Seems that being good at bridge doesn't free you from believing in nonsense

****

The Telegraph reports - without once raising its literary eyebrows or even saying; "you what?" - on the triumph of the English women's bridge team* which is, it seems, down to lavender oil:

Mrs Smith, the daughter of Nico Gardener, the celebrated bridge author, devised the lavender tactic three years ago.

She insists on using only the lavender oil she buys from the medieval hilltop village of Tourrettes-sur-Loup, near Nice, in the south of France.


“It has to be high-altitude lavender, grown in the mountains – the stuff lower down is cheaper, but not as good. I am a great believer in alternative medicines, and our lavender oil definitely helps the concentration."

Now it's fine that this woman believes this and I suppose it's harmless. But why does no-one look Mrs Smith in the eye and tell her that it's utter nonsense? And why does the Telegraph publish this twaddle without pointing out that is isn't true?

*As an aside, why is there a woman's bridge team and a men's bridge team? I can see nothing in the game that suggests one or other gender has an advantage qua gender.

...

Homeopathy kills....

****

I wonder who persuaded this man to opt for homeopathy rather than the treatment his doctors prescribed?

A Respect party campaigner who died on the Bradford West by-election trail when his heart suddenly stopped had given up doctors’ orders of beta-blockers and turned to homeopathy instead, an inquest heard. 

Abu-Bakr Rauf was only 28 when he died - killed becasue he'd chosen to use homeopathy.

"He was told he should stay on them (the beta-blockers) and many a time this was reinforced, but he and his family decided they did not want to do that. He was told about the risks, but they decided to rely on homeopathic medicine,” said Dr Khan in her statement that was read out. 

Terrible, unnecessary and another reminder of homeopathy's dangers.

....

So doctors aren't in it for the money then?

****

It seems that our noble doctoring profession - the one that wants to maintain cosy little local monopolies rather than expose itself to competition - has other ways for its members to make huge amounts of money at the taxpayers expense:

The taxpayer-funded “notional rent” scheme allows GPs to buy buildings for their surgeries which they then “rent” back to the Department of Health for more than the mortgage repayments, according to the report.

Surgeries are then sold off when the GP retires and they are allowed to keep the profits from the sale of the building.

A nice little earner I think this is called:

The NHS paid GPs £630m in rent for their privately-owned surgeries last year, an increase of 70 per cent since 2004, when the figure stood at £370m.

The total cost to the Department of Health in the past five years has been £2.5bn.

But, as we know, the doctors aren't in it for the money - this is just a way of getting better premises - or so say the Department of Health (should we not rename it the department of making doctors even richer?):

"This system incentivises GPs to expand and improve services so that people have proper access to modern facilities. It represents the cost to GPs of renting or owning the premises, and is a cost that would met by government direct if GPs did not." 

So we pay more than the borrowing cost to GPs and allow them to keep the capital gain - all sounds a bit like how another "professional" group feathered their nests!

....

I blame it on Paxman....

.

This morning I heard:

Angela Rippon interviewed on dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

And...

A Dutch sports reporter being asked about a bizarre medical procedure on Van Persie’s ankle


When did journalists get to be experts on anything? Let alone medicine!



.

Friday Fungus - use the NHS not mushrooms for your healthcare!!

I’m always fairly skeptical about the medicinal claims made for food – not just because they are such a feature of the Daily Mail. And the claims made for the efficacy of various mushrooms fall into this somewhat doubtful category – which doesn’t stop the BBC treating it as some amazing scientific discovery! And mushrooms of one kind or another feature prominently in Chinese herbal medicine (nothing ‘traditional’ about this of course – more a Maoist deception).

The champion mushroom in Chinese medicine is lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) – more commonly referred to by its Japanese name of reishi. Its advocates propose it as a treatment for a bewildering and extensive collection of ailments! Longevity and prevention of diseases, insomnia, stress, influenza and common cold, asthma, allergies, cancer, hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol (LDL), diabetes, headache, stomach ache, arthritis, back pain, skin care, hair loss, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and hepatitis.

Although I suspect these claims to be stretching the point – verging on nonsense – there is some evidence that reishi acts as an immune system stimulant. And that its use in combination with chemotherapy in some cancer treatments may be effective as well as an application in the management of HIV/AIDS. However, despite these claims – and the mushroom’s widespread use – the drug lists suggest there is insufficient evidence to support these claims. And like many mushrooms the reishi may have negative side effects:

“Reishi mushroom might be safe for most people. It can cause some side effects including dryness of the mouth, throat, and nasal area along with itchiness, stomach upset, nosebleed, and bloody stools. Drinking reishi wine can cause a rash. Breathing in reishi spores can trigger allergies.”

Fungi have proven an important source of medicines especially the microfungi like penicillin. But on their own mushrooms can taste great, look fantastic, make you high and poison you. Cure you? Probably not – stick to the good old NHS!