Ann George

16th February 2011 The Health Secretary announced to Parliament today that herbal medicine practitioners will be regulated from April 2012. The four UK health departments have agreed that the Health Professions Council (HPC) should hold a statutory register of practitioners who supply unlicensed herbal medicines to people to enable the supply of herbal medicines to [...]

Two weeks ago I attended an inspiring two day conference at Oxford University at which several eminent Professors of Dermatology spoke alongside traditional healers and herbalists on Collaboration with Traditional Healers in the Provision of Skin Care for All in Africa. Skin disease is a major problem in Africa and these doctors and healers were [...]

We always knew it was good for us but a new study has found that dark chocolate helps to protect our DNA from oxidative damage.  The researchers commented “the present results are clinically encouraging especially in the field of diet therapy of obesity, pathology related to greater incidence of cardiovascular disease, and cancer”. Unfortunately I [...]

A systematic research review in the UK has found that high levels of vitamin D among middle-age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, the decreased risk could even be as high as 43%. This review adds to a fast growing body of research [...]

Evidence that coffee isn’t always a villain Researchers have demonstrated that an increased intake of coffee may reduce the risk of lethal and advanced prostate cancers by 60%. Kathryn Wilson, PhD, from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health said,“Coffee has effects on insulin and glucose metabolism as well as sex hormone [...]

It’s only a small study but a researchers from the University of Cincinatti have shown that a group of 18 people in their 70s with memory loss who drunk two cups of blueberry juice per day for 12 weeks had improved memory and less depression. They attribute this effect to the blue pigment in blueberries [...]