More writing
This page provides links to other blog posts or articles I have contributed elsewhere not mentioned in the main blog.
19th July 2009 @doc2doc.bmj.com
Should we be promoting safer cigarettes?
Take a moment to take a deep drag on a few breathtaking statistics. Across the world approximately 1.3 billion people use tobacco products and by 2030 it is estimated that 10 million people will die annually from smoking-related diseases and 70% of these deaths will be in developing countries. We’ve known about the harmful effects of smoking for over 50 years and yet over that same period 6 million Britons have died of tobacco-related disease. Is there anything else we can do to reduce this burden?
5th February 2009 @doc2doc.bmj.com
My ‘chronic’ back pain
A lot of patients come in and complain about a pain they have had for a few hours or days as ‘chronic’. When I was a schoolboy in the 80s chronic was a commonly used term for anything regarded as a bit extreme. I resist the temptation to say: “No it isn’t chronic, it is acute”. It wouldn’t move the consultation on much.
