Pros and Cons of Treating the Male Menopause

“The Male Menopause?” Yes. It’s a thing.   Of all the male hormones – or androgens – nearly all clinicians would agree that testosterone is both the most important, and most potent. The term ‘androgen’ derives from the ancient Greek words for ‘man-maker’, and healthy levels of testosterone do indeed have the power to make […]

Great news in the fight against HPV in the UK

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of very common viral infections that affect your skin and the moist membranes lining your body. There are over 130 strains; some of which cause no visible symptoms; through to simple hand warts or verrucas; through to the sexually-transmitted infection genital warts; but some high-risk strains can cause a […]

Gynaecological ultrasound: The ins and outs of pelvic ultrasound

A pelvic ultrasound allows the visualisation of your pelvic organs and structures including the uterus, lining (endometrium), ovaries, cervix and the fallopian tubes. Doppler ultrasound may also show blood flow in certain pelvic organs. Ultrasound uses a special type of camera (transducer) that emits sound waves that reflect off the organs and return back to […]

A new generation of osteoporosis treatments?

Osteoporosis: an overview Osteoporosis can be simply be considered as “porous” or thin bones, leading to fragility fractures. However fragility fractures can occur in those without osteoporosis and further testing is often indicated. If a fracture has not yet occurred osteoporosis can be medically diagnosed by measuring bone mineral density by DEXA scanning just as […]

The MMR Vaccine – Time to take action

This week the World Health Organisation called on many countries to take action as measles continues to spread throughout Europe at an alarming rate. More than 41,000 people have been infected with measles worldwide in the first six months of 2018, leading to 37 deaths. 1 In 2017 there were 23,927 cases of measles and […]

Breastfeeding and breast pain

Breastfeeding can at times be quite uncomfortable for some women, especially at the start but when breastfeeding is constantly uncomfortable, or suddenly becomes very painful, it is important to see someone about it. At ROC Clinic our GPs can help to work out what the cause of pain is and discuss the best ways of […]

Birth control options after having a baby

Many joke that the best form of contraception is being the parent of a new-born baby. With all that broken sleep and the demands of life with an infant, contraception isn’t always high up on everyone’s to-do list but it is important to be aware that a woman’s fertility tends to resume pretty soon after […]

Sequence your genome at RoC – The future of medicine is here

Modern medicine is a wonderful thing. We have treatments and cures for many conditions that decades ago would have seriously harmed us or been fatal. But we all know the saying “prevention is better than cure”. What if there were a way of knowing what conditions you, as an individual, are prone to? Heart disease, […]

Viral warts and verrucae: what are your options

Warts and verrucas are notoriously difficult to get rid of. Some may manage to get rid of them within weeks or months, but some patients are bothered by this painful and / or unsightly condition for many years. So what are the warts, verrucas and how you can get cured? What are warts? Warts are […]

Having the shingles vaccine early

Following on from my last blog post on the chickenpox vaccine, it seems appropriate to complete the loop with a discussion around the shingles vaccine. Shingles is a very common and troublesome infection that is seen more frequently with age. Data from England and Wales suggests that over 50,000 cases of shingles occur in people […]