Chronic disease and economics

Chronic diseases are long-term conditions, with Donoso (2023) noting not only that ‘around 50% of people follow long-term treatment recommendations in high-income countries and presumably even less in...

Ethics and pharmacists

According to Singer (1979:2), ‘… an ethical judgment that is no good in practice must suffer from a theoretical defect as well, for the whole point of ethical judgments is to guide practice.’ With the...

Statins and risk

In support of his view that overconfidence could be endemic in medicine, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman wrote: ‘Experts who acknowledge the full extent of their ignorance may expect to be replaced by...

A brief history of handwashing

Obstetrician Ignatz Philipp Semmelweis (1818–1865) was the first person to demonstrate by experiment that handwashing can prevent infections. In May 1847, he instigated a chlorine-based handwashing...

Mask wearing and COVID-19: What does the evidence say?

The risks and rewards of semaglutide in obesity treatment

The connection between the pancreas, the gut and incretins – hormones released into the blood by the intestine in response to food – was established in the early twentieth century (Knudsen and Lau,...

What is bronchitis and how is it managed?

One of the primary symptoms of acute bronchitis is a cough, which can be productive or unproductive. Other symptoms or clinical signs that may suggest lower respiratory tract infection and no...

The importance of adhering to regulations in healthcare: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and historical incidents

When it comes to safety in healthcare, rules, regulations and guidance are essential to help secure protection for patients and healthcare workers. For example, the Health and Safety Executive (2023)...

Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid and ethics

In November 2022, van Dyck et al (2022) reported the results of an 18-month, double-blind, phase 3 trial of 1795 participants with early Alzheimer’s disease and evidence of amyloid. Half received...

Motor neurone disease

The recent death from motor neurone disease (MND) of former Scottish rugby international and British Lion Doddie Weir OBE (1970–2022) has renewed focus on this neurodegenerative condition.

Serotonin and depression

George Winter discusses the role of serotonin when deciding how to treat depression and how new papers are now disputing the role in plays and whether antidepressants are even the correct treatment...

Considering green inhalers