Alcohol dependence in public policy: towards its (re)inclusion

Public policy on alcohol in the UK relies on health promotion campaigns that encourage individuals who misuse alcohol to make healthier choices about their drinking. Individuals with alcohol-dependence syndrome have an impaired capacity to choose health. As a result, individuals with the worst alcohol misuse problems lie largely outside the reach of choice-based policy. However, such policy has been widely criticized and efforts to reform it are underway. This paper argues that the British Medical Association’s recent attempt to improve policy on alcohol in the UK by introducing strategies which have been shown to control drinking within populations still gives insufficient attention to alcohol dependence. This is because it fails accurately and consistently to characterize alcohol dependence and gives insufficient attention to the social challenges it presents

How to test for the red reflex in a child

Examination of pupil reflections, also known as the red reflex text, can reveal problems in the cornea, lens and sometimes the vitreous, and is particularly useful in young children. These photographs show what can occur in the case of certain major eye conditions, the most serious of which is retinoblastoma