Cause Hand, foot and mouth disease is caused by a virus called Coxsackie A. It is not acquired from animals and has nothing to do with hoof and mouth disease. It is very contagious amongst groups of children, but it is a relatively mild and harmless infection. Clinical features Outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth [...]

General practice This is the mainstay of good medical care for your child and family. There may be one doctor working alone (solo practitioner) or several doctors may have combined to form a group practice. The general practice will have complete medical records for your child (as well as yourself), and the practitioner will be [...]

ABBREVIATED ORGASMIC CONTRACTIONS: It’s like it doesn’t really completely fire; you know what I mean. It doesn’t throb like it used to. They’re there, but not the same. I can’t get that feeling. I just don’t feel it thump or pulse like it did. I mean, it does throb, but not fully. Can you guess [...]

It’s really embarrassing. My stomach seems to gurgle every time we try to make love. I mean, it’s loud. He never says anything about it, but you never hear that in the movies. WIFE At first I thought it was coming from her vagina, this strange rumbling sound. I think it’s her stomach, though. She [...]

Most of these reactions are due to sympathetic stimulation. Some, such as the desire to use the bladder or bowels and the sweating are due to parasympathetic overstimulation. All are normal reactions to real or implied danger. If we could not respond quickly, almost without thinking, we would not survive. But this normal response to [...]

Depression is one of the most common disorders of modern life and is believed to be increasing. In the past, depression was classified into two groups: endogenous, or coming from within, and exogenous, or coming from without. This latter form was also called reactive depression and was usually associated with loss. Most doctors now think [...]

The cause of the sudden infant death syndrome is not known. Well over 100 theories have been suggested and despite considerable research there is no proven one cause. It may well be that there are several factors which can lead to cot death. It is common in all races and cultures and in all socio-economic [...]

Of course, this is not to say that we can’t identify some of these factors. The immune system can be weakened by other illnesses, poor nutrition, some drugs, some infections, stress, old age, cancer itself and some rare inherited disorders. Very active cancer cells can just develop by chance, but the more mutations that are [...]

‘Few therapies in the medical field have generated such controversy as that of hormone replacement.’ from Medical Clinics of North America, 1987. One day, possibly, medicine will come up with a treatment that is 100 per cent effective, 100 per cent safe, and totally without side-effects in anybody. But don’t hold your breath! Hormone replacement [...]

If you are uncertain about whether to have a particular treatment, you should take the time to discuss the issues with your general practitioner and perhaps a second specialist. Either your general practitioner or the first specialist may refer you to a second specialist. If the first specialist refers you to another specialist for a [...]