GHIC BLOG

The year 2018 ended with a whimper – mild and grey.  No snow in London thank goodness.  For me the medical highlight of the month (and the year) was the awarding of The Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid al Maktoum award for medical services – an international medical prize...

 It’s wonderful when one gets to a meeting or a conference which is both outstanding, and at the same time, somewhat outside ones own circle of expertise or experience. So, a while ago, I found myself in a conference on metal allergies.  Organised by my good friend Dr...

For us, the warm late summer/autumn weather continued through into November.  The colours rival those of Maine. Our new education charity website (www.ghic.world), is now getting into gear.  We have been joined by Suzanna Magill, who, as Manager, will run our...

Summer lingers on – even in the season of mellow fruitfulness, the temperature is still high and here, at least in Kent, the gardens are parched. On Saturday, I gave the inaugural lecture in the Middle East Medical Congress, in the beautiful city of Beirut. This...

At last a summer to remember.  August – at least here in Kent, was hot and sunny.  The pleasure boats on the Thames were full.  London a town of tourists. Each month, arthritis doctors receive a magazine called “The Rheumatologist”.  This popular American magazine...

Wonderful.  Wall to wall sunshine.  Temperatures in the high 80’s and low 90’s.  (How deceitful I feel advising my patients to avoid the sun!). This month our monthly medical journal LUPUS, now in its 27th year, received news of its rising ‘impact factor’.  The annual...

What a month!  After such a gloomy and wet spring, all is forgiven.  June has been stunning.  Blue skies ever since the Royal Wedding, with temperatures in the 80’s.  The countryside glorious and London looking its very best. On the home front, our new educational...

At last, successive days of hot sunny weather! Last week’s royal wedding in Windsor was bathed in glorious sunshine and clear blue skies. My plane home from Lisbon descended into Heathrow directly over Windsor Castle – we could make out the dwindling crowds lining the...

April, at least here in the South East of England, has continued the long, dark, wet winter.  Even Scotland is doing better than us! The good news is that our website (www.ghic.world) is now fully up and running.  The feedback from patients and from doctors globally...

Wet, wet, wet.  March this year, at least here in the South-East, has been dreadful – rain, cold winds, snow and most of all, grey skies.  I swear that we have had less than 10 hours of sun this month. I hate to think what the nation’s average Vit D level is this...

Earlier this month, I took part in the 20th ‘Ten Topics in Rheumatology’ meeting in Barcelona. Over these past 2 decades, the ‘Ten Topics London’ and ‘Ten Topics Barcelona’ meetings have nourished a very strong link between our unit at St Thomas’ Hospital (and now at...

January 2018 is proving a dark, rather depressing start to the year.  A number of our team have been hit by the ‘flu’ epidemic sweeping the country.  Added to which, the sun has made only rare appearances so far. Last week I gave a lecture to colleagues in Cambridge. ...

In October, I was a guest speaker in Porto, Portugal. It was at an international immunology meeting, and one of the 2 days was devoted to Hughes syndrome/Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The meeting (as on previous occasions in Portugal), was outstanding. I was given...

One of the recurring themes of history-taking in patients with Hughes Syndrome – or even in those with the suspected diagnosis – is the difficulties so many patients face. For example, in her excellent book “Sticky Blood Explained” by Kay Thackray, she paints a clear...

I shouldn’t have mentioned the wonderful early summer – the rains came. London is special in August – no school runs, less commuters – and thousands of tourists adding to the buzz of the capital. Really special. An update on our new charity. We are making great...

Wimbledon has started in a blaze of sunshine. What a wonderful summer we are having (at least here in the South-East) - surely it can’t go on. June was, for me, “Midlands Month”. A lecture on Hughes syndrome, lupus and Sjogren’s to the annual meeting of The Royal...

Waiting for a taxi to take me back to Basel airport for the short flight home to London. As good a time as any to start writing the May ‘blog’. I have cut my travel this year – my only ‘away’ lecture this month was to Leeds…until this one-day meeting in the pretty...

Big news! A group of patients and doctors here have set up a new charity, whose main purpose is education. Specifically, its aim is to provide a website which links those suffering from Hughes syndrome and those involved in its treatment. We know that many countries...

This week we welcomed to the London Lupus Centre a visiting group of 10 nurses from Daytona State College, Florida. They have a particular interest in Hughes Syndrome, so we organised a mini symposium for them and also included a tour of the facilities in the Shard....

Early in January, I spent 5 days giving lectures in San Diego. Expecting California sun, Monica, my wife, came with me. Five days of rain! Only the Queen gets worse weather! However, thanks to our wonderful hostess, Anna Eslami, the visit was, for us, a happy success....

Treatment Choices, Treatment Failures I am writing this blog on the last day of the year – an eventful year both in politics and, for me, in medicine. For me the highlight of the year was the opening of the Graham Hughes Autoimmune Diseases clinic in Madeira. This...