Zapping cold sores
Are
you among the 1 in 5 people in the UK who regularly suffer from cold sores? Did you know they are caused by a virus? Or that they can be triggered by UV light from
the sun, fatigue or dental treatment?
The Cold Sore Information Bureau is concerned that too many sufferers
don’t have all the facts at their fingertips, and has compiled a free booklet on
current expertise. The Bureau is funded by the
makers of Zovirax Cold Sore Cream, an anti-viral treatment
that can reduce the duration of a cold sore by up to half, compared to no
treatment.
If you’d like a copy of the
booklet, call 0845 603 0052 or write c/o Harvard Health, Harvard House, Summerhouse Lane,
Harmondsworth UB7 OAW.
Callers can request to be called back
by a medical professional if they wish to discuss their condition further.
If you
spotted the Virulite gadget for cold sores, you could easily mistake it for a mobile
phone. Same size and shape, but this little item uses light from a wavelength of
1072 nanometers (similar to a lazer apparently) to zap cold sores when they start.
When 60 volunteers took part in a trial
using the Virulite, results were decidedly encouraging. One group of volunteers
used the gadget while another relied on aciclovir, the conventional cream
treatment. Virulite users reported a cure in about half the time of the cream
users (4 days compared with 8). Observation from the medical team confirmed
this.
The Virulite has a positive effect on the immune
cells, not on the virus itself. It needs no batteries and will deliver about 100
treatments each lasting 3 minutes. The price is £39.95, and you can get it through
the website www.vcs.eu.com
or telephone 08000 52 39 39.
Does your
doctor raise your blood pressure?
Around
20% of the population get a falsely high reading when their blood pressure is taken by a
doctor. The problem is called white-coat-syndrome
and it afflicts people who get nervous at the sight of a medic, maybe because of a
frightening episode in the surgery when they were children, or a fear that there is
something seriously wrong with them though they feel perfectly healthy.
Most doctors try to take several reading over a period of weeks if they
suspect a case of white coat syndrome, but there is a very real risk that patients are
being prescribed treatment when they
don’t really need it.
Home monitoring on a regular basis
can help define true blood pressure levels. One
survey showed that 27% of 700 patients with high readings in the surgery had normal blood
pressure when tested at home.
You can buy home monitoring equipment from Boots and major chemists.
The
secret in tomatoes
Recent
studies have been providing more and more evidence of the health benefits of lycopene. This antioxidant appears to reduce the PSA in blood
levels, thus reducing risk of prostate cancer, and has been seen to decrease DNA damage in
white blood cells and prostate tissues of men suffering from prostate cancer.
Lycopene is readily available through the diet, in the form of tomatoes,
though the snag is that you’d need to eat six large tomatoes daily to get a decent
dose. An excellent alternative, used in various trials is a supplement called Lyc-O-Mato, which
contains 15mg of tomato lycopene and is the equivalent to eating six large tomatoes per
day.
Dr Kucuk, Medical Oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, conducted a clinical evaluation of the effect of
Lyc-O-Mato, on patients with existing prostate cancer, and found a reduction in tumour
size and reduced PSA count. He suspects that it is a cocktail of the major carotenoids
included in the supplement that is most beneficial to those at risk with prostate cancer,
and not lycopene on its own.
Prostate Cancer is the most common male cancer affecting 1 in 13 British men,
and despite effective treatments if caught early, it kills over 10,000 men per year in the
UK.
As ever, advice on this condition is simple: get your PSA checked if you are over 50. And play safe by getting a good daily dose of
lycopene. More details on Lycopene and Lyc-O-Mato
are available at www.lycomato.co.uk.
Test
for bowel cancer
A
national bowel cancer screening programme for 60-year-olds could dramatically reduce
deaths according to Cancer Research UK. Around
16,000 people die each year from this disease, yet a test of the lower bowel could prevent
up to 5,000 cases a year, many of which would be fatal.
Blood in the faeces, often not visible to the naked eye, is one sign of bowel
cancer. (Though such bleeding could also be caused by taking drugs that irritate the
lining of the gastro-intestinal tract, bleeding gums, haemorrhoids or other conditions.)
A change in bowel habits, such as
constipation alternating with diarrhoea, is another sign. If
you have worries about possible bowel cancer, go to your GP. A test usually involves giving a faecal sample. If you want to consider a private screening - see the
next item.
Eat yourself slim
 Based on the recipes and menus that will feature in Rosemary
Conley's television series, of the same name, this book has suggestions for those who want
to enjoy fine food and control their weight, or lose some weight at the same time.
The natural beauty
& bath book
This book gives you 70 recipes for beauty and bath
products that you can make yourself, using ingredients you will find at your local grocery
and health food shops. Pamper yourself from head to toe with these natural formulas:
 6 weeks to super health
Whether you are looking to lose weight, get healthy or
get out of a rut, this eminently readable, well-designed, informative and authoritative
guide is guaranteed to have a permanent effect on your lifestyle.
 Tai Chi
This book explains: what Tai Chi is; how to use Tai Chi
for health and healing; the best way to train in Tai Chi. This book is an ideal guide for
anyone who wants to understand the fundamental ideas and practices of this ancient martial
art.
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How to get yourself a fast screening
Think
you should have a test for bowel cancer? Or for
allergies? Don’t know your PSA count ? Or your cholesterol level? Or your osteoporosis profile?
There’s a quick, confidential and totally reliable way to get the
answers, via your computer. MediChecks.com is an
organisation that offers various healthscreening tests direct to members of the public.
The Essential Blood Screening Profile
consists of 39 individual tests designed by specialists to measure major body functions.
Cost is £125 (orders can be processed via the MediCheck
website), and covers the following:
· a sterile blood kit sent through the post
· the services of a local
qualified practitioner who will take the blood sample and send it to the lab
· a medical interpretation of results and recommendations usually within 24
hours, given on the telephone by a consultant specialist if there are abnormalities
· nurse advisor, contacting by telephone, to provide general information and
advice
· a written report sent in the post
· additional copies of the report can be forwarded to the GP on request only
There is a whole range of products and services available from MediChecks,
including single tests (a PSA test costs £95; osteoporosis profile £105, bowel cancer
test £25). The website is www.medichecks.com and telephone number is 08456 029
029.
Fish oils -
free offer of new product
There’s
nothing new about the fact that eating fish is good for the heart, the skin and for supple joints, but the latest
long-term survey of women nurses in the US suggests that just one meal of fish per week is
sufficient to guard against heart disease.
Previous research has suggested that eating oily fish
like sardines, herring, mackerel three times a week reduces angina symptoms and heart
disease in men.
You can provide back-up on the fish
intake with a daily supplement of fish oils.
There are many brands available from
chemists and health food shops, but in recent years, some have been found to raise blood
sugar levels if used over a long period and many contain toxins due to pollution. A new one on the market is Eskimo-3 Stable Fish
Oil. What’s interesting about this brand
is that it claims to have no effect on sugar levels ( important for diabetics and those
with hypoglycemia), and has low toxic levels.
Eskimo-3 Stable Fish Oil is available as soft gel
capsules or in liquid form. Laterlife has
arranged for a free offer of the gel capsules to go to the first 20 people who order - an
offer worth £13.60. To claim your free
offer just email to Free.eskimo3@nutri.co.uk, filling in the ‘subject’ slot in the
email window with ‘Eskimo laterlife offer’ and including your full postal
address in your message.
Walk it off
Studies
show that 70% of people don’t take enough exercise
and 37% of deaths from coronary heart disease are
directly related to lack of physical activity.
Walking is an easy way to exercise - no equipment, talent or expertise
needed. What is more, walkers have better memories and need fewer drugs to treat heart
conditions say health researchers.
For further encouragement: 1 mile uses the same energy in terms of calories burned
as jogging one mile, and 2 miles can reduce heart attack risk by 28%.
If you are a beginner, work towards
30 minutes exercise per day 5 times a week. You don’t have to do it all at once: 15 minutes
walking twice a day is fine.
Some tips for beginners: begin slowly, gradually increase pace.
After 5 minutes start to go a little faster -you will feel warmer. Heart will beat a little faster
- imagine you are late for an appointment if that gets you going. You should be able to talk while walking - just a little
out of breath is enough.
S o what do you use
instead? That's the question women (and some men too) are asking, following recent reports
about the risk of bladder cancer in women who use permanent hair colouring on a long-term
basis. One answer is semi-permanent colouring, which washes out after about 6
shampoos. Another is henna, long used as the natural alternative to conventional dye,
though a bit messy to deal with.
There's also a product called Naturtint, a permanent
hair colour enriched with 'soy, corn, coconut and wheat extract', according to the maker's
description. It covers grey, comes in 20 plant-based colours, is available in health
stores and costs £6.49. See the website
www.naturesdream.co.uk
for more information.
If in any
doubt about any of the information covered in healthwise articles and it's relevance for
you, consult your GP.
In edition
25:-
What are
phyto-oestrogens
They are considered by many to be a useful
`natural` alternative to HRT for menopausal women
Guides to much healthier
eating
Healthy
eating is considered one way to protect against cancer
Brainboosters
Chewing gum
helps memory? Whatever next?
Detecting diabetes
Adults who
develop diabetes have certain things in common
A condition you
might not grow out of
Eczema is often
thought of as a condition of childhood, but many people never grow out of it
Aid for knees
Those elastic
bandages people use for dodgy knees - do they really do any good?
Morning stroke risk
An Italian
study confirms earlier findings that the risk of having an ischaemic stroke (due to lack
of oxygen to the brain) is greatest in the morning
Index to
all previous Healthwise editions
For books on Health visit the Amazon
Family and Health Section.
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laterlife, you generate money for Charity.
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.
 Stop smoking
This new edition of the bestseller aims to help the reader use the "Easy way"
method to eliminate the psychological reasons for smoking, handle withdrawal symptoms,
avoid temptation situations, and stay a non-smoker!
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