Unlikely connection between chemical warfare agents and modern chemotherapyModern chemotherapy can be traced back to military chemical agentsWed Apr 26 2017 - 10:34
Should I stop taking epilepsy medication while pregnant?Seizures can be more harmful to your baby than the medicationTue Apr 25 2017 - 01:00
Calling all chocoholics! Why a little of what you fancy does you goodAs you bask in the good feelings induced by eating an Easter egg, what is the evidence for the health benefits of chocolate?Sun Apr 16 2017 - 20:42
Why does this Amazon tribe have the healthiest hearts in the world?The Amazon’s Tsimane tribe's diet is made up mostly of fruit and nuts and they walk up to 17,000 steps a dayTue Apr 11 2017 - 06:00
Stop the barbaric practice of using CPR on the very oldMany elderly patients are being inappropriately resuscitated. Let them die ‘ordinary deaths’Mon Apr 03 2017 - 18:45
Reset your body clock. You lose an hour’s sleep on SundayFor some, the October and March clock changes trigger profound sleep disturbanceMon Mar 20 2017 - 18:03
Muiris Houston: Should we replace the smear test with a swab?Emotional distress and fear of pain are cited as reasons for reduced adherence to cervical screening, US review findsTue Mar 14 2017 - 12:49
Is fear of Trump the phobia of phobias?From spiders and clowns to stairs and slopes, phobias, like people, come in all shapes and sizesSun Mar 05 2017 - 07:00
Medical Matters: How much empathy is too much empathy?It is argued that the continuous sharing of other people’s pain is not good for doctorsSun Feb 26 2017 - 00:00
Could ‘alt-right’ policies threaten public health?As authoritarianism rises, indicators of health fallSun Feb 19 2017 - 06:00
Study shows GP care is key medicine for healthcare systemsArguments in favour of better incremental care in US and UK are also pertinent to HSETue Feb 14 2017 - 00:00
How might you know that your child has scoliosis?Cause of condition unknown in most cases but symptoms include uneven shoulders or hipsThu Feb 09 2017 - 17:26
Being poor should be included as health risk factorLess well-off face reduced life expectancy of 2.1 years, new research showsTue Feb 07 2017 - 00:00
Medical Matters: Doctor’s intuition – is it a real thing?‘Technology drives diagnosis, but it often merely substitutes our fears of uncertainty with delusions of certainty’Tue Jan 31 2017 - 11:00
‘Dopey’, ‘out of it’: patients share their painkiller side-effectsDr Muiris Houston on his own experiences of taking a prescribed drug, and the mail he got from youTue Jan 17 2017 - 09:30
The ‘Get Cancer’ ad campaign is a disgraceThe Irish Cancer Society's campaign may be a social-media success. Medically, it's anything butMon Jan 16 2017 - 12:42
Broken heart syndrome – can grief kill you, did that happen to Debbie Reynolds?‘She said she really wanted to be with Carrie and, within 15 minutes, she faded out’Tue Jan 10 2017 - 00:00
Smoking said to have cost €460m in healthcare in 2013There are more than 5,400 deaths in Ireland each year due to smokingThu Jan 05 2017 - 19:18
E-cigarettes likely to increase number of smokers who quitIrish report is the first in Europe to examine the cost effectiveness of e-cigarettesThu Jan 05 2017 - 17:02
New Year’s resolutions are like babies – fun to make, difficult to maintainOh no – 88 per cent of those who set New Year resolutions fail!Mon Jan 02 2017 - 10:00
How to end the hangover? If we knew we’d bottle it . . .From hair of the dog to Mexican prawn salad, seasonal over-indulgers seek best cureSun Dec 18 2016 - 00:00
Analysis: Tragic GP case also raises ethical care issuesHow appropriate was it for Dr Bernadette Scully to act as GP to an ill family member?Sat Dec 17 2016 - 01:00
Cautionary tale about advice to ‘drink plenty of fluids’Drinking too much water can lead to abnormally low levels of sodium in the bodyTue Dec 13 2016 - 06:00
Rocked by thunderstorm asthmaThunderstorm asthma may be related to the sudden and widespread breaking open of pollen grains in the atmosphereTue Dec 06 2016 - 01:00
Many doctors would welcome ability to prescribe cannabisA doctor writes: Drug can help patients who are suffering but evidence is unclearThu Dec 01 2016 - 18:38
Medical Matters: Should we stop pointless investigations?Some routine medical practices, long viewed as essential, are now being questionedTue Nov 29 2016 - 19:07
Who will be to blame when the first unvaccinated baby dies from meningitis B?Muiris Houston: The good news is that a vaccine against meningitis B is due to be introduced to the free childhood vaccination programme from December 1stMon Nov 21 2016 - 10:56
Medical matters: Childhood cancer goes against a natural orderThe news that Michael Bublé’s son, Noah, has been diagnosed with cancer is a shockSat Nov 12 2016 - 16:00
Let me out of my coffin . . . I’m alive!Premature burial was an understandable fear in centuries past. It happened.Sun Oct 30 2016 - 18:00
Coming off a prescribed painkiller was a struggle‘Mother’s little helper’ was, in fact, a highly addictive drug that was overprescribedTue Oct 25 2016 - 06:00
Anthony Foley death: What is pulmonary oedema?A doctor writes on the cause of Foley’s premature death aged 42Wed Oct 19 2016 - 10:35
What can improve the health of the nation? Longer GP consulationsDr Muiris Houston: Minister, modify doctors’ payments to include longer consultationsSun Oct 16 2016 - 16:00
Are you a good liar? Not as good as you once were, say Ig Nobel winnersAlternative prizes find those most receptive to bullshit were ‘lower in cognitive ability’Sat Oct 08 2016 - 16:00
Bruce Springsteen: a story of depression full of hopeMedical Matters: You won’t find a better male depression narrative than Bruce Springsteen’s autobiographyTue Oct 04 2016 - 05:50
The sound men dread the most? The snapping of a doctor’s latex glovesHow to be a Man: undergoing a prostate cancer test fills many men with fear – but it can be life-saverTue Sept 27 2016 - 18:10
The skinny on the State’s obesity action planAnalysis: Ten-year plan is well-researched and ambitious but it fails to mention fundingFri Sept 23 2016 - 01:00
We too often blame acts of terrorism on mental illnessesThe better we treat potential lone terrorists for depression, the safer we are likely to beSun Sept 18 2016 - 06:00
Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis explainedDespite advances, pneumonia remains a potentially fatal illness, especially in the elderlyMon Sept 12 2016 - 12:58
Would it be fair to deny smokers and obese people medical treatment?Under planned UK health policy, smokers would have been denied surgery until they quitSat Sept 10 2016 - 15:00
Have heart disease? Time to follow a Mediterranean dietItalian study finds high consumption of vegetables had the greatest impact on survival, followed by oily fish intakeSun Sept 04 2016 - 13:00
Have you ever been ‘Ice’d’ by your doctor?Breaking the ice that threatens the doctor-patient relationshipTue Aug 30 2016 - 05:45
There’s an app for that: exercise prescription cuts heart attack riskApp allows you personalise exercise needed to cut risk of death from cardiac eventsMon Aug 29 2016 - 01:00
Getting HRT treatment is worth risk of cancer for someHormone replacement therapy can almost triple risk of breast cancer, research showsWed Aug 24 2016 - 01:00
Just because research is ‘scholarly’ doesn’t mean it’s qualityEven professionals who use health information daily haven’t been trained to appraise research criticallyTue Aug 23 2016 - 05:45
What health conditions do people rank as worse than death?Study finds 70% of people rank incontinence and inability to get out of bed as being as bad as or worse than deathSat Aug 13 2016 - 17:00
Can you decipher your medical prescription?There’s no doubt abbreviations, in Latin or English, are a source of healthcare errorMon Aug 01 2016 - 16:00
A doctor writes: medical benefits of cannabis beyond doubtCBD oil reduces seizure activity without side effects of cannabis yet its use is restrictedMon Aug 01 2016 - 01:00
Mick Jagger is to be a new dad at 73. So does semen have a lifespan?The best sperm quality is found in men who have never smoked and never drank alcoholSat Jul 23 2016 - 16:00
Tips for coping with hot weather . . . at home and abroadWhat happens if you overheat and what can you do to stay safe in the sun?Tue Jul 19 2016 - 15:50
