All posts by Dr. Gabriel Symonds

  • Are you SAD in the festive season?

    Photo © Elena Derevstova   One sometimes wonders if they think of the acronym first, then make up a disease name to fit. SAD means ‘seasonal affective disorder’, more simply known as winter depression or ‘winter blues’....

    • Posted December 29, 2009
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  • How not to stop smoking

    Photo © Elena Derevstova   If you are a smoker trying, i.e., failing, to stop, what help is ‘out there’?   The orthodox approach, promulgated by the medical profession, is curiously called ‘nicotine replacement therapy’. Does this...

    • Posted October 31, 2009
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  • Company health checks

    Photo © Elena Derevstova   If you are a salaried employee in Japan, you will find that once a year you are required to take time off from your job to attend a local clinic to have...

    • Posted October 1, 2009
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  • The itch that rashes

    Atopic dermatitis (eczema) was so described by a French dermatologist, Leonard Jacquet, over 100 years ago.  It was thought the skin-changes in this common, childhood condition resulted from scratching.  The word atopy (from the Greek atopos, meaning...

    • Posted August 31, 2009
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  • What is Swine Flu?

    According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC for short), it is an influenza-like illness, that is, a fever with a cough or sore throat, caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus.  The illness...

    • Posted June 30, 2009
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