Another year nearly over and once again the cold and flu season is well and truly on us. Remember to get plenty of vitamins and minerals at this time by eating fresh fruit and vegetables, extra vitamin C and zinc can only help. Eating garlic and taking Echinacea for their anti-viral properties can stave off the odd viral illness.

If one or other of the viral illnesses doing the rounds does take hold, do your best to nurse yourself through it with the usual Aspirin, paracetamol and other over-the-counter remedies.

Usually, your doctor won't have a lot more to offer apart from sympathy with any luck. One of the most important factors in recovery is a positive mindset: remember it won't last long, try to keep going within reason and let your body tell you how much sleep and rest it needs.

Many of you smokers are harder hit than non-smokers at this time of year, and not just financially.

New year is coming up and there's never been a better time to quit with various stop smoking clinics available and many prescription items to help.

- To the man who wrote in after his wife suffered a severe stroke and required feeding through a PEG tube in the stomach, please accept my deepest sympathy. I could really sense your anguish and my feeling is that there are few if any things harder to go through in life than the sudden catastrophic disabilities that a major stroke can cause.

In terms of the feeding method I'm afraid there isn't a way of feeding people through the throat as a result of all the clockwork and plumbing there.

These areas have been tried but problems occurred, particularly with infections, and the hole in the stomach wall has proved by far the best way.

I got the sense that you didn't feel you had received enough information from the doctors treating your wife.

This is, sadly, all too common these days but I urge people, where possible and within reason, to stand up for themselves and their rights and if something isn't clear to keep asking until you get the answers you need.

On the whole doctors don't mind this but being very busy people they will often strive to keep things brief.

I know it's hard to be strong when a loved one is ill and I wish you and your wife all the very best.

- I have received quite a few letters from people suffering from restless legs, pins and needles and other tingling sensations which have not been found to be caused by anything in particular. I had a very interesting patient recently who was experiencing just such symptoms down the whole side of her body.

Like many of you she was worried about multiple sclerosis. After a while chatting (and a normal examination) it turned out that she was under a lot of stress at home.

Blood tests were all normal and, after getting it off her chest, things started to settle and after several weeks the tingling had completely gone away.

This is very common but I can't explain why stress or worry causes pins and needles or tingling sensations.

Other things that may be involved are vitamin deficiencies from a poor diet, too much caffeine, sugar or nicotine, anaemia or kidney problems. Also, people who drink too much alcohol can often suffer these troublesome symptoms.

Finally, I hope you all have a happy and healthy festive season with all the usual over-indulgence, particularly in laughter and happiness.

See you again in the new year.