Contemporary art: a laughing matter?

This week I visited the Saatchi gallery. The exhibition at current displays new art from China. Call it new, modern or contemporary art, it is the kind which usually causes a reaction from its audience. It may be a blissful realisation of the meaning of life or an angry, "that's not art!". 

Whether it is your cup of tea or not, I thought it was a playful exhibition and I often enjoy contemporary art for that reason. However it's also deeper than just fun and games. On closer inspection, and in some cases at first glance, it did feel quite disturbing to be stood in the gallery.

For example, standing below tens of naked life size human models hanging upside down from the ceiling, I wasn't quite sure what it represented. According to Zhang Dali, the artist, they portray immigrant workers who are from the rural areas all over China and work in construction sites in Chinese cities. 

Zhang thinks they are the most important people of the Chinese race as they shape our physical reality. The bodies are hung upside down, because they represent the, "uncertainty of their life and their powerlessness in changing the own fates."

Sculptures of people featured heavily in other Chinese artists works too. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu created models of elderly men that look suspiciously like world leaders. They are placed in wheel chairs. One holds a beer can, another holds some toilet paper to blow his nose and they slowly wheel round the room satirically bumping into each other. 

Perhaps one of the most visually shocking is the sculpture of a giant poo, spanning two metres in diameter. The textured detail does not politely refrain. It is as grotesque and repulsive as a giant number two can be.

One of my favourites by YueMinjun was that of the "Laughing Buddhas" (pictured above).

What do you reeaallly want for Christmas?

After reading the Sunday paper today. If you want something that is bad for you but legal, then blame the advertisers. A heart charity is trying to nail this problem relating to kids and junk food by calling for a ban on unhealthy foods being advertised before 9pm. 

BHF (British Heart Foundation) say that too many shows such as the X-Factor, Kids do the Funniest Things and Emmerdale are sandwiched by adverts enticing parents to buy kids foods which are "bad" for them.

The BHF report says that food companies take advantage of parents' concerns about giving their children unhealthy foods by "bigging up" one aspect of the food item, such as that it is whole grain, but missing out the fact they are tremendously high in fat, salt or sugar.

And when advertising is made illegal, businesses find other sneakier ways...

Cigarette firms have been found to have set up a supposedly independent group called the "Save our shop" campaign. This is for smaller retailers to campaign against government restrictions on promoting cigarettes in shops. MPs believed they were unaware the scheme was funded by tobacco companies and over 100 MPs signed a petition in alliance with the "save our shop" campaign.

So there we have it, always question why you want what you want for christmas before you buy it. Such as the pizza maker when you're on a diet, the mini fridge when you have enough space in the big one in the kitchen or the box of 200 cigarettes when you don't even smoke...

The Climate Change Rollercoaster

I don't know if it's the newspapers hyping things up or if it's true that CO2 emissions were going down by 500 million tonnes a year on Sunday, but today they aren't .... and we are in actual fact already in a haze of CO2, methane and blasting heat.

Sunday's paper said (Observer newspaper): "Melting ice may slow global warming", adding the expertise of a geologist. Sheets of ice which break off Antarctic ice blocks will form smaller icebergs which should trigger off a reaction from the sea bed minerals, which in turn causes a natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.

But then, in the Guardian yesterday on melting ice and CO2 emissions and global warming: "Too late? Why scientists say we should expect the worst".  It was after a high-level academic conference on global warming at Exeter University, where apparently everyone had that (literal quote of) "strange feeling" that it wasn't looking good. 

The reason being that carbon emissions are soaring out of control. And it wasn't just Kevin Anderson the Climate scientist who felt doomed. Bob Watson the chief scientist at the Environment Department decided to add, "We must alert everybody that at the moment we're at the very top end of the worst case (emissions) scenario."

There was no solution. Literally an article on how species diversity, crops and low lying land is more than under threat. That we should just accept and expect the worst. Are we doomed?

What ever the outcome here, I'm definitely sticking to my recycling. 

The most graceful age

Summer born babies are said to be at a disadvantage to Winter born ones when it comes to education, says a report in the Observer newspaper. 

Being the younger ones in the year, children born at the end of the academic year, may struggle to keep up with their maturer class mates, not because of intelligence, but because of age.

I possibly agree with that. Being born in October, I was always older at school. But as soon as it came to university it swapped over. All the younger ones in the year tended to take gap years. Where as I didn't because my time was ticking. So we all leveled out in the end.

But then when you go beyond university, youthful careers and your glowing golden age at work, you turn into a wrinkly figure of discrimination.  According to the Observer newspaper today again, the number of people facing ageism at work have tripled within a year.

It appears that mainly women suffer most. It makes sense. All you need to do is watch this series of X factor. Female judges Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue have an average age of 31 years old. Male judges Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh have a rather larger average of 53 years old.

I would say Cheryl and Dannii find success partly due to their attractive looks. But I wouldn't say Simon and Louis made it big because of their stunning handsomeness.

The outcome? Perhaps increasing compensation pay-outs for those who feel discriminated against. Perhaps increasing plastic surgery. Or more ideally, perhaps a whole shift in the societies views towards appearances and age... 

The older should mean the wiser, the more experienced, the more confident. Not just the more wrinkles.

Ethical dilemma: conjoined twin separation

One of the conjoined twins, Hope sadly died today after being separated from her twin, Faith. 

A view supported by some religious groups, is that they shouldn't have been separated at all and somebody asked me the question today, "Is the surgeon a murderer?" 

I said that I could not put it as strongly as that, but in actual fact, I don't think he is one at all!

Having 20 people to operate on the twins through out the night in order to give them a chance in life gives me a complete opposite view.

As far as I am aware, the twins were separated without too much debate. Although the operation was risky, being joint at the abdomen placed face to face, any quality of life would be greatly reduced otherwise. 

What I do think was controversial however, is that the couple to have the twins were advised to have them aborted beforehand.

Faith, who is at the moment in intensive care and stable could survive the trauma. A termination would have prevented any chance of survival for both. However it is a battle, which could end in devastation. It is really a matter of how willing one is to go through with the fight.

Jodie and Mary

In November 2000,  siamese twins Jodie and Mary were separated against their Roman Catholic parents wishes. The operation followed one of the biggest debates in medical ethical history. 

By separation, this would give one twin a chance of survival, where as not separating them would have meant neither would have been able to survive.

Laden and Laleh

In July 2003, Iranian siamese twin Ladan and Laleh Bijani were nearly 30 when they decided to go ahead with separation. Their heads were joint and shared some major vessels. 

Despite having coped with their attachment for so many years, having law degrees and knowing the large risk of an operation they agreed to separate because of their different career path ambitions.

Tragically neither survived the operation. Their strong desire for separation, despite knowing possible consequences suggests that being conjoined causes serious problems in life quality.

Their have been many advances in surgery and survival rates have increased over the years. We can only pray that this will mean Faith a chance in life.

Captain Corelli's mandolin - read it!

I have just finished reading the wonderful book, Captain Corelli's Mandolin. 

The author, Louis de Bernieres writes a history of the Greek Island of Cephallonia during the 2nd world war, but adds characters, personal tragedies and love stories making it emotional, funny, sensitive and beautifully written.

Captain Corelli is a young Italian officer, who is sent, as part of the occupying forces, to Cephallonia. The villagers are disgusted by him and his soldiers because they are figures of oppression on the island.

However, over time, his charm, character and passion for music and the mandolin, brings out his good human nature and love blossoms between him and the local doctor's daughter. But can any romance survive through such hostile times?

The book swings from the most serious tragic situation you could possibly imagine to the funniest most light hearted scenario possible. 

I am amazed by the writer's ability to include vast subjects such as history and medicine but still go into the intricate detail and intimacy of the villagers' and soldiers' characters. 

I would definitely recommend the book.

Living to be a hundred...and fifteen

At the age of 115, Edna Parker passed away, as the oldest lady in the world. She was an American and born in 1893, outliving both her sons according to the BBC.

She had been a widow for nearly 70 years and lived on her own in a farmhouse for most of her life until she moved to an Indiana nursing home when she was 100 years old.

Secrets as to her lengthy life can only be found to be a healthy lifestyle, not smoking or drinking alcohol and keeping active.

When Mrs. Parker was born in the 1890s, when sport became more acceptable for women to take part in. However this was an era where women wore long dresses with full length puffed sleeves to play tennis and bloomers were worn for cycling. 

1893 also saw a serious economic depression in the United States, which led to many people abandoning their homes and travelling West. 

The economy did begin to recover in 1896, which was followed by 10 years of rapid growth. Something of which we might like to be able to relate to today.

Mrs. Parker would have been familiar with a great deal more since then. It is difficult to imagine what 115 years of life could ever feel like.

Organ ownership

Last week, scientists advised Gordon Brown that a "presumed consent" system, where all people are organ donors unless they opt out, or a family member refuses their organs to be harvested, was a bad idea. This is not compatible with Mr. Brown's desire to change the "opt-in" system we have at the moment.

The scientists of the Organ Donation Taskforce, which was set up by the government in 2006 think that a change would cause practical problems for the NHS and would risk a potential backlash among the public. 

The Taskforce imply that, despite an increase in organ donors, the number of skilled staff in the transplantation area and better facilities are still needed to improve transplant rates.

The Sunday Times magazine quotes a former heart transplant surgeon with, "Twenty years ago, if you did a transplant it made the news. Now they are done at night, when operating theatres are empty. It's hard, demanding work, and you're still expected to turn up for 8am".

Hearts are one of the least transplanted organs in Britain. That there are not enough hearts available does not appear to be the only reason for this. There simply aren't that many heart transplant surgeons and the operation is risky.

Lives to save

However, there are plenty of stories where people have been waiting for kidneys or livers and there just are never enough. I cannot completely understand the Taskforces view when it would be steps closer to more lives being saved. 

Nobody likes thinking about death and as much as many say they're not superstitious people worry about tempting fate by signing away their organs. An "opt-out" system would be more truthful of whether people actually want to become donors or not, as there is always that people "never get round becoming one" when they have always meant to be.

There is always the risk it could always work the other way round. That the person always meant to opt-out of the system due to beliefs or religion, but never got round to it.

A change could create a stir and a need for further change in staffing. But if it saves lives then is it not worth it? 

Pain is not always beauty

I remember when my housemate returned from her Summer holiday completely terrified of going bald. A few weeks previously she had had her long straight jet black hair chemically curled.

However, it turned out not quite how she had expected so immediately returned to the hairdresser to have it chemically straightened. Her distress rose exponentially when the hairdresser apologised that they had accidentally used too strong a concentration of the chemical.

Her hair began to melt and frizz with a large clump falling out on the top of her scalp and drying out the skin. One and a half years later the patch still has not grown back to its full potential.

But this isn't a one off scenario.

In the Observer newspaper today, there is a health warning about poorly trained beauticians. Health officials have revealed women suffering from paralysis of the face, burnt scalps and lost fingernails. 

It poses the biggest risk when managers encourage cost-cutting techniques amongst poorly trained staff, which can lead to infection. Examples include waxing and body piercings not being carried out properly. 

Hairdressing staff also suffer from dermatitis because of the shampoos and hair chemicals they handle on a day to day basis. 

Chemical warning

Concerns were raised after a drugs watchdog about a tanning agent that you inject called Melanotan. It is illegal to sell as it has not undergone safety checks and has been linked to increased blood pressure. 

Despite this it has been sold in tanning salons, body-building gyms and over the internet. 

This has led to the inspection of other chemicals used for the love of beauty. In nail bars methyl methacrate is a chemical sometimes used to bind false nails to a real nail. Worryingly it has been associated to lung, kidney and liver problems, asthma and allergic reactions. 

It is the cheaper option to chose, but there have been incidents where women have also pulled off their real nail after getting their false nail caught in clothing as it was glued on so strongly.

My housemate has refused to have her hair dyed, straightened or curled since the incident at the hairdressers. 

But perhaps we should be staying clear of a lot more. Experiments show that your hair even washes itself after  3 weeks of non shampooing. It would certainly be a great deal cheaper to be more "o'natural" during these difficult "credit crunch" times. 

Secret drinkers

Almost 2 in 5 people who drink above recommended limits of alcohol lie to doctors about their excesses according to a survey. 

According to a BBC source, in poll of 2000 people, men were more likely to downplay their drinking habits than women. 

Those who drank sensibly tended to be honest, where as 39% of those risking their health with drink, lied.

This doesn't surprise me. I remember a psychiatrist giving us medical students advice on questioning patient's drinking habits. 

He said you should always casually overestimate how much they drink, for example with, "how much do you drink a night? 40 beers?" 

The reply could be anything from shock, to an honest, "Oh no not that much, probably 30".

Tell tale signs

When I was 17 years old and thinking about applying for medical school, I had a work experience placement at a GP surgery. I saw a lady perhaps in her 60s, who was suffering from early signs of dementia. She was becoming forgetful and was unable to complete a test which involved filling in the numbers of a clock face. 

When the doctor asked about her alcohol intake, the patient said she enjoyed a couple of beers a night. The doctor was quick to assume that it was a great deal more than that. Her forgetfulness was likely to be a case of alcohol dementia.

It is not unusual for someone to feel ashamed about over drinking when it becomes a problem. It might often be the case that patients don't want to admit to themselves that they have a problem. Sometimes the units just creep up without the person even realising.

It is a shame because there is often help (such as alcoholics anonymous) out there, but by the time they've admitted their problem, their physical health has irreversibly deteriorated. 

It is always hoped social support will reach them before medical care is needed.

Base it on evidence

Politics is shifting towards science and evidence-based theories. Tory MPs will have to have basic science lessons so that they can grasp concepts of global warming, stem-cell research, pandemic flu and GM crops, I read in the Times newspaper yesterday. 

As these issues are poking their noses more and more into political shadows, MPs need scientific knowledge to support their opinions and decisions.

I think this is a good idea as politicians should then be able to base their arguments on fact rather than which argument they think subjectively sounds the best. 

As there has been almost an evidence based revolution in science, I think that any leaders of the country should be able to understand how to think in this way.

Evidence-based fits all?

The evidence-based theory is not only to be applied to medicine and science, but has also been discussed for its application to social policy and criminal sentencing. 

However for these areas I disagree that they should be used. Evidence based theory often looks at what works best in the majority of cases. 

In criminal sentencing however, every case is different. Therefore I am sceptical as to how sentencing can be readjusted based on previous facts. 

Judging how people should be punished is not a science. It is a humanity. I do not think that, whether or not a person should be forgiven, is just a matter for statistics.

Pseudo-world

The internet and our computers have certainly proved to be a commodity in the modern world. It has been an asset in business, for the health service and for education. 

But sometimes it rather feels that there is no need to live away from our computer screens. We can talk to friends and loved ones online, shop online, write a diary (blog) online, work online, listen to music and watch DVDs all on the one computer.

So when do we know when to stop?

Virtual Relationships

Yesterday it was revealed on the BBC news, that a couple divorced after finding out her husband was having a virtual affair on an internet computer game, Second Life.

The "real" couple met in an internet chat room in  2003 and marriage followed. They shared interests including the virtual reality game which allows one to create their character or avatar and interact with other pretend characters.

Amy Taylor found her husband's avatar with a prostitute on the screen. David Pollard's marriage had ended. 

In one sense I can understand Amy Taylor's fury. With so much of their lives entwined by computer scenery, how can you really differentiate the physical world from the virtual? And perhaps it also reveals an unappealing side to one's character. That is, if they enjoy going having sex with a prostitute in a game, then who knows, they might do it in real life if they had the chance.

Computer goodness

However the big increase in the number of households owning a computer and having access to internet has helped bring about a revolution in some areas of healthcare. 

For example, the launch of websites allowing patients to share their experiences of illness. Patient and health sites which are widely known and trusted allow people to research diseases that would otherwise take a great deal more time and effort to find out about.

And whether you think games such as Second Life and Grand Theft Auto are good for you or not, is for you to decide, but personally I think they are a little too far beyond imagination.

Healthy towns

Government Ministers have invested in a “healthy towns” scheme by pouring £30m into nine UK areas to improve the health of the public.

Tower Hamlets, a borough of London involved in the scheme, is one of the nine areas taking part. 

Obesity is prevalent in the London borough and has poor health compared to the rest of London and UK, according to the Tower Hamlets Local Area Agreement 2008-2011. It rates 349^th out of 408 authority districts for life expectancy in Britain.

One of the ideas about to be tried at the borough, is an awards scheme. Food businesses will be encouraged to sell healthier options to customers for which they will gain points to buy sportswear and equipment.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said it is the way “to create a healthy England”.

Is government money the answer?

A Health Councillor and Deputy Manager at Tower Hamlet feels there is more to the health problems within the area than the government is aware of.

He told me: “You can’t come in as an outsider and impose something on a community you don’t know anything about.”

The councillor has worked for the Tower Hamlet council since 1993 and is familiar with the area’s cultural diversity. He thinks that the range of cultures means it is difficult to impose a one-rule fits all approach.

An example he gave of ethnic health diversities was that of the Bengali community. Generally they tended to suffer from mouth cancer because it is in their culture to chew tobacco.

And diets of the Chinese, Somali and Bangladeshi communities all vary. Therefore he said it would be unfair to impose what was healthy and what was not from someone of a white middle class background.

Other ways

Tower Hamlets has organised yearly Summer health fairs for the past 10 years, with 1500 people attending the last two day event last June.

They gave talks on smoking, healthy eating, diabetes and epilepsy with one to one sessions with trained staff. They had bicycle stand competitions and did cholesterol checks. They also introduced alternative therapies to residents such as homeopathy, massage and reflexology.

He said his ideal solution to improving public health is to have, “influential members of the community who is familiar with the neighbourhood and can help the public understand what health means.

“You’re not going to make health fashionable overnight.”

Time will tell whether the scheme improves community health. According to the BBC, Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said the schemes were:

 “Very sensible. In many ways this is too little, too late. The government should have acted years ago. However, you have to start somewhere and these are certainly the right kind of schemes."

Slimming pill - not a patent drug?

A medicine has now thought to have been found, by French scientists, to combat fat, according to the BBC. It tricks the body into hitching the metabolism rate up a notch. 

This means that the body is programmed to work at a faster metabolism which would usually only occur when energy levels are low.

The drug contains a substance which is a chemical cousin to that found in red wine.

When used in mice at high doses it not only completely prevented weight gain but also improved blood sugar tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

Is it the answer?

Could this be the drug to prevent 1000 deaths a week caused by obesity? Is medicating obesity really the answer, when being fat isn't really a disease? There's always concern that once a solution in the form of a pill arises, there will be  abandonment of exercise and healthy eating as people feel it is no longer necessary.

Perhaps I am being sceptical. I am sure it would say on the packet that it is a supplement to healthy eating and exercise. And even if being fat isn't a disease, there are many diseases that creep along side it, such as cardiovascular problems.

In one sense it is a matter of who gets their hands on it. If it's to save lives, then it serves it has a worthwhile purpose. If it ends up as a replacement for the "Atkins" diet because it went out of fashion a few years ago, then perhaps not so much. 

I think it is important to differentiate slimming from surviving. This drug would not just be a remedy for removing love handles.

Sandwiches

I bought a Brie sandwich. On the front it was named "Brie My Baby". It was tasty and the salad in it was fresh. Perhaps the the bread was a little bit too crusty, but really how wrong can you go with a sandwich?

It can go very wrong according to a figure in the Metro newspaper today, which said 400 people have become ill in a year from listeria, a bug found in prepared food. This is double the numbers of 2001. 

400 people is not a large proportion of the population, however the fact is the numbers appear to be increasing and an Food Standards Agency spokeswoman said: "Although 400 cases each year is still quite small, a lot of them get hospitalised and there is a high proportion of deaths." 

Listeria can infest salads, cooked meat, soft cheese and pate. All the types of foods you can get in sandwiches. "Brie my Baby" could have made a good breeding ground. 

According to the website of the Food Standards Agency: "Symptoms of listeria infection can take up to 90 days after exposure and may start with a fever, "flu-like" illness and/or diarrhoea." And it can be treated effectively with antibiotics.

For preventative measures, the key is to make sure the sandwich is eaten before the date and that it has been stored below 5 degrees celcius.

Caffeine and the Unborn Baby

Cutting the caffeine is being advised by the Food Standards Agency for pregnant women after it has been linked to low birth weight in a study.

This means no more than 2 cups of coffee or 4 cups of tea a day. Caffeine is also found in cola, chocolate and some drugs. However the majority of caffeine an average adult consumes will come from coffee. Coffee is the most popular drink worldwide and around 400 billion cups are drunk each year, according to the Roast and Post Coffee Company.

Don't Panic

However for those who have been drinking more than the 2 cups a day, if the caffeine hasn't prevented it already, this is not something to lose sleep over. Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at the FSA said:

"We would like to emphasise that the risks are likely to be very small and believe our new advice, which is based on new research and has been considered by leading independent scientists, is sensible and proportionate."

The BBC says the study was carried out at Leicester and Leeds universities and the study has been published on the online British Medical Journal. 

Does Alcohol do Good to the Unborn Baby?

Yesterday it was said, that mothers who drink alcohol modestly during pregnancy are more likely to have better behaved children than those who do not drink at all. 

The study has followed confusion in the past month about whether or not it was safe during pregnancy to drink at all. The government does not recommend complete abstinence, where as the National Institute for Healthcare and Clinical Excellence (NICE) gives opposite advice.

The study at University College of London were looking to see if there was a link between light drinking during pregnancy and cognitive or behavioural problems in the children at the age of three.

Better Behaved

Not only did researchers find toddlers did not suffer cognitively and behaviourally, but also that a significant proportion of the toddlers of mothers who drank during pregnancy seemed to be doing better than those who abstained.

Boys were 40% less likely to have conduct problems and 30% less likely to be hyperactive. Girls were 30% less likely to have emotional and peer problems.

Therefore it is possible that advice not to abstain may be favourable. Light drinking however, means light ie. 1-2 units per week or per occasion. When mothers drank heavily during pregnancy their children were more likely to have problems than abstainers.

Whose Advice is Best?

There is always the risk of women drinking too much if told it is a good idea to drink alcohol during pregnancy, that could lead to more serious effects than abstaining. Pat ''O Brien, a consultant at UCL, said about the Department of Health's views to abstain from drinking that: "They took that stance because they felt that in population terms it was the best way of deterring women from drinking too much in pregnancy." 

Light drinking may advantage children cognitively but it may cause other health problems. Dr. Kelly who carried out the study said: "There is inconsistency in policy around this issue and studies such as this one are vital in light of the wider debate around drinking and pregnancy."

"Speed-hacking", Lord Owen and Dinner

Yesterday I took part in "speed-hacking". A special type of speed dating which doesn't involve flirting, finding a date or taking care to wear the right shade of lipstick. 

In actual fact it was a new type of session with the Medical Journalist Association for lonely or aspiring medical writers to meet the right experienced medical writers/editors to talk to.

Ashley McKimm organised the session and founded JuniorDr magazine and was one of the medical editors I spoke to.

We had 7 minutes to chat to each expert and ask them key questions about the trade, before moving onto the next person or having a break to prepare for later. 

I think "Speed-hacking" is an art in itself. With the first expert I spoke to I had prepared a long list of well thought out questions to ask. I sat down, introduced myself, he introduced himself, I responded and then the bell went. It was over in a flash.

So trying to learn from mistakes, I tried to keep my introduction to a quick sentence the next time round. 

Across the Spectrum

It was good opportunity to talk to a broad range of editors and writers, because even the specific speciality of medical journalism has diversity within itself.  

For example, I spoke two completely different editors, Olivia Timbs, who is the Pharmaceutical Journal editor and Lee Rodwell, who is the health editor of Take a Break magazine.

Lord Owen

The "Speed-hack" was followed by a speech by Lord Owen, who talked about famous world leaders and their attached illnesses. He mentioned "hubris syndrome" as one of them, a semi invented jokey problem which he said leaders and their egos often face.

Just as an observation, Lord Owen is obviously a very intelligent man as he appeared to hold thoughts in his head for very long periods of time and came back to them much later on, combining them all, meaning he was able to speak in very long sentences.

Interesting People

The evening finished with a dinner and everyone could speak to anyone for as long as thought polite, which in my case was determined by who I was sat next to. I was sitting next to a consultant surgeon who had just written a book on addictions. 

He believed that everyone should relax on the subject of drugs, smoking and alcohol. The law being there or not, people have always, still do and always will getting addicted to various substances. 

The cheese and biscuits appeared at the end of the table for him to go pick up, before I was able to hear the rest of his conclusions. Maybe I should read his book.

I also spoke to a young medical student, who had come out of her gap year traveling in Ghana. She told me of some shocking stories where she had witnessed an appendix being removed, when the patient woke up during the operation.

Talking of frightening stories, by the end of the evening, it was a bit later than expected so I didn't move onto a friend's Halloween party. However I felt very privileged to have been to such an event. It was an experience.

Making the World a Better Place

Last week I went to Madrid and joined the World Health Youth (WHY) communication network. 

You can read about my trip on the student bmj website.

It was certainly an insightful experience on health and the environment and involved three days talking to young journalists from all over Europe and central Asia. 

One speaker from the WHO did a survey of the 20 international journalists on how they rated their countries performance on dealing with environmental issues. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest, most gave a 2 or 3. 

The speaker however gave Russia and Kazakhstan a 2, Slovakia and Lithuania a 3/4 and Denmark and the UK a 4/5. Often it feels we are never doing enough to save our planet, but perhaps relatively speaking we are. I shall however, continue to reuse my shopping bags.

The Cord Blood Bank

Last Thursday I went to the London Regenerative Medicine Network meeting. It was kick started with a talk on banking umbilical cord blood stem cells.  David Macauley, Chief Executive of  the Virgin Health Bank, gave the talk. 

The bank is a collaboration between Richard Branson's Virgin group and Merlin Biosciences and the idea is for mothers to put umbilical cord blood into the bank, where it is stored at -196 degrees C. A proportion of the cord blood is saved for private use by the family and the rest for the public. 

In a video clip of Richard Branson, he said: "This is something I'm absolutely passionate about...I think we can save lives." The umbilical cord blood is a source of stem cells which can be used to treat paediatric disorders, such as leukemia and sickle cell disease.

To store the cord blood it would cost £1500 per individual. Macauley made a point of telling everyone that the project was "truly ethical" and that it was not a profit making business. 

Professor Pete Coffey gave a talk also, on his aim to deliver a human stem cell therapy for a particular cause of blindness called age-related macular degeneration by 2011. 

Websites, health stories and Jon Snow's tie

Stood on a top floor of the Millbank tower in Westminster, I couldn’t have had a better panoramic view of London lit up at night. On the 13^th day of this month, I was lucky enough to have an invite to the launch of new sections of the high profile website health talk online.

Three well-known guests Jonathan Miller, Philip Pullman and Jon Snow were there to launch the website with words of praise and support for the charity run website. The website allows patients to express their illness to others and to share their life experiences online.

It is known as, The Database of Individual Patient Experience with people’s stories of 50 different diseases and there are prospects to include an extra 3000.

As a student medic/journalist and the whole launch being an entirely new experience for me, I  was interested to hear what Jonathan Miller, a multi talented, neurologist, author, opera director, sculptor and television presenter, had to say of the website.

He explained that today, due to the huge advances in science and technology, perhaps the detailed history taking of patients’ that were once essential to making a diagnosis are now often neglected, and that:

“Patients may be too ashamed, too shy or think there’s not enough time to ask a question…the website gives attention to detail that doctors can seem too busy to find out."

Jon Snow, a very tall man, said that the launching of the website, “has been a very interesting period for journalism”. He ended the evening with an auction of items including a signed copy of one of Philip Pullman’s personally signed books, fetching £350.

Jon Snow’s colourful yellow, pink, black and turquoise tie worn on the TV the night the banks were nationalised, sold for £325. A lot for something he called on the night, his “old rag”.

A strip of red tape too far?

So there's been the smoking ban in public places. There'll soon be horrifying graphic images on every packet of cigarettes. There was the ban of unhealthy snacks being sold in schools and now there is the demand for them to be banned in the NHS, which I agreed with yesterday. 

But is there rather too much red tape being spun out too quickly? 

Now there's to be a new system of government restrictions on alcohol. Alcoholic drinks are not to be promoted as a means of increasing social, sexual, physical, mental, financial or sporting performance, I read in the "Sunday Times" today. Instead, messages quite the opposite are to be conveyed.

"Happy hours" will be banned in bars, wine in restaurants will have to be served in glasses with marked measures, cocktails will not be allowed to be given names such as "Sex on the beach", health warnings will have to be put up wherever alcohol is served... and the list goes on.

Is anyone that so much as smokes a cigarette, eats a chocolate bar or drinks more than one glass of wine eventually going to be made to feel ashamed of their image of "anti social and self destructing" behaviours? All because of the daily messages of fear the government attaches to these sometimes comforting habits. 

It is slightly patronising to assume that the public in general cannot be responsible for their own drinking habits. Sometimes people can be irresponsible, but should we all have to be confronted with these constant reminders of everything we do is wrong. 

To have the fear of God drummed into us, that we may die if we take another sip of beverage isn't so nice when you just want to go out in the evenings to relax and have a sociable drink or two.

Friendly vending machines

Finally, here is a fat busting plan I agree with. It doesn't involve pills or surgery or even shocking pictures for that matter, but this time it's vending machines. Well it is actually a plan for healthy teeth and just health in general, but I'm sure it would help dieters too. 

The British Dental Health Foundation have said that vending machines of fruit juice, water and healthy snacks should be put in NHS hospitals. The government agree that the NHS and public sector should act as the role model for the rest of the nation by promoting healthy eating.

According to the BDHF, many schools have already managed to cut out the fat and sugary snacks from their vending machines and now it's the hospitals turn. It is ironic having nurses telling patient's to lose weight in clinic and as soon as they walk out the door they're faced with a vending machine pulling you in and tempting you to buy chocolate. Just as it is when you see a MacDonalds sign just underneath a permanent hospital welcome banner. 

It is likely that money is made for the NHS through the sales of chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks. Would healthy snacks bring in as much? And would they be more expensive? However,I feel the counterproductive and confusing message of there being fatty, additive filled snacks in hospitals is more likely to cause a greater cost in the long run in money and even in lives. 

Give fat a shock

Yesterday the news warned that you could be at risk if you go abroad for "obesity surgery". 

The BBC discovered that a Belgian doctor was happy to offer the procedure, gastric banding, which curbs eating, even for those who were too slim.

A lady from Bristol was given the gastric banding in Belgium and ended up not being able to swallow a thing, including liquids. 

Obesity pills, obesity surgery and obesity diets: they just don't seem to be working. 

Why is it so difficult to stop the nation eating so much? Smoking is on the decrease, so why isn't the other NHS biggy, obesity? 

Maybe the government should ask sweets and fast food manufacturers to put shockingly nasty pictures on their packaging if it has a fat content above a threshold value. 

Perhaps not as shocking as people coughing up tumours or dead bodies, just enough to put you off your food. 

 

Drug diet

There is now a potential pathway to finding anti-obesity drugs. However it might mess up your immune system as well, therefore scientists are still tentative. I am sceptical. Is taking medication really the right answer to reducing weight? It's debatable whether obesity can be medicated, as it isn't really a disease. 

Jamie Oliver's new TV show "Britain on a Plate", includes a woman who has 10 packets of crisps for dinner. His aim is to reeducate the residents of the town about healthy eating. There has built controversy within the town he filmed in because some residents believe his show came across as patronizing and suggested everyone who lives there survives on exceedingly unhealthy diets.

Cutting out crisps probably isn't the only answer to reducing obesity. Anti obesity drugs, if they existed could ease morbidly obese people into better health more smoothly. Oliver certainly does put families to shame with their eating habits. Perhaps the tone of the show didn't hit the right notes with the residents, however I do agree that diet should be the most fundamental option for losing weight. 

Medication could easily swing the focus away from the fundamentals of healthy eating and exercise to maintain weight. I don't believe a slimming pill would deal with the underlying problems in our society and how weight is controlled. 

*According to the new research the more you eat, the hungrier you become. When US researchers gave mice a diet high in fat and sugar they started eating more. This was said to be due to a protein being switched on, which caused inflammatory reactions. The inflammatory reaction appears to be related to appetite because when the protein pathway was genetically removed, the mice stayed slim, despite their fatty and high in sugar diets. Therefore drugs that control the inflammatory pathway could help control our weight.*

The house hunt

What a trouble it is to find somewhere to rent in London. I am a student, but feel as though I have been one long enough to qualify for a place without chewing gum trodden into the carpet and remnants of peoples names scribbled on the walls in tomato ketchup. 

 

Where do you start? Price? Convenience? Noise? Prettiness? Friendliness? What really is more important? The credit crunch may actually work in my favour in the case of price *gasp* . With more finding it difficult to sell houses, this has led to more people renting properties. In which case leads to more accommodation up for rent. And perhaps in addition there are fewer looking for rented accommodation as more students decide to live with parents in order to save money during these difficult times. So surely on that note, I have plenty of places to chose from at possibly lower prices.

 

I have looked at a couple of houses. One of which the landlady lived in with her 3 grandchildren and 6 other students and my potential bedroom was shown to be next to the main entrance. Noisy maybe? However it was very close to the tube station. Convenient I thought. And the landlady was lovely. Definitely friendly. In terms of prettiness and price, they scored average. 

 

The other house I looked at had... hardly any furniture. In fact my potential bedroom had none at all. It was a rather too healthy walk away from the tube station, had no internet, and was inhabited by fresher students who sounded subtly but concretely disappointed when I announced I was in my 4th year at university. I felt so old. 

 

So my search continues. Until then, I stay on the sofa bed in my relatives flat. At least it has furniture.

Warm and happy

Apparently, according to the Metro, "smoking is depressing". Literally it makes you feel down in the dumps. 

I thought that nicotine was suppose to make you feel happy, that's why people do it, but in actual fact in the long term it's a vicious circle of - depressed --> smoke -- > happy -- > depressed --> smoke etc.

And apparently, according to the University of Toronto, "Loneliness makes you cold". Literally it makes one shiver and desire hot soup if you feel lonely.

Health tips of the day - don't smoke and go surround yourself with people and perhaps we'll be one step closer to being warm and happy people.

War vs. peace

Recently I watched a documentary on TV. It was about promoting peace. One man spent 10 years of his life promoting a world peace day, which would be and is the 21st of September. He kept a video diary of his every failure and success. He was deeply inspiring and soon attracted the attention of governments all over the world. UNICEF, Annie Lenox, Jude Law and Angelina Jolie gradually joined him to help him on his way. What impressed me most is that shortly after he launched world peace day the tragic event of 9/11 blasted through the press, demeaning his every effort:

"A plane has hit one of the twin towers. The low flying plane loomed perhaps 30ft above the ground of New York City and collided into the world trade centre. This was the beginning of a man made disaster. Destruction followed as flames and smoke exploded from the centre of the cities twin tower. People in the surrounding area started to react like ripples from a stone being thrown into water. Looks of surprise and horror were displayed on peoples’ faces. The sky scraper began to fall as the stories began to collapse one by one, gradually building up momentum. A gigantic cloud of dust expanded from the site of destruction as it engulfed everything in its pathway. Some began to run from the site, while others stopped to watch this world changing tragedy. Sirens sounded with an inevitable knowing of people being harmed. Streets, people of the public and cars were covered head to toe in black dust as the cloud of dust passed. The tower having fallen, but the tragic mess having just begun."

...But he still carried on. If anything it made him ever more determined. 21st September is recorded as a day of peace and takes on the idea that whether it be in the playground, in the community or on the battlefield we would be strong enough to cease our vicious words, our fists and even our firearms.

In the beginning

I am Laura. My passions are, in no particular order, writing and medicine. This year, 2008, I am further discovering my journalistic skills at Westminster uni. I am in fact a hybrid medical student/journalist. This year I shall be writing about people rather than learning about how to heal people, as I have been at Kings College London and will be again in 2009. I would like to be able to combine the areas somehow and hope it will all come to some good by the end of this long 6 year study period. That is if I have survived the diet of tinned baked beans.