Re-reading my review, I can tell that I was very careful even then not to present this approach as a 'cure' for Long Covid, but as a promising approach to manage symptoms better while waiting for a cure ... However, I have
We have a professional obligation to keep up to date, and our patients will hopefully take it as read that we know what we are doing. They are more likely to thank us, though, for also having taken the trouble to walk
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
The Anxious Generation documents a phenomenon which almost certainly has been recognised, tracked and pondered by all practicing GPs, whose workload consists of a substantial and growing prevalence of anxiety and depression, particularly among younger patients.
Making explicit the roles and activity of the General Practitioner has many benefits. It enables others to recognise, value and utilise our work. The acronym is GENERALISM!
Hannah Milton reflects on the neuroscience of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how this can lead to what is termed ‘latent vulnerability’.
The power of placebos is both a manual and a manifesto. It both a guide to the ethical use of placebos in healthcare, as well as placebos as a window into empathic, meaningful healthcare.
What are 'Ordinary' worries? Elke Hausmann reflects in the light of recent announcements by the prime minister about taking sick note prescribing away from GPs, with the argument that 'normal worries' are being wrongly medicalised as mental illness, also using that to
To be fit for work, a person must be capable of more than simply carrying out in isolation the tasks required by their role: they must be able to do so repeatedly, to a consistent standard, and in a way that represents
GPs are in the firing line of efforts to reduce sickness certification. The UK government suggest that the responsibility for issuing fit notes could be moved from GPs to specialist occupational health professionals. Nada Khan unpacks the issues.
Elke Hausmann recommends Lynn Payer's book to anyone who wants to understand the history of many of the underlying assumptions shaping medicine and our practice of it -the inevitable result of medical progress but of choices, conscious or not, that arise from
...an apparent paradox makes science possible. At least two conditions are necessary, and they appear deeply contradictory. The first is that the universe must be governed by consistent physical laws, the second is that humans in general, and scientists in particular, must
Thomas Oswald questions the speed with which physician assistants have been rolled out in primary care as a GP-alternative, and wonders why the high profile debates chiefly involve the RCP rather than the RCGP.
Richard Armitage's reading about Chalmers’ proposal of two distinct Problems (the capital is deliberate) of consciousness sparked an analogy in the domain of human health...
Will using a PPI increase my patient’s risk of dementia? I wouldn’t honestly know the answer offhand if a patient came to me asking this question clutching their newspaper. What are the tensions between the media and scientists, and the implications for
Thinking, Fast and Slow is a detailed summary of much of Kahneman’s influential work spanning numerous academic disciplines which has real-world impact across various professional and personal domains. Richard Armitage explores Its relevance to general practice.
'In medical education; those with less support needs have better training environments, while those who are most in need of support end up training in the most challenging, deprived areas.' Frances Wedgwood reflects on a plausible narrative.
As we embrace digitalisation and adapt to changing legislative frameworks, healthcare professionals must redouble their commitment to safeguarding and supporting survivors of DA. Only by aligning with the new legal framework and embracing advancements in practice can we truly meet the needs
10 years was the gap Monica Ali took between her last novel and the release of Love Marriage in 2022. Ironically, this is the same amount of time it would take to go through medical school and train to be a qualified
The Life and Time section is in fact bigger on the inside, as submissions air online and a selection are chosen for a print edition, conditional on (with apologies for the awful pun) space and theme. This month’s Life and Times focuses
...illness is something normal, to be borne while the pendulum swings that way in expectation that it will soon swing back again. Most of the time, it does, and it is easy for us to claim credit as doctors, even though we
There’s a real risk often voiced by GPs that using Google will make them look stupid in front of the patient, and while there is evidence this can happen, especially with younger patients, it’s often not as bad as we think ...
Paul was diagnosed with locally advanced cancer in 2019. Paul was under no illusion about his prognosis and from an early point he openly discussed what his future was likely to hold .He set out very clearly what was most important to
We know ambulance trusts in the UK are increasingly employing GPs, and whilst the theory is there, we wanted to explore the evidence. What follows is a summary of our discussions exploring key similarities and differences in approaches to out-of-hours (OOH) care,
Biological causality for T4 monotherapy not working for some is now established. We can’t now attribute the 10%–15% of people with hypothyroidism not feeling better on T4 as wimps, laggards, or requiring psychological attention. Sarah Cathcart Evans reflects from personal experience of
The Eisenhower matrix is an eponymous task management tool attributed to the late US President which helps to organise and prioritise tasks by urgency and importance, so you can focus on getting the most urgent and important things done first. So, am
There’s much to be said for novellas – short novels you can read in a couple of evenings, without the commitment needed for a blockbuster. If you’re looking for a great example, I’d recommend The Shooting Party by the Russian dramatist Anton
We cannot manage without models, but it is easy to forget that they are not the same as reality, and that their utility depends not just on their ability to provide a sense of congruence, but on the degree to which they
There has been significant debate recently around how best to name the newest healthcare profession to seek regulation under the umbrella of the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Cathal Gallagher reflects on the legality of the title 'Doctor'.
The Lancet recently published a series on the menopause. GPs are consulting with large numbers of women around this time of life and will no doubt welcome a major medical journal addressing an area of rising need. Ellen Fellows argues that there
The greatest challenge was a general practice one: not making a definitive diagnosis but to triage, having to decide what was safe to watch and wait, what could be managed with resources onboard the ship, what needed to be seen on land,
I have recently read ‘Too Many Pills - How too much medicine is endangering our health and what we can do about it’ by James Le Fanu... So, this is my new purpose in life - to create opportunities to have open,
The results of this survey are depressing yet unsurprising – GPs are thoroughly aware of both their increasing workloads and helpless inability to satisfy the relentlessly growing demand, despite our best efforts.
My husband and I visited my ancestral village home in the state of Bihar. I was visiting my village after 25 years and could see the obvious changes – both the progress and ongoing challenges.
Thinking about patients,’ is a classic text, first published in 2001, that applies sociology and psychology to medical practice. I first read it in 2011 while doing a PhD in medical education, and wondered how I had missed it.
It used to be just in the context of type 1 diabetes, but the little white circles on people’s upper arms seem to be more ubiquitous, and it’s clear that the use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is shifting from a medical
There was a feeling that politicians and health service planners had failed to understand the nature of general practice and its purpose in relation to health. The articles in this month’s Life and Times address the nature and purpose of general practice
Nick Wooding offers some football-inspired reflections on good general practice as a team sport.
Train-tracks approaching the horizon appear to converge, although in reality, they remain equidistant. UK General Practice finds itself on a train journey along tracks which seem to do the opposite: the further down the line we look, the more they diverge. Should
Investigations themselves can throw up results that are difficult to interpret, and they may reveal abnormalities of uncertain significance. To highlight these issues to our patients would constitute more ethical practice, would foster greater patient empowerment, and could result in a frame
I found this an inspiring, uplifting play about one of my heroes – the Welsh firebrand and father of the NHS, Aneurin “Nye” Bevan – vividly brought to life by another Welsh hero, the actor Michael Sheen.
With the weight loss effects of semaglutide and other GLP-1 agonists so widely reported in the press and social media, it’s not just people with obesity and weight-related comorbidities that are asking about it. But ask they will, so what we can