic ulceration of a limb that has gone horribly wrong because of uncontrolled infection or ischaemia leading to gangrene. Foot ulcers can occur in nearly one fifth of diabetics. Ulceration […]
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