Health

Coffee and chocolate have spent years in and out of medicine’s good books. One month, coffee is blamed for palpitations, high blood pressure and sleepless nights. The next, it is being praised for lowering the risk of diabetes, liver disease and early death. Chocolate is treated no better. A study …

When I reach into the freezer for something from my hoard of cooked dishes, I am often reminded of the origins. The oildown from when breadfruit kept calling me, and I was roasting, mashing, and cubing obsessively. A version of a shepherd’s pie with small chunks of stewed goat nestling …

The school holidays have arrived. Children wake later. Shoes disappear under beds. Lunch kits are forgotten for a while. Grandparents become emergency babysitters. Cousins appear from nowhere. The house fills with noise, arguments, laughter, crumbs, wet towels and small human beings who suddenly seem to be hungry every 20 minutes. …

It’s hard to find composure in the face of the overwhelming human tragedy that has befallen our Venezuelan neighbours. Everything can disappear just so. The immediate impact is one thing, but the consequent hardship as rebuilding efforts begin is mind-boggling. Look at Haiti and Jamaica. Do we really grasp the …

There is one image from childhood that has never left me. After the Common Entrance results were announced, the school playground became a festival of joy. Children ran across the yard calling out the names of their new schools. Parents embraced one another. Teachers smiled with quiet satisfaction. Yet, away …

Most people worry about their heart. Some worry about their blood sugar, cancer, cholesterol, blood pressure or the mysterious ache that appears after the age of forty and never entirely leaves. Very few worry about their gums. That may be one of the greatest mistakes in modern health. The average …

A 13-year-old girl singing Tight and Pretty with sexually explicit lyrics is a child protection issue! The Child Protection Unit of the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago needs to take immediate action! An alleged 13-year-old child, who identifies herself as “Yung Niy Niy”, is actively producing and distributing explicit …

There is a moment that catches many of us by surprise. Indeed, it arrives without warning. One day, your father is the strongest man you know. He lifts impossible things. Fixes impossible problems. Knows the answer to every question. Drives through the night without getting tired. Walks faster than everyone …

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. …