conversations about medicine and life

Mind That Child: A Medical Memoir

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Patricia Thwaites

Mind That ChildDuring her recent trip to the United Nations, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used her speech to recommit the government to making New Zealand the “best place in the world to be a child”, ensuring that:

no matter where you are born in the world, your local school is the best school, there is food and a health system that you can rely on and perhaps most importantly that you are loved and that you are heard”.

Leading New Zealand paedriatrician Dr Simon Rowley would no doubt agree with those sentiments. The welfare of babies and children is at the heart of his recently published book, Mind That Child: A Medical Memoir. Few would be more qualified to provide some guidelines on how to improve on present conditions.

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Depression: back from the dead and celebrating life

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Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. The following article is an updated version of one originally posted on this day in 2016.

Mark Thomas

World Suicide Prevention DayLike a shorter, slower version of the great All Black John Kirwan, I have decided to speak up about depression. My life is fantastic and I get immense pleasure from my love of sport, travel and the amazing people around me. But here’s a simple statement of medical fact: I have experienced major episodes of clinical depression since the age of 18. I don’t know how that works, how the same mind that allows me to drink in life like an intoxicating nectar can also turn dog on me and drag me to the depths of emotional hell, but that is the truth of it. I do know that depression can afflict anyone, regardless of how good or seemingly enviable their life is, just as cancer, heart disease or any other illness can strike anybody, regardless of how happy, famous or wealthy they are.

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What’s cooking in pharmaceutical research: ‘a wave of pills’

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Eeva Kumpula

Eeva Kumpula
Eeva Kumpula with her Bake Your Thesis cake, “A Wave of Pills”.

Surely everyone knows how to use their medicines exactly as advised, and complies with all the instructions?! I clearly remember thinking this during my pharmacy undergraduate studies when the lecturers talked about people misusing their medicines. Why would anyone not comply? But as soon as I was ‘in the real world’, working in community pharmacies, I realised that no – people DON’T always use their medications safely, or as intended.

My entry to the University of Otago’s recent ‘Bake Your Thesis’ competition shows the ‘wave of pills’ out there that is causing harm to people in the community. My research examines this ‘wave’ in detail, to try and identify the particular medications most responsible for causing the damage. The pills on the cake form a symbol for emergency medical help.

One cause for concern and source of ill health is poisonings. The majority of poisonings or overdoses with medicines occur as a result of a simple mistake or an unintentional error in judgment (“Oh, I thought it would be fine to just take two extra pills!”). But about two-thirds of poisonings that lead to a presentation at an Emergency Department (ED) are caused by intentional decisions to take too much. There are many reasons why someone may overdose on purpose.

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Humanising clinical spaces: art in hospitals

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Christine Mulligan

Life often takes us us on divergent twists and turns. Sometimes, surprisingly, all these different paths come together to make coherent sense. My own journey has taken me to architecture, nursing, art and art history. Together, these disciplines have led me to understand the importance of humanising clinical and institutional spaces.

‘Peninsula Hills’ by Neil Grant, Stoneware and clay, 1984. Sited at entrance to the Dunedin Public Hospital.

In 1972, Professor of Surgery Alan Clarke initiated the Dunedin Hospital art collection. He was responding to medical literature about the benefits of original art in hospitals, and to his positive personal experience of art in hospitals overseas. The Art Advisory Committee was formed, with the goal of populating the walls and corridors of Dunedin and Wakari hospitals with original artwork. Clarke believed that original art by professional artists provided the best portrayals of ‘life and nature’’.

Many years later, my unusual multidisciplinary journey would connect me to Dr. Clarke’s vision. [Read more…]

Breastfeeding: “a collective societal responsibility”

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Tricia Thompson

breastfeedingThe 194 member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) met recently in Geneva for the annual United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly. The delegation from Ecuador proposed a global public health resolution to encourage breastfeeding. The resolution stated that research evidence convincingly shows that mothers’ milk is healthiest for children, and called on governments to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding” and to strive to limit inaccurate or misleading marketing of breastmilk substitutes (infant formula).

The resolution was unsurprising. It was in keeping with many others made over the past decades supporting breastfeeding and was expected to be approved quickly and easily. What did surprise was that the delegation from the United States of America demanded the resolution be watered down. When Ecuador declined to do this, the USA threatened to unleash a punishing trade war and withdraw military assistance. Under such pressure, the Ecuadorean delegation capitulated. When another sponsor for the resolution was sought, at least a dozen poor countries from Africa and Latin America also backed away, fearing similar retaliation from the USA. In negotiations, some American delegates even suggested that the USA might cut its financial contribution to WHO.

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