Defenders of imperial units sometimes claim that using units from different systems simply contributes to the richness of our language and culture. People use whichever units are appropriate to the context (they argue).
Continue reading “What’s wrong with two systems?”
Category: Health
Units of alcohol – rational metric sizes would solve the problem
Today’s TV news carried a leading story that units of alcohol will be appearing on all bottles, cans cartons etc of alcoholic drinks. People were asked in the street what they thought of this move. Several people asked, what’s a unit?
Continue reading “Units of alcohol – rational metric sizes would solve the problem”
Blood transconfusion
The National Blood Service are understandably concerned that not enough people are coming forward to donate blood. There are, no doubt, a variety of reasons why people are inhibitied from doing so, e.g. can’t spare the time, nervousness about the procedure etc.
I wonder though whether the information about the amount of blood taken at each session may be a factor.
(Article by Phil Hall)
“Farewell” to the Calorie?
Tesco is phasing out ‘kcal’ from the nutrition information on food products. Only ‘kJ’ will be used. (Information provided by Philip Bladon, and edited by Derek Pollard). Continue reading ““Farewell” to the Calorie?”
“Units” of alcohol
How should the alcohol content of drinks be measured? – asks M-V
The unit of alcohol is defined as 10 ml of pure alcohol and is unique to the UK (and possibly Eire). Other EU countries have developed their own “units of alcohol”, and Wikipedia lists seven or eight different units for different countries.
Should there be a standard “unit of alcohol” (defined as one centilitre which is the UK definition) or should each country continue to define its own unit of alcohol. If so, who should take the lead in making this definition – the EU, WHO, UN?
NHS use of kilograms
Although the NHS uses grams and kilograms, the media often dumb down the information, and politicians do nothing to help. [article by Roz Denny]
Last week I went to see the GP for my elderly father and she was pleasantly surprised when discussing his weight that she didn’t have to “translate” it for me from kg to stones. I am also of the generation of women who gave birth 28 years ago in an NHS hospital and was handed my little bundle at 3.1kg, no conversions. Thereafter my baby’s weights were entered in her clinic record book in kg, albeit with lbs in brackets. Since those heady days we’ve seemed to have gone backwards. Even to the extent that the media think all UK babies are weighed in lbs at birth particularly the babies of prominent politicians – Blair, Brown and Cameron.
Metric Views 