Everyday Body
Going to the doctor with something embarrassing
The delay caused by embarrassment does more harm than any of the conditions people are embarrassed about.
Dr Ayesha Quraishi
40 articles by Quraishi
Everyday Body
Immunity, and what can and cannot be boosted
The immune system is not a dial, and the interventions that genuinely affect it are unglamorous and free or nearly so.
Everyday Body
Eyes, screens and what actually damages them
Screens cause genuine symptoms and not the damage attributed to them, while the things that do cause harm get less attention.
Everyday Body
Back pain, and what the evidence changed
Almost everything people believe about back pain — rest, scans, posture, discs — has been revised, and the advice is now close to the opposite.
Hormones
Blood tests people order for themselves
Direct-to-consumer testing has expanded rapidly, and the harms it produces are subtle and predictable.
Sexual Health
Sexual health for people in long relationships
The assumption that testing and prevention stop being relevant is common and is not always correct.
Everyday Body
Hearing, and the losses that happen quietly
Hearing loss develops slowly enough to be invisible, and the delay before people act is measured in years.
Everyday Body
Feet, and why they matter more than people think
Foot problems limit activity, cause falls, and in some conditions are the site where serious complications begin.
Everyday Body
Teeth, and what they have to do with the rest of you
Gum disease is extremely common, largely painless until late, and associated with conditions well beyond the mouth.
Everyday Body
Headaches, migraine and hormones
Migraine is a neurological condition rather than a bad headache, and its relationship with the menstrual cycle changes treatment.
Hormones
Vitamin D, and the supplement question generally
One supplement has genuine population-level justification and most of the rest are answers to questions nobody asked.
Sexual Health
Sexual health for people who are not straight
Risks differ by practice rather than by identity, and a great deal of standard advice assumes a configuration that does not apply.
Sexual Health
Condoms, and why they fail
Almost all failures are use failures, and the specific errors are well documented and easily corrected.
Everyday Body
Hair, and what can be done about losing it
A handful of treatments have real evidence, timing matters enormously, and several causes are entirely reversible.
Hormones
Fertility, and when to get it checked
The timelines for seeking help are shorter than most people assume, and about half of the problem lies with men.
Hormones
Contraception and hormones, beyond pregnancy
Hormonal contraception is prescribed for a long list of reasons other than contraception, with real benefits and real trade-offs.
Sexual Health
Talking to a clinician about sex
The appointment goes better when you know what they need to hear and what they are not thinking about you.
Everyday Body
The bladder, and the things nobody asks about
Urgency, frequency and leakage are common, are not an inevitable part of ageing, and have effective treatments.
Hormones
Weight, hormones and what the drugs changed
Body weight is defended by a hormonal system, which explains why willpower explanations have such a poor track record.
Hormones
Cortisol, adrenal fatigue and what is real
One of these is a hormone with a well-described physiology and the other is a diagnosis that does not exist.
Stress & Mood
Alcohol and mood
It works for a couple of hours and works against you for the next twenty, and the arithmetic is worth understanding.
Intimacy & Desire
Medication and sexual side effects
They are common, they are the leading unspoken reason people stop taking medication, and there are usually options.
Sexual Health
Herpes, in proportion
The virus is extremely common, the medical consequences are modest, and the distress is almost entirely social.
Everyday Body
Skin, and what actually works
A handful of ingredients have real evidence, the rest of the industry is built on the gap, and the basics are unglamorous.
Hormones
Polycystic ovary syndrome
It is common, the name is misleading, and it is a metabolic condition as much as a reproductive one.
Hormones
The menstrual cycle, phase by phase
Understanding what happens when explains a great deal about symptoms, and separates the established from the wellness invention.
Sexual Health
Recurrent thrush and bacterial vaginosis
They are different conditions treated differently, and self-diagnosis gets it wrong about half the time.
Sexual Health
HIV in the era of undetectable
The science changed completely and public understanding has not caught up, which is now the main source of harm.
Everyday Body
The gut, and what it is reasonable to believe
The microbiome is genuinely important and almost everything sold on the back of it is ahead of the evidence.
Hormones
Testosterone, beyond the marketing
Genuine deficiency exists and is treatable; the industry selling it to men with normal levels is a different matter entirely.
Hormones
Thyroid problems, and why they are missed
The symptoms overlap with ordinary life, the tests are straightforward, and the treatment questions are more nuanced than they look.
Stress & Mood
Stress, and what it does to the body
The acute response is useful and the chronic version is not, and the physical symptoms it produces are genuinely physical.
Intimacy & Desire
Erectile difficulty, and what it is telling you
It is common, it is frequently an early cardiovascular signal, and it is one of the most treatable things in medicine.
Sexual Health
Painful sex is a symptom, not a personality
It is common, it has identifiable causes, and pushing through it reliably makes it worse.
Sexual Health
HPV, and what the vaccine actually prevents
Almost everyone gets it, almost everyone clears it, and the vaccine prevents cancers rather than an inconvenience.
Everyday Body
The pelvic floor, for everyone
It is not only a postnatal concern, the exercises are done wrong more often than right, and too tight is as much a problem as too weak.
Hormones
Perimenopause, and the years nobody warns you about
The transition can last a decade, produces symptoms far beyond hot flushes, and is frequently attributed to everything except hormones.
Hormones
Reading a hormone blood test
Reference ranges are not targets, timing changes results, and a number outside the range is a question rather than a diagnosis.
Sexual Health
Contraception, compared honestly
Effectiveness in a trial and effectiveness in real life differ substantially, and the gap is where most decisions should be made.
Sexual Health
What a sexual health check actually involves
The procedure is quicker and less invasive than almost everyone expects, and the anticipation is the worst part.