Author Profile: Dr Amer Sheikh

Semaglutide for weight loss Semaglutide, a medication previously used for diabetes, has this week been approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for use in weight loss. I am optimistic that it is going to be a game-changer in the management of obesity. The reason is that I have already been […]

Why calorie counting does not work The standard exercise myth is that you will lose weight if you eat less and exercise more. That is true to a certain extent especially if you are eating significantly more than your required calories to begin with. But overall it is recipe for failure. Let us see why […]

No painkillers recommended in NICE guidelines for chronic pain The NICE guidelines on chronic pain NG193 were published in April 2021 and may have left you scratching your head. That is because they do not recommend any painkillers. That means no paracetamol, NSAIDs (e.g. ibuprofen, naproxen) or opioids (e.g. codeine, morphine). To understand why, you […]

What is long COVID and do you have it? Around 10% of people have a slow recovery from COVID-19 infection that lasts longer than 3 weeks (UK COVID symptom study). Most people will recover within 12 weeks. People who do not recover within this time-frame may have Long COVID if their symptoms are not explained […]

Does vitamin D protect against COVID-19? Social media currently abounds with ‘useful’ information about medication and supplements that will protect you against COVID-19. Much of this is hearsay and downright wishful thinking. Prime example is President Trump taking hydroxychloroquine as preventative medicine. I hope he does not come into any mischief as have so many […]

Among the failures of the UK government in handling the COVID-19 pandemic is the lack of testing. Successful countries starting testing right at the beginning of the crisis in combination with contact tracing. We might have been able to lessen the mountain of deaths had we done the same. Until now, there does not seem […]

Hay fever sufferers may have noticed that 2020 has been a particularly bad year for symptoms. This is certainly the first time that I have actually ‘suffered’. In previous years I have had mild symptoms or none at all. The worsening symptoms are thought to have been caused by the driest May on record. Lockdown […]

“Cure” your high blood pressure Can you really “cure” your high blood pressure? Conventional wisdom says not. Once you are taking medication then you are on it for life. But let us step back a little and take stock of the problem. Life expectancy has gradually increased over the past 100 years. In the past, […]

Tennis elbow What is tennis elbow? Tennis elbow is an odd name to give to a problem which affects mostly people who do not play tennis! It is also called lateral epicondylitis or lateral epicondalgia. The pain from tennis elbow is felt on the outer side of the elbow and the back of the forearm. […]

High blood pressure: Lifestyle changes High blood pressure is a lifestyle condition You might be surprised to learn that there is no underlying disease process causing high blood pressure in the vast majority of people. High blood pressure is mostly due to lifestyle factors and this is why doctors call it Essential Hypertension. Some people […]