Healthwise                 June 2008

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Mixed-sex wards still a problem

It’s enough to drive you into private health insurance. One in seven NHS trusts are failing to separate men and women hospital patients, according to a survey by the Healthcare Commission. And three out of four trusts have not yet followed Government guidelines to ensure single-sex accommodation during hospital stays.

According to the Patients Association, you care about single sex hospital wards and the lack of priority for the change within the NHS. "Patients are very clear - they hate mixed-sex wards and the hell they entail, " says Vanessa Bourne of the Patients Association. ‘They have put up with more than 10 years of Government rhetoric, and no one is fooled by the playing with words that is going on.’

While the Government says that single sex accommodation is an absolute priority, the problem for patients is that there is continuing disagreement over what constitutes separate facilities.

A new study has found that many hospital wards are separated by screens or curtains rather than solid walls. And the layout of wards in many hospitals means nearly seven out of ten patients are expected to walk past others of the opposite sex to get to washing or toilet facilities.

At best, mixed sex wards cause embarrassment at a time you are least able to cope. At worst, it puts the vulnerable at risk of abuse, according to Liberal Democrat, health spokesman, Norman Lamb.

Meanwhile, single rooms for all remain the target for the NHS.

The message seems to be that if you and yours are put in a ward with unwelcome exposure to the opposite sex, make a fuss. As a Government spokesperson put: We have made single sex accommodation a priority. The NHS should be in no doubt how seriously we take this issue.’

Trouble with love-making? Why you’re a suitable case for treatment

Erectile dysfunction is frequently a matter of heartache. But two new studies show that it’s more than romance that is at stake, especially when the man involved also has adult-onset diabetes.

A major study reported in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), provides new evidence that men with ED should report the problem to their doctor – and not just because their relationship might be at risk.

‘The development of erectile dysfunction should alert both patients and healthcare providers to the future risk of coronary heart disease,” says Dr Peter Chun-Yip Tong of the Department of Medicine & Therapeutics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. ‘It’s a sign that other risk factors such as poor blood glucose control, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, smoking and obesity should be reviewed and addressed with considerable urgency.”

Diabetes, ED and heart disease share an ominous link: damage to the blood vessels by high blood sugar levels. The same process that hinders the extra blood flow needed to maintain an erection can have even more serious consequences in the heart.

The second study, published in the same issue of JACC and conducted by Italian researchers found that men who had diabetes and ED were twice as likely to have a heart attack within four years as those who had diabetes but no ED.

Taking statins is helpful in reducing the risk of heart attacks as is controlling blood sugar levels in diabetes. Even taking Viagra seems to provide some protection against heart attacks, the doctors conclude.

Green tea for snorers

Loud snoring and gasping at night are typical symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), an under-recognised condition, which is a serious cause of ill health.

Sleepless nights are the major consequence for a partner of someone with OSA. But for the sufferer, the consequences can be much more serious.

In this relatively common disorder for older people, soft tissues in the throat temporarily collapse and block the airway during sleep, causing repeated stops and starts in breathing throughout the night.

As well as chronic loud snoring and gasping, sufferers experience daytime sleepiness because they rarely have more than a few minutes uninterrupted sleep. Left untreated, OSA can eventually have widespread effects in the body; it's linked to high blood pressure, and research suggests that the intermittent dips in oxygen to the brain may lead to memory and learning difficulties.

Diagnosis usually involves attending an NHS sleep clinic and the most effective treatment is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). This involves the sufferer wearing a soft mask over their nose and mouth at night while a machine by the side of the bed raises and regulates the pressure of the air they breathe, preventing the airway from collapsing during sleep. Many people find that this treatment reduces daytime sleepiness and improves their concentration.

New research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, also suggests that drinking tea can help to prevent the damage that results from the regular oxygen deprivation. Green tea has high levels of a particular anti-oxidant that prevents the brain from suffering ‘oxidative stress’ as a result of lack of oxygen. And rats that snore have better memories when they drink green tea, according to the researchers based at Kentucky University.

‘It does look like a regular cup of green tea would be beneficial for OSA alongside standard treatment,’ said researcher, Dr David Gozal.

‘I want to be alone’ syndrome

‘Everybody has a Blackberry except me and that’s fine’ says Sunday Times columnist, Ariel Leve recently – before asserting in a typical fashion: ‘My life doesn’t require one because not that many people need to reach me.’

Since becoming a columnist on the Times, Leve has made being a loner almost fashionable. Like most loners, she’s used to people telling her to get out and meet people – a nightmare in her view as she finds most socialising a waste, a time when she’s longing to be home, perfectly content with her own company.

The view that loners are sad people who are neurotically shy and deeply dissatisfied is not necessarily true, according to new research. Of course, loneliness can be involuntary – people long to socialise and mingle effortlessly but shyness and anxiety prevent them from doing so.

For such people, loneliness is a risk to good health on a par with smoking or obesity, causing a stress-response in the body that can be deeply unhealthy when sustained over time. However, preferring one’s own company is not always an unhealthy life choice: loners can also be highly sensitive as well as self-contained, observant and perfectly content.

Amanda Guyer, a psychologist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, has found that socially withdrawn people have increased sensitivity to all kinds of emotional interactions and sensory cues which suggests that they can be easily over-stimulated and exhausted by social events. At the same time, she says, they can find pleasure where others do not. ‘People who are reserved have an ability to respond quickly to situations—such as coming to your aid in a moment of need—or show unusual empathy to a friend, due to their strong emotional antennae,’ she says.

Research by psychotherapist Elaine Aron bears out this view. She has shown that withdrawn people typically have very high sensory acuity. Because loners are good at noticing subtleties that other people miss, they are well suited for careers that require close observation, like writing and scientific research. Emily Dickinson, Stanley Kubrick, and Isaac Newton are just some famous loners from the past.

If in any doubt about any of the information covered in healthwise articles and it's relevance for you, consult your GP.

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