Bernard Shevlin

Lectures and handouts

The Brain: An Owners and Users Guide: Coventry 3.12.2008

Hypertension Sucks!

Simply informing a patient that they have the disease "Hypertension" has a negative impact on his life with increased absenteeism from work and a general poorer perception of her health. Here is a "disease" which causes no symptoms, but where treatments often do, so it is hardly surprising that patients have great difficulty sticking with treatment. However, it is important to remember that we are not simply treating a sphygmomanometer reading in this clinical scenario, but trying to prevent the disasters of heart attack, stroke and other vascular mishaps. This talk looks at the options available and the various tricks and strategies to serve the patient's long term health.

You're Only as Old as your Arteries

The processes which silt up our arteries are by and large those same processes which make us more vulnerable to cancer and to the various degenerative processes which we call 'Ageing'.

This lecture addresses those issues of lifestyle, diet, food supplements and prescription-only medications which could help us stay young.

Blue Peter Guide to the Brain

Our brains are not only not user-friendly, they are not planet friendly (have you ever read the newspapers!). This lecture attempts to synthesise ideas about the evolution of the brain and its neurophysiology into an owner's manual for the brain which should be useful for anyone who uses theirs on a regular basis!

The Guts & Gripes of Gastroenterology

This lecture is a view of a frontline GP of Gastro-intestinal and related areas, where mistakes and omissions can really hurt the patient. It highlights such diverse areas as recurring abdominal pain in children ("Tension Tummies"), the acute abdomen, recognising early cancer and untwisting torted testicles.

Presented Complaints that Get Up Your Nose

Dizziness, TATT (Tired All The Time) and Headache are the most dreaded, heart-sink presenting complaints in General Practice. This lecture will show you how to enjoy these symptoms and deal with them in a new way, flagging up the usage of questionnaires, hand signals and patient handouts; it will also highlight those dangerous-to-miss diagnoses and gives some useful tips on patient management

The Politics of Prescribing

This lecture began as a debate of the motion:
"This House believes that a better knowledge of Pharmacology by GPs will reduce the National Drug Budget"
The arguments take us inexorably to the conclusion that British GPs (criminally?) under-prescribe and uncovers the foibles of the Politicians which spawn this.