Category Archives: Press Articles

  • 20 Mar 2023
    6,316 views

    TO TOX OR NOT TO TOX … AND WHICH TOX IS RIGHT FOR ME?

    THE FULL LOWDOWN ON WRINKLE SMOOTHING TOXINS It has recently come to my attention that there is STILL a lot of misinformation regarding Botulinum Toxins being propagated by supposed “experts” in the field of aesthetics. Hence the decision to get the latest and up-to-date scientific-based evidence regarding what has been the most popular non-invasive cosmetic Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 27 Feb 2023
    9,152 views

    Excellence and innovation in health services for over 40 years

    Luzdoc, in Praia da Luz, has existed for the past 43 years under the leadership and guidance of our founder, Dr Maria Alice, who has overseen the constant growth of this company. They have always strived to diversify and introduce innovative, up-to-date medical services that would be beneficial to their client’s health. With this philosophy Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 03 Jan 2023
    5,840 views

    Resistência Antimicrobiana… e NATAL!

    Os antimicrobianos que incluem antibióticos, antivirais, antifúngicos e antiparasíticos são medicamentos usados para prevenir e tratar infecções em humanos, outros animais e plantas. A resistência antimicrobiana acontece quando os germes, tais como bactérias e fungos, desenvolvem a capacidade de vencer os medicamentos adequados para os destruir e, como não morrem, continuam a desenvolver-se. A presença Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 15 Dec 2022
    5,430 views

    IT IS CHRISTMAS… AGAIN

    It has arrived, once more. Unavoidable as always! Even without us noticing, it always comes, every year, every winter, impossible to stop it… but who would want to? To be realistic, even if it would be great, people and reality do not change just because it is Christmas. Christmas is traditionally seen as a magical Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 04 Dec 2022
    2,142 views

    Antimicrobial resistance

    Antimicrobials, including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics, are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them and, as the germs are not killed, they continue to grow. As a consequence, there Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 12 Oct 2022
    1,362 views

    COVID-19 – AND SO, LIFE GOES ON …

    It is now probably fair to say that most of the world is moving beyond the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic response. “The world has never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” said the head of the World Health Organisation. Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 07 Feb 2022
    5,559 views

    New Year, New “Things”???

    After 5 years from the first one, my second book was published… even with the Covid pandemic, the surge of the new variant Omicron, the thousands and thousands of people that are infected, in spite of this and in the middle of all this. The main interest of “writing” is to communicate, to inform, to Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 09 Nov 2021
    3,107 views

    More than Covid

    It is about time the World realised that life… and health… is more than Covid. And it depends on individual behavior. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world in such a strong unexpected way, that everything will have to be rethought. It has had a severe impact on economy, society, psychology, education and on general health, Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 22 Aug 2021
    7,275 views

    FREEDOM

    I have always believed that one person’s freedom ends where another’s begins. Freedom is not a one meaning word, there are several meanings but two are very important at this moment, political and social freedom: the freedom of the individual in relation to other people and to the state. Personal freedom actually ends where another’s safety begins. Safety Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 18 Aug 2021
    3,351 views

    SCIATICA – WHAT TO DO?

    Most of us have experienced some form of back pain, and everyone will, at least once in their lifetime. Keeping active and mobile will allow for such symptoms to resolve naturally, over the course of a few weeks or months. But what if they don’t? For example, sciatica is pain, or an altered sensation, starting Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 18 Jul 2021
    2,336 views

    ARE WE NEAR TO THE END???

    At this point, the pandemic is far from being over. Trying to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic ends, scientists look to the past, trying to see the future. We are approaching one and a half years of the World’s actual pandemic and people, all over the world, are asking themselves the same questions: How will Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 13 Jun 2021
    3,293 views

    BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

    BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic has forced Governments around the world to implement severe restrictions on human activity in order to control the spread of the virus. Even so, more than three million people have died. The pandemic has impacted almost every little corner of life, severely affecting global economies, Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 21 Mar 2021
    2,732 views

    Times have changed… but Luzdoc goes on!

    Times have changed… but Luzdoc goes on! By Business Focus Luzdoc have always recognised that the ‘art’ of medicine is forever changing. Since their inception they’ve constantly strive to deliver the best up-to-date medical care available, living up to the team philosophy, and thus helping clients to attain, through good general health, the best quality Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 11 Oct 2020
    5,886 views

    FLU VACCINATION in the times of Covid-19 Pandemic

    The prospect of a flu season during the coronavirus pandemic is frightening to health experts. What disease are you most concerned about catching this Autumn? Probably not the flu! More likely, COVID-19 is the worry on your mind. But the flu season is coming soon. In the northern and southern hemispheres, influenza outbreaks occur mainly Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 13 Aug 2020
    2,762 views

    After this, therefore because of this

    Most patients, confronted with an illness, ask the question, “Why?” “Why now?” Or… even more anxiously… “Why me?” Despite these questions, they may already have arrived at their own theory of causation, very often involving temporal sequence. When something especially beneficial or harmful occurs, we want to know what caused it. There is the idea that Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 16 Jun 2020
    5,528 views

    IMPORTANT NEWS – LUZDOC/MEDILAGOS

    IMPORTANT NEWS – LUZDOC/MEDILAGOS Aesthetic MedicineWE ARE BACK! These are extraordinary times we are living through, but we must adjust to a new “normal” with a new set of behavioral rules and health safety precautions. But we still want to help you to LOOK AND FEEL BETTER in the face of our current reality! With Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 06 Feb 2018
    5,156 views

    New Year

    New Year… New Health??? Every new year we set about making New Year’s resolutions. Usually they are related to our physical health, going on a diet, joining a gym or drinking less. But what about our mental health? Stop silly resolutions A lot of people make strict and prohibitive New Year’s plans to lose weight, Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 23 Oct 2017
    7,590 views

    Earwax!

    This is a very “popular” health issue amongst our clients and we generally have to reassure them that excess earwax is not as a result of poor hygiene!!! Also known as cerumen, it is a yellowish waxy material 60% of which is keratin, a protein from shed layers of cells from the skin lining. The Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 26 Sep 2017
    7,013 views

    The Digestive System: Pharynx and Oesophagus

    So you have chewed your food into a bolus – what next? The pharynx (throat), a funnel shaped tube connected to the back of the mouth, receives the bolus and is responsible for passing it onto the oesophagus. When we swallow various mechanisms come in to play! Food is squeezed into the pharynx by the Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 21 Aug 2017
    6,243 views

    The Truth About… Statins

    I have recently read, in a very well-known Portuguese newspaper, an article on the use of Statins, by a Portuguese Cardiology Professor, Dr. Fausto Pinto, who was the President of the European Society of Cardiology. Today, as I was thinking about a subject to write about, pop into my mind. As the Professor says… why Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 15 Jun 2017
    5,680 views

    The Art of Ageing (dis)gracefully

    INTRODUCTORY NOTE:  Aesthetic Medicine, including the relevant aspect of Skin Agin, is becoming, each day, more important as HEALTH is considered as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. All of us, at Luzdoc, would like to to congratulate Dr. Joanna Karamon for having recently Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 25 Apr 2017
    6,843 views

    The Denial… of Science!

    Do you believe in science? When you have people who do not know much about science and stand in denial of science that is a recipe for the dismantling of an informed society. Neil de Grasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator, said that when he grew up, people relied on science to Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 05 Mar 2017
    12,679 views

    The Importance of Occupational Health.

    Since Luzdoc came into being, more than 30 years ago, we have provided our clients with a personalised medical service of quality. In this context our Occupational Health services answer the needs and specificity of the business sector. Regardless of the obligatory nature of occupational health which our laws impose, the benefits of investing in Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 18 Apr 2014
    9,332 views

    Is Prevention better than Cure?

    Please do not start thinking that you have heard enough about this prevention “thing”. So many times, that you do not need to read anything else about it, you know it all. Right, but definitely wrong. Wrong because most people might have heard all about prevention but, knowing is not enough, one needs to put Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 18 Apr 2014
    9,728 views

    Blood Sucking

    BLOOD SUCKING, BLOOD LETTING …  AND THE QUEST FOR THE ELIXIR OF ETERNAL YOUTH Seems like all things vampire are all the rage at the moment; what with books and films like the “Twilight” series, TV programmes like “The Vampire Dairies” and “Trueblood” and now the latest catch phrase … the Vampire Facelift … but Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 18 Apr 2014
    10,559 views

    The 10 Commandements of a Family Doctor

    It took me 10 years to realize that I actually enjoyed being a GP, or rather I finally recognized myself as having become a true Family Doctor. It was not an easy, believe me, it took a long time to get over the “inferiority complex” of having all of your Medical School friends  getting their Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 18 Apr 2014
    15,381 views

    Man’s Best FrenemyMan’s Best Frenemy

    MAN’S BEST “FRENEMY”?? One of our members of staff just recently became the proud owner of a brand new puppy, courtesy of a now much loved other half. And the very next day, that same member of staff came in wailing and complaining about being cover in flea bites! Now we all know by now Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 18 Apr 2014
    9,469 views

    Travel Medicine

    There are many things that you can do to prepare yourself and your family for travel. By being as prepared as you can be, you are setting yourself up for a great getaway that will minimize any unpleasant circumstances that sometimes arise with travel. The very first thing you must do is RESEARCH. You want to Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    20,251 views

    Nutritional Questions and Answers for Optimal Health

    Nutritional Therapy is the application of nutrition and health science to enable individuals to maximise their health potential.  It can also help alleviate a wide range of conditions and assist in the recovery from many ill-health situations.  SOME questions which may be apparent but previously people have not felt inclined to enquire about not realising Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    23,719 views

    Not Enough Time!

    Rush, rush, rush, rushing trough life is everybody’s problem (well, almost everybody). Even those who are not working seem to find a way of packing their days with “things to do” creating their own stress timetable as if they cannot resist being contaminated by the “rush virus”. It is pretty rare to hear someone say they Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    21,190 views

    Architecture, Urbanism and Health

    The World Health Day was celebrated on the 7th of April 2010 This year the World Health Organization has chosen as its theme “The influence of architecture and urbanism in health”. It could not be more pertinent. The habitation space is a very important health factor, both to promote it or to destroy it. It Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    23,421 views

    Health Concerns of a High Protein

    Protein is digested by enzymes situated in the upper part of the digestive tract only.  If there is an overload to these enzymes, undigested protein molecules reach the colon causing dysbiosis (A state of altered bacterial flora in the gut).  This putrefactive state can contribute to degenerative diseases later in life furthermore the undigested molecules Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    22,578 views

    A Life with a Purpose

    A Meaningful Life Protects Your Brain… And your Health A new study finds that having a higher purpose in life could protect against Alzheimer’s disease. A sense of higher purpose in life was found to be the most important psychosocial factor associated not only with less cognitive impairment and better psychological well-being, but also in Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    23,018 views

    Dr. Maria Alice

    Dr Maria Alice, the Managing Director of Luzdoc, was invited by Dr João Bacalhau, President of the Administration of the Hospital Particular do Algarve Group, to become one of the tree Directors in the Clinical Direction of the Group, which she has accepted with pleasure, as it is a return to a “friendly family” that, Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    23,158 views

    Influenza Virus

    1. INFLUENZA VIRUS: “THE FACTS OF LIFE” Influenza, commonly called “the flu,” is a viral illness that infects the respiratory tract of many animals, birds, and humans. It is divided into three types, namely A, B, and C. Furthermore, the differences between two specific proteins in the capsular wall of the influenza A virus provide Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    21,503 views

    Aging

    When I’ll get older, losing my hair… many years from now! What does it mean to grow older? During childhood, adolescence and young adulthood the typical “ambience” inside the mind is one of immortality and aging means nothing… it is not “your own thing”. Even though it’s a lifelong process it is not until the Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    22,541 views

    Silent Night

    Silent Night… Holy Night… Santa Claus is coming… to town… December is here again and, with it, all the usual joys of Christmas… There is a lot of confusion and controversy in people’s minds over the meaning of Christmas, in our personal lives and in the world. Yet only a few, if any, are willing Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    28,607 views

    Patient or Client?

    What do you prefer?…To be a patient… or a client? The word patient originally meant ‘one who suffers’, who has the “patience” to suffer. A patient is anyone who is ill or injured and in need of receiving medical attention, care, or treatment from a doctor or other medically educated person. Wrongly, there is the habit of Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 29 Nov 2013
    23,547 views

    The Editorial – Travel Clinic

    With Dr Maria Alice Serrano e Silva at the helm since 1983, Luzdoc has continued to strive, on their clients’ behalf, to offer the best, most up to date services possible. One of these services is our new, dedicated Travel Medicine clinic, where we go through your whole itinerary, discuss relevant disease risks and advise Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 26 Nov 2013
    20,042 views

    Treatment vs Cure

    TREATMENT vs CURE I am quite sure that I am not the first, last or the only doctor around who often gets very frustrated when they hear their patients saying “…but I felt better so I stopped taking them!”. Successful treatment of disease with prescription medicines requires consistent use of the medicines as prescribed. Yet Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 19 Nov 2013
    10,175 views

    To Sue or not to Sue?

    TO SUE OR NOT TO SUE… the internet and liability A few days ago, a very interesting and rather thought-provoking article popped into my email inbox with the following title: “Chilling New Ways Patients are Suing Doctors”… hhhmm. The article was written in the context of the American  malpractice/liability landscape but it brought a couple Read More

    Continue Reading
  • 15 Oct 2013
    10,503 views

    There’s a Rumbling in my Tummy

    THERE’S A RUMBLING IN MY TUMMY!!! On the 15 May 2012, the British Dietetic Association issued new evidence-based guidelines for the dietary management of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) in adults which I found most interesting. So I thought that as we come into summer and a lot of our eating habits change to accommodate the Read More

    Continue Reading