The best estimates suggest between one and three in every 1,000 patients given a general anaesthetic wake up during their operations

I had no idea that this was so relatively common. I guess it’s actually quite scary if you think about it. But you have to wonder what exactly is meant by ‘best’ estimates – do they just mean ‘best’ in the context of the article (ie the scariest) figures?

Another thing which has surprised me this week is a review which claims fifty percent of smokers will have their lives shortened by smoking by between ten and sixteen years. I knew smoking was very bad for you, but even I didn’t realise it was quite that bad. Not that this changes my position on smoking bans.