Health notes, worth your time.
Short, practical pieces on prevention, long-term conditions and what actually happens at a visit — no filler, no scare stories, and never written by anyone who has not treated it.
Health notes worth reading
Filter by topic or search the archive. Every piece is written and reviewed by a clinician here.
LatestChest pain: what to do in the first hour
Heart muscle dies by the minute. Knowing which pain to take seriously, what to do while waiting, and — above all — not driving yourself, is the difference between a recovered heart and a permanently weakened one.
InfectionsDengue: the day the fever breaks is the dangerous one
The most common mistake we see with dengue is relief. The fever settles on day four or five, the family relaxes, and that is exactly when the illness turns. Here is what to watch, and when to stop watching and come in.
Long-term conditionsJust diagnosed with type 2 diabetes: your first ninety days
A new diagnosis usually arrives with a prescription and very little else. This is the rest of it — the numbers to aim for, the four checks that protect your eyes, kidneys and feet, and the realistic version of a diet change that survives past the first month.
Heart healthHigh blood pressure: the condition with no symptoms and the worst consequences
There is no such thing as feeling your blood pressure. Headaches, neck heaviness and dizziness are not reliable signs, and waiting for them is how people arrive here after a stroke that a daily tablet would have prevented.
InfectionsTyphoid, or just a bad stomach? What the difference looks like
Gastroenteritis passes in a few days. Typhoid climbs. Telling them apart early decides whether someone gets a week of rehydration or a course of antibiotics that has to be chosen carefully in a district where drug-resistant typhoid is now normal.
NeurologyHeadaches: which ones need a scan, and which ones need a routine
Patients often arrive asking for a CT scan and leave with something more useful: a diagnosis, a plan, and an explanation of why the painkillers they have been taking daily are now causing the headaches.
InfectionsHepatitis B and C: who should be tested, and why it is worth it now
Almost nobody with early hepatitis B or C feels ill. That is precisely the problem: by the time it causes symptoms, the liver damage that has accumulated is much harder to reverse. A single blood test settles it.
MedicinesAntibiotics: when they help, and when they quietly make things worse
Antibiotics do nothing at all to a virus, which is what causes most coughs, colds, sore throats and diarrhoea. Taking them anyway carries real cost — to your gut, to your next illness, and to whether these drugs still work in ten years.
Bones & jointsBack and knee pain: what actually helps, and what makes it worse
Ninety per cent of low back pain settles within six weeks without imaging or surgery — but only if you keep moving. Here is the evidence-based version, and the specific signs that mean you should be seen urgently.
PreventionThe annual check-up: what is worth doing, and what is a waste of money
Screening works when a test finds something treatable before it causes symptoms. Judged against that standard, five or six checks earn their place for most adults here — and a great many of the tests sold in packages do not.