Dr John Briffa's blog, A Good Look at Good Health — writing on food, cholesterol, weight, energy and the science behind everyday health, from the drbriffa.com archive. Filter by topic, browse by category, or search the library.
Brain and Behaviour
Many individuals who work in healthcare, and perhaps quite a few who don’t, will have noticed a general thrust in the direction of what is known as ‘evidence-based medicine’. I have serious reservations about evidence-based medicine, myself. For a start, although evidence-based practice was originally billed as: ‘The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating […]
Food and Medical Politics
My last post on Friday discussed some science which demonstrates the superiority of carbohydrate restricted diets in the management of diabetes. Yes, the authors of this study call for more research to be done before we can confidently recommend such diets. It occurs to me that at least some of the reticence that is apparent […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
The primary problem sufferers of diabetes have is that their bodies don’t handle sugar (glucose) well. Part of the problem here is that ‘excess’ sugar in the body can attach itself to tissues, which damages them. As a result, diabetics are at an increased risk of a variety of conditions including nerve damage, blood vessel […]
Food and Medical Politics
For almost as long as I can remember, we have been cautioned about the need to avoid excess sunlight exposure lest it trigger potentially lethal skin cancer, particularly what is known as ‘malignant melanoma’. Yet, there as for some time been amassing evidence that sunlight exposure is also associated with a decreased risk of several […]
Food and Medical Politics
Stomach ‘acidity’ and acid reflux are common problems, and the mainstay treatments for these ailments are medications that suppress acid secretion. Back in the olden days of when I was a junior doctor, these came in the form of so-called ‘H2 receptor antagonists’ such as cimetidine (Tagamet) and ranitidine (Zantac). Subsequently, a whole new type […]
Food and Medical Politics
It’s the New Year so I’m in philosophical mood. No, not really. But my blog today has been triggered by a piece a I read yesterday about the use of placebos in medicine, which got me thinking in a somewhat philosophical vein. In a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers at […]
Food and Medical Politics
With the New Year beckoning and a general feeling that this time of year brings with it a tendency to ‘tox out’ on food and drink, I suspect some of you may be contemplating a bit of an internal spring clean in the form of a detox programme. However, I note that Andrew Wadge, the […]
Food and Medical Politics
The British Medical Journal (BMJ) is a publication full to the brim with learned and generally quite turgid scientific research and reports. Except, that is, for the Christmas edition, when the editors attempt to ‘lighten up’ this publication a bit with the inclusion of more quirky and seasonal items that would not necessarily make it […]
Food and Medical Politics
Back in October, I wrote about some recently-published research which linked the eating of a high carbohydrate (actually, high glycaemic index and load diets) with an increased risk of breast cancer. One way that fast sugar-releasing foods may promote cancerous growth is through the activity of a compound known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF), which […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Last Friday saw the publication of an intriguing study which assessed the relationship between cholesterol levels and ‘vascular’ mortality ” namely deaths due to heart disease and stroke. This review appeared in the Lancet medical journal, and assessed data from 61 studies. In short, this piece of research found that higher levels of cholesterol were […]