Paediatric heart surgery suspended at Oxford hospital
March 4, 2010
The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has decided to suspend its cardiac services offered to children after 4 patients have died within the last few months.
This is not the first time this hospital has come under the spotlight however, as it has emerged that back in 2002 there had been a report criticising “many aspects of the service” regarding the Oxford hospital where there was concern of a high mortality rate of cardiac surgery patients.
A spokesperson for the hospital stated that an investigation is underway into the issues that have been raised during the temporary suspension of the paediatric cardiac surgery service they offer, with the most urgent patients waiting for surgery to be transferred to other hospitals.
Have you really got swine flu?
July 23, 2009
There has been so much written recently about Swine flu, everyone you talk to has a different take on the matter.
I do think there is a tad ‘scare-mongering’ flying about and panic setting in. Call me hard nose but there are a number of people I believe are taking advantage of a cough and sniff, they have it. It always makes me laugh when people reckon they have flu when really they are just run down with a little cold… man flu!
Seriously if you had flu you would never joke about it and you truly do know when you have it its like death warmed up… so I am sure it’s the same with swine flu!
So what are the swine flu symptoms then?
* sudden fever (a high body temperature of 38C/100.4F or above), and
* sudden cough.
* headache,
* tiredness,
* chills,
* aching muscles,
* limb or joint pain,
* diarrhoea or stomach upset,
* sore throat,
* runny nose,
* sneezing, and
* loss of appetite.
Just 5 minutes of physical activity needed for kids to beat obesity
March 24, 2009
A new study says, to help prevent children of being victims of childhood obesity, just engaging them in five minutes of sustained physical activities is needed. According to researchers from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, a small burst of physical exercise lasting 5 minutes or more may be better option than intermittent physical activity session lasting four minutes or even less.
Ian Janssen, lead author of the study, said:
“If two children accumulated 60 minutes of daily physical activity, the child who accumulated more activity in bouts is less likely to be obese than the one who accumulated more of their activity in a sporadic manner.”
According to the researchers’ findings, among those who moved the most throughout the day, 34 percent of the sporadically active were over weight or obese, compared with 25 per cent of the `bout` children.
Child psychologist Jocelyn Miller said:
“The benefits of daily activity increase the longer the activity is sustained. Since video games first arrived on the scene, many children don’t know how to play with toys, do pretend play or build things. If parents, teachers and policy makers believe kids are getting 60 minutes of continuous physical activity in a one-hour physical education class or activities like baseball practice, they are way off base. Children are often inactive during these periods.”
National Trust releases land for allotments
March 4, 2009
The National Trust in cooperation with Landshare has announced recently the release of land at many of their sites in the UK for people who want to grow their own fruit and vegetables. Landshare is a website set up by TV chef and personality Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall that enables people with land to offer it to people who want to grow their own veg. The idea started because of the lack of allotments in many of the UKs cities, and the growing trend for people to want to grow their own produce. The size of the land is equivalent to around 1000 allotment sites and will be available to individuals as well as communities.
The concept of ‘grow your own’ has taken mighty strides over the last few years with the governments push to eat 5 portions of fruit or vegetables a day. Many people have already converted part of their garden to growing veg and can tell the massive difference between the mass produced tasteless items the supermarkets sell and the taste of just picked home grown produce.
One of the key elements of growing your own is being able to do it on a budget so many things can be bought cheaply or obtained for free using promotional merchandise. Whatever the case, this form of gardening is growing in popularity and has many followers.
Replace your ` Fag` with E-cigarette Ruyan V8
February 27, 2009
Ruyan V8, with slim white body and glowing amber tip, emitting what appears like curlicues of white smoke. As a healthier alternative to smoking, can easily pass as a regular cigarette ‘The E-cigarette’ produces a nicotine infused mist absorbed directly into the lungs, has attracted attention in China, the US and around the world.
At the British film awards and at an international trade show, it was marked as a healthier alternative to smoking and a potential way to kick the habit; the smokeless smokes have been distributed in swag bags. The makers claim that because no burning is involved, there’s no hazardous cocktail of cancer causing chemicals and gases like those produced by a regular cigarette, and as there isn’t any secondhand smoke, they can be used in places where cigarettes are banned.
However, health authorities are questioning those claims. The WHO, in September had issued a statement warning that there was no evidence to back up contentions that e-cigarettes are a safe substitute for smoking or a way to help smokers quit.
“There is no sufficient evidence that (they) are safe products for human consumption.”
Timothy O’Leary, a communication officer at the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative in Geneva, said this week.
Ruyan’s V8 costs about 240 and includes batteries and 20 cartridges of nicotine solution, roughly the same number of puffs as 20 packs of tobacco cigarettes.
GPs in England are mostly failing to help those with eating disorders
February 24, 2009
GPs in England are mostly failing to help those with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, a new report cautions. The charity Beat found just about 15% of patients believed their GP really understood their disorders, or knew how to help them.
Some patients suspected their doctor did not treat their problems seriously enough. A leading GP stated doctors were reasonably skilled at treating different eating disorders, but patients took a long time on their part to admit their problems.
The report comes after latest data showed a roughly 80% rise in the number of young girls in England being hospitalised with anorexia over the last decade. Eating disorders affect over 1.1 million people in the UK, according to an estimate.
The report based on a survey involving 1,500 people suffering from eating disorders came across respondents who thought their GP lacked comprehensive knowledge about various treatments. It praised broad national guidelines on treatment, but added implementation levels varied across the country. The report concluded the odds were largely stacked against patients. The report also highlights examples of those treated poorly by their GP.
The eating disorders charity, Beat, chief executive Susan Ringwood appreciated Gordon Brown, who has already acknowledged that action is needed to improve diagnosis as well as treatment of eating disorders.
Here is good news for cancer patients; eat more chips
February 6, 2009
The ‘chips’, considered as a junk food and shunned for a long time, can actually help battling cancer, according to a study. This is because the humble chips contain rich quantities of vitamin C, which is considered as a cancer fighting ingredient. It is perceived the vitamin tackles dangerous free radicals, which are associated with the dreaded disease growth.
A portion of a chips contains five times more vitamin C than a bunch of grapes. So by eating chips, people may keep cancer at bay. Even those already affected by cancer could even shrink the size of their tumours with a vitamin C-rich, deep-fried potato diet, the researchers observed.
In nutritionist Fiona Hunter’s words,
“Chips have vitamin C, a nutrient believed to help protect against certain types of cancer. People who eat food rich in vitamin C are much less likely to suffer from cancer of the oesophagus, stomach cancer and breast cancer.”
Free radicals are highly considered as unstable molecules that can cause damage within the body and are also linked to several different kinds of cancer.
Hunter added:
“Apart from vitamin C, chips also have a host of other nutrients including vitamin B1 and B6, fibre and iron. There’s no such thing as a bad food. Potatoes help control blood pressure and have dietary fibre, which is good for your bowels, when you think of potatoes, you just think about carbohydrates.”
A cat with acute vision problem to don contact lens
December 20, 2008
Ernest, a cat with acute vision problem, is perhaps be the first of its kind to don contact lens.
The 15-year old cat, Ernest, has been staying at an animal shelter for 13 years. The white cat was suffering from entropion, which meant his lids turned inwards and scratched his eyeball. However, Ernest had his sight restored by contact lenses.
As the cat was too old to risk a general anesthetic, vets suggested the innovative solution. The staff at the animal centre said they had never heard of a cat wearing lenses before.
Ernest will continue to live at the animal shelter. He is a permanent and popular fixture of the animal centre’s reception desk. Shelter’s branch administrator Less Burrows said:
“He is much more comfortable. Previously his eyes were shut, now they are open. We always used Ernest to test new dogs brought into us to see if they were scared of cats because he was never fazed. He is much more wary of the dogs now because he can actually see them.”
Long live Ernest; do enjoy a healthy life and your renewed vision!
‘Gila’ comes to the rescue of diabetic patients.
December 17, 2008
Type 2 diabetes is aided by medicines which include lizard spit. Most of the diabetic patients lead anxious and difficult lives due to a prolonged and unending cycle of ill health. As the pancreas produces very little quantity or sometimes no insulin, the hormone that converts glucose to energy.
To top it, diabetic drugs are usually responsible for the patients to put on that extra weight adding the risk of high BP, heart problems and even strokes. Thus it is very improtant that the drugs used for diabetes treatment function in such a way that besides controlling the sugar level, the drug must reduce weight.
Byetta, the new inject able drug according to the experts, is the right answer. It’s made from the saliva of the Gila monster, a venomous lizard usually found in Southwest America. The new wander drug approved by FDA is suitable only for type 2 diabetics.
Byetta works in three ways: it signals the body to make correct amount of insulin post meal; prevents the liver from making extra glucose; it controls the appetite and slows the rate of glucose leaving the stomach.
To prevent heart attack, avoid bad boss
November 28, 2008
It is found that working under an incompetent and inconsiderate boss not only leads to bad working days but it may result in health complications.
Thee study published in Occupational and Environment Medicine revealed that researchers found definite connection between heart disease- heart attacks- and working under a poor leader ship.
BBC reported:
“The study was conducted by researchers from the Karonilska Institute and Stockholm University tracking the heart health of the male employees. They found 74 cases of cases of fatal and non fatal heart attack or acute angina, or death from chaemic heart disease”
According to the researchers, feeling of under valuation normally leads to frustration and stress. This in turn results in unhealthy behaviours and even smoking and drinking which are known factors which cumulate into heart disease.
Tracking the heart attacks among the 3000 employed men in the age group 19 to 70, working in the Stockholm area over a period of nearly a decade, the risk went up the longer employee worked in the same company.
Hence if you are unfortunate enough to work under a incompetent boss, then go for another alternate job as early as you can to avoid heart disease risk.
