According to The Times, Sir Terry Pratchett is trying out an antidementia helmet:
The author Sir Terry Pratchett is testing an antidementia helmet, which it is claimed can slow down or even reverse Alzheimer?s disease. The helmet, invented by Gordon Dougal, a GP, directs intense bursts of light at a patient?s skull.
While I can’t be certain this is complete quackery, it does appear to be suffering from a lack of evidence and has the whiff of too good to be true. I am surprised and can’t help thinking he’d be better sticking with his nice black hat.
“No one knew better than Granny Weatherwax that hats were important. They weren’t just clothing, hats defined the head. They defined who you *were*. No one had ever heard of a wizard without a pointy hat? at least, no wizard worth speaking of. And you certainly never heard of a witch without one… Hats had power. Hats were important.”
Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad.
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Deborah Layton and I have a brief article in The Pharmaceutical Journal this week on the subject of antispychotics and the evidence for the risk of stroke associated with their use.
Layton D, Cox A. Antipsychotics and stroke: the story to date. The Pharmaceutical Journal 2009; 282: 30
You have to register to read it.
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Cox A. Involving patients in reporting adverse drug reactions should be welcomed. The Pharmaceutical Journal 2009; 282: 16-17
Patients are no longer the passive recipients of drug therapy instigated by medical professionals. There is increasing patient engagement in individual decisions about their own drug therapy, public discussions about the provision of high cost drugs in the NHS and increasing access to over-the-counter drugs.
It is, therefore, politically unacceptable to exclude patients from spontaneous adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting schemes, such as the yellow card scheme.
In addition, concerns about the under-reporting and filtering of patient experiences by health professionals, have also increased interest in patient reporting.
Read on at The Pharmaceutical Journal.
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Here’s a short film about ethical concerns in clinical trials in India produced by WEMOS which is worth watching:
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