Rambles

Vitamins: Heroes or Villains?

Over the past years, a number of studies were published, stating that “vitamins don’t work” or “vitamins are dangerous”. I get asked about this often enough for me to make a quick remark on this topic. Firstly, the studies are all flawed. Studying the effects of vitamins on health requires a long-term study enrolling thousands […]

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Kinder is Gooder

“Neither genius, fame, nor love show the greatness of the soul. Only kindness can do that.” -Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire, preacher, journalist and activist (1802-1861) I was trained to be a competent doctor. By the time we left medical school (26 years ago…), we could save lives, diagnose most diseases, prescribe for the most common

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The Power of Love

Right now, my people, the South African nation, have a lot to say about power. But they don’t have a lot of power. They don’t talk about love a lot, but I don’t think they have a lot of love either. Especially when you hear them fantasise about slow-roasting the directors of Eskom (our bloated,

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Ash Monday

This has nothing to do with health. It is simply a reflection on the devastating forest fires here in the Garden Route. So, if you’re pressed for time, please delete this email. I’m sending my marketing email tomorrow (fingers crossed), with the month’s specials, etc in it. The past twelve days, all of us living

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Tippling Point

When I was a medical student, “going viral” was something really bad. If a patient “went viral”, you’d feed them pancakes (because that was the only thing you could slide underneath the door). You didn’t open the door until you sent in the SWAT team in plastic coveralls. It was that bad. Nowadays,, “going viral”

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The Bugs of St Cupid

You might have noticed that St Valentine’s Day is approaching. My wife and I don’t really “do the Valentine’s Day thing”. After Christmas, two wedding anniversaries (yes, we got married twice – double the fun, double the trouble) and one engagement anniversary early in the year, we’re kind of “uitgekuier” (worn out?) by the middle

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