The best painkiller of all Beecher saw that it is not necessarily the magnitude of the injury that was important in how a person experiences pain, but the circumstances in which it occurred. He wrote his findings up in a research paper and it was published shortly after he returned home. For a brief period, it caused a stir. Other doctors came forward to say that they had noticed similar things. It helped to spark theories about how pain is perceived and moderated by the mind. However, these theories have fallen from fashion. Indeed, the only reason I know about Beecher's hypothesis is because a wily old anaesthetist told me it when I was at medical school, while lamenting how, because of advances in the range and efficacy of drugs, this aspect of pain management had been forgotten. It is now nothing more than a historical footnote in textbooks. But research published last week adds further weight to Beecher's theories about the importance of the mind in the perception of pain and, I hope, will reignite an interest from researchers and clinicians. The study by neuroscientists at Ohio State University found in a laboratory trial that mice that had undergone neurosurgery and then had other mice around as companions, recovered more quickly than mice left to recover alone. The mice with a '"companion"" suffered less nerve-related pain and inflammation. What's interesting is that this study clearly demonstrates a direct physiological effect - a reduction in the period the mice experienced inflammation - resulting from simply a change in social circumstances (in this case, having a companion.) The researchers have suggested that this could have important implications for how we manage pain, particularly neuropathic pain, which is associated with nerve injury and affects about 6 per cent of us. In recent years, we doctors have been far too happy simply to dish out pills without thinking more about the wider issues at play in the experience of pain. It is far easier to prescribe painkillers, and see the satisfied patient leave the surgery clutching the prescription, than explore what might be happening to them socially and emotionally, and how this influences their experience of pain or discomfort. I often think that this is why complementary medicine is so popular with patients with chronic pain, especially those for whom conventional medicine has failed to manage their symptoms. It's not just simply the fact that people believe it's going to work and so it does - the placebo effect - it is also that the practitioner will sit down to talk to the patient in depth about their life. This interaction, I am convinced, helps as much as anything else. The problem with painkillers is that they are not always effective in the long term and have a multitude of side-effects, especially in higher doses. But by providing emotional support, pain might be better managed than by simply upping the painkillers. Beecher recognised long ago that what is going on around the patient is as important to them as what's going on inside. Why so many men have so little idea about the reality of abortion I have had a surprising number of emails following my recent column on the current upper limit for abortion. What surprised me was that all asked the same question, and all my correspondents were men. I had casually mentioned that one in three British women has had a termination by the age of 45. Those emailing did not believe the statistic could be that high. Several asked if it had been a typing error and whether I had meant to write one in 300. One man even suggested the number would be nearer to one in 3,000. The statistic is correct. I had checked it before writing. It is confirmed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and supported by research compiled from abortion statistics. It is also consistent with other industrialised countries. Why did so many men find it astonishing? As the debate around abortion rumbles on, women have complained, understandably, that so many men feel at liberty to give their opinion while knowing so little about the realities of terminations. I think this is part of the problem: because of the taboo associated with termination, few women feel emboldened to admit publicly that they have had one. As a result, men don't realise how common it is and why it is such an emotive subject for so many women. For those who have undergone an abortion, this is not an abstract, theoretical debate but a reality in their lives in a way it simply isn't for men. But can men be blamed for not appreciating how common terminations are if women will not talk to them about it? Our hopes are receding James Nesbitt, Wayne Rooney, Rob Brydon, Gordon Ramsay and Louis Walsh: all are reported to have undergone hair transplants. Now Calum Best is the latest "celebrity" to admit that he has taken the plunge. Personally, I just don't get it. Lots of women find bald men very attractive. Besides, the painful procedure costs tens of thousands of pounds, takes hours and you risk ending up with hair that looks more suited to a Lego model. Whatever happened to going bald gracefully? Max Pemberton's latest book, 'The Doctor Will See You Now" is published by Hodder. To order a copy, call Telegraph Books on 0844 871 1515