When you hear the term "narrative medicine", what does this mean to you? Most haven't heard or know little about it. Narrative medicine isn't something new, and has in fact been around far longer than you can imagine.

St Valentine's, it's that time of year when Christmas seems like a lifetime ago and summer seems like a lifetime away. February is always a HARD month to cope with.

Organic isn't better for you. Eating organic food won't stop imaginary 'toxins' from bypassing your liver and making you sick. Buying organic can potentially cause greater harm to the environment. Eating local is no guarantee of reducing your carbon footprint.

On Monday I was watching BBC Breakfast with philosopher Alain de Botton, where he was talking about his 10 virtues for atheists. It was a great interview in which he was explaining that in life it's important to reflect and decide on what constitutes a virtuous life. This lead me to think up my 10 commandments to live a healthy life for people to ponder over.

I'd like to share with you a glimpse into the world of living with Parkinson's from a patient's perspective. Being diagnosed with any chronic degenerative disease can be a shock to the system. Accepting and digesting such news is very individual, and a process that covers a gamut of emotions.

The pressure to deliver a month's work in a matter of weeks combined with less people in the office due to a myriad of Christmas parties, left over holiday days and official bank holidays, are all expected to takes its toll as the festive season gets into full swing.

Dr Hennessey lives in London. Dave lives in Newcastle. They've never met. Dave's entire consultation was conducted over the internet and telephone. His inhaler was sent through the post.

I'd say learning you're HIV positive is roughly the same level of 'life changing' as learning you're pregnant... We should make home tests available in the UK. We should encourage high-risk people to use them often.

If your body is restricting you from doing the things you want to do, then being fitter will make you happy. Where it becomes unhealthy, in my view, is when we begin to tell ourselves things like "when I weigh x amount I'll be happy".

There are plenty of signs to suggest that you're dehydrated. Headaches, irritability, weakness, cravings for sugar and salt, dizzy spells, dark urine, a dry mouth, nausea and even vomiting are common ones.

There's been a lot on the radar about addiction lately. Richard Branson snatched the limelight first, airing views on drugs being illegal in this day...