NHS Chief Wants Homeopathy To Lose Official Stamp Of Approval
This is the title of an article in today’s copy of the Times.
About time too!
If people want to use quackery, they should pay for it themselves! And not expect taxpayers to pick up the pieces!
Blood Pressure Pills ‘Work Better At Bedtime’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first paragraph.
To get the best out of your daily blood pressure medication, take it just before you go to bed, say researchers.
The study was at the University of Vigo in Spain and could be very significant.
As I am on pills for high blood pressure, after discussing it with a friend, who is a senior cardiologist, I decided to give it a go.
I started on Wednesday night, so it is only a few days and it would be wrong to draw any serious conclusions.
But I can already draw one simple one. It is much easier to take the drugs at night, just because you’ve always got a drink handy. Even, if it’s just cold tea in the bottom of a mug or the last dregs of beer in the bottom of a glass.
In the morning, I now get out of bed, brush my teeth, scratch my beard, do a few simple warm up exercises, take my blood pressure and put the kettle on.
Life is simpler!
I also seem to be sleeping better!
It’s too early to come to any conclusions, but everybody on pills for high blood pressure, should read the BBC article and talk to their doctor.
Smart Lavatories Could Spot Tumours Before They Form
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on page 14 of today’s copy of The Times.
With bowel cancer being a big killer, I can understand how it might work there, but how will it spot brain tumours.
Perhaps all those school bullies, who put unfortunates’ heads down the toilet and pulled the chain, had it roight?
Pollution Charge For Diesels Has Cut City’s Toxic Fumes By A Third
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Page 4 of today’s copy of The Times.
The only applies to London at the moment.
Surely other cities should follow the capital’s lead.
Ultrasound On A Chip
The latest episode of BBC Click is a must-watch.
One section is about a new ultrasound device from Butterfly Network.
Their product called Butterfly iQ; is an ultrasound sensor on a chip, that converts a smart phone into a full function medical ultrasound machine.
But as an engineer, who knows a bit about this sort of technology, I doubt that all the applications are medical ones.
Typical hospital ultrasound machines cost tens of thousands of pounds, but the price of the sensor on the Butterfly Network web site is in the order of a couple of grand. Software is probably extra, but even so, Southampton Hospital has bought four and one is in their paediatric ambulance.
I have one big question.
Is the device open source? This would enable, an imaginative programmer, as I once was, to convert the device, so that it is able to perform an important application.
I would be very disappointing if it wasn’t!
To get a snapshot of the power of ultrasound, read the Wikipedia entry for ultrasound.
A Video
I found this on the Internet.
As you can see, it’s not very big.
Conclusion
This is an amazing development and it will revolutionise so much of healthcare and other fields.
The Body: A Guide For Occupants
The title of this post, is the title of Bill Bryson‘s new book.
It sounded to me, that it could be a human equivalent of the invaluable Veterinary Notes For Horse Owners.
Getting To The Bottom Of My INR Results
Since the start of the hot weather my INR results have not been troublesome but just a bit wayward.
To get a hold on it, I have been testing my INR every day from the 1st of July.
Normally, I take a dose of 4 mg of Warfarin every day and this keeps my INR at around 2.5.
But in the hot weather the INR was drifting towards 2.0, so I was using a dose of 5 mg every so often to nudge it upwards.
I was also drinking heavily in the hot weather, but nothing was stronger than 0.5% alcohol Adnams beer, which I know doesn’t affect my INR and to my body, it is gluten-free. Most of the other drinks were still lemonade, tea and water.
I came to the conclusion, that the water was being boiled out of my body by the heat.
At least, the INR only hit 2.0 a couple of times and never went below it.
On the 14th of September I had the decompensation stroke, I wrote about in I Had A Decompensation Stroke On Saturday.
This is my INR values and Warfarin dose since that day.
- 14th September – 2.2 – 5
- 15th September – 2.2 – 5
- 16th September – 2.2 – 5
- 17th September – 2.3 – 5
- 18th September – 2.7 – 4
- 19th September – 2.9 – 4
- 20th September – 2.6 – 4
- 21st September – 2.7 – 4
- 22nd September – 2.7 – 4
- 23rd September – 2.5 – 4
- 24th September – 2.6 – 4
- 25th September – 2.6 – 4
- 26th September – 2.6 – 4
- 27th September – 2.7 – 4
- 28th September – 2.9 – 4
- 29th September – 2.8 – 4
- 30th September – 3.3 – 3
- 1st October – 2.6 – 4
Note.
- I usually measure my INR, when I have a bath at eight in the morning.
- I usually take my Warfarin around three in the afternoon.
I do this so that I don’t test my INR too close to taking the drugs.
Note too how the INR rose on the 28th of September and stayed high or higher for two days.
I don’t think I ate anything that would cause the INR to rise and the weather was getting more humid. So was that the cause, or was it the fact that I had a hair-cut on Friday night?
Why should I blame the haircut? After I came out of hospital my hair looked like Einstein’s and it felt very dry.
So do I normally lose water from my body through my hair? Trying to find a connection on the Internet is a nightmare, as they assume I’m asking about hair loss.
I’m not worried about myself, but suppose you are having regular INR tests in hospital every few weeks.
Would a false reading mean that you ended up on the wrong dose?
Conclusion
I will continue to test my own INR, as I feel it is easier.
New Rail Testing Scheme Launched For Small Businesses
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Businesses in the West Midlands are being offered subsidised access to test and trial facilities as a way to boost railway innovation.
The University of Birmingham has joined forces with Quinton Rail Technology Centre (QRTC) to offer access to the UK’s only privately owned and independent outdoor rail testing and trialling site.
There would appear to be one major condition, companies must be signed up to the DIGI-RAIL program at the Uiversity of Birmingham.
I think this concept is an excellent idea, as often finding a way to test a new product, is the most difficult part of the development process.
But why restrict the process to rail developments?
I have had friends in Cambridge, who have been involved in medical developments.
Finding a route to test their product, often means finding an overseas partner, as much of the NHS and its research partners almost have a policy to exclude, ideas that they didn’t think of.
As someone, who helped fund the successful development of a metered-dose inhaler for asthma drugs, I can honestly say, we would have been greatly helped by a far-sighted agency attached to a reputable University.
I Had A Decompensation Stroke On Saturday
On Saturday, I went to the first half of the Spurs Crystal Palace match at White Hart Lane, so at least I saw all the goals.
But at half-time, I wasn’t feeling well, with stroke like symptoms, I suffered before, like bad eyesight on the left side and bad control of my left hand.
So I contacted a steward and he walked me to the medical room, where I was checked out.
They thought, I could be having a stroke, although, they seemed surprised I was so lucid and could remember details like my son’s phone number.
An ambulance was called and I was taken to University College Hospital.
They did a CT scan and cleared me to go home and then return on the Sunday to have an MRI scan.
They also said that I could stay overnight, which is what I did.
The MRI scan on Sunday ,morning, showed that I hadn’t had another stroke and they told me that it was a decompensation stroke.
The hospital fully checked me out, including doing the same mental check the doctors gave to Donald Trump, which I passed.
I was home by two.
But what is a decompensation stroke? There’s precious little on the Internet.
If nothing else, my small incident proves that the systems at Tottenham Hotspur, the London Ambulance Service and University College Hospital worked as everyone expects.
Government Announces £25m Brexit High-Speed Medicines Train
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to this proposal!
