An Interesting Website

There is an interesting new wesbite for people with ME, CFS and fibromyalgia. It is called Secrets to Recovery. What is so good about it, is that it uses the power of the internet. It offers some videos and MP3 downloads of what they have found works for some of their clients.

Delivering Bye Election Leaflets in Diggle

With a Bye-Election this Thursday a few of us were out in Diggle delivering leaflets, a beautiful village situated on the moorlands of the Pennine hills.

Appreciate Apprenticeships

The hard working MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon, is in support of creating a Royal College of Apprenticeships, and you can read more about his proposal here. Apprenticeships should have their value highlighted and supported in both the economy and society. I wish him every luck with his proposal. He has suggested that he hopes it will develop into something like the British Medical Association. However, I hope that any Royal College of Apprenticeships will remain true to its name, and rather than following the 'trade union' BMA, it will follow in the footsteps of the Royal College of surgeons/ Physicians or Psychiatrists and be a body to 'maintain and achieve high standards'.

A shortage of psychiatrists?

USA Today recently reported that demand for psychiatrists is climbing faster than for any other medical specialty. From April 2009 to March 2010, the company Merritt Hawkins received 179 requests for psychiatrists — a 47% increase from the previous year and 121% increase from the 2006-2007 survey.

There are concerns that supply of psychiatry trainees is not keeping pace with the increased demand. Shankar Yalamanchili, a psychiatrist with River Region Psychiatry in Montgomery, Ala., says doctors who perform medical procedures make more money than psychiatrists who converse with patients. He said "I get paid more for treating a zit than I get for sitting down for half an hour talking to a patient."

Kurt Mosley, Merritt Hawkins' vice president of strategic services, says it's "the perfect storm right now" as more than half of all psychiatrists age 55 and older are nearing retirement, and there aren't enough physicians to take their spots. The lack of psychiatrists in Iowa has been so bad that several hospitals have had to close their inpatient psychiatric care units, says Scott Lindsley, operations director for Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Curved or Straight?

Elephant Illusion

How many legs does this elephant have?

More Illusions

Do you see the native american wearing a head dress, or the inuit wearing a fluffy coat and entering an igloo?

Young or Old?

Can you see both the young woman and the old woman in this classic optical illusion?

If you need some help, the eye of the old woman is the ear of the young woman. The old woman's mouth is the young woman's necklace.

Are We Waking up to the Cost of Dementia Care?

The BBC today report that the cost associated with dementia is more than 1% of the world's gross domestic product this year at £388bn.

The number of people with dementia is expected to double by 2030, and more than triple by 2050. But experts say the costs of caring for people with dementia are likely to rise even faster than the prevalence, especially in the developing world, with more formal social care costs.

Professor Martin Prince, of the UK's Institute of Psychiatry and who co-authored the report, urged nations to develop better plans for caring for the millions who have the disease. "Governments must show greater leadership, working with all stakeholders, to drive solutions to the long term care issue."

Right or Left?