Brain and Behaviour
Podcast – 26th October 2012
More misinformation from bread manufacturers Warburtons, the French paradox is not a paradox, and simply mental tricks to enhance motivation.
Brain and Behaviour
Cholesterol and Statins
Low cholesterol associated with enhanced risk of death in heart failure patients
‘Heart failure’ is a term used by doctors to describe a state where the heart muscle has become quite ineffective at pumping blood around the body. This problem can manifest in a variety of ways including fatigue, breathlessness, swelling (oedema) in the lower legs and fluid build-up in the lungs (pulmonary oedema). Ultimately, the condition […]
Food and Medical Politics
Medical device licensing in Europe is unbelievably shoddy and tainted by conflicts of interest
If you were to buy a toy for a child, you’d expect it to have been assessed for safety, lest it contains parts that can be easily ingested or inhaled or, say, has sharp bits that may harm a child. You might also imagine that stringent safety rules would exist for medical devices including pacemakers, […]
Brain and Behaviour
Simple mental tricks for improving motivation and making change easy
Most individuals believe that physical activity is beneficial, but many at the same time may find themselves leading quite sedentary lives. The time that exercise can take can be a perceived barrier for some who believe there’s simply ‘not enough hours in the day’. I don’t judge this point of view because I can fall […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Unbiased review concludes that statins do not have overall benefits for healthy people
It’s often said that the ‘gold standard’ test of a medical intervention is the ‘randomised controlled trial’. If it was a drug being tested, this normally means randomly assigning half of a group of people to the drug, while the other half gets a placebo. In ‘double-blind’ studies neither the researchers nor the study subjects […]
Food and Medical Politics
Can industry sponsorship taint health advice?
A commenter on this website yesterday made me aware of a Q and A session hosted by website netmums featuring nutritionist Fiona Hunter and sponsored by the bread manufacturer Warburton. If you’re a reasonably regular follower of this blog then you may know that I have featured Warburtons twice in recent times. First of all, […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Low cholesterol linked with enhanced risk of death
I saw a patient this week who occasionally feels light-headed, particularly when he stands up quickly. This symptom – referred to as ‘postural hypotension’ in medicine – usually signals that someone’s blood pressure is on the low side, and drops even lower on standing. Sure enough, his blood pressure was low (100/70 mmHg). Most doctors […]
Nutrients and Supplements
Vitamin D found to promote fat loss and muscle gain in women
Higher levels of vitamin D are associated with a reduced risk of a variety of health issues including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and several forms of cancer. This research may be of some interest, but its nature (so-called ‘epidemiological’ studies) can’t tell us whether or not vitamin D actually protects against these conditions. It […]
Food and Medical Politics
Bread makers Warburtons are again helping spread more misinformation about the nutritional value of its product
Last month one of my blogs focused on a rash of stories bigging up the supposed nutritional properties of bread. It turns out that this ‘news’ had been based on ‘research’ published in the Nutrition Bulletin – a publication of the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF). I challenged the notion that bread provides some essential role […]
Brain and Behaviour
Review looks at the potential role of light therapy in children, pregnancy and eating disorders
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 […]