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Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Emotional eating 'learned by children not inherited'

June 20, 2018 2 Comments

Emotional eating 'learned by children not inherited'




Children who eat more or less when stressed or upset have learned the behaviour rather than inherited it, a study suggests.
A study by University College London found home environment was the main cause of emotional eating.
And this was due to parental behaviours including giving upset children their favourite food to soothe them.
But eating-disorder charity Beat says parents shouldn't be blamed for children's eating issues.
Emotional eating "indicates an unhealthy relationship to food", said senior lead researcher Dr Clare Llewellyn.
"Rather than finding more positive strategies to regulate their emotions, they're using food," she said.
"A tendency to want to eat more in response to negative emotions could be a risk factor for the development of obesity. And emotional over- and under-eating could be potentially important in the development of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or binge-eating disorder.
"Understanding how these tendencies develop is crucial, because it helps researchers to give advice about how to prevent or change them, and where to focus future research."

Identical and non-identical twins

The study, which is published in Pediatric Obesity journal, looked at 398 four-year-old British twins from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS).
Half of the twins came from families with obese parents, putting them more at risk of becoming obese themselves, and half from parents with a healthy weight.
Parents reported on their children's eating traits and tendency to emotionally eat - answering questions such as whether the child wanted to eat more when irritable or less when sad.
They compared the questionnaire data between identical and non-identical twins along with their rates of emotional eating and found very little difference between the twins whether they were identical or not - suggesting environment had more of an influence than genes.
Previous studies have indicated that other eating behaviours in early childhood are strongly influenced by genes.
They include:
  • speed of eating
  • how soon you feel full
  • wanting to eat just for pleasure
The researchers said their new work was "significant" because it added weight to the results of a bigger study they had carried out last year with a totally different twin sample.
"The trait is starting to develop in the important formative pre-school years. And it indicates there is scope for giving parents more directed advice about sorts of strategies they use to help their children when they're upset during the very important early years when behaviours start to develop," said Dr Llewellyn.

The researchers said emotional eating was an "enduring trait" that could continue through your life.
And while it was not inherited via a gene, the pattern of using food to soothe children, as a reward or to control behaviour could be passed down from one generation to another.
"The advice to parents would be try not to use food to soothe your child. When they're upset, try to use other more positive strategies," said Dr Llewellyn.
"It depends on the age of the child - but just sitting down and talking to them openly about how they're feeling and, with young children, giving them a cuddle."
"We will continue to research the home-environmental factors that might play a role in emotional eating, such as certain parental feeding practices or stress around the dinner table," said Moritz Herle, who co-led the research.
But Beat said it was important parents were not blamed for children's eating issues.
"Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses and never have one sole cause," the charity said.
"Previous research shows that some people's genetic make-up makes them more vulnerable to developing an eating disorder. And for these people, stress or emotional upset may act as a trigger.
"It is important to remember that families often provide vital support for eating disorder sufferers. And this research should not prompt anyone to blame parents. Families need to be empowered to help their loved ones and given information about eating disorders and sources of support."
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Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Public Health Agency recalls 150 women for cancer test

June 19, 2018 1 Comments

Public Health Agency recalls 150 women for cancer test




One hundred and fifty women in Northern Ireland are being recalled to have their cervical smear test redone.
It follows the discovery that the procedure had not been carried out properly.
The women belong to two different GP surgeries in Newtownabbey and Belfast.
The problem emerged about six weeks ago when the authorities were informed that a health care worker had not carried out the procedure properly.
The surgeries involved are Dr McKenna's practice in Thames Street, Belfast, and Abbott's Cross practice in Newtownabbey.

Negative tests

The health care worker had worked in both practices.
A cervical smear test involves some cells being taken from a woman's cervix or the opening of her womb. It's not a test for cancer, rather a test to see if the cells are abnormal which may lead to cancer.
It is understood that all these women's results came back negative but the Public Health Agency (PHA) is asking the women to have the tests redone to ensure the results are accurate.
The BBC understands that while a majority of the cases are within the past 18 months some date back three years.
According to the PHA those affected should have received a letter by post this morning.

130,000 samples

The women are asked to call their surgery to arrange for a smear test appointment.
The health body said that, to put the figure of 150 in context, over 130,000 cervical screening samples are taken each year across Northern Ireland.
Dr Tracy Owen, of the PHA, said: "We understand that the women who are receiving these letters may be anxious, but we would like to reassure them that this is a precautionary measure and would urge them to accept the invitation for a repeat test."
A spokesperson for the two GP practices said they wanted to reassure women that "patients who haven't received a letter from us have no reason to be concerned and do not need to arrange a repeat test".
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Over 40s health check to include dementia advice

June 19, 2018 2 Comments

Over 40s health check to include dementia advice


People over 40 in England will be given advice on dementia as part of their free NHS health check.
Guidance on how to reduce the risk of dementia will be given to patients at GP surgeries and through community health programmes.
Public Health England (PHE) said up to one-third of dementia cases could be improved through lifestyle choices.
But its says 28% of people have no awareness of risk factors and only 2% know what they can do to reduce them.
The planned roll-out follows a small pilot conducted by PHE, with the help of Alzheimer's Research UK and the Alzheimer's Society, which led to both charities calling for it to become mandatory.
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What is the NHS England over 40s health check?

  • Recommended every five years for those aged 40 to 74
  • Tests include height, weight, blood, and blood pressure
  • Takes 20 to 30 minutes
Read more (NHS)
Presentational grey line
The current health check in England focuses on reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
But the public body says the advice for dementia is much the same, adding: "What's good for the heart is good for the brain."
Maintaining a social life, keeping mentally and physically active, and stopping smoking are all recommended by healthcare professionals as ways of reducing the risk.
  • Dementia risk linked to some medicines
  • The foods that might help with dementia
  • The people with dementia staging their debut plays
More than 14 million people - 91% of those eligible - have been offered an NHS health check over the past five years, but fewer than 50% - or seven million - have had one.
Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE, said the check "could add years to your life".
Minister for Public Health, Steve Brine, added: "Early detection and prevention are vital to the health of our nation and our programmes in this area are among the most ambitious in the world.
"Our aim is to keep everyone as healthy as possible, for as long as possible."

Dementia schemes around the UK

A survey by British Social Attitudes showed 52% of adults in the UK named dementia as one of their top three health worries.
The NHS in Wales does not offer the checks, but has a separate scheme called "add to your life" - which targets groups at risk of disease, rather than by age.
It did launch a new dementia strategy earlier this year, however, focusing on early diagnosis at GP level.
Scotland also has a national dementia strategy focusing on early diagnosis and offering all patients diagnosed with the condition a minimum of a year of "high-quality post-diagnostic support."
PHE estimates more than 850,000 people are living with dementia across the UK.
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US health tech company announces 50 new jobs in Belfast

June 19, 2018 1 Comments

US health tech company announces 50 new jobs in Belfast

Fifty jobs have been created in Belfast by a US healthcare company.
Headquartered in New York, HHAeXchange makes software that connects those who provide carers with those who pay for them.
It has opened a software development centre in Belfast to deal with increasing global demand.
Invest NI has offered £400,000 in support towards the jobs and said they would contribute more than £2m a year in wages to the NI economy.
HHAeXchange chief executive Greg Strobel said: "A key factor in choosing to open an office in Northern Ireland was the level of software knowledge and skilled talent available here, in addition to the location's ease of travel from New York City."
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Wednesday, June 13, 2018

What is an NHS Health Check?

June 13, 2018 1 Comments




What is an NHS Health Check?




The NHS Health Check is a free check-up of your overall health. It can tell you whether you're at higher risk of getting certain health problems, such as:
  • heart disease
  • diabetes
  • kidney disease
  • stroke
  • If you're over 65, you will also be told the signs and symptoms of dementia to look out for.
  • If you're aged 40-74 and you haven't had a stroke, or you don't already have heart disease, diabetes or kidney disease, you should have an NHS Health Check every five years. 

  • Any follow-up tests or appointments are also free of charge.

  • How will the NHS Health Check help me?

  • As well as measuring your risk of developing these health problems, an NHS Health Check gives you advice on how to prevent them.
  • The risk level varies from person to person, but everyone is at risk of developing heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and some types of dementia.

  • Your NHS Health Check can detect potential health problems before they do real damage.
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    Unfit in middle age: Are you doomed?

    June 13, 2018 1 Comments

    Unfit in middle age: Are you doomed?








    Are you someone in middle age who keeps putting off that planned health kick for another day?
    If so, a couple of new studies may give you a sense of urgency.
    One paper found that elevated blood pressure in middle age increases the risk of dementia, while another says being frail at this time raises your chances of an early death.
    So how bad is a lack of fitness in mid-life and is it condemning you to bad health in the future?

    What's the dementia risk?

    A study published in the European Heart Journal found those who were aged 50 with a systolic blood pressure of 130mmHg or above were nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to develop dementia than those with ideal blood pressure.
    It's noteworthy that this is below the level of blood pressure considered to be high in the UK (140mmHg).
    Researchers suggested a possible explanation for the link was that raised blood pressure could cause damage from "silent" or mini-strokes which can easily go un-noticed.
    It's worth pointing out that the study of 8,639 people shows a link between elevated blood pressure at 50 and dementia but cannot prove cause and effect.
    Researchers found no such association for people who were aged 60 or 70.
    And any increase in risk needs to be seen in the context of your overall likelihood of getting dementia at some point in your life.
    It is estimated that the risk of getting Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, is one in 10 for men and one in five for women from the age of 45.
    Nevertheless, Alzheimer's Research UK said it added to the evidence of a link between high blood pressure and dementia.
    • How do I keep my brain young?
    • Middle-aged 'can reverse heart risk'
    • 'Middle age health crisis' warning

    What about frailty?

    Frailty is known to be a health risk to people in later life because, among other things, it increases the likelihood of falls.
    But a new paper, which examined data from 493,737 people involved in the UK Biobank study, found that being frail earlier in life also appeared to be a predictor of ill health and early death.
    The study, published in the Lancet Public Health journal, defined frailty as anyone who had at least three of the following health problems:
    • Weight loss
    • Exhaustion
    • Weak grip strength
    • Low physical activity
    • Slow walking pace
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    The UK health tax hurting foreign nurses

    June 13, 2018 0 Comments

    The UK health tax hurting foreign nurses



    When a Kenyan nurse took up a job in the UK a few years ago, he felt his family's future had been secured.
    But now the distraught father-of-three is struggling financially to reunite his family.
    Ken, not his real name, lives with his wife and daughter.
    But his twin children, a boy and a girl, remain in Kenya where they live with relatives.
    That's because Ken is unable to raise enough money to cover a British health tax, known as the immigration health surcharge (IHS).

    'Struggling to stay afloat'

    Migrant workers coming to the UK from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and their dependents have to a pay an annual fee of £200 ($268) each.
    Ken is also required to have £2,185 in his account for three months before he can apply to bring his twins into the country - on top of the £400 he will need for their health tax.
    "It's very difficult to explain to them when they ask me when they will join me here.
    "Ideally, every parent would love to be with all their children."
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    Top five nationalities of non-EEA NHS staff in England

    1. Indian - 18,348
    2. Filipino- 15,391
    3. Nigerian - 5,405
    4. Zimbabwean - 3,899
    5. Pakistani - 3,375
    One in eight National Health Service (NHS) England staff are not British nationals, and people from a total of 201 foreign nationalities work for NHS England.
    Source: House of Commons Library
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    The time difference and the nature of his job also make it difficult for him to give the twins the attention they need.
    "Sometimes when you're at work, they call and you cannot speak with them as you'd love to, since you're really busy," he says.
    The health surcharge was introduced in 2015 to boost funding for the National Health Service (NHS) and as a way to discourage health tourism.
    Later this year, the annual charge is to be doubled from £200 to £400, with the discounted rate for students set to increase from £150 to £300.

    A double tax?

    A Home Office spokesperson reiterated that the government was aware of the "contribution" made by international professionals "to the UK and to our health service".
    But it said the surcharge offered access to healthcare that was "far more comprehensive and at a much lower cost than many other countries".
    "The income generated goes directly to NHS services, helping to protect and sustain our world-class healthcare system for everyone who uses it," the spokesperson said.
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    Prostate cancer spit test is trialled

    June 13, 2018 1 Comments

    Prostate cancer spit test is trialled





    A spit test to detect men at increased risk of prostate cancer has started early trials.
    The new DNA test looks for high-risk genes that are thought to affect one in every 100 men.
    Three hundred men are taking part in the trials, from three London GP surgeries.
    Developing better diagnostic tests that could be used as part of a nationwide screening programme is a research priority for prostate cancer.
    At present, there is no single, reliable test for prostate cancer. The PSA blood test, biopsies and physical examinations are all used.
    But the PSA can give false positives and sometimes misses more aggressive cases.
    The new DNA test was created by a group of international scientists based at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London.
    They studied more than 140,000 men and identified 63 new genetic variations that can increase the risk of prostate cancer.
    The DNA test combines those variants with more than 100 others previously linked to prostate cancer.
    Ros Eeles, professor of oncogenetics at the ICR, said the study was "very significant".
    "By looking at the DNA code of tens of thousands of men in more depth than ever before, we have uncovered vital new information about the genetic factors that can predispose someone to prostate cancer, and, crucially, we have shown that information from more than 150 genetic variants can now be combined to provide a readout of a man's inherited risk of prostate cancer."

    Only those men found to be at higher risk of prostate cancer would then be scanned and have a prostate biopsy, so researchers hope it could prevent unnecessary procedures.
    "It could have a substantial impact on how we actually manage those at increased risk because if you find the disease earlier it's much easier to treat it and much more easy to cure," says Prof Elees.
    The trial will be expanded to 5,000 men next year.
    Prof Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said the study also provided important information about the causes of prostate cancer and the potential role of the immune system "which could ultimately be employed in the design of new treatments".
    The study is published in the journal Nature Genetics and was funded by the the National Cancer Institute in the US, with additional support from the European Research Council, Cancer Research UK and Prostate Cancer UK.
    Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK said: "This new research could help men to understand their individual genetic risk of prostate cancer, which could prompt them to speak to their GP about the disease.
    "Given that one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, we urgently need more accurate diagnostic tests which are suitable for use in a nationwide screening programme."
    Carl Alexander from Cancer Research UK, said the study was "an exciting example" of how research can find clues in our genes to help us uncover those more likely to develop the disease.
    "The next steps should be to understand how this research can be developed into tests which could identify men who might be more likely to develop aggressive cancers, and how this could be rolled out to patients.
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    Could your medications be making you depressed?

    June 13, 2018 1 Comments

    Could your medications be making you depressed?




    When you hear of a drug having side-effects you might think of a physical reaction like a rash or a headache.
    But according to a new US study, many commonly-prescribed drugs may increase the risk of depression.
    The list includes heart medications, birth control pills and some painkillers - things lots of people in the UK are also prescribed.
    More than a third of the drugs the 26,000 participants took had depression as a possible side-effect.

    What's going on?

    The study, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked only at people in the US who were 18 or older and taking at least one type of prescription medication between 2005 to 2014.
    It found that 37% of these prescription drugs, which also included some painkillers and antacids, had depression listed as one of the potential adverse effects.
    Rates of depression were higher among the study participants taking these drugs:
    • 7% among those who took one of the drugs
    • 9% for people on two
    • 15% for people taking three or more
    Around 5% of US adults are estimated to suffer from depression.
    Lead author Dima Qato, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, said: "Many may be surprised to learn that their medications, despite having nothing to do with mood or anxiety or any other condition normally associated with depression, can increase their risk of experiencing depressive symptoms and may lead to a depression diagnosis."
    However, it's not clear if the drugs are to blame for low mood.
    Feeling ill for any reason can make you feel low. And it is possible some of the participants may have already had a history of depression.

    What do experts say?

    UK experts cautioned that the paper shows an association between taking these drugs and an increased risk of depression but not cause and effect.
    Prof David Baldwin, from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "It is not surprising that using medicines to treat physical illnesses such as heart and lung disease should be associated with depressive symptoms, as these physical illnesses are themselves linked to an increased risk of depression."
    The Royal College of GPs also pointed out that not all of the findings will necessarily apply to the UK, as the health system is different in the US.
    Nevertheless, its chair, Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, added that it shows "how vital it is that patients disclose any medication they may be taking that the GP might not be aware of, or to the pharmacist if buying medication over the counter".



    What's the risk?

    It depends on the medication.
    For some drugs, depression can be a common side-effect, such as certain birth control pills. But for others it's much rarer.
    Very common side-effects will affect more than one in 10 people, whereas those that are very rare will apply to fewer than one in 10,000.
    This information is printed inside packets of medication in the Patient Information Leaflet and is also searchable online.
    Prof David Taylor, from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, also said it was important to consider whether there was a "plausible explanation" for why a drug might cause depression.
    For example, with oral contraceptives there is a clear association between hormone levels and mood.
    But in others, like heart medication, it is trickier to unpick whether it's the drugs or the condition that might be causing the depression, he says.
    "We're not very good at working out what the drugs cause and what just happens in the course of somebody being treated which isn't linked to the drugs, " Prof Taylor said.
    • 'Drug errors cause appalling harm'
    • Dementia risk linked to some medicines

    What should I do?

    If you're taking any of these medications currently and have no signs of depression then you shouldn't worry, Prof Taylor advises.
    For those on these drugs who are experiencing depression, he recommends speaking to your GP or specialist doctor to discuss if there might be drugs that don't have the potential side-effects.
    If you're thinking about taking some of these drugs, he said it was worth being "somewhat cautious".
    "That applies particularly if you're already taking another drug which is linked to depression."
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