Author Archives: Elen Samuel

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About Elen Samuel

I am a doctor, now retired from active practice. I still love reading and writing about medicine, and particularly about how we treat our bodies like we do. What works, what doesn't, why we prefer to do something rather than nothing, why we can't hang on till things get better on their own (as they usually do), and why we get so worried about our health. Apart from that I play the violin in many groups, and I like walking and cycling, and travel.

How does our Neanderthal ancestry affect what diseases we get?

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Elen Samuel

I have always been interested in anthropology, and especially the study of hunter/gatherers, particularly the first modern humans who first made their appearance in Africa during the Pleistocene 200,000 years ago, and then migrated out of Africa about 70,000 years … Continue reading →

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Money, money, money

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Elen Samuel

Following my previous blog on people wanting it all, I think we have to ask why the British public thinks it can have everything it wants. When I started out as a GP in 1970, people did not think like … Continue reading →

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We want it all, don’t we?

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Elen Samuel

I haven’t written a blog for a while. My excuses range from being too busy, to feeling that I haven’t got much to say any more. The message that I and people like me have been putting out, about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Delivery, Health Policy, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

New updated edition of “A Sceptical GP”

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Elen Samuel

Statins – The Well are Worried yet again If you are interested in this post on preventing heart problems and cancer, perhaps you would enjoy my book, “A Sceptical GP” which is full of similar stories. I have recently (August … Continue reading →

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Statins – the Well are Worried yet again

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Elen Samuel

Are you over 60? Or younger but worried about your health? Then chances are you will be taking statins and/or aspirin. One in three people over 40 take statins, (up to seven million people in England), costing the NHS at … Continue reading →

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Offa’s dyke and the Line of Death

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Elen Samuel

Did you know that Offa’s Dyke is the “Line of Death”? In case you missed this bit of blatant party political rubbish from our Prime Minister, he said it in a speech in North Wales to local Conservative party members(1) … Continue reading →

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Should you immunise your child?

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Elen Samuel

This blog is in response to a post about childhood immunizations. I did not write about it in my book, as the subject has been extensively written about elsewhere. However it is indeed a very important subject, and I am … Continue reading →

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Dog Blog

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Elen Samuel

I am always amused by the number of my friends on Facebook who post about dogs. Sometimes, on a given day, half the posts are canine related. I don’t often read them as I dislike dogs (I must be one … Continue reading →

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Should Doctors Decide?

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Elen Samuel

Motor neuron disease is not uncommon, and every GP will look after some patients with it during their working life. I remember one man who was diagnosed in his early fifties. He was a teacher with teenage children, and the … Continue reading →

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The Elephant in the Flood

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Elen Samuel

As we all look at our TV screens at the devastation caused by the recent flooding of the Somerset levels, the Thames and the Severn, our thoughts turn to climate change. Storms, unstable weather, floods were all predicted years ago … Continue reading →

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