After four fabulous,  fun and fruitful years I am stepping down from WOMGENE SIG  and before bowing out was asked if I wanted to contribute to the recent menopause-themed newsletter.  I wouldn’t say it was my specialist subject but I have as they say ‘gone through it ‘  so agreed to share some of my  reflections.  Or rather I had at the time of asking but  media coverage appears to have reached total saturation point and I’ve  struggled to come up with anything that hasn’t already been said by Lorraine (who she?) Davina or Mariella. Once seen as a taboo ..read more

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock and Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty are all self -isolating after either being tested positive for coronavirus or displaying the symptoms. The three people who are responsible for ensuring the slowing and suppression of the virus appear to have been a little too casual in following the advice by researchers from Imperial College who had recommended that intensive and socially disruptive interventions be strictly enforced until a vaccine becomes available. In Johnson’s case, he actually boasted about f ..read more

A report in The Psychologist several years ago asked the question,” Are mental health services inherently feminised?” out of a legitimate concern that if so, this is likely to be off-putting for men who are known to be less likely to seek help in the first place. Recommendations were made to increase gender awareness in the NHS with the aim of developing more gender-sensitive provision of mainstream services. Are-mental-health-services-inherently-feminised As important as this issue is I can’t help but think that an equally if not more critical question, is how on earth do we protect and suppo ..read more