It's creeping towards Autumn again. Each year about this time patients arrive to have their ears syringed. One day last week I performed this service (I always say the most useful thing I do since everyone says, after syringing, "Oh! That's better! Thanks!) five times in one day. This highlights the difference between seasonally influenced problems and those influenced on a daily basis by the weather. Why this time of year, and Springtime, cause ears to bother people, is a mystery. On a sad note, my dog Maggie died. We miss her. John Bart

Mediclim helps prevent migraine attacks.

I'd like your help if you are an expert SEO (search engine optimiser) or know someone who is. We need to boost our status on the net and I have learnt that the words we use in our text makes a difference. The question is, are these words at the head of this blog the right ones?

To say the last year and a quarter has been exciting is an understatement... for the following reasons (and not necessarily in order of importance):

The other day I got an excited phone call from a friend.

"You're on the Sunday Times/ Times website!" he said. "And what a mention!"

"What... do you mean the Times of London?"

we've now sent out ONE MILLION HEALTH FORECASTS...

From the feedback we get we know we help. Tx everyone for your help in getting the message out.

john bart.

This guest blog is submitted by Valery Fortie, the national awareness coordinator of Mediterraneanbook.com, a non commercial association based in Italy.

This guest blog is submitted by Elizabeth Snell, B.Sc., RD, Consulting Dietitian, Toronto.

If you want to reduce your food intake, eat more slowly and serve smaller portions of food. Many people overeat simply because they eat too quickly. There is approximately 20 minutes from the time food is consumed until the appetite sensors in the body start to signal that the stomach is full. The following strategies may assist you in eating slowly:

I welcome the opportunity to write a blog on the subject of asthma.

I have been a consultant lung specialist for 40 years and over that period of time have done considerable research into various aspects of lung disease including asthma. I have also been interested in reading and collecting books, ideas and paraphanelia that have to do with asthma management in different countries and phases of history.

The answer to this question is that we don't really know. However we have clues. We were contacted by a research worker in Australia. He is an orthodontist and a biochemist, which is, of itself, an interesting combination. He told us that he had been tracking levels of inflammatory proteins in volunteers as weather patterns moved across Melbourne and the surrounding areas.

He said he had figures which showed consistent variations in these protein levels with specific weather patterns.

We often get asked if we're able to link other ailments to the Mediclim Index and hence to weather changes, and, if we can, why don't we?

The answer is that we have no doubt that other health problems have a weather component amongst their triggers but, as yet, there is no available, statistical proof. And we take pains to offer only well founded information to our subscribers.