www.northerndoctor.com

Now here - northerndoctor.com at Wordpress.

I have moved...

I have switched over to Wordpress after too many evenings wrestling with the formatting in Blogger. I can still be found here at http://www.northerndoctor.com/ or simply northerndoctor.com as they seem to prefer there. (I am no longer sure of the significance of the www bit.) Or you can of course use the www.northerndoctor.wordpress.com address and you will be redirected to northerndoctor.com.

If you have still been using http://www.northerndoctor.blogspot.com/ then it is all going to go a bit quiet for thee (and also for me) if you don't change your links.

Thank you so much and apologies for the high faff factor.

*Update*
Sunday 5th October. It all seems to work well on my own computers but I am in work at the moment and there is some alarming '404' style action on the PCT computers. They do seem moderately decrepid so I am not sure of the problem here. It all works fine on my Blackberry! Hopefully, it will right itself somewhere in the ether and I will not need to do anything. However, if not then please let me know.

More eleutherococcus

I am having a bit of a bad science rush of blood to the head after reading through Ben Goldacre's, er, Bad Science book last week.

Budding triathletes
Eladon have been making some suggestions that the use of Eleutherococcus senticosus is supported by 40 years of Russian research and I quote:

"is used to this day by top class Russian athletes being first recommended by the former USSR Ministry of Sport for use by all Russian athletes including the Olympic teams as long ago as 1962."

There does seem to be a lot of literature on this stuff aka Siberian Ginseng from the Eastern bloc and it is not the most accessible in the world. I am not entirely familiar with current trends in Russian high performance athletics so I won't comment further. But I would highlight this systematic review from Canada which found no effect. Predictably the trials which had dubious methodology showed an improvement and those that were more rigorous did not. I am not too disappointed; my triathlon ability is more likely to be improved by a structured programme of regular exercise (ie more than once a week).

Their Elagen Sport capsules also have Coenzyme Q10 in them. Dr Aust can advise you further on this here.

They will supply you with 90 capsules of their Elagen Sport version for £14.95 here. I couldn't help noticing that there are now 50 years of scientific research on this page. It may help as they say - or it may do chuff all if the systematic review is on the button.

Eladon has a very clear statement at the bottom of their home page that they are not making any medical claims. Hmm...

‘Quack’ remedy for bored housewives?
According to Biochemist Dr Nicholas Miller, B.sc, P.hd, health food supplements are often perceived to be 'quack' remedies taken by bored housewives and bewildered hippies, however, few can deny that early 21st century lifestyles tend to be high-stress, high-pressure, performance orientated and plagued with toxins and pollutants of first-world technology. Eleutherococcus with its anti-stress, anti-toxic and stimulatory effects can delay hardening of the arteries, allow for harder work for longer hours without damage to health and can allow people to tolerate higher than normal levels of poisons. Its effect of generally strengthening the immune system combats poor diets and day-to-day viruses and has also been shown to be useful in the treatment of nervous disorders such as depression.
Dr Miller believes it is only a matter of time before the West accepts Eleutherococcus as an officially recognised medicine. “While of undoubted benefit for the sick or convalescent, it is also of boundless value as an invigorating prophylactic to ensure continued good health,” he remarks. “Eleutherococcus is for everybody, especially the overworked or the run-down - the major problem is to tell people in a way as to remove the barriers of cynicism and disinterest.”

The first sentence of this statement is a triumph of misdirection. I can see I am going to have brush up on my Russian and get into some of these papers.

No more anonymity

Me!

A short announcement - I am no longer blogging anonymously.

I am quite comfortable with being associated with any of my posts and I can see no reason for me to hide who I am. I enjoy ambling my way through the more attack-minded blogs but it isn't the route for me. I plan to continue blogging pretty much exactly as I have been doing.