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New NHS campaign raises awareness of invisible
killer
Sixty per cent of
smokers go ahead and smoke without asking for
permission, despite the fact that most non-smokers mind if other
people are smoking nearby, according to new research by the NHS 'Don't
Give Up Giving Up campaign'.
The survey
marks the launch of new NHS ads raising awareness of the
health risks of secondhand smoke to adults. The poll shows that 21
per cent of non-smokers still don't feel comfortable asking somebody
not to smoke near them or in their own home. This is despite the fact
that continued exposure to secondhand smoke puts non-smokers at a 24
per cent increased risk of lung cancer and a 25 per cent increased
risk of heart disease.
About 95 per cent of estimated deaths from secondhand smoke are due to
exposure in the home. Tobacco smoke contains around 4,000 different
chemicals, including more than 50 known cancer-causing substances,
such as arsenic, formaldehyde and ammonia.
What should smokers do? The best way to protect your family and
other adults from secondhand smoke is to give up smoking. There are
170 free local NHS Stop Smoking Services throughout the country. To
find out about the NHS Stop Smoking Service nearest to you, phone the
NHS Smoking Helpline free on 0800 169 0 169. Or ask at your local GP
practice, pharmacy or hospital.
If you cannot give up:
-
Keep your home
smoke-free by smoking outside wherever possible. Help protect children
by keeping their playing, sleeping and eating
areas totally smoke free.
Don't smoke in the car - smoke is more concentrated in confined
spaces.
If you have to smoke, do it before you set off and take smoke
breaks on longer journeys.
What should
non-smokers do?
-
Keep your home
smoke-free by asking visitors to smoke outside.
Don't let anyone smoke in the car - smoke is more concentrated in
confined spaces.
If the people you're with have to smoke, ask them to smoke before you
set off.
Ensure that you keep children's playing, eating and sleeping areas
smoke free.
Get the jabs now
Everyone over 65 is now entitled
to the pneumo jab, which protects against pneumonia, septicaemia
(blood poisoning) and meningitis. It’s a one-off, unlike the annual
flu jab, which by the way is due around now too.
The pneumo jab is also available to anyone under 65 who has serious
breathing problems, including asthma, severe heart condition, kidney
or liver disease, diabetes that needs medication, anything that
affects suppression of the immune system or the spleen.
To find out more, call NHS Direct on 0845 4647. A fact sheet called Pneumococcal vaccine for older people is
available.
Forget plasters - use a
spray
The new way to stop minor bleeding
and provide waterproof, germproof protection for cuts, grazes,
blisters, shaving nicks, and finger and heel cracks is to use a spray.
TCP Spray Plaster is applied by spraying lightly over the cleansed
wound. It dries to an invisible, 100% waterproof layer in just 45
seconds and can be used on parts where conventional plasters are
difficult to keep in place, signalling the end for unsightly plasters.
The 30g aerosol can provides up to 50 applications, and cost ?8.00
from chemists.
Foot Care
in Later Life
Help the Aged has found a big gap
in NHS care. Its new report, ‘Best Foot Forward: older people and
foot care,’ shows how lack of investment in local NHS podiatry
services and stringent eligibility criteria has resulted in
discrimination of those who need care the most.
It found that while care is prioritised for those with a clinical
need, many older people are denied basic preventative care, despite
needing professional foot care more than any other group.
The report reveals that of the 6.5 million over 65s needing
professional foot care, one in four (1.6 million) cannot get NHS help
and a further 1.6 million end up paying privately. Of those who do not
receive professional foot care, many resort to tending their own feet,
sometimes using a razor, often with dangerous consequences.
Recommendations from Help the Aged’s research include:
-
For NICE to
develop guidelines on podiatry in later life in order to provide a
national standard for foot care for older people
-
Local NHS
bodies should examine whether the discharge of patients from NHS
podiatry services is justifiable . They must be able to demonstrate
that it does not discriminate against older age groups
-
For the
National Patient Safety Agency to investigate the patient safety
implications of discharging older patients from NHS podiatry services
A company
called Profoot make a range of products to help reduce the foot pain.
See the website: www.profoot.co.uk
.
 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...
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Powers of suggestion
Acupuncture helps headaches says
the British Medical Journal. And so does mock acupuncture. A
trial of 270 people with chronic tension-type headache, showed that
both those who were given full acupuncture treatment over a series of
12 sessions or a mock form of acupuncture which utilizes the wrong
points on the body, did pretty well.
Among those in the acupuncture group, 46 per cent reported a
halving of the days they suffered headaches. But 35 per cent in the
mock acupuncture group reported a similar positive benefit, even
though they didn't have proper treatment.
Back pain gain
Back pain affects four out of five
people at some time in their lives and can be very debilitating.
Resting for a few days is often the answer for things to get back to
normal.
And then?
Exercise can help to rehabilitate and strengthen the spine and, over
time, can also help to avoid recurrences of injuries by keeping the
disks, muscles, ligaments and joints healthy. Conversely, lack of
exercise can worsen back pain by leading to stiffness and then
weakness.
What form of exercise? That really depends on the level of pain and
seriousness of the condition, and is something you might want to
discuss with a physiotherapist. Yoga and pilates provide a combination
of stretching and strengthening; low impact aerobic exercise (such as
swimming) is often recommended.
New look for hearing aids
Have you ever wished hearing aids
could be as stylish as glasses? Find out just how good hearing aids
and hearing products could look in future at the Hearwear project at
the Victoria and Albert Museum
(V&A).
And when you’ve looked, tell the RNID what you think. They want to
know what products you would like to see in the future for deaf and
hard of hearing people. You can email them at:
mailto:oneinseven@
rnid.org.uk
putting 'Hearwear feedback' as your subject heading.
Don’t suffer in
silence
Four million women and men in the
UK suffer from bladder weakness. But it can take ten years or more of
silent suffering before they get to see their GP for advice, says the
Continence Foundation. What’s more, 75% of those with the problem use
inappropriate products such as sanitary towels which are not designed
to absorb urine.
The reason is clear: people don’t want to admit that they have
urinary incontinence. They think it is a sign of old age and are
embarrassed about buying special pads which they consider to be too
big, bulky and indiscreet.
TENA, the company specialising in pads and pants for incontinence, has
designed a series of slim, discreet products starting with the Ultra
Mini just 19cm long, all of which absorb urine and embarrassing odours
and are fast-drying. See the range at
www.tena.co.uk or
contact the helpline on 0845 30 80 80 30.
The Continence Foundation, a registered charity, has a website too:
www.continence-foundation.org.uk . As well as offering leaflets
and fact sheets, it can provide an ‘Urgent Card’ carrying the message
‘The holder of this card has a medical condition and needs to use a
toilet quickly’.
There are 300 Continence Clinics in the UK to which you can refer
yourself without the need to see a GP. Find the nearest one through
the Continence Foundation website.
If in any
doubt about any of the information covered in
healthwise articles and it's relevance for you, consult
your GP.
In edition 66:-
In edition 66 of
healthwise
Helen covers 4 new topics:
Men in denial
National data shows that 65% of men are overweight or obese.
Death by postcode
Men suffer the greatest health inequalities
Women in denial too
Coronary heart disease is the country's biggest killer
New bowel cancer screening programme
All 60 - 69 year olds in the UK are to be offered screening
for bowel cancer
Index to all
previous Healthwise editions
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Maximise your memory
This work provides detailed instructions, illustrations and sample
exercises that show the reader how to build a system of personalized
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