To Olivia, a new film on Sky Cinema, captures the year (1962) that author Roald Dahl’s daughter died of measles encephalitis. The death of seven-year-old Olivia nearly tore the family apart. This terrible story will be new to many people, but it’s not new to me. I first heard itContinue Reading
shutterstock For more than a decade, drug-related deaths (DRD) in Scotland have been rising – alongside evidence which suggests that the country has had much less success in treating and supporting people who use drugs compared to the rest of the UK and Europe. The figures for 2019, which wereContinue Reading
Dean Drobot/Shutterstock Lucy, a patient of mine, contracted COVID-19 in the first wave of the pandemic, before lockdown. She had trouble breathing and her doctor told her to call an ambulance if her lips turned blue. Luckily, she recovered well at home with rest and paracetamol – but it wasn’tContinue Reading
Virtual reality can create immersive simulations of real environments. Elle Aon/ Shutterstock With one in four of us expected to experience a mental health problem at any one time, increasing access to treatment has become essential. But doing so is challenging. Therapists require extensive training, and the most effective formsContinue Reading
Preparing your own food may lead you to eat more. Milles Studio/ Shutterstock The media is awash with cooking programmes. From chatty breakfast TV slots to extended cookery competitions to the more extreme “mukbang” social media extravaganza, watching other people prepare food from the comfort of our sofa has becomeContinue Reading
Iurii Stepanov/Shutterstock Over 16 million people in the UK have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. The government is now expanding the vaccine rollout to more people, including those who are “clinically vulnerable”. But millions of people with asthma will not be in this priority group, whichContinue Reading
Oil well fires burning outside of Kuwait. Everett Collection/ Shutterstock This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War. A United Nations coalition of about 700,000 troops led by the United States liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in the first half of 1991. But after the war ended,Continue Reading
Dushi82/Shutterstock.com Fire has been essential for cooking since before the dawn of civilisation. In many places across the world, traditional methods – cooking on an open fire or stove – have been replaced by gas or electricity, yet continued use of solid biomass fuels in traditional stoves across the developingContinue Reading
Back in early January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson predicted that “with a fair wind in our sails”, the UK would be able to offer a first COVID-19 vaccine dose to its first four priority groups by mid-February. The winds have evidently been good. All frontline health workers, care home staffContinue Reading
Participants lost around 15% of their body weight on average. Rostislav_Sedlacek/ Shutterstock A recently published clinical trial of the anti-obesity drug, semaglutide, has produced a degree of weight loss which has led some to dub the medication a “game changer” in the treatment of obesity. The trial looked at 1,961Continue Reading
