Doctor News and Research

RSS

This is not live aid, it's reverse aid

In a message setting a "very clear moral and ethical priority for the new Government as it chairs the G8 summit", the leader of the UK’s doctors, BMA Chairman James Johnson yesterday (Monday 27 June) criticised developed countries for draining skilled health professionals from some of the world’s poorest countries. The "rape of the poorest countries must stop" he said.

27 Jun 2005

Do singlehanded general practices have a future in the NHS

Between 1994 and 2004, the number of singlehanded general practitioners in England fell from 2,959 to 1,918 (from 11% to 6% of all general practitioners). This contrasts sharply with the United States, where 46% of family practitioners and 34% of general internists were practising alone in 1998.

27 Jun 2005

How can the U.S. health-care system prepare for the huge wave of dementia patients expected by 2010?

How can the U.S. health-care system and more specifically, primary care doctors - the physicians from whom older adults receive most of their care - prepare for the huge wave of dementia patients expected to engulf us in 2010, the year the baby boomers begin to reach 65?

27 Jun 2005

Tsunami leaves patients with unusual infections

According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, the December tsunami which left more than 200 000 people dead or missing in Asia and Africa, appears to have caused some unusual lung and sinus infections and also a paralysing brain infection.

27 Jun 2005

Marijuana activists nervous after raids

Marijuana activists in the U.S. fear that recent raids by federal agents are the beginning of an attempt by authorities to wipe out local dispensaries which provide marijuana for medical purposes.

27 Jun 2005

Patients lose trust at U.S.hospital after hydraulic fluid incident

Officials at Duke Health Raleigh Hospital has sent letters this week to about 4,000 patients whose surgeons unknowingly used instruments washed in hydraulic fluid.

23 Jun 2005

Thank God, most doctors believe in God

According to a recent study most doctors believe in God and an afterlife. This conclusion apparently contradicts earlier research which showed that in general, people tend to become less religious as education and income levels rise.

23 Jun 2005

Antibiotics not effective for many coughs

In a study of more than 500 patients who were suffering from acute bronchitis or pharyngitis it was found that whether or not antibiotics were prescribed, the irritating bouts of coughing still continued for an average of almost 12 days after the visit to the doctor.

22 Jun 2005

Folic acid improves memory and protects the brain from aging

According to scientists in Holland high doses of folic acid might help slow the cognitive decline of aging.

22 Jun 2005

Pioneering new thyroid treatment

The doctor has developed a revolutionary technique for treating hyperthyroidism, also known as Graves' Disease. And earlier this month, Culham became the first person in North America to undergo the new procedure.

21 Jun 2005

Safety warning on Internet drugs

Thousands of men in the UK buy “lifestyle drugs” such as erectile dysfunction medication, weight and hair loss products from websites and are oblivious to the fact that some (not all) of the websites belong to unscrupulous vendors.

21 Jun 2005

UK pathologist struck off for secretly taking children's organs

A pathologist in the UK has been struck off the UK medical register for secretly ordering the removal of organs from hundreds of dead children's bodies.

21 Jun 2005

Vascular disease most common cause of male erectile dysfunction

A preeminent cardiologist reports, for the first time in a large prospective study, that certain of his patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) and heart problems can now safely use erection drugs that help up to 80% of men restore function and quality of life.

21 Jun 2005