Gill Townson

You are replaceable at work, but you are NOT replaceable at home. A beautiful and poignant reflection that applies to all clinicians.

@PathologyEdin @David_J_Adams @BBCNews @EarlhamInst Excited that our work has been highlighted in BBC Breakfast this morning. Huge thanks to all the people with Crohn’s disease scarring (fibrosis) who contributed to the work and the multidisciplinary research team. Join us @BritSocGastro Tuesday 23rd June Crohn’s disease fibrosis

Two videos that have absolutely broken me as a Liverpool fan 😭💔 #Salah #Klopp

We are an over-medicated country. The number of prescriptions we give out has increased by 80% over the past 20 years. That would be amazing news if all of these extra prescriptions were working and helping people improve the quality of their lives. But, in many cases, they are not. 80-90% of what we see as doctors is in some way related to our collective modern lifestyles. That is NOT putting blame on people. I understand that modern life is tough and many people find it hard to do the things that they would ideally do to promote good health and wellbeing. However, that does not mean that more pills is the answer. We will not medicate our way out of the current healthcare crisis. There is another way and tonight on @Channel4 at 8pm, I showcase part of the solution to the British public. I look at 3 chronic conditions that are costing the NHS a fortune: type 2 diabetes, depression & chronic pain, and show examples of people who have completely healed and reversed their conditions WITHOUT the use of medication and by making changes to their lifestyle. The term ‘lifestyle’ is possibly not ideal here. Many people take that to only mean eating healthily and exercising. And whilst food choices and movement are part of the picture, they are not the entirety of it. When I say 'lifestyle', yes I mean things like food and movement, but also things like sleep, stress, fasting, breathing techniques to regulate one’s nervous system, mindset shifts & finding purpose in your daily life. This topic seems to trigger a lot of people, so let me try and make a few things clear. When I say we are overmedicated, it does NOT mean that drugs have no use. Clearly they do. Modern medicine is fantastic at certain things. But it is not good at everything. In my view, where possible, we should not be using mediation as first line treatment for problems that are driven by the way we are living our lives. Of course, informed consent & patient choice is essential here. Secondly, this does not mean that poverty and socio-economic status do not play a role in health. Some people are absolutely going to find making changes more difficult because of their life situation. I am fully aware of the research showing the relationship between health outcomes and socio-economic status. However, we should NEVER assume that people cannot make changes because of their life circumstances. For 7 years, I worked in a practice in Oldham where the vast majority of patients were of low socio-economic status. They had difficult lives and were not earning much money. Despite that, I was still able to help many patients there reverse their type 2 diabetes and eliminate their depression and anxiety without using medication. It is absolutely possible and the narrative that only people living middle class lives can benefit from this approach is condescending and wrong. Never assume what changes a person is willing to make when they are treated like an equal human and given the right advice for them in a compassionate and respectful way. Will everyone be able to make those changes? Of course not. But a lot of people will. Yes, we should be advocating for social change that can improve the lives for all. And, at the same time, we can also teach people the simple, free things they can do which will help them with their health. These things are not mutually exclusive and can co-exist together. My new TV documentary is called ‘Live Well With The Drug Free Doctor’ and airs tonight on @Channel4 at 8pm. If you can’t watch live, you can go to Channel 4 On Demand and watch on catch up. What do you think? Are you planning on watching the show tonight? Let me know your thoughts below!

@henconcepts Normally yes, but would you really bring back a 100 yr old for colonoscopy with bowel prep and stop their antithrombotics, to take off a tiny polyp? Often we overestimate the risk of harm from the polyps and underestimate the risk of the procedure!

@slowposhkee Yes, but small ones are generally slow growing. Benefit of polypectomy has to be outweighed with life-expectancy, co-morbidities and risk of therapy (especially in patients on antithrombotics). gut.bmj.com/content/early/…

This is just beautiful 😍😮‍💨

We settle because the fear of being alone is greater than the discomfort of being with the wrong person We stay because starting over feels harder than pretending we’re happy We chase people who don’t want us, just to prove we’re worth wanting We hold on because walking away feels like failure, even when staying hurts We accept the bare minimum because we’re scared nothing better is coming We keep hoping they’ll change, because admitting they won’t is too painful.

Something I don't talk about that much...my health. With thanks to The Guardian - theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…

@GordonMoranIBD Me too ☺️

I am undertaking a survey to measure the impact of the new BSG IBD guidelines. 5 mins of your time- We need your help. Please DM me if you are happy to help.

Amy Dowden has been honoured with an MBE for her work as an advocate and ambassador for Crohn’s & Colitis UK. Read more: dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/arti… #Crohns #Colitis #CrohnsAndColitisuUk #InflammatoryBowelDisease #ibd #MBE

@cultbeauty No reply as yet @cultbeauty

@TOWG67 Hi there👋 We're so sorry to hear this and we would like to get this resolved for you! Please send us a private message via FB or IG with your order information and we will get back to you as soon as we can? Thank you✨- Macey, CB x

#poor customer service @cultbeauty - shame on you making your problem of not packing 3/4 of a large order (wouldn’t have fitted into the wet tiny box that arrived) & then blaming either the courier (Evri - no words) or me for your incompetence.

@cultbeauty Done ✅ - on IG thx 🙏

Part 2 #poor customer service @cultbeauty & then the bot (no actual human involved) makes me fill in copious forms to prove I haven’t hidden them & the forms aren’t computer friendly formatted & so can’t return them to you - 48 hours of my life I won’t get back, well done 👏

"If you really want to deliver best practice for each individual patient, you may need to get off your soapbox and become curious about why so many patients end up not swallowing your guidelines and advice" @johnlauner bmj.com/content/387/bm…

Trent 😮‍💨 🎯 x.com/ballerstopkbjv…

@MoeOophysician Well done Moe 👏🙌

I have been promoted to Chair of Medical Education and Inclusive Practice at the University of Leeds, after passing the rigorous academic assessment. That made me the first Chair of Inclusive Practice. In Leeds, we are committed to being an inclusive, global academic community.

Thank heavens 😉 thetimes.com/comment/column…

Reflections after a career in medicine - brings much food for thought 🥲