Amateur Ramblings

Mo Money, Mo Problem

I'm enrolled in this year's Movember.

This is an annual event in which, by being sponsored to grow a moustache, we men can raise money for awareness of health issues that affect our gender, specifically testicular and prostate cancer. Please be kind and sponsor me here.

Here are some statistics for you to ponder:

• 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
• This year 37,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
• 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
• 26% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women

And here are some useful links:

About Movember
Prostate cancer genome mapping
Prostate Cancer Foundation research
Global Action Plan

I'll be providing updates during the month on my Movember homepage, so hopefully I'll see you there.

Congradulations

In December, Gemma graduated.

 

She finished her nursing course earlier in the year. She finished a year late due to the year off afforded to her after having Olive. Due to this, she knew none of her fellow graduees. (Is that a word? It is now!)

 

 

This is the second degree Gemma has been awarded, the first being in Performing Arts from Newcastle College (yes, your right, the one Gordon Sumner went to).

Her mum, Olive and I also went along. All four of us agreed that the ceremony was boring but acceptably short. Therefore, after some brief photos, we hastened to Red Chili for our celebratory tea, where we were to be joined by Neeley.

 

 

 

The Pox

Gemma told me over the phone during my week away that Olive had caught Chickenpox.

I was concerned but not overly worried. Chickenpox is a common childhood disease, and usually isn't anything more than an annoyance. Olive wasn't really feeling ill, she was just covered in spots. But I was a little more worried when I saw her last Friday.

 

It looked worse than I imagined and it looked pretty painful, but as I say, it didn't seem to bother her too much and she hasn't even been scratching too much. And by the beginning of this week the spots had begin to dry up, which is when the virus has a much reduced risk of being passed on.

Gemma and I both had Chickenpox when we were children. We think Olive picked it up from nursery

Embarassing Illnesses

Over on Bad Science, Ben Goldache has found recent footage of what appears to be a mentally ill lady extolling the virtues of homeopathy during a BBC news interview. Sadly, she is labouring under the giant misapprehension that taking watered-down water has cured her cancer.

Eye Eye

I've been off work today. I am fine, but Olive has conjunctivitis and must stay home from nursery this week. It is most likely a continuation of the ear infection she had last week, which has now cleared away.

Apart from having eyes which look like they have been busy collecting pollen, she is showing no signs of illness. And as I type, Gemma and I remain symptom-free.

We first noticed she had the condition on Saturday when we were in Liverpool. We decided to pop into the NHS Walk-in Centre there. I was fully prepared for a wait of one hour plus, but we were literally in and out in under ten minutes, with a prescription for some twice-a-day eye drops that we dropped into Boots before meeting up with the others at the World Museum.

Good old the NHS.

Bad Science

Of all the books I have read so far this year, I'd say that I learned most from reading Bad Science.

 

Ben Goldacre primary bread comes from being a junior doctor, but he is also a journalist; he writes a weekly column in the Guardian. The articles he pens concern themselves with the hypocrisy and bunk that are prevalent within the world of medicine. He looks at how the pharmaceutical industry pretty much fix medical trials so the results flatter their new products, the failings of science journalism in the media, and the 'pseudoscience and quackery' that is homeopathy.

He also devotes chapters to individuals such as Gillian McKeith (who is shown to have a limited grasp of even the most basic biology) and Matthius Rath (who has 'denounced antiretoviral medication as toxic and dangerous, while claiming that his vitamin pills could reverse the course of AIDS'). Dr Goldacre takes time to explain how these people peddle bad science and shows they are in fact extremely dangerous (and litigious).

Proof that his work had been absorbed and understood came last week, when newspapers and the broadcast media started reporting (with increasing hysteria) that a schoolgirl had died after being given her cervical cancer vaccination. It subsequently came to light that it was not the vaccination that had caused the death, but as Ben Goldacre notes in his most recent column, [as of 3rd October 2009] I can see 1,592 articles on Google News about one poor girl who died unexpectedly after receiving the cervical cancer vaccine, and only 363 explaining the postmortem found a massive and previously undiagnosed tumour in her chest'.

The above is a mini-repeat of the MMR, which should definitely be taught as a module in Media Studies classes (and which can be read about on the Bad Science website). In fact, I would suggest that Ben Goldacre's book should be enforced reading material for, at the very least, all journalists and those working in the field of medicine.

Mad Men

There is a wonderful little filmette on the BBC website right now, looking at the history of cigarette advertising.

'But there was a time when there were very few restrictions on tobacco promotion. [Take] a look at the ingenious, and not so truthful, ways the ad agencies tried to sell cigarettes in the past.'

Ingenious indeed; who could argue with the testaments of doctors and babies?

H3N2, T715

I felt a little rough yesterday. on Tuesday I had a vaccination against influenza (the flu jab, as the tabloids would have it). I receive an invitation to have the injection every year (on account of me having asthma), but I always chose the path of recklessness and declined.

The procedure itself was quick and absolutely pain-free, but the following day (and still a little today) my arm ached. In fact my whole body felt tired and rotten yesterday. I would have enjoyed having yesterday off work.

My pain was somewhat mitigated by the delivery yesterday of my new phone. I opted for a T715. Spec-wise, it is pretty similar to my previous phone. But even though I am not very materialistic, it's still nice to get hold of a shiny new gadget.

Ironically, I am not in the office today - as you may know it is Olive's birthday. I think I'll take the opportunity to offload more than the usual one post, to give this blog a rare (of late) up-to-date feel.

I'm a survivor

I'm still alive.

I have managed to avoid catching Swine Flu (even if I haven't managed to avoid the increasing media hysteria about it). This week has been pretty hectic. Work has been strange and intense, with the team next to ours all being sent for quarantine on Wednesday as a boyfriend became a confirmed case overnight. This affected another member of our department who was in a meeting with them all on Tuesday.

So, we were down to a skeleton staff for the rest of the week. And that meant each of us were at least twice as busy. It wasn't a fun time. Hopefully things will improve next week when the quarantine period ends.

On Wednesday Andrew and Michelle came over to babysit Olive, while we went to Bibis to help Gemma's sister Neeley celebrate her graduation. Although she has been working as a children's nurse for a few months now, she hadn't officially gained her degree (at least in the eyes of Leeds University). I ordered steak (medium-rare) with snails, and very nice it was too. The only thing that spoiled the evening for me was the entrance of a pretty poor Robbie Williams tribute act.

Also this week I got round to joining Spotify. I had a quick nosey about, but I definitely don't know what I can do with it yet. I thought I might be able to hook up with some friends who have been nagging me to join, but I can't work out how...I might have a proper look-see over the weekend.

Tonight, I'm going to catch up on some of the programs that I've Sky+'d this week. I still haven't watched the first episode of True Blood, which has been highly tipped by a number of friends who's reviews I trust.

Mexican Wave

A work colleague was ill yesterday. She had a cough and a sore throat that became rapidly worse throughout the course of the day. She soldiered on but eventually decided she was too unwell to carry on and went home early afternoon time.

This morning, she called up to say she had been diagnosed with Swine Flu. It was kind of inevitable that the virus would eventually penetrate our office; sister offices in Leeds and Pudsey are rife, and many people at those sites have been sent home under company quarantine rules.

These rules call for anyone who has had close contact with a diagnosed sufferer to be banished for four days. Close contact is defined as sitting within one metre of the carrier for at least an hour. That meant that the person who sits next to me was told to go home. Annoyingly, I sit just over one metre away. This meant that I was one of the few to remain in the office; what with holidays, Swine Flu related sickness and quarantine, and other sickness, we are down to one-third capacity.