Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Mind over matter

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

There’s definitely an argument that mind over matter works. If you set your mind on getting better when you feel ill it seems remarkable that you start feeling better soon after. You may notice this more when there’s an event you really want to go to that you need to be well for! Your body is its own healer and there are a range of things you can do when you have a small headache, sore throat or a small ailment that will make it go away. The age old ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ will help because you are putting vitamins into your body and providing your body with fibre. Getting an early night will also help you to feel better as your body goes into recover mode when you sleep. For a headache, get someone to give you a shoulder rub, or instead just massage your temples and around your eyes. These little things really do make a difference.

Gym in January?

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

It’s January and most people have made New Year’s Resolutions to get fit and lose that extra Christmas weight. I have just asked around the office and almost 90% of my colleagues have just joined or are currently a long-standing member of a Gym. I feel put to shame. Tonight when I get home I shall dig out my Shilpa Shetty Yoga DVD (yes, I have one that was purchased from the Pound shop – poor Shilpa!) and do an hour of Yoga, followed by a hundred sit-ups. I shall also eat fish and vegetables for my tea. That definitely sounds like a plan, and I bet I don’t ache tomorrow, as much as my friend who has been complaining about his tough gym session two days ago!

321 you are back in the room

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

We’ve all seen Derren Brown on the television using powers of hypnosis on random people as way to manipulate their senses to get them to do or think something which is not actually true or real.

The mind is a powerful tool that works constantly for us, taking in sounds, smells, differing tastes and touches that are all interpreted by the brain and then tells us what is it and what to do.

Hypnosis is the modification of patients thought patterns which then lead to behavioural changes. By inducing a trace state on a subject, the hypnotist can alter the perceptions of the patient whilst in this state to address stress related issues, certain pains a patient may be suffering or to stop ongoing bad habits like smoking or excessive drinking.

Not everyone is susceptible to hypnosis, and not all of those that undergo the process benefit from being hypnotised. Do some research first and find a professional to see how you could benefit from this type of treatment.

Roll-up cigarettes on the increase

Friday, October 30th, 2009

It has been discovered that more than one in four adult smokers now use pouch tobacco and roll-up cigarettes, with a considerably increase in the amount of female users.

An analyst approach of smoking habits in England suggests a cultural shift in the use of tobacco, now more favoured than conventional cigarettes. In 1990, just one in fifty female smokers used hand-rolled tobacco, compared with the one in five in 2007. The apparent increase is due to users believing the roll-up trend to be more fashionable than the conventional cigarette. Smoking related diseases have risen by 1.2mn to 1.4mn since 1997.

NHS IT glitches force six-month wait!

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

The new 12.7bn project to upgrade the NHS computers has believed to have had an effect on the computers and caused glitches on the system. This has resulted in a six-month wait for patients. The Department of Health has said that patients shouldn’t wait more than eighteen-weeks, unless they choose to.

The group which brought about this new technology, Barts and the London NHS Trust have a backlog of twenty-thousand patient records on its 18-week waiting list. Many of the twenty-thousand are suspected to be duplicates, but a good fourteen-thousand are believed to be genuine patient records.

NHS Car Park charges for patients dropped

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Current charges for NHS patients and their visitors are to be axed, the government has announced. The NHS in England earns nearly 112 million from the car parking fees every year, which ministers have claimed helps pay for running costs  and the use of public transport.

Andy Burnham, the health secretary has claimed that if his party win the election, these charges will be cancelled for three years; however, he also claimed: “When people are coming in to hospital, the last thing they want to worry about is keeping the car parking ticket up-to-date,” Mr Burnham told the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today. “But, for families of the sickest patients, the costs can really rack up”.

Swine flu double in Scotland

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Over the past week, 13,800 have died in Scotland, due to contracting swine flu. The most recent death due to the flu was yesterday when a sixty-two year old woman succumbed to the illness.

The old lady was believed to have underlying health problems. Staggeringly, these stats now indicate that there are almost as many people in Scotland with the flu when compared with England and Wales whom have a population almost ten times better. So far, swine flu ha claimed eighty-five deaths in the United Kingdom. Last week it has been discovered that seven-thousand people were found to have the illness.

Baby Cooling theory

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

A new therapy for new babies based on lowering the body temperature could significantly reduce the risk of brain damage at birth after oxygen starvation at birth. A complication can occur in around two out of a thousand babies where the umbilical cord becomes twisted and this can usually result in cerebral palsy and/or other neurological problems. Standard treatment for babies involves placing them in an incubator where they are helped to breathe by using a ventilator. However, today it is has been discovered that babies have better long term outcomes if they are cooled down by a few degrees.

Children with Swine Flu were previously healthy

Friday, October 9th, 2009

A staggering eight out of ten children were receiving treatment in hospital for swine flu and were apparently healthy beforehand.

An analysis of impatient treatment in England also found that more than half of patients aged 16-44 didn’t have any previous underlying health conditions before being admitted. The amount of swine flu cases has risen in a third week in a row, and Sir Liam Donaldson, the government’s Chief Medical Officer had this to say about swine flu: “The continued increase in swine flu activity is consistent with the early stages of a second wave,”.

Did Cervical Cancer jab kill Natalie Morton?

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Natalie Morton, a fourteen year old girl given a cervical cancer jab was believed to have died due to the jab’s effect on her body. It has been discovered that apparently it was a tumour on her chest that ‘could have killed her at any moment’ compared to the jab’s effect. The fourteen year old collapsed suddenly moments after taking the vaccine as part of the National Immunisation Campaign. The joint director of the NHS Coventry told Coventry Magistrates’ Court:

“The pathologist has confirmed at the opening of the inquest into the death of Natalie Morton that she died from a large malignant tumour of unknown origin in the heart and lungs.

“There is no indication that the HPV vaccine, which she had received shortly before her death, was a contributing factor to the death, which could have arisen at any point.”