It has not been a good week for big public health. In a massive backdown, the Australian Heart Foundation has pulled a series of advertisements which suggests that people who don’t get a “heart check” don’t love their families. I did not see the TV version but heard...
The French have a reputation, rightly or wrongly, for arrogance. They believe that the French way is best and everyone else should get on board. Sometimes they have a point. Gavin Mortimer wrote an interesting piece in The Spectator comparing rates of childhood...
Being healthy is more than eating sensibly and exercising – hence there are eight rather than two pillars of health. Relaxation, sleep, relationships together with fun and purpose get less attention as there are few pharmaceutical agents and no grant funding for big...
I have started watching the Netflix Documentary-drama – the making of the mob which chronicles the rise of the mafia in 1920’s America. The key to the success of the mafia was the institution of prohibition on January 16 1920. Not only did prohibition not reduce...
In 1847 Ignaz Semmelweis a Hungarian Physician first discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever could be significantly reduced if doctors washed their hands before attending to mothers. Despite publication of results showing that hand washing reduced mortality...
Last newsletter I wrote about how the clock was ticking for the boosters of the low fat diet fad in big public health. This was off the back of the US Preventative Service Task Force showing that behavioural change was the best approach in managing weight and type two...
