28Jul 2014 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Four years on

General
On Saturday, I glanced at the calendar on my phone and recognised the date as some sort of anniversary - 26 July.  It was exactly 4 years to the day I received my diagnosis of Metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer. It all began 2 months previously with a routine asthma clinic appointment when I mentioned to the Nurse Practitioner that I thought I'd lost half a stone in weight.  She immediately said "did you mean to lose the weight" and the answer was "no" on the basis that I just simply thought I was heavier.  As a precaution she sent me for a set of blood tests and then a retest.  I later marched into the GP's office (having been asked to come to the surgery) to hear the GP say "I…
Read More
20Jul 2014 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Laughter is the best medicine

Humour
How many times have you heard it said that laughter is the best medicine?  I can certainly remember this phrase being said when I was a child.   There is some Science in Medicine (more applied than pure), so where is the scientific evidence for this claim?  Well after all this time, someone has decided to carry out a study.  Apparently when we laugh, we exercise our muscles, get blood flowing, decrease our blood pressure and stress hormones, improve sleep patterns and boost our immune system. It's a new area of research known as 'Psychoneuroimmunology' - the study of how emotions affect our nervous and immune systems. It's still a relatively new area of research, but the insights are promising. The study looked at 20 healthy older adults in their 60s…
Read More
12Jul 2014 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Finding Hotspots

General
Just back from a nice relaxing holiday in Tenerife.  I don't know about you but when overseas I find myself looking for 'hotspots' everywhere I go....... I don't mean trendy entertainment venues, I'm talking about the modern phenomenon known as a WiFi signal! I also mean free and open connections.  Even recent price reductions within Europe did not tempt me to use 'data'  overseas and I didn't even want to take advantage of the £2 per day upgrade of my mobile phone account which would give me access to my minutes/MBs overseas on a temporary basis. I just look for free WiFi and I also make a point of turning off 'data' on my phone before leaving the country to avoid expensive mistakes.  No Scottish jokes please, I'm just frugal :-) My hotspot…
Read More