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The Irish Medical Times Blog: July 2007

Alcohol causes all the problems in your life, I bet

A glass of wine a day can apparently increase the risk of bowel cancer—alarming information, yes, but somehow it doesn’t surprise me. We’ve been told binge drinking is bad, that people don’t even understand what it means, and that drinking... Read more

Not here kitty kitty, please not here...

A feline Grim Reaper (but not Oscar) We are all aware of the long-standing superstition of bad luck being visited upon a person who has their path crossed by a black cat. Well in the US things have taken... Read more

Like a rolling stone

We all know the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption. Or do we? Numerous health problems for the drinker; the dangers of drinking and driving; fights and violence caused by booze. No laughing matter, I think we can all agree.... Read more

The things people talk about when they talk about bed capacity

Vincent Sheridan Vhi CEO Mr Vincent Sheridan - while speaking at a press conference this morning to justify the proposed hike in insurance rates - reminded us all of healthcare's dirty little secret: that the economics of capacity is... Read more

Give me your organs, please

England's Chief Medical Officer has said that organ donation regulations should change, from opt-in to opt-out: meaning everyone, when they die, would be organ donors, unless they have specifically requested not to be.... Read more

The invisible people

There was an interesting coincidence in the office this morning. (A place not regularly identified with the frequent occurence of interesting coincidences.) I received a newsletter from Age Action Ireland, which dealt with a few issues concerning our older... Read more

A disgusting polemic

A shortish blog today. I was not going to write about the disgraceful Kevin Myers and his polemic in today's Irish Independent, which is a basically rant against Muslims and his desire to stop them entering Ireland, but it disturbed... Read more

It's a dog's life for the HSE

If the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE) were dogs, the former would be a lumbering family canine that likes to be petted while the latter would be the yippy wee puppy that gets its nose rubbed... Read more

Educate and be damned

There is still an amazing amount of misconception in this country about emergency contraception, STDs and sexual health generally. A lot of people still think chlamydia is caused by promiscuity, or bad judgement. Many people think emergency contraception is... Read more

Saving millions: managing chronic disease in the community

Prof Brendan Drumm A study of a new incentive scheme by Medicare in the US has shown that millions can be saved by keeping patients out of hospitals. One of the ways this was accomplished was to establish a... Read more

Gagging of public health advocates

Dr Richard Carmona An interesting story caught my eye the other day on claims by the 17th surgeon general of the US - now retired - that he was gagged for political reasons on a range of issues. Now... Read more

The HSE's Holy Grail

Monty Python's The Holy Grail is a bit like the Health Service Executive's primary care teams. Arthur, King of the Britons, and his Knights of the Round Table travel through Britain looking for the Holy Grail. The only problem... Read more

Forget the music, think of Chlamydia

© Toby Forage Dublin's Well Woman centre, which has been calling for organised and well-funded chlamydia screening since about 1847, should be pleased to hear that women going to this weekend's Oxegen music festival can squeeze a free STI... Read more

Ah good man Bertie, ye big eejit!

Just when you thought it was safe to open a newspaper after the election and not see some Irish politician making a complete gobeen out of himself, our beloved Taoiseach manages to put his foot in it.... Read more

Saving lives every day

Yawning isn't rude. It's all about surival, new research in Evolutionary Psychology suggests. Also, it's not about oxygen, but cooling the brain. According to the BBC: The common wisdom is that people yawn because they need oxygen, but the... Read more

Get off the bandwagon and put down the handbook

Today I was having a conversation with someone about snobbery. I was saying how the worst kind of snobbery is what I’ll call ‘fake’ snobbery—driven by a need to come across a certain way, or to make yourself look... Read more

Dr Evil, where are you?

Where's a maniacal wannabe world dictator when you need one? Those guys, according to science fiction, usually have all sorts of wonderful gadgets with which to dominate the world. Included among that inventory is often a weather control machine.... Read more

New breakthrough in tackling obesity!

In a move that will delight those battling for funding to treat diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke, the new Minister of State at the Department of Health has come up with a brilliant new plan to tackle the... Read more