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Beyond hearing aids: early interventions in hearing care to lower dementia risk

Published in print under the titleHearing care and dementia: professional insights on the new Lancet Commission findingsThe Lancet Commission on ‘Dementia prevention, intervention and care: 2024 report’ highlights a list of potential modifiable factors to reduce dementia risk. As with...

Anxiety and acronyms – musings of an otolaryngologist

Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been a focus of attention and concern for healthcare workers around the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neil Tolley discusses some of the issues. I write this article in mid-May when, were it not for...

From Hippocrates to COVID-19: sniffing out the disease

The ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, used the ‘art of smell’ to diagnose diseases around 400BC. He also formulated miasmatic theory, which posited that disease is caused by bad smells. Bad air was strongly believed by many physicians to be the...

Facing changes after surgery through portraiture

‘Facing Out: Life After Treatment for Facial Cancer’ was a two-year arts-for-health project funded by Arts Council England and The National Lottery which culminated in an exhibition at The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, in February 2019. Here, artist and project...

How the earwig got its name

What are earwigs, and how are they connected with the ear? Amr Abdelhamid explains the etymology, myths and beliefs behind the pesky creature with the otological name. Earwigs are harmless insects of the order Dermaptera that are amongst the most...

Early Egyptian medicine: nasal trauma and surgery in the Edwin Smith Papyrus

In ancient Egypt, with its towering pyramids and bustling cityscapes along the Nile, there existed a deep-rooted civilisation that excelled in more than the grandeur of monumental architecture. Frequent wars and battles shaped Egyptian society, not only defining its political...

Head and neck cancer and PET-CT

Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) is an imaging technique in which abnormalities of tissue metabolism are precisely superimposed onto the anatomy. It relies on the premise that malignant cells are more metabolically active compared with non-malignant cells. On this basis,...

Imaging and management of head and neck vascular anomalies

Vascular anomalies are a diffuse spectrum of abnormalities which often involve the head, neck and oral cavity. They are frequently misnamed, often being generically labelled as haemangiomas. This lack of basic understanding can cause confusion leading to a cascade of...

Temporal bone trauma

Introduction Temporal bone injuries represent one of the more complex management problems presenting to the otolaryngologist. This is largely due to difficulties in assessment and the frequent delays in referral, often as a result of other injuries demanding more immediate...