Friday 7 December 2012

Medicine in the Media

Sunday, 12 August 2012


My week has been pretty non-eventful. I've mostly just been trying to plough my way through my never-ending "To Do" list. There are so many things I need to sort out before I start med school - CRB form, completing my Hepititis B vaccinations (and convincing my GP surgery not to charge me for them!), sorting out all the documents the estate agents need before moving into my new flat, sorting out temporary accommodation for 2 weeks before I can move into my flat, negotiating with the bank to convince them to let me keep my student bank account (and associated overdraft..), trying to get the correct amount of student finance (graduate entry medicine confuses them), fitness to practice forms, occupational health forms, a list of what vaccinations I've had from my GP, organising to move out of my current flat and signing up to Pharmacy locuming organisations so that I can hopefully work when I start med school. Additionally we've also been given some reading to do in preparation before we start the course. It's a good job I've got a few weeks off before starting uni as otherwise I don't know how I'd get all this stuff sorted, especially as a lot of the things can only be done during working hours.

Yesterday I watched an Horizon programmer called "The Truth About Looking Young" (available on BBC iplayer) which was presented by Dr Rozina Ali, a plastic surgeon. This was quite an interesting programme looking at recent research into keeping skin looking young without surgery. As it was a programme looking at non-surgical options and didn't reference surgery once, I don't really know why they got a plastic surgeon to present the show, other than to give the programme credibility by being presented by a doctor. The presenter also annoyed me at times as she came across as very vain and was reluctant to have any of the tests performed on her own skin as it meant she had to take her make-up off, but admittedly she did have very good skin for her age (mid 40's).

The most interesting bit of the programme I found, was when they were talking about how certain anti-oxidants from different foods have the capability of reducing skin aging by increasing collagen synthesis. Apparently the best foods to eat are bright fruit and vegetables, especially tomatoes and broccoli, and oily fish, although in a normal diet we don't eat enough of these foods to make a big difference. Unilever however, have manufactured a pill containing concentrated amounts of these anti-oxidants (vitamins C and E plus isoflavones from soya, lycopene from tomatoes and omega-3 polyunsaturated acids from fish oil) which was shown in a trial to be effective in reducing wrinkles. You can read more about it in this New Scientist article. Reading about this also reminded me about some information I read a while ago about how there's some evidence that fish oils, particularly Omega 3, can help reduce schizophrenia symptoms, and when I did a week long Pharmacy placement at a psychiatric hospital, a lot of the patients with schizophrenia were prescribed fish oil capsules. It's amazing how different foods can have such an effect on our health!

I'm getting a bit bored not working now (even with my massive to-do list). I've been doing quite a bit of cooking/baking though to pass the time. I enjoy cooking, but sometimes it's hard to fit in the time to do it around work so it's nice to be able to take my time and enjoy doing it. Last night I made a random (consisting of whatever I found in the fridge) sausage casserole. It was very tasty! Here's a picture of it:

(photo taken by me)

I went to the dentist yesterday. The dentist I saw was quite young, but she was really nice and despite her appointment listing running late, she took the time to properly examine my teeth, x-ray them to check for any decay (none thankfully!) and give them a good scale and polish. Other dentists I've been to in the past have just given my teeth a quick glance and didn't bother scaling/polishing etc. If I were to become a GP, this is the type of approach I'd like to have for my consultations, even if I was running behind schedule.

It's nice weather wise at the moment. I was going to go out for a walk in the countryside yesterday with the BF, but at the last minute the BF got a message from his brother, who was in London for the day, inviting him to go and spend the day with him. The BF hasn't seen his brother in a while so of course he went, but I was a bit disappointed that our day out got cancelled. Hopefully we'll go out one day this week instead and the weather stays nice!

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