Printed from: https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=issue&id=2
George Smith examines a popular touch therapy Reflexology, one of many touch therapies, is enjoying increasing popularity in a 'consumer led boom' in alternative medicine.[1] It is used by ten percent of alternative therapy consumers. Some family practices and hospitals provide it and many health care professionals incorporate it into...
I recently had an interesting week at work. I explained true forgiveness to a lady whose depression was being fuelled by intense guilt then was asked about the meaning of life by a young man who had been given a diagnosis of schizophrenia. An older man was in despair due...
We all, to some extent, carry responsibility for abuse, writes Peter Sidebotham If there were first century child protection registers, Jesus should have been on one. Two thousand years ago, a baby was born to an unmarried teenage mother, which in his culture carried far more stigma than it...
Harm reduction is the essence of a doctor's role. We attempt to reduce suffering and pain caused by sickness. Today our Government is enthusiastically pursuing 'harm reduction' by the promotion and provision of 'safe sex' and drug control programmes, which support those unwilling or seemingly unable to leave their addiction.[1]...
Paul Brand was characterised by an unfettered originality in his approach to a clinical challenge, but even his immense academic and professional achievements were eclipsed by his compassion and concern for the whole person. Although he was my uncle, I never had the privilege of training or working with him,...
A part-time GP principal in Stevenage - dealt with the following situation recently… Jenny is 15 and thinks she may be pregnant. After talking to and examining her you establish that she is around 20 weeks pregnant. She says that she does not want to have the baby. She is...
Jeremy and Ann Franklin present the case for an exclusively Christian GP partnership. Dr Jeremy Franklin, CMF pastoral secretary, was a GP for 34 years I wanted to work in a Christian practice for fellowship, mutual support and common aims. A GP partnership is like a marriage: it has great...
A book on boredom - how…boring? Actually, the more one thinks about boredom the more interesting it becomes! What causes boredom? Why are some people more prone to boredom than others? What's the difference between being bored for a short period and being chronically bored with life? Is boredom always...
The author of this book is a Professor of Philosophy and Family Practice at Michigan State University. With chapter headings such as: 'Sickness, Life Stories and Self-Respect'; 'Sick Roles: Practices and Life Plans'; 'How Sickness Alters Experience'; 'Stories of Life with Disability', and 'The Patient - Health Professional Relationship as...
Available free of charge for developing countries from isdixon@dircon.co.uk The Truth about AIDS met a pressing need in the late 1980s for clear information on the unfolding HIV epidemic. Many Christian doctors grappling with its grave implications appreciated the distinctively biblical approach of Dr Patrick Dixon's book. Any book on...
John Harris had a long and distinguished career as a medical missionary on two continents. Although he was most closely associated with the Leprosy Mission, he and his wife Elsie first served with WEC (Worldwide Evangelization for Christ) alongside Helen Roseveare in the then Zaire. Later unable to return to...
This book takes a distinctively scriptural approach to the issues of death, dying and the ethical crisis in which we find ourselves in the early years of the 21st century. The biblical underpinning of our traditional ethical position is reviewed, the nature and origins of many of the recent changes...
This book arose from a conference held in conjunction with the College of Preachers at St Marylebone Parish Church where the author is Rector, and is based on his MTh dissertation. It reviews the contemporary health and healing scene succinctly and sensibly, meeting medical concerns for truthfulness and for realism. ...
The concept for the manual appears to have arisen from David Werner's book 'Where there is No Doctor', which was published initially in 1977. This book was a great success, being used widely by health care workers especially in developing countries. 'Disabled Village Children' and 'Where there is no Dentist'...
Draft guidance from NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence), Fertility: assessment and treatment for people with fertility problems,[1] has identified a number of issues as priorities for infertility treatment provision on the NHS. Among them is the recommendation that up to three complete treatment cycles should be freely available to...
The September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 were a great tragedy - with just over 3,000 deaths in a single day. And the people killed were infinitely more important than the companies they worked for or the buildings they worked in. The grisly events were witnessed, and will rightfully be...
Embryo stem cell research America's doctors have defied President George Bush by putting their stamp of approval on scientists engaged in stem cell research. The American Medical Association (AMA) said that it was ethical to use cloning for research, but not to copy another human being. Michael Goldrich, who heads the...
'Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.'[1] A new GP in the Netherlands treated a 78-year-old patient with a chronic illness and increasing breathlessness. Her life expectancy was two months. She asked him for euthanasia but he didn't like the idea of taking...
