Wasted medicine is a fundamental problem for the health sector, and patients suffer from it too. The problem has many sides. One is waste at home. For many patients, the dose they need does not match the amount in the pack, so they have to buy a whole pack, sometimes an expensive one, without needing […]
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Philosophers, thinkers and men of religion have long argued about the course of existence and everything in it, living and non-living. They have split, between and within their schools, into those who believe in predestination, those who believe in free will, and a third group that combines the two. Predestination means that everything that happens […]
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You may think this title is wrong, or cheap publicity. It isn't. Sadly, this is a sensitive subject, and many specialists don't accept it. We all know that bones are made mainly of calcium, and that milk and dairy products are a main source of the calcium bones need to grow. So what is the […]
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Many people believe that eating fish with yoghurt or milk causes deadly poisoning, and avoid mixing them, so much so that "fish and yoghurt" has become a saying like "fire and water". Medically, though, there is nothing wrong with eating fish with yoghurt or milk. The main reason for this myth is that fish and […]
Read moreWho is the most important person in the world? You might say the president of America, or a religious leader followed by many people. Or perhaps Oprah, Jennifer Lopez or the Queen of England. The most important person in the world is you! The proof is easy: you live as no one has ever lived […]
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I said to my wife: "How about going out to work?" She shouted at me: "You greedy man! You'd sell your honour for a bit more money!" I said: "Of course not… I don't want you to be a dancer… be a teacher, or even work for a charity, and keep all the money for […]
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The day my uncle married me to his daughter, he sat haggling with me over her price… sorry, her dowry… When I talked to him about building a home together, he demanded a ready-made house, fully furnished. I talked about starting our life; he talked about my death and who would inherit from me. I […]
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Spirituality means much more than belief in God. It is made of feelings, thoughts and insights that are often hard, if not impossible, to describe, and it is linked with one of the most widespread areas of human life: religion. But religion is more than a public expression of spirituality: religious institutions act as schools, […]
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Virginity as an example If we accept that living things are products of nature through evolution, we must also accept that everything that makes up these living things is natural too. And since human societies are made of humans, living beings born of nature, they too are natural products. So the way they are organised […]
Read moreBefore the theory of evolution, ageing was seen like a machine whose parts wear out over time. Afterwards, scientists began to ask why evolution had produced highly complex, adaptable living things that are very good at surviving from birth to adulthood, but then fall into decline and death. Their search for answers led to several […]
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Once upon a time there was a monkey, a little one, smaller than a chimpanzee. It was a performing monkey, the kind that does acrobatics to draw a crowd, and its owner had taught it to pick pockets. Whenever people gathered to watch, the monkey robbed them when they weren't looking. One day there was […]
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Doctor, are you proud to be a doctor? And you, patient, do you still believe the doctor is the long-awaited saviour? I hesitated a lot before writing what you are about to read, because I am a doctor and because I write for a medical publication. Both oblige me to be loyal to my profession […]
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