Saturday 16 March 2013

Medical Humour From Mock The Week

Laughter is the best medicine as the old saying goes. Here are those wags from mock the week with their suggestions for unlikely health questionnaire questions.



They definitely made me laugh with some of the great one-liners. If you've got any medical jokes you want to share please add them into the comments below.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Placebos Still Used In The UK

It seems the days of placebos being given by doctors are not behind us according to a study just published by the Universities of Oxford and Southampton. They did a survey of 800 doctors picked at random and discovered the vast majority had used placebos at least once.

It seems it is a grey area as the GMC has no position on it. In the survey around two thirds of doctors had no problem with the use of placebos and one third thought it unethical.

One of the commoner placebos used are antibiotics for a viral sore throat. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses but patients think they do and feel better.

The fact that placebos work shows how important the brain is in our health. When we think we are being treated and will improve, we do. Brain chemistry alters and releases various natural chemical including pain killers. 

Monday 4 March 2013

Will You Be Asleep During Your Op?

Operations are a fact of life for many people and millions are performed each year with great success. The vast majority are done under a general anaesthetic i.e. totally unconscious.

The process should be straightforward. An injection sends you off to sleep, a gas keeps you asleep and you wake up at the end when the gas is turned off. Many operations need full muscle relaxtion so the surgeon can do a proper procedure. To achieve this muscle relaxants are given. They stop all the muscles from working.

Anaesthesia In Action



However if there is a problem with the gas that keeps you asleep there is a risk you may be awake, unable to move and feeling the whole operation.

A recent study found 150 patients in 2011 who reported being aware during their operation. Out of the millions of operations carried out it's a tiny number but should be totally preventable. The trouble is that the true number may be much higher as there have been few studies looking for awareness. Hopefully that will change.