Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Surgical repair of a hernia. This may be done as an open operation or as minimally invasice surgery (MIS) using a laparoscope.  

This is a tradename for trastizumab, one of the monoclonal antibody drugs used in treating early stage breast cancer in women with the her2 positive type of the disease about one in five of all those diagnosed. It is given, generally for one year, after other treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery. It cannot…

Loss of the sense of touch down one side of the body.  

The administrative machinery for planning, delivering and monitoring health care provided by health professionals and their supporting staff. This may range from running a small primary-care centre to organizing a large hospital, or being responsible for meeting the health needs of a region or a nation. Whether the overall structure for providing care is state-funded,…

This is a structured, multi-disciplinary process for assessing and improving the health consequences of projects and policies in the non-health sector. It combines a range of evidence in preparing conclusions. Applications of these include appraisal of national policies, local urban planning, and the progress of transport, water and agricultural projects.  

The centralized collection and storage of information about the health of individuals. Recent advances in genetics have raised concerns about the potential for abuse of all health databases, whether maintained for scientific research which has long used them or for government or community health planning, or by groups of professionals (or individuals) to help in…

As the needs and demands of patients, and the costs of health care of populations, have risen sharply in recent years, governments and healthcare providers whether tax-funded, insurance based, employer-provided or a mix of these face the dilemma of what services a country or a community can afford to provide. As a result, various techniques…

A group of viruses that infect mice, rats and voles and can also infect humans who come into contact with their excreta or secretions. Widely distributed in Asia, the USA and Europe, in Britain hantavirus usually affects rural and sewage workers, as well as people engaged in watersports. Many victims have a mild feverish illness;…

A very rare form of hepatitis following exposure to halothane during anaesthesia (1:35,000 halothane anaesthetics). Jaundice develops three to four days after exposure and will occasionally develop into a fatal massive hepatic necrosis. It is of unknown cause but probably has an immunological basis. It is more common following multiple exposures in a short time…