Health

A few months ago, I asked an elderly patient a question I ask dozens of times each week: “How are you doing?” Her blood pressure was acceptable. Her diabetes was reasonably controlled. Her cholesterol numbers looked reassuring. “I’m fine, doctor,” she replied. Then she hesitated. The smile disappeared. “I just …

She wasn’t one of my regular produce vendors—her stall was just off my usual tracks and her array of vegetables and herbs was not wide. One day, she had chataigne. I had been craving it for some time. The only place I’d seen it was selling it frozen (cleaned and …

“[…] I remember July 27, 1990—the fear, the uncertainty, the families gathered around radios and television sets. The attempted coup was not only violence against the state. It was also the eruption of tensions that had been gathering for years—exclusion, hardship, frustration, alienation and a widening distance between citizens and …

There is a person living somewhere in Trinidad and Tobago who may one day save your life. You do not know their name. You may never meet them. You will never invite them to your wedding. They will never attend your birthday celebration. They will never appear in family photographs. …

As a newly minted doctor fresh from postgraduate training in the United Kingdom, I returned home brimming with confidence. I was brash, full of textbook knowledge and ready to tackle any medical challenge that came my way. Little did I know that one of my most memorable patients would teach …

Ask someone for help to resolve an issue and more often than not they will tell you that YouTube is your friend. It can sort out all sorts of technical things and show you how to fix or assemble gadgets and devices. Google it, they say. Today’s challenges are solved …

The photographs were difficult to ignore. Long lines outside the Seventh-day Adventist Hospital. Elderly patients waiting patiently in chairs. Family members guiding parents and grandparents through crowds. Faces filled with hope, anxiety and exhaustion. All for cataract surgery. Not cosmetic surgery. Not experimental treatment. Not some futuristic robotic procedure available …

The MV Hondius, an expedition cruise vessel that promised adventure among glaciers, seabirds and remote islands, has become the centre of an international public health investigation after a suspected outbreak of hantavirus left multiple passengers critically ill and at least three dead. A cruise has become a floating epidemiology lecture. …

After the disgusting attack on Port of Spain South constituency executive alderman Wayne Griffith (we are all wishing for his speedy recovery), many are outraged by the level of raw aggression and barbarism displayed by those Tranquillity (the irony of the name is not lost on any of us) Secondary …

I was a fair way into my column when the call came. It was from one of the sharpest, most beautiful minds I know. He is not even forty, but he has accumulated wisdom far beyond his years—partly because he has lived a life that has been buffeted from all …

There is a quiet daily miracle. Not the kind that makes headlines. Not the kind that is measured in numbers, charts or statistics. The kind that lives in kitchens before sunrise, in whispered prayers at bedside, in sacrifices that are never announced, only felt. We call it motherhood. And if …

There is a phrase patients love to hear. And one that doctors are quietly relieved to say. “Your blood tests are normal.” It lands gently. Reassuring. Final. Almost like a verdict in your favour. You’re fine. Sometimes, you’re not. Because “normal” is one of the most comforting words in medicine. …