General Health

Grim news for British men

herbal medicine

I’m always reading reports and newspapers. So I’m bombarded with stats and facts every day, pretty much. It all comes with the territory! But even so, I still get surprised by the occasional curveball. For instance, recently, I read that British men are dying a lot earlier than in many other developed, wealthy countries like Australia, Switzerland and Austria. And we’re dying from preventable or treatable illnesses, too, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, The statistic that really made…
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The issue with exercise

Have you been enjoying the Olympics? I do admit to getting a bit hooked on the track-and-field events, and so I’ve got into some of the action this week. I’m one of those people who – when they see something inspiring on telly – immediately want to start doing it themselves. If I watch a Kung-Fu movie I instantly turn into Bruce Lee. If I watch the rugby, I’m taken instantly back to my youth, and begin ducking and diving…
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Why the inventor of statins refused to take statins

Last month, the inventor of statins died. His name was Akira Endo, a Japanese biochemist. He moved to New York from Tokyo in 1966 to work at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Arriving in the USA, he remarked upon the large number of overweight people, and elderly people with coronary heart disease. When he went back to Japan, he started looking into the link between cholesterol levels and heart problems. Thus began his quest for a drug that blocked…
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Mysterious illness that baffle scientists

Pre-Diabetes

Here’s the weird thing about science. The more we discover, the more we realise what we DON’T know. The strange effects of quantum mechanics where particles act like waves when they’re not being observed… The bizarre invisible dark matter and energy that seems to be gluing the cosmos together. The mysteries of black holes, which are not even holes, but concentrations of matter packed into a tiny space. It’s the same for questions of health and illness. For instance, despite…
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Well, this isn’t surprising

Are health checks good for you

I often rail about the unnecessary prescriptions GPs give out. Drugs with side effects are dished out to masses of patients, when a lot of these people could have found other more natural preventatives and remedies. And I’ve long promoted the idea that by making some lifestyle changes, especially dietary ones, we can reduce or avoid a lot of serious health problems. So I was not at all surprised by the results of an ‘innovative’ pilot scheme in Tower Hamlets…
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The addiction problem nobody is trying to fix

smart phone addiction

I have a serious question for you about your relationship. Not your romantic one… I mean the one with your phone! Or, more specifically, your relationship with the internet (and all its many platforms, tools and alerts) as it exists in a little black box you carry around with you. How much time do you spend on it? How distracted does it make you? How anxious, angry, irritated or inadequate does it make you feel? And how uncomfortable do you…
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