Socialism: is it a cure for all our ills?
here is no novelty in observing that statistics, particularly in relation to health, are frequently misleading, implicating virtually every aspect of our lives in some misfortune or other. Still, it is of some interest that their mis- (or over-) interpretation has also played a significant role in the Labour Party leadership contest.
Jeremy Corbyn’s political vision might seem unrealistic, but it is underpinned by the conviction that there is scientific evidence that the inequalities between rich and poor are a major cause of heart disease, violence, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, infant mortality – and are preventable by a socialist programme of wealth redistribution.
Back in 1979, soon after Margaret Thatcher’s “divisive” electoral victory, the high-profile Black Report would become a cause célèbre on the Left with its claim that relative poverty (defined as an income less than the national average) was responsible for almost 2,000 “preventable” deaths a week.
Subsequently, Professor Richard Wilkinson of Nottingham University has refined this thesis: when examining the statistics of 24 industrialised nations (Britain, France, Sweden, US, Japan etc), he found a direct correlation between income inequality and the prevalence of those ills mentioned above. “Inequality is socially divisive,” he explains, “leading to feelings of inferiority and the fear of being disrespected – a major source of chronic stress that causes ill health and other forms of social dysfunction.” This contention might seem improbable on any number of counts but is a core belief of Corbynistas. And the first signatory on a letter to the from two dozen academics endorsing Corbyn’s candidature? None other than Professor Richard Wilkinson.
Troubling tics
Those troubled by tics have an undeserved reputation for being a bit peculiar. For the famous 19thcentury French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, they betrayed a deep-seated psychological problem: “A psychical disorder in a physical disguise.” This is scarcely ( gratefully) the modern view, with the realisation that tics are surprisingly common, experienced by as many as one in 10 children at some time. They may be single (head jerks, shoulder shrugs) or complex (whirling or twisting), or “phonic” sounds such as throatclearing or sniffing, and are usually described as being preceded by powerful feelings of tension in the area affected, followed by a sense of relief.
For most, tics rarely last more than a year but can cause problems if they persist into the teenage years, prompting truancy from school from embarrassment. The favoured treatment of habit reversal therapy involves responding to the urge to, say, shrug the shoulders by consciously performing some other movement such as stretching out the arms. Beyond that, several drugs (Clonidine, Clonazepam) and Botox injections can usefully reduce their frequency, with repeated “relatively mild” side effects.
Tingling mystery
This week’s query comes courtesy of Mrs T R from Leeds, writing on behalf of her husband, who is in “reasonable” health other than requiring a pacemaker last year. Recently, however, he has begun to experience a most peculiar tingling sensation that begins in his chest, radiates down to his arms, trunk and legs before “reaching a crescendo” and then just as quickly fading away – after which he feels Jeremy Corbyn argues that wealth redistribution is good for our health fine. These episodes last only a few minutes and tend to cluster over a period of three to four days before disappearing for several weeks. “Various blood tests and investigations have drawn a blank,” she writes. Can anyone clarify what might be responsible?
A good side effect
Finally, for those looking for reasons to continue taking their cholesterollowering statin, a reader reports a most useful side effect in reducing the wax-induced deafness with which he was afflicted for 56 years, warranting three-monthly syringing of his ear canals. Three years ago, aged 74, his family doctor (as is their wont) initiated statin treatment, since when he has been wax-free. This is no coincidence, because when he was forced to discontinue his statins recently due to muscle pains, the excess wax promptly returned.