Health & Wellness: making a drama out of public health
Helping writers provide accurate health information in TV medical dramas delivers entertainment and added benefits of increased health (medical) awareness & wellness to the population. Stephen McGann’s essay (Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine) describes the steps taken by the writers, production team and actors of TV medical drama, Call the Midwife, to ensure medical accuracy and authenticity. Though set in the 1950s, he demonstrates that the series has raised health awareness in populations (health promotion): in the UK (diphtheria) and in Bangladesh, by providing advice on how to depict authentic birth scenes and show safe maternal health practices.
How mobile phones could make a difference to maternal health
Mobile technology is revolutionising health and health care in developing countries enabling health promotion campaigns, reminders about therapy and data collecting. To women it could provide a lifeline for them during pregnancy and birth. But what evidence is there that mobile messages are accessible to women in these situations and that they could change women’s…
Low-level iodine-deficiency produces lower IQ children in UK
IN my March 2013 blog “Eat less salt but make sure it contains iodine!”, I described the problems of addressing iodine–deficiency diseases in Pakistan and the worrying rise in iodine deficiency in the UK, linked to a shift in eating patterns away from dairy and oily fish, our traditional sources of iodine. Whereas, other developed…
Low salt diets could allow iodine-deficiency diseases to re-emerge
Salt has been used for thousands of years to flavor & preserve food BUT reliance on fast food, biscuits and tinned goods, with their hidden salt content, has created for us a high salt diet and with it an alarming rise in cardiovascular disease. Reducing our salt intake, by working with food industry and educating…