The British Muddical Journal is at it again. In the 20 July 2024 edition we find a headline, ‘Royal College launches physicians’ green toolkit’. I don’t know about you, but this conjures up in my mind an image of a metal box, coloured green, containing spanners, screwdrivers, etc. that I might use to do odd jobs around [...]
In an online publication called Strong Women from 2022, I came across the following headline: I had a full-body health MOT and finally got answers about some odd symptoms I’ve been experiencing. (MOT is an abbreviation for Ministry of Transport and refers to tests on motor vehicles introduced in Britain in 1960 to check the condition of the [...]
To learn what a fox has to do with this post, please read to the end. If someone asserts they are 'transgender', a question that might follow is, 'Are you thinking of transitioning?' What does it mean to be transgender, and if you think you are, how do you know? Well, you just know, or think you do, [...]
GenderGP is an organisation that encourages and provides abnormal hormonal treatment (‘affirmative care’) to so-called trans people. It’s hard to take it seriously, however, when we find this kind of writing on their website: …patients whose gender identity differs from the one they were assigned at birth. Neither gender identity, whatever that is, nor anything else, is ‘assigned’ [...]
I discuss Dr Hilary Cass’ Preliminary Report in an earlier blog. The Final Report of her Independent review of gender identity services for children and young people was released in April 2024. It runs to almost 300 pages including a glossary, references, and twelve appendices. Dr Cass comes over as a very kind and friendly person – good [...]
Encapsulation of what goes wrong A regular columnist in a certain medical journal who had run out of ideas, again seems to have been afflicted by the dreaded writer’s block. So, once more he’s turned to his favourite subject: himself. The first thing that strikes one about his latest column is the repeated use of the words ‘I’, [...]
The British Medical Journal needs a new copywriter as well as a new editorial policy. In the edition of 20 November 2023 there’s a headline, ‘CBT can help with range of menopausal symptoms says NICE’. (CBT means cognitive behavioural therapy and NICE is the awkward acronym of the smugly named National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.) Unnecessary [...]
You have probably never heard of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), but if you have ever been prescribed a drug for depression, or are thinking of consulting a psychiatrist because of this symptom, you need to be aware of it. It is a tragic situation and all the more so since it is completely unnecessary. This is because so-called [...]
Puberty can be a stressful, even turbulent, time with its physical and emotional changes. And these days, especially because of the influence of social media, it may happen that young people project their difficulties onto the idea that they are, or may be, ‘trans’. Such a belief, sense, or feeling – better to call it delusion – may [...]
I could not believe my eyes when I saw a headline in The British Muddical Journal (13 October 2023) proclaiming some great news: 'GPs can refer patients with low back pain to apps, says NICE'. So now at last we have the answer to this ubiquitous problem: apps! The object of this wonderful move is to help these [...]