I am pleased to report that the premature vested interest drive to introduce a biological definition of Parkinson’s disease a la Alzheimer has sunk like a lead balloon in the UK
AJ Lees
@ajlees.bsky.social
Professor of Neurology, National Hospital Queen Square, Institute of Neurology, UCL Writer, Rare Soul,
‘As scientific explanation becomes more comprehensive, the contribution which may be claimed by an individual approaches zero. Man’s creative powers,achievements in art,science & morals & capacity to choose is inconspicuous in the new scientific self portrait’ B.F Skinner 1948
Listen to this salutary story that has so many lessons. if a normal DAT scan doesn’t absolutely exclude early Parkinson’s disease why do it in the first place. Second if there is no sequence effect on 20s of tapping - hold your horses @Ed_Jabbari podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/2...
2 Parkies in a Pod: a Parkinson's Podcast
Health & Fitness Podcast · Updated fortnightly · If you want to know more about Parkinson's, or how to cope with chronic illness, then this is the Podcast for you. Between them Clarky and Kuhan have b...
podcasts.apple.com
As H L Mencken said ' for every complicated problem there is an answer that is simple, plausible and wrong. An example in my field is the notion of removing Lewy bodies from the brain and stopping disease progression in its tracks.
Everyone in the NHS knows that there is not enough capacity in the system and not enough physicians to go round It is in the interest of all of us to pay more and to get rid of pony health insurance schemes that bail out when you get really sick No more elastoplasts
Genetics is all very well but it is not the new Genesis. It cannot decide my destiny or the future of mankind
Bring back the Cocoa Tree, White’s and Ozindas the London chocolate houses and serve that dark deep molten cacao that only Andalucians and Madrilenos now know how to serve I miss too the Cocoa forests of Ilheus #TheChocolatePort @dubreviewbooks
An intelligent man feels what others only know Montesquieu #SoulfulNeutology #BrainspottingAdventuresinNeurology
Are we losing medicine's soul to AI? In his review of @ajlees' "Murmuration", Rhys Davies explores "Soulful Neurology" - where neuropathology meets a humane appreciation of the patient. Warmly recommended for clinicians. Read: acnr.co.uk/book-review/mu… #Neurology #MedEd
acnr.co.uk
I am weary of hearing well nurtured cultivated persons saying all is lost and clever young men and women saying they would have rather lived in the sixties Move on and embrace progress but try to know yourself better and avoid rogue machinery
When all the years of hard work is over, the book is published and the reviews are in the only pleasurable bit starts. Sitting with a group of close friends to discuss the cast for the film that will hopefully follow is a delight like a crumb of gold
“The trouble with quacks is that they cure people”. William Osler Can you be a quack without being a grifter or a privateer? If a quack uses placebos, avoids nocebos is good mannered and intuitive tells no lies and is a sound generalist. What is not to like?
I have always loved being recognised and greeted by baristas, porters and waiters. It has contributed to me being a person of habit. The delight is brief snd low voltage but always makes my day
Clare on Ragwort ( Mare’s Fart) ‘Thy waste of shining blossoms richly shields The sun tanned sward in splendid hues that burn So bright & glaring that the very light Of the rich sunshine doth to paleness turn And seems but very shadows in thy sight’ @JohnClareSoc #JohnClare
I have spent years and hours trying to make my writing clear and simple but still can’t resist throwing in a new word occasionally or using two adjectives when one would do
I have spent years and hours trying to make my writing clear and simple but still can’t resist throwing in a new word occasionally or using two adjectives when one would do
What I love about detective fiction is the mystery and the puzzle element especially when observation and abduction are at the fore. There is no need for violence or even a murder to send me asleep. A missing person or a poison pen letter is sufficient
I learned as a young man that girls did not like grumblers and I have done my best to restrict my curmudgeonry to male company. I remember once being told by my future wife that I had better go home rather than spoil her pleasure through my incessant grousing
If at 80 you're not a cripple or an invalid, if you have your health & still enjoy a walk a good meal & can sleep without a pill, if birds and sea inspire you, you are most fortunate & should get down on your knees & thank the Lord for his savin' & keepin' power. #HenryMiller
Mirabeau Diptych Beach reading while you dance the shag to the Tams, Larry Williams and Chairman of the Board Makes a good present for your doctor and royalties to Parkinson's disease
Another ‘renegade’ who had an enormous early influence on me through his writing was Richard Asher “if the cause of an illness is not known it is necessary to invent one’ Asher believed medical overinvestigation was a form of cruelty as well as profiteering
We need more neurologists who are competent to diagnose and treat all patients with neurological symptoms presenting for the first time in clinic and the emergency department. The growth in subspecialists has become a sort of lifestyle choice
Neurologists are attracted to microscopes and psychiatrists to wide angled lenses Neurologists are noticers psychiatrists are listeners Soulful neurologists and sensitive psychiatrists combine both approaches to explore the pathology of self
keepournhspublic.com/petition-nhs...
PETITION: NHS Staff not Artificial Intelligence
The Government is planning to scale back NHS recruitment and replace vital healthcare roles with AI technology to cut costs. This could leave patients facing fewer trained staff, unsafe care, and long...
keepournhspublic.com
The AI developer should be accountable and responsible for rigorous pre and post market efficacy and safety evaluation not the ‘doctor in the loop’ If i dont trust its validity then it is of no value
Proponents for the new anti-amyloid drugs make a comparison with the multiple sclerosis scene 20 years ago believing their introduction will lead to a momentum swing in dementia care and more efficacious immunotherapy All the same i am pleased they are not available on the NHS
A Russian-Chilean-English effusion first presented as a poster at the Bicentenary in Paris last year and now published in the excellent Archivos History of Medicine section #CharcotShower @Marcelo65708093 @mselikho1 @teiveads doi.org/10.1055/s-0046…
doi.org
Clinical researchers are now counterculture. What was once mainstream is now the province of mavericks and the avant-garde They are adrift between university and public health system, derided by the customer friendly in the emporia