Does the Pill really reduce the onset of certain cancers?A long-term study suggests a protective effect for women taking oral contraceptivesMon Sept 04 2017 - 13:03
Happy birthday: 75 years of chemotherapy is worth celebratingA wartime mustard gas explosion led to the development of a life-saving treatmentMon Aug 28 2017 - 15:00
Should patients avoid video consultations like the plague?Or do they have a role in modern healthcare, asks Muiris HoustonTue Aug 22 2017 - 07:00
Lucifer effect: hellish heat is the most lethal weather disasterThe threat to human health from weather is rising, as heatwaves increase across EuropeTue Aug 15 2017 - 07:00
Doctor jokes: ‘Conjunctivitis.com. It’s a site for sore eyes’Research suggests that humour has a positive effect on patients, so here goesMon Aug 07 2017 - 06:18
Gene editing in human embryos: Your questions answeredScientists have used Crispr-Cas9 to repair disease-causing mutations. Here’s a guideThu Aug 03 2017 - 19:39
Be careful, country life could kill youWhen you you look at trends, urban life expectancies are increasing at a faster rate than rural lifespansTue Aug 01 2017 - 06:00
Asleep at the wheel: The threat posed by exhausted doctorsSleep-deprived junior doctors are unable to look after patients safelyMon Jul 24 2017 - 11:00
Allergic to penicillin? Think againThe most commonly reported drug allergy may be misdiagnosed in 90% of casesTue Jul 18 2017 - 06:00
Three words every health expert should learn: I don’t knowStatements of ‘absolute certainty’ from self-styled health experts are dangerousSun Jul 09 2017 - 17:28
Cancer care in Ireland: 'Enormous' progress made, but more to doAnalysis: Ring-fencing of cancer drug funding may be necessary in future health budgetsWed Jul 05 2017 - 16:48
Side-effects from medicine? It could be the ‘nocebo effect’Telling a patient that a drug has side-effects can bring on that very problemMon Jul 03 2017 - 13:24
Does stress cause infertility? A look at a painful subjectPractical help for the sometimes lonely infertility journeyTue Jun 27 2017 - 06:00
Mind your language: Doctors’ turns of phrase can harm us allThe medical lexicon is littered with phrases that can feel top-down and demeaningTue Jun 20 2017 - 06:00
It’s time for action to stop the inappropriate and damaging use of CPRWhy has CPR become a reflex response in hospitals rather than allowing nature to take its course?Tue Jun 13 2017 - 06:00
Are we there yet? Flying with children this summerWhy flying can be an unpleasant experience for young childrenMon Jun 12 2017 - 06:00
Doctors say one thing, patients often hear something elseTechniques like framing and using the placebo effect can make us more effective healthcare professionalsMon Jun 05 2017 - 19:44
No safe time limit for leaving children in vehicles in hot weatherHigh ratio of surface area to body mass makes children vulnerable to heatstrokeSat May 27 2017 - 01:40
Statin side effects: Is it all in your head?It’s placebo vs nocebo as new study casts doubt on muscle pain effect of statinsMon May 15 2017 - 06:00
Symptoms are hard to spot, but high blood pressure can killMedication can control nearly all cases, but too few people are diagnosedMon May 08 2017 - 09:01
Even if you don’t drink you can still get liver diseaseThere’s an epidemic of fatty liver disease in this country, and teetotallers aren’t immuneTue May 02 2017 - 06:00
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
