Category: Health

  • Little miracles

    I mentioned in a previous post that my son has been in hospital. It’s been a very long couple of weeks: he was misdiagnosed twice before his atypical symptoms led to a correct diagnosis and treatment, which included surgery. He’s home with me now, recovering. My head is a mess of thoughts just now, but…

  • Why the search for an LGBT+ gene is dangerous

    There’s been a lot of publicity over a new study into the so-called “gay gene”; the study reports that although there doesn’t appear to be a single genetic marker for gay people, there may be several. Similar studies have attempted to find a genetic marker for trans people. Here’s why that’s scary. This image was…

  • The kindness of women and the sadness of men

    Emily Todd VanDerWerff is a critic at large for Vox, and she’s reviewed an interesting video by PhilosophyTube that addresses the issue of men’s mental health. I thought this bit of her review was particularly interesting. Thorn suggests that one project worth undertaking, should you have a platform like his to do it, is to increase…

  • Help is here

    For the second time in just a few months, my friends and I are mourning another life lost to suicide. Too many people are struggling with mental health and suicidal thoughts. If you’re one of them, please speak to somebody. The world is a better place with you in it, and can be a better…

  • Inciting hatred of trans women in the name of feminism is “despicable”

    There’s a great interview with the equally great Ruth Hunt, departing CEO of Stonewall, in Buzzfeed News. Ruth hasn’t just had a hard job. She’s had to deal with constant online abuse, some of it criminal, and has been the target of bigoted pundits in the media too. “Mainstream newspapers running consistently transphobic articles, day…

  • Not mad. Not bad. Just normal.

    There isn’t a single day when I don’t see somebody claiming that trans people are mentally ill and/or degenerates. Here’s some geniuses from this morning. A huge problem is that public awareness of trans people – and of what the medical consensus is about trans people – is incredibly out of date. For a long…

  • Do you believe us yet?

    This is where it leads. The “reasonable concerns”. The “just asking questions”. The denial of science. The platforming of extremists who seem like such nice people. The endless articles telling you trans people are dangerous. The Trump administration says it’s okay to let trans people die. Under the discrimination administration’s latest plans, healthcare can be…

  • For God’s sake, vote

    These are the politicians who passed the horrific anti-abortion bill in Alabama. Notice any similarities? It’s easy to look across the Atlantic in horror at Dark Ages throwbacks such as these yahoos, but don’t forget that right here in the UK abortion is still illegal in Northern Ireland, as is equal marriage. In Northern Ireland,…

  • The anti-vax movement is lethal

    Newspaper and internet scaremongering is so commonplace now that we’re numb to it, but we shouldn’t be. Some of this misinformation kills. The mainstreaming of anti-vaccination lunacy by newspapers such as the Daily Mail and later, idiots on social media, has seen vaccination levels drop and infection levels soar. In the UK, more than half…

  • Preying on people with cancer

    The Cancer Act 1939 is one of the few pieces of legislation that outlaws pseudo-scientific medical bollocks. As Cancer Research explains: At its heart, the current incarnation of the Cancer Act is designed to protect cancer patients and the public from being bombarded with adverts for cancer treatments, from any source, including medical professionals, pharmaceutical…