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Healthwise is a regular column written
especially for laterlife.com members and
visitors by Helen Franks, journalist and author.
Welcome to healthwise 90.
For previous articles in the
healthwise series visit
'more
healthwise'
Helen Franks
Helen has specialised in writing about health and
ageing and is a member of the Guild of Health Writers. She has
written for a variety of newspapers and magazines including the
Guardian, Times, Observer, Woman, Family Circle, Vogue and
Choice.
Helen has also written several books including
Getting Older Slowly Your Guide to Successful Ageing and
Bone Boosters
co-authored with Diana Moran of TV Green Goddess fame.
Don't forget to take a look at Helen's separate
talkback
page too.
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Age-related Macular Disorder
The leading cause of blindness and sight loss in the UK, Age-Related Macular
Disorder affects over 25 million sufferers worldwide. The announcement that
the NICE review will take another six months, serves to anger sufferers and
associations such as the RNIB, who warned of the dangers of rationing new
anti-VEGF drugs Macugen and Lucentis.
However, there are simple, preventative steps the public can take –
predominantly in their day to day diet:
-
Increasing Lutein consumption is key: 115
clinical studies nationwide reveal this natural pigment,
unable to be produced in the body but found in native leafy
greens such as spinach and broccoli, help prevent AMD and
cataracts.
With over 50 year olds, and particularly
women, there’s a need to educate on the benefits of a healthy
diet, combined.
Tailored multivitamins, such as Centrum
and Centrum Select 50+ which contain FloraGLO Lutein – a
marigold flower extract identical to the Lutein found in dark
green vegetables – are a positive step, as once absorbed by the
body help the eye to absorb potentially harmful blue light, so
reducing the risk of developing AMD.
Go to website:
www.centrum.co.uk
Urine and blood samples reveal cancer-related link
Researchers from the Medical Research Council
and University of Cambridge looking into the links between diet
and cancer have developed a new way of objectively measuring
sugar consumption. This is important in establishing the cause
of the UK’s epidemic of obesity: lack of exercise or
over-eating.
The team developed a new way of objectively
measuring sugar consumption. Their findings about how much sugar
overweight people consume are published in the journal Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Until now it had been very difficult to assess
food intake, particularly sugar consumption, in large
populations. Data from surveys seemed to show that as weight and
body mass index increased, people underestimated their total
food intake, including the amount of sugar they ate.
The team has developed a new urine test which
allows them to work out how much sugar large numbers of people
are eating for the first time. They measure the levels of
urinary sucrose and fructose (two types of sugar) in spot urine
samples.
Using data from hundreds of volunteers from the
European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) study,
researchers have combined information from diet self-reporting
with data from the urine and blood samples. They found that
obese people underestimated the amount of sugar they consumed,
while overestimating the amount of vitamin C they took in each
day.
The 20% of people tested who consumed the
least sugar ate about 76g per day but the 20% who ate the most
took in an average 207g, nearly three times as much.
Latest survival rates for
heart surgery
Heart units in England and Wales have signed up to the most
rigorous and
transparent regime ever for testing their performance. And their
performance, in terms of survival rates, is within the range
expected.
Last year, heart surgeons joined forces with
the healthcare watchdog, the
Healthcare Commission, to make survival rates from surgery
available
through a public website.
In the past 12 months the site has become
increasingly well-regarded,
receiving thousands of visitors each month and allowing patients
to make
more informed decisions about their treatment.
Survival rates for heart surgery in 2005/06
have now been collated and the
site updated. Some of the data have also been adjusted according
to a new
UK model for calculating expected survival rates.
Last year, the EuroSCORE model was used. This is
an internationally
recognised system that calculates expected survival rates for
heart
surgery, taking into account factors such as a patient's age and
the
severity of his or her illness. This process is called
'risk-adjustment'.
Further information on the Society of
Cardiothoracic Surgeons is
available at: www.scts.org
Older drinkers
The Government is targeting older drinkers at
home, who may not know what’s good for them.
Among this group are those who do not realize
that they are drinking over the limit and may well end up with
cirrhosis of the liver.
The strategy comes following the British Medical
Association’s warning that alcoholic disorders are prominent
among pregnant women.
Of mice and men and women too
Mice may bring hope to Alzheimer sufferers and
promote new nerves, enhancing memory, says the City University
in New York.
Experiments on mice were used to discover
whether transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a standard tool
for stimulating the brain, would be productive. Rapidly changing
magnetic fields induce weak electric signals in brain neurons.
The technique is used for depression,
Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.
If in any
doubt about any of the information covered in
healthwise articles and it's relevance for you, consult
your GP.
IN THE PREVIOUS EDITION
Omega-3 for heart attack victims
omega-3 fatty acids are an effective method for lowering
triglycerides in patients with statins, without
increasing the risk of adverse side-effects.
Music lovers face hearing loss timebomb
Many clubbers, gig-goers and people who go to bars
experience the symptoms of hearing damage after their
night out.
How much exercise do you need?
It’s far less than we’ve been told by government health
agencies..
Fly for four hours or more and you double your risk
People who fly long-haul on flights that last more than four hours double
their risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) or pulmonary embolism, a World
Health Organization study has revealed.
Dark chocolate can ward off hypertension
Even just one square a day can reduce blood pressure,
researchers have discovered.
New drug for diabetes
A malaria drug could be effective as a drug for
diabetes..
The
complete family health guide
 Essential medical reference that's a must for every home. Published
in association with the BMA, it includes comprehensive coverage of
every important aspect of health and medicine, as well as
user-friendly charts for at-a-glance information and easy reference.
Also lists the best medical websites...
 Maximise your memory
This work provides detailed instructions, illustrations and sample
exercises that show the reader how to build a system of personalized
frameworks for storing and recalling information on demand.
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