It’s a sad fact of life that much of the research published in the medical journals is depressing. These scientists spend their lives studying all the different ways in which people can die. There are only a few major breakthroughs each year. The rest of the time, the best you can hope for is a small step forward in understanding the problems. In the case of erectile dysfunction (ED) there is a clear trend emerging. In England, Dr Kirby who recently published Sleeping With Ed, has been co-ordinating research into the relationship between men with ED and cardiovascular disease. The current state of the research shows that the first symptoms of ED double the risk of developing heart disease within four years. The reason is easy to state. The usual physical reason for ED is that the artery leading into the penis does not dilate properly. This is a narrow artery. If there is a problem with this artery now, the same problem is likely to affect the larger arteries in the chest and lungs next. ED is a better predictor of heart disease than high cholesterol, high blood pressure or among smokers. The next phase of the research is to begin treating men with drugs to lower the levels of lipids and statins to see whether fewer cases of heart disease emerge. But in the UK, many doctors continue to view ED as a problem of lifestyle and not as the basis of predicting more serious health problems.

We should not blame the bacteria that humans treat each other so badly. All they want is somewhere warm to reproduce with plenty of food. That the results cause people so much emotional pain is hardly their fault. Like most other diseases and disorders, acne is what it is. Acne does not judge us. It simply creeps up on us one day and shows its presence on our faces, necks and shoulders. Under normal circumstances, it then moves on and, hopefully, we recover from the emotional scars inflicted by those around us. But, in some cases, there are physical scars as well. Perhaps this was the unfair touch of the condition. That some could be marked for life. Except now there are treatments to deal with the scars left behind.

You have probably heard many times about Sildenafil or as we now know it, the Blue Pill. This drug has been around for over a decade and marked a new area of sexuality, which can easily be compared to the Sexual Revolution of the 20th century. Why is that? Because prior to the Blue Pill there was no effective remedy for erectile dysfunction and men having that condition were left with no possibilities to overcome their problems and had to suffer in silence. But with the advent of the new drug, things have changed drastically. Erectile dysfunction has become the topic for public discussion and was openly spoken about in newspapers, magazines and on national TV. The problem, which people were unaware of before, has surfaced and shown its real proportions, which were really impressive.

In a simple case where you have had an accident and, perhaps, broken a bone, there will be acute pain lasting for a reasonably short period of time. Under normal circumstances, these physical injuries heal and the pain goes away. But, sadly, there are many medical conditions where the pain does not go silently into the night. In cases of chronic pain, you and the doctors advising you have to come up with strategies to help you cope – to make the best of your life under difficult circumstances. Now, the medical profession has recognized that, independently of the underlying cause, pain itself is something to be treated. To do so, there are a range of different techniques, including:

Scientists have developed a number of myths about themselves. They are, in one sense, the new priesthood, expected to bring us new technologies to make our lives simpler, easier and safer. They work away in these laboratories with complicated pieces of equipment lying around. They wear these spotlessly white coats that would show even the slightest stain, were they to be splashed with chemicals from one of their bubbling retorts. They are the new elite who deliver the goods to the front office where ageing managers sign off on advertizing campaigns to sell the latest gadgets and earn their commissions and bonuses. So we grow used to seeing the latest scientific journals full of the reports from these superbeings. They are couched in strange and incomprehensible jargon, accessible only by fellow scientists and other godlike beings. So it comes as something of a shock to see something written in a blunt, no-nonsense style. How can we take this as a serious piece of research when it is so easy to understand what it means?