The medical detective

Healthy, oldest and wisest

A long and healthy life does not just depend on your genes, but also on good habits. Indeed, the US National Institute on Aging has sent a group of demographic researchers to places where people live... more »

Treating the common cold

After the season of cheer and beer, Comes champagne and the New Year. You’re sailing high, you’re feeling bold. A fortnight later, you feel queer, Somehow lose your immune veneer. You start to s... more »

The sun in winter

Britain is a nation of sun-seekers, especially over the winter months, but much concern and confusion surround this particular form of inactivity. Let’s take a hard look at some facts: more »

Sleeplessness

Mr J.P-H., a 47-year-old construction company chairman, consulted me with insomnia. He said he fell asleep normally, but woke at about 2.25 a.m. every night. He felt wide-awake instantly, and had no r... more »

Hypothyroidism

Are you sensitive to cold, and do you feel depressed and lethargic? Do you also have headaches, and perhaps menstrual problems and recurrent infections? You could have an underfunctioning or underacti... more »

How exercise can be a real pain in the butt

Last year, four men (all in their 30s) consulted me with urination problems - urgent and abrupt need to go, dribbling, feeble stream - while also complaining of vague discomfort or actual pain seeming... more »

Privy to a haemorrhoidal habit

Mr W.G., a 28-year-old chef with a penchant for pickled chillies, came to see me complaining of an intermittent dull ache in his lower back and coccyx (tail bone). The pain, which had begun three year... more »

Blood in the stools

Mrs L.K., a 43-year-old homemaker from Bury in Lancashire, came to see me for some tests to detect possible early signs of malignancy in her gut. She was particularly cautious because her father, moth... more »

A slim case of sciatica

Eighteen months ago, Mr J.R., a middle-aged truck driver, came to me with mysterious pains in his lower back and right thigh that had started more than three years earlier. He’d undergone MRI (magneti... more »

The bleeding bladder mystery

Mr K.R., a 42-year-old financier originally from Kenya, was troubled by recurrent dull pelvic pain accompanied by blood in his urine. The pain intensified as his bladder filled with urine, then decrea... more »

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