Medieval C-sections…

Caesarean sections for most of human history was a death sentence and was usually carried out as a last resort.

Nowadays we have excellent antenatal diagnostic abilities to predict when someone might need a planned c-section, better anatomical knowledge, surgical techniques, sterilisation and post-operative care which makes this a relatively standardised procedure.

But…those medieval c-sections and most surgical procedures carried out over 100 years ago were associated with high mortality primarily due to infection and bleeding….and one unsung hero which helped turned the tide was the simple fire stick…aka electrocautery.

Any tissue you cut through, will have a supply of blood vessels.. the smaller the tissue, the small the feeding vessels, e.g microcapillaries.

Often these aren’t visible to the naked eye and they can continue to bleed after surgery both resulting in continued blood loss but also providing a medium for bacteria to grow in.

The electrocautery device, a heated probe which can burn and close off bleeding vessels, was revolutionary and allowed surgeons to minimise blood loss and speed up operations.

Don't worry , your blood vessels still grow back after we burn them sort of like tree roots forming a new “shoot”.

Like all things, surgery will continue to advance and we will get better at operating. I mean, it wasn’t too long ago that doctors finally agreed that washing your hands is actually a good thing.

I’m sure our descendants will look back at our current techniques in a hundred years with a look of shock and horror.

Ancient Roman Wine…

You might be surprised to know that the original artificial sweetener was… lead.

The ancient Roman winemaking technique included the toxic element lead both to improve the taste and for its preservative qualities.

In Ancient Rome, the upper class favours wine that was sweetened with papa, a syrup made by boiling grape juice in lead lined vessels.

When heated, the metallic toxins would leach into the syrup; this combined with the fermented grape juice would also help to minimise ongoing fermentation to stop it spoiling.

One study speculates that the Romans drank up to 250 micrograms of lead per day and excessive lead consumption/exposure can increase infertility and the risk of psychosis.

Some Roman texts even implicate this chronic lead poisoning in the mental deterioration of some slightly notorious Roman emperors; Nero & Caligula...

What You Should Watch

At Home With The Furys - Netflix

“What else do we have in life, except our dreams and passions” - Tyson Fury


This series shows the behind the scenes and home life of Tyson Fury, the self-titled Gypsy King and two-time world heavyweight boxing world champion. I’m not usually one for these reality TV type shows but this one was interesting.

Tyson Fury talks about the deterioration of his mental health upon announcing his retirement. He has a wife of 14 years and 6 children and millions of pounds in the bank.. and a boxing legacy to boot. He’s not satisfied.

He needs to box. It’s his purpose in life. At one point he even says “Without boxing, I am nothing. I’ll box til I’ve got brain damage”.. much to his wife’s disappointment.

I often think about purpose. If you gave me a million pounds tomorrow.. sure I’d go and relax on a beach for a couple of weeks but I don’t think I can do nothing for the rest of my life.

To stay mentally agile and find fulfilment in life I need a reason to get up out of bed in the morning. Currently, it’s surgery and social media - whether it’s operating on patients, seeing them in clinic or giving fun health information online…this stuff excites me and motivates me daily.

It took me a while to find my purpose. This may change with time. Maybe one day my purpose will be my future kids…how to be the best dad and husband I can (assuming I find a wife first!)

If what you’re doing right now doesn’t make you learn, inspire or motivate you on a regular basis, you might want to introspect and see what would.

Do Blue Light Blocking Glasses Work?

Blue light is part of the visible light spectrum and is a type of light emitted by artificial sources; phones, tablets, computers and tv screens (which we spend an increasing number of hours using…even at night)

You’ve probably heard by now that exposure to these devices late at night can worsen our sleep drive because the blue light emitted by them can delay the production of the sleep chemical melatonin.

To counter this, blue-light blocking glasses have been touted as a quick fix over the last couple of decades…

However recent review of 17 randomised controlled trials to find out whether blue light filters actually do anything found they make no difference to eye strain or sleep quality.

The researchers determined that the blue light received in our eyes from artificial sources is only 1/1000th of what we get from natural daylight and the lenses only block out around 10-25% of blue light.

However, this doesn’t mean you can crack on with copious amount of Netflix in your bed - there’s plenty of evidence that including non-sleep activities in your sleep environment is still detrimental to sleep hygiene…you just now have a damning reason to not waste money on blue light glasses and consider changing your habits instead!

Pregnancy Cravings…

Pickles, Chocolate flavoured pretzels and a juicy steak….

Pregnancy cravings can range from the ordinary to the bizarre - and we don’t really know why they happen.

One theory suggest rising hormones levels (oestrogen and progesterone) can increase the sensitivity of the taste buds to specific flavours like sweet and sour; meaning foods which are not that enjoyable become new favourites!

The rising hormone levels may also increase the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in the body’s reward system…so certain foods could allow a woman to experience even greater pleasure! Additionally the rise in progesterone is associated often with an increase in ghrelin, the hormone that causes feelings of hunger.

A more unusual and slightly more unscientific theory suggests that cravings may be a way for the body to signal a need for certain nutrients…for example a need for more iron could cause cravings for red meat or other iron rich foods. Maybe it’s your gut bugs asking you for foods!

The truth is, we don’t know the answer and we might never know the answer unless someone decides to give researchers a load of money to do a large scale investigation on this peculiar phenomenon!

Life Updates….

I never realised how much work goes into a podcast - its been around 3 months since I first launched my podcast “The Referral With Dr Karan” but it feels like a year!

Every episode requires some background reading on the guests, on the topic material…to ensure my facts are up to date and the science is spot on; and then the clips I need to edit for social media… not to mention the actual recording day itself!

However, despite the work… podcasting is something where science can flourish without being compressed into 60 second sound bites. The nuance can thrive and I can go into deep dives on different areas of health with some cool guests!

I’ve got two massive guests coming up in the next 2 weeks… one of whom is an ex-England women’s footballer!

In other news, the cover for my upcoming book has finally had its finishing touches and I’m looking forward to revealing this in due course!

On a final note, I’ve been playing around with LinkedIn more these days - I never used to give it the time of day but it truly is a one of a kind platform…totally different to YouTube, Tiktok and the rest. I’ve been invited to speak at 3 conferences in the last 2 weeks all from LinkedIn!