If you are a seemingly fit and healthy male in the prime of life,
perhaps prostate cancer may not be something you consider too much.
However, as we approach Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (starting
tomorrow) men should be aware that it is actually the most common kind
of male cancer.
Just in the UK alone, there are an estimated 36,000 – 40,000 new
cases of the disease diagnosed each year and it is responsible for a
quarter of all newly diagnosed cases of cancer in men. Of these new
cases, unfortunately just under a third will tragically succumb to the
cancer because it has not been identified and treated at an early enough
stage.
The fact remains that approximately 9 out
of 10 adults are unaware what the prostate gland does, so clearly it is
a subject that men need to clue themselves up on and be able to spot
the early signs and symptoms before it develops.
Prostate Cancer UK
(formerly known as The Prostate Cancer Charity) are spearheading
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, aiming to reach out to men and spread
the word about prostate cancer and even provide a contact number – 0800
074 8383 – whereby any male with concerns can ring them and speak to a
specialist nurse.
So what is the prostate gland? Well, it is located at the base of
your bladder and is only around the size of a walnut. Before using its
muscles to expel semen during ejaculation, it produces the liquid part
of semen and also creates prostate-specific antigen (PSA) – a protein
that turns your semen into a liquid.
Most cases of prostate cancer are relatively slow in growth however
some can spread to other areas in the body, particularly the bones and
lymph nodes – small bean-shaped glands located throughout the body that
help it to identify and fight germs, infections, and other foreign
substances.
Symptoms of the cancer are not usually apparent until the disease has
become big enough to cause pressure on the urethra and initial symptoms
may be similar to non-cancerous conditions such as an enlarged prostate
or benign prostatic hyperplasia. They include: having
to urinate more frequently, difficulty beginning to urinate, a feeling
that your bladder has not been fully emptied and a weak flow of urine.
Signs that the cancer has spread around the body include bone and
back pain, a loss in appetite, pain or discomfort in the testicles and
sudden weight loss. If you are suffering with any symptoms similar to
these you should visit your own GP as soon as possible for a check-up.
The earlier prostate cancer is spotted – the better chance of treatment
being effective and a full recovery can be made.
It is still not fully established the specific reasons for what
causes prostate cancer, although there are a number of known risk
factors which include:
. Age – For most cases of prostate cancer, it is usually in men over the age of 50.
. Ethnic group – The cancer is more prominent in men of
African-Caribbean and African descent and rare among men of Asian and
South and Central American descent.
. Family history – If you have a father, uncle or brother who has had prostate cancer, there is a risk you may develop it as well.
. Obesity – If you are obese (a Body Mass Index of between 30
and 40) this has been shown to increase your chances of developing
prostate cancer.
. Exercise – Men who regularly exercise can cut their chances of developing prostate cancer according to research.
. Diet – Many health experts claim that a high-calcium diet can raise the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Medical Specialist® are a registered UK pharmacy established in 1994 providing prescription & non prescription medication online since 2001.
Thursday 28 February 2013
Swiss Professor creates a basic machine to detect fake drugs
Keen readers of the Medical Specialists news area will already be aware of the huge risks associated with consuming a counterfeited drug and it is an issue we feel passionate about. Forbes estimated that the global sales of counterfeit drugs hit the $200 billion mark in late 2012, so clearly there is only one incentive for the criminals involved – to make money. This is regardless of the health of those who ingest the cheaply-produced drugs that can be comprised of a whole range of lethal ingredients such as paint, chalk, printer ink, brick dust and even arsenic.
Demonstrating how the problem has spread worldwide, in 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seized a batch of the prescription-only cancer medicine Avastin which turned out to be fakes and had been already been dispersed across America – despite its relatively protected domestic drug supply chain. It was discovered that the phony Avastin had been shipped to the U.S. from the United Kingdom.
According to the World Health Organization, around 10% of medicines circulating in the world are fakes, with even much higher figures for certain African countries – areas where drugs such as antibiotics, analgesics, steroids, malaria pills, or antihistamines are in such high demand and sometimes needed to prevent death. In more developed nations it is usual for the most copied drugs to be patented ones such as Viagra.
Therefore Professor Rudaz has decided to fight the huge problem of counterfeit drugs and has manufactured a relatively cheap machine for labs to utilise to pick out the fakes. The machine merely costs $10,000 (£6,595.44) – around a tenth of what other commercial equipment costs. Because of this cost factor, Rudaz and his organisation offer the technology free-of-charge and have so far donated to labs in Senegal, Mali, Cambodia, and D.R. Congo, with machines set to go to Burkina Faso, Madagascar, and Rwanda in the near future.
The machine uses a method called capillary electrophoresis – a century-old technique never previously exercised in counterfeit drug detection. Technicians simply fill a thin tube with water and tiny measure of solvent, administer a high voltage and then diluted drug moves underneath the electric field. The validity is ascertained by how fast it travels.
Rudaz asked manufacturers if they wanted to assist in developing the design but they all replied they couldn’t envisage it having a market. He says: “Because the machine uses very little solvent, it is like a low-cost printer where the ink is also low cost. You have no business.”
Rudaz acknowledges that there is a huge battle to beat the counterfeiters with ‘drug mafias’ involved in the smuggling of drugs, and that it would be almost impossible to completely eradicate it. He says: “You won’t solve counterfeits completely. We detect some drugs, but the problem remains. The problem of counterfeits is not only a problem of analytics. It is also a problem of economics and society which is too big for me.”
You do not need to worry about dangerous fakes when dealing with Medical Specialists Pharmacy. Established in 1994 and becoming the UK’s first legal online clinic in 2001, we are fully registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and also a member of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). Our team of Doctors are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and our Pharmacists are registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).
Fewer pregnant women over the age of 40 are choosing abortion
According to the ONS report published yesterday,
abortion rates in women over 40 are starting to decline as it seems
fewer women in this age group consider pregnancy as a ‘mistake’ and many
want to start a family. On the other hand, abortion rates are
increasing in younger women probably due to the fact this age group are
typically seeking higher education and to get their careers moving
along.
It is records of
conceptions in 2011 in England and Wales that show a large majority of
women who conceive over the age of 40 are not choosing to abort, with
conception rates in the over 40s actually increasing 3.7% in a year –
doubling in the past two decades.
However, statistics show that for among women aged
25 to 39, the abortion rate has gone up by nearly 4% between 2010 and
2011 and for those in their 30s and married it has been on the increase
for two consecutive years.
Back in 1990 there were a total of 12,032
women over 40 years of age who fell pregnant. Eleven years later the
figure stood at 28,747. In 2011 around a quarter of those women chose an
abortion, a decade prior and the proportion was nearly 35%, whilst 20
years ago it was almost 42%.
The ONS report stated: “Reasons for an
increased number of women aged 40 and over conceiving include increased
participation in higher education; delayed marriage and partnership
formation; the desire to establish a career, get on the housing ladder
and ensure financial stability before starting a family.”, adding there
was ‘a shift in aspirations of young women towards education’.
Women seem to embrace motherhood between the
ages of 30 and 34 as merely 12.8% of pregnant women decided to go for
abortions in 2011.
Other figures show there appears to be more women
under the age of 30 who now choose to delay getting married and many
women decide they cannot afford to raise a child. Approximately 27.7% of women in the age group 20 to 24 years ended their pregnancies in abortion. Almost
half of girls aged under 18 had an abortion, whereas around six out of
ten pregnancies in girls aged under 16 end with an abortion.
In fact, according to the ONS report, pregnancy
rates in girls under 18 dropped to its lowest level since 1969 when
equivalent records were first started. The number of pregnancies in the
under 18s has come down by 10% over a year, now totalling 31,000 across
England and Wales – suggesting more use of contraception. In addition, pregnancies among the under 16s also decreased by 10% to under 6,000.
Reflecting on the figures, a spokeswoman for the
abortion provider BPAS said: “Women take motherhood extremely seriously
and are increasingly waiting until they feel emotionally and financially
secure enough to have a child. Contraception is never 100 per cent
effective and at BPAS we frequently see women in long-term relationships
trying to avoid pregnancy in their more fertile twenties and early
thirties, which can result in unplanned pregnancy.”
Tuesday 26 February 2013
A Mediterranean diet can decrease heart attack risk
Cholesterol-busting statins such as Crestor (Rosuvastatin) and Lipitor (Atorvastatin) are currently prescribed to nearly a tenth (7 million) of the UK population and function by raising good/protective cholesterol (HDL) and lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. The higher your cholesterol level, the bigger risk there is of suffering from a heart attack and stroke due to your arteries being clogged up with the fat-like substance known as cholesterol.
However, Spanish researchers led by Prof Ramon Estruch, a professor of medicine at Barcelona University, believe that consuming a Mediterranean diet comprising of plenty lot of fruit, vegetables, fish and wine, and only small amounts of red meat or dairy products, can provide some degree of defence against heart problems.
Many have previously acknowledged the fact that people from Mediterranean countries are more inclined to have lower levels of heart disease though there has been uncertainty if this was due to hereditary factors, or linked to diet and lifestyle.
For the study, the Spanish academics tracked 7,447 people during the years of 2003 and 2009 – consisting of men aged 55 to 88 and women aged 60 to 80. None of the participants had any kind of cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study. However, they were all at risk due to having type 2 diabetes or were at risk due to having three things from a list of health problems. These were: smoking, high blood pressure, high levels of bad cholesterol, low levels of healthy cholesterol, overweight or there being family history of coronary heart disease.
The participants were assigned into one of three groups; two of which were instructed to eat a Mediterranean diet – one supplemented with four table spoons of extra-virgin olive oil and the other with about one ounce of nuts (walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts). The third group were instead told to stick to a diet that included low-fat dairy products, grains and fruits and vegetables.
Following an average of 4.8 years assessment, 228 had either suffered a heart attack or stroke or died of heart-related problems. Of this total, 96 were in the olive oil group (3.4% of participants), 83 in the group eating plenty of nuts (3.4%) and 109 in the low-fat group (4.4%). This equates to a 30% decline in risk for those on the Mediterranean diets compared with the low fat diet.
Researchers say that important elements from the diets that boosted health included moderate consumption of ethanol – derived from the wine, low consumption of meat, and high intake of vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, fish and olive oil. In fact they were so impressed with their study findings that they began adopting a Mediterranean diet themselves.
The authors conclude: “The results of our trial might explain, in part, the lower cardiovascular mortality in Mediterranean countries than in northern Europe or the United States.”
Although not involved with the study, Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, commented on its findings, and advised against anybody deciding to forsake their prescribed statins in favour of merely a change in diet. He said: “This large long-term study shows that eating a Mediterranean diet is associated with heart health benefits, including reductions in heart attack, stroke and deaths from cardiovascular disease. While these findings aren’t new they add to our knowledge and confidence that a Mediterranean diet can help cut down your cardiovascular risk. A well-balanced diet low in salt, saturated fat and sugar is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle. That said, a Mediterranean diet should not replace your prescribed medication.”
Vladimir Putin passes anti-smoking law in Russia
The new law will be introduced in two stages; From 1 June 2013, Russians will no longer be able to light-up on at railway stations, on municipal transport, in lifts and bus stations, administrative buildings and any place of education or health.
Then, precisely one year later on 1 June 2014, the ban will extend to also cover ships, long distance trains, train platforms, hotels, cafés and restaurants. In addition to the ban in public areas, the law will forbid any advertising of tobacco products, tobacco companies will not be allowed to sponsor any events and a minimum retail price will be introduced for cigarettes.
Russia has the world’s second largest tobacco market after China and the new law is just the latest in many actions President Putin has taken to promote healthy lifestyles since he began a new six-year term in 2012.
Parliament passed the bill earlier in this month and only one deputy in the State Duma voted against the anti-smoking legislation, which will be called “On protecting the health of citizens from the danger of passive smoking and the consequences of the use of tobacco”.
The Russian government say that the health related problems directly related to smoking is draining the budget of an incredible 1.2 trillion roubles ($40 billion) – 6.3% of the country’s GDP. In addition, in October 2012 Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev released an Internet video stating that smoking claims approximately 400,000 lives each year in Russia and the hope is that the new law cuts this figure to around 150,000-200,000.
President Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev are both non-smokers. However Mr Medvedev works alongside ministers in the cabinet who are known to be guilty of chain-smokers such as the Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Friday 22 February 2013
Average Brit only diets after reaching 13st 10lbs
Whatever the trigger is for deciding to lose weight, it seems that compared to previous years, it now takes Brits a lot more gained weight before we open our eyes and realise something needs to be done about the situation – what has been referred to as ‘fat blindness’.
New figures indicate that it takes until the scales tip 13st 10lbs until the average person decides that they need to spring into action and rectify their spiralling weight.
Weight Watchers have compiled statistics that give an interesting insight into when people decided to lose weight in the current day compared to years gone by. The weight loss group document the weight of all new members upon subscription – primarily women, but some men do sign-up to Weight Watchers as well.
The stats show that average start weight of the group’s members has been gradually increasing since 1989 when the figure stood at just over 12 stone to the 13st 10lb it stands at today – representing a rise of over 10%.
With regards to Body Mass Index (BMI), the average new member’s starting weight has gone up from 29.2 in 1989 to 32 in the present day. Therefore, the average weight of a new Weight Watchers member is more often than not going to be classed as obese (with a BMI of over 30) and last year alone there were a staggering 850,000 new members joining to Weight Watchers groups all around the UK.
However, it gets worse. Shocking figures to emerge yesterday from the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre claim that 65% of men and 58% of women are now classed as overweight or obese. It seems Britain’s obesity epidemic shows no signs of improving anytime soon.
Weight Watchers say that these are the top seven reasons that prompt people to lose weight:
. Unflattering photos.
. Poor health.
. Friends or family losing weight.
. Not wanting to be fat for a milestone birthday.
. Wanting to keep up with children or grandchildren.
. Being called names in the street.
. Getting married.
Zoe Hellman, Head of Public Health at Weight Watchers said: “The inability to recognise what an overweight or obese body looks like is a symptom of how out of touch we are with a healthy weight and shape. We’re suffering from ‘fat blindness’, which is causing people to delay seeking help until they are significantly overweight. Where obesity was the exception, sadly it is rapidly becoming the rule. It’s time to buck the trend. We’re here to help people make a positive change in their lives by teaching them to make smarter, better informed food choices for long term, sustainable weight loss. Though losing weight may be daunting, especially for those with a significant amount of weight to lose, dropping just 5-10 per cent of your body weight can significantly improve your health. It’s natural to judge ourselves based on comparisons of those around us. So unfortunately, the more people who are overweight and obese, the more ‘normal’ it becomes. This phenomenon helps to make being overweight much more acceptable, reducing any pressure to make healthy lifestyle changes or seek support. It may also mean those who are overweight fail to recognise they have a problem with their weight at all.”
Olympic hero Laura Trott speaks on her fight against asthma
For those who have already read the extensive article Medical Specialists Pharmacy ran, discussing living with asthma and listing some of the many celebrities with asthma, it could prove surprising and at the same time inspirational to learn that the lung condition can be properly managed and be an obstacle in achieving your dreams.
If some of these aspirations happen to be of a sporting nature, you could be forgiven for thinking that a respiratory condition such as asthma that causes difficulty, wheezing, and coughing—can be an impossible hindrance.
In fact, exercise is one of many triggers for asthma, but professional sportsman and asthmatics such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Paula Radcliffe and Rebecca Adlington have demonstrated that it is still possible to succeed.
Added to that list is double Olympic gold medallist Laura Trott, who at a mere 20 years of age, won gold medals in both the Team Pursuit and Omnium events at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
This week, Laura gave a detailed and moving account into her asthma diagnosis and how she has managed to not only cope, but fight her way to Olympic gold – before the age of 21! In addition, she is currently giving her support to the ‘big up your chest’ campaign – Asthma UK’s online resource for asthma sufferers aged between 16 and 25.
She says: “Although I was born early by caesarean, when I arrived in the world, everything seemed fine. But when I didn’t start crying, the doctors quickly realised that something wasn’t quite right. I wasn’t breathing and I was making this croaking sound. No air was getting through so they rushed me to intensive care before Mum even had a chance to hold me. They pulled my dad aside and told him that I’d been born with a collapsed lung and that they needed to operate to save my life.
I went into the operating theatre immediately and they inserted a tube underneath my left underarm – you can still see the zigzag scar today – which inflated the lung that wasn’t working back up to a safer level. Once this had happened, I remained in intensive care for four weeks and after a total of six weeks I was allowed home.
But from the age of two I developed this perpetual cold. I literally had a chest infection for four years, a permanent wheeze on my chest. But asthma can’t be officially diagnosed until a child is six.
By that point I was at junior school and doing PE but I was always becoming very easily out of breath. So I was taken for this test where my breath was measured on a ventilator before and after running down the street for four minutes.
Asthma was finally confirmed and from then on I had to use an inhaler.
The first one I had was this enormous great plastic thing, which I had to lug around in my rucksack every day. I had to take two puffs in the morning, two at lunchtime and two in the evening and I thought it was the most annoying thing in the world.
But after a couple of weeks, I got used to it and gradually realised that asthma wasn’t such a big deal and I certainly didn’t let it get in the way of me doing sport.
Until the age of about 12, I’d always preferred trampolining to cycling but then one day when I was learning how to do a double back somersault I passed out in the air and came down like a sack of potatoes.
My coach was standing underneath me thinking, ‘Oh my God, I need to catch a dead body weight here’. I’d got so dehydrated that I had passed out! Back home I passed out again, narrowly missing hitting my head on the fireplace.
I had loads of tests done afterwards and ultimately they told me that I would have to quit trampolining because it was just too dangerous for me.
So, despite the asthma, I threw myself into cycling, which I’d started at the same time my mum had decided she’d wanted to lose weight – she lost five stone in 18 months! Seeing her determination, I desperately wanted to follow in her footsteps. And if I always had my inhaler with me, my asthma wasn’t really an issue.
That said, the two occasions when I have had a full-on asthma attack – both in the same week when I was 17 and had just finished my A levels – were terrifying.
I was lying on a sofa round at one of my friend’s houses and suddenly there was just no air coming through to my lungs. I was trying to take deep breaths but I just couldn’t breathe and my chest was absolutely killing me. I was gasping for air and I panicked, it felt like I was going to suffocate. I remember crying until my friend got my inhaler and then two or three minutes later I was back to normal again. It happened again the week after that, but it hasn’t happened since.
I’ve heard stories of some people having attacks each week so I’m always extra careful to have my inhaler with me. And apart from suffering ‘pursuiter’s cough’ more painfully than others, which all elite cyclists get after a really full-on race, I don’t let it affect my performance.
What is still a problem, although not quite as serious as it used to be, is my acid reflux.
I know, I sound like a walking health disaster but basically the acid levels in my stomach are too high so if you imagine your tummy’s like a balloon full of food, after a particularly strenuous exertion like a pursuit, or the Omnium event at the Olympics, the acid in my stomach rises and there’s nowhere for the food to go except out.
I regularly vomit after races and if I’m not sick I can taste the rank bile in my mouth. I take tablets to reduce the acid levels, which help a bit, but you can’t take them continually so it’s an on-going issue…Some people might look at the fact they’ve got asthma and acid reflux and let it get in the way of what they want to do, but you can’t have everything, can you? And at least I’ve got fast legs!
It does seem crazy what’s happened. I had such a bad start; I reckon I deserved a break somewhere. I never thought I’d be winning gold medals though. After my taste of success at the London Olympics, there’s no chance that I’m going to let asthma get in my way.
I’ve had it for 18 years so I’m certainly not going to let it affect me now, no way.”
Thursday 21 February 2013
The FDA clamp down on ‘generic Tamiflu'
However, as the 2009 Swine flu pandemic proved, varying types of flu can strike at any time of the year – not just the winter months, and absolutely anybody is at risk of developing the potentially serious condition that is identifiable by symptoms including: a sudden onset of fever (more than 37.8°C), cough, runny or stuffy nose, headaches, muscle aches and often extreme fatigue.
Tamiflu has a dual use in that it can be taken to prevent contracting flu following exposure to an infected person such as a friend or family member, or if infected, it is a highly effective method of treatment as it works at stopping the influenza virus from spreading around the body and easing the symptoms.
Failure to treat flu before it advances into a more serious health problem may not be the only thing to now consider according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who this week released warnings to the general public about fake flu products that are now being marketed on the internet.
Said products are not just a waste of your money, but they can be incredibly harmful and consumers must be aware that Tamiflu is not manufactured in a generic version either in the U.S. or here in the UK.
The FDA have also fired warning letters to ten separate online supplement suppliers since January 24, demanding they cease the production and sale of medicines marketed as generic versions of the prescription flu treatment Tamiflu in addition to the use of misleading labelling of products being marketed as ‘flu remedies’.
In one of these strongly worded letters, the FDA warned that a drug distributor — ‘Supplementality LLC’ — were guilty of ‘improperly offering products intended to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, treat or cure the flu virus’.
Gary Coody, a pharmacist and the FDA’s national health fraud coordinator, warned: “Unapproved antiviral products could be contaminated or counterfeit. They could contain the wrong medications. In the past we’ve tested products purported to be Tamiflu and found acetaminophen alone or penicillin derivatives, and those could pose some serious problems. We want people to take effective preventive measures against the flu. Not only could they be getting something totally ineffective, they could have a false sense of protection.”
Coody says the fact that some companies offer supplements that claim to neutralise the flu or even serve as replacements for the flu shot is both outrageous and dangerous – as people who purchase them assume they are safe being exposed to flu virus when in reality they are not.
Genuine Tamiflu, manufactured by Roche, is available today from Medical Specialists Pharmacy from as little as £21.98 per pack following an online consultation with one of our GMC-registered doctors. We dramatically lowered the price of Tamiflu back in 2012 to help out all new and existing patients during this difficult recession.
Wednesday 20 February 2013
Fungi found in the lungs could offer clues about asthma
Previously, many would have assumed that our lungs were absent of life, so the new discovery that the lungs are host to organisms may now prove massively beneficial for the 5.4 million people across the UK who have asthma.
The large study, which is the first of its kind, has been published in the journal BMC Infectious Disease. It shows how the team from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine have managed to detect high numbers of fungi existing in healthy lungs, whilst also finding other differing kinds of fungi in asthma patients.
“Historically, the lungs were thought to be sterile”, says Hugo van Woerden from Cardiff University’s Institute of Primary Care and Public Health, who led the research.
He continued: “Our analysis found that there are large numbers of fungi present in healthy human lungs. The study also demonstrates that asthma patients have a large number of fungi in their lungs and that the species of fungi are quite different to those present in the lungs of healthy individuals.”
Van Woerden and his colleagues analysed the mucus or sputum from a large collection of patients both with and without asthma and subsequently unearthed some 136 different fungal species from the induced sputum samples. Of this total, 90 fungal species more prevalent within the lungs of asthma patients and 46 were more common within the lungs of patients who did not suffer from asthma.
“Establishing the presence of fungi in the lungs of patients with asthma could potentially open up a new field of research which brings together molecular techniques for detecting fungi and developing treatments for asthma. In the future it is conceivable that individual patients may have their sputum tested for fungi and their treatment adjusted accordingly”, added van Woerden.
Cardiff researchers have previously established a link between fungi and asthma however and they have said in the past that by eradicating fungi from people’s homes, this could dramatically help life for those who suffer with asthma.
Medical Specialists Pharmacy is able to help you if you are suffering from asthma. We can provide any new or existing asthma patient with a wide range of medications. If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. You can undergo a quick and easy confidential online consultation with one of our GMC-registered Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house RPSGB–registered Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice. We have both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone and Qvar Easi-Breathe.
Calls for tax on fizzy drinks to ease UK obesity epidemic
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC), who represent almost every one of the 220,000 UK doctors, say rapidly expanding waistlines are a ‘huge crisis’ and have caused them to create their own action plan on how to fight the problem. In their report, the AMRC state that existing measures have been unsuccessful at affecting obesity levels and argue that unhealthy food should be viewed in the same light as cigarettes.
Professor Terence Stephenson, the chair of the Academy, said: “That required things like a ban on advertising and a reduction in marketing and the association of smoking with sporting activities – that helped people move away from smoking. I choose what I eat or whether I smoke, what people have told us is they want help to swim with the tide rather than against the current to make the healthy choice the easy one.”
Therefore, the AMRC propose a number of solutions that include 20% tax being implemented on sugary soft drinks for at least a period of a year – urging ministers, councils, the NHS and food organisations to take action against what it deems to be ‘the greatest public health crisis affecting the UK’.
Its recommendations include:
. No advertising on foods high in saturated fat, sugar and salt prior to 9pm.
. More taxes on sugary drinks to increase prices by at least 20%.
. Less fast food outlets near schools, colleges, leisure centres and other places where children convene.
. A £100m budget set aside interventions such as weight-loss surgery.
. Junk food and vending machines in hospitals to be banned, where all food must meet the same nutritional standards as in schools.
. Food labels to include calorie information for children.
Other recommendations suggestions include NHS staff discussing with overweight patients about their eating and exercise tendencies and guidance for new parents on how best to feed their children.
The academy’s new proposals have finally been released after a year-long investigation into the country’s obesity epidemic. It is now estimated that one in four adults (around 26%) in England is obese – I.e. with a body mass index that is between 30 and 40. Even worse, health experts predict that by the year 2050, 60% of all men will be obese in addition to half of women and a quarter of children.
The following graph demonstrates how the obesity levels within the UK have been steadily rising in recent years:
Prof Stephenson added that the new ideas will not offer a full solution to the UK’s obesity crisis, and continued to criticise sugary drinks for being nothing more than ‘just water and sugar’. He put forth his dismay at a culture where it is the norm for somebody to casually consume a litre of fizzy drink at the cinema. A tax would help to ‘encourage people to drink more healthy drinks’ he said.
Accident and Emergency waiting times are at their worst levels in a decade
Research carried out by health think tank The King’s Fund indicates that between October and December 2012, around 232,000 patients were waiting for more than four hours – equivalent to 4.3% of all the patients at A&E wards around the country. Although technically still reaching the government’s aim of 95% of patients being attended to in that time, it seems the situation has been getting steadily worse over the last few months.
The 95% target was reduced from 98% by the Coalition government who argued it enables doctors the facility to more efficiently study and treat complex cases and less urgent cases are not prioritised over the more serious ones.
The 232,000 patients stuck waiting for over four hours is a 21% increase contrasted against the same time period in 2011 and represents the highest number for those particular months since 2003.
In the report, it says: “The proportion of patients waiting more than four hours from arrival in A&E to admission, transfer or discharge in the third quarter of 2012/13 (October to December) rose by 21 per cent over the previous year and 38 per cent on the previous quarter. Nevertheless, overall, the NHS remained within target on this waiting times measure – although around a quarter, or 65 trusts recorded breaching the target during this quarter affecting more than 232,000 patients.”
Commenting on the findings, Professor John Appleby, Chief Economist at The King’s Fund said: “This is probably a combination of factors. By relaxing the target, the system will move towards that new relaxed level and is readjusting, plus demand is rising for A&E attendances and if the rest of the hospital is under pressure, and cannot discharge patients as quickly, you get a blockage in A&E. It doesn’t take much for things to start to go wrong. The percentages may look small but it is affecting a lot of people now. 232,000 in that quarter so nearing a million if that were repeated year round. Also the numbers of trusts it is affecting is increasing showing it is no longer just a problem for a few trusts.”
Some of the key points of the report were:
. Many patients who required admittance onto a ward were actually just being left on trolleys for long lengths of time.
. A survey of NHS finance directors found many were concerned about budgets, with a third complaining that the quality of patient care in their area had deteriorated in the previous year – double the number of those who had similar claims in the last survey.
. Around a quarter of all the countries hospital trusts have reported failures in meeting the A&E target – showing that the issue urgently needs addressing.
Prof Appleby added: “The NHS faces unprecedented financial pressures, and there are growing worries that patient care will suffer. For social care, it will be increasingly difficult for councils to make further savings without directly cutting services or affecting quality. Health and care services have coped well until now, but it is clear that many organisations expect things to become much more difficult over the coming year.”
Health Minister Lord Howe also spoke on the report and said: “Patients need to be able to rely on prompt, high quality, urgent and emergency care and treatment. We are clear that patients shouldn’t face excessive waits for treatment. Where there is extra demand on services, hospitals and staff need to work together to ensure that patients get the care they need.”
Friday 15 February 2013
Overweight woman assumed ‘pregnant’ loses half her body weight
Jodie Driver, 23, had long been referred to as ‘the bubbly and cuddly one’ during school years, however one particularly cruel male masseur at a holiday resort in Turkey left her feeling like action needed to be taken to reduce the size 22 frame being carried on her 5ft 2in stature.
It was back in June 2009, when Jodie accompanied her mother Jo, 45 and a friend on holiday in Bodrum, Turkey, where they decided to sample the local culture by having a traditional Turkish bath and massage.
For 16 stone Jodie however, this would mean exposing the weight being hidden underneath her clothes and she felt reluctance. After doing so, nasty jibes from the male masseuse soon made her rush to put the clothes back on.
Reminiscing about the life-changing holiday, Jodie says: “The masseur told me to take my clothes off so I stripped down to my underwear. The first thing he did was point to my stomach and said “baby?” I was gob smacked, and told him “no, definitely not”. He then said again “baby?” while making belly shapes with his hands on his own stomach. I was horrified.”
Jodie added: “During the whole massage he was talking and joking to his mates in Turkish and they were all laughing at me, it was really demoralising.”
After this upsetting episode, Jodie stayed covered up for the remainder of her holiday for fear of further insult. Then after arriving back home and browsing through her holiday pictures, she was shocked by her appearance.
“I looked at myself in the photographs and said: “I have to change”. I saw myself smiling, but I didn’t look happy, there was a sadness around me.”
Not wasting any time to make positive changes to her lifestyle, Jodie signed up to a gym the very next day to begin the process of losing weight. Her goal was to complete the 2010 Race for Life and to do this she began going to the gym three times every week and gave up junk food.
Initially, Jodie found it difficult to run 30 seconds, let alone the 5k distance for the Race for Life. However, by banishing takeaway and ready meals and opting for chicken and vegetables, her energy levels soon began to increase and she suddenly found herself being able to run for an hour at the gym.
Six months later and Jodie had lost an incredible four stone and now adheres to a healthy diet that consists of oats with water and a scoop of whey protein for breakfast, Greek yoghurt, white fish with vegetables and chicken with spinach and sweet potatoes.
She eventually ran the Race for Life in just 35 minutes on her 21st birthday and then aimed to complete a half marathon the following year in April 2011 - which she managed to do and complete in 1 hour and 53 minutes.
Jodie is now a size 8 dress size and looks healthy, toned and happier than ever! “I now train six days a week, doing around one hour cardiovascular exercise plus weight training which targets specific muscle groups. It takes an awful lot of self-discipline…Looking back, I ironically have a lot to thank that Turkish masseur, as he inspired me to change my life. He did me the biggest favour.”
In what is an incredible turnaround and inspiration for those needing the motivation to lose weight – Jodie now plans to compete in the UK Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation’s bikini category later on this year.
If Jodie’s amazing weight loss story has motivated you to drop the excess pounds and reap the benefits, you can achieve similar success by adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with a scientifically proven weight loss aid such as XLS-Medical, Alli, or the prescription medication Xenical. All are available today from Medical Specialists Pharmacy at incredibly low prices.
Thursday 14 February 2013
MPs castigate Government’s ‘flat footed’ response to the horsemeat scandal
They have called for more widespread testing of processed meat products to ensure people there is no danger to their health.
As they criticised the coalition government yesterday, the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee argued that saying its ability to efficiently react to the scandal had been severely hampered by staff and funding cuts to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2010, adding that the British public have been ‘cynically and systematically duped’ for financial gain by certain sectors of the food industry.
The report states: “It seems improbable that individuals prepared to pass horse meat off as beef illegally are applying the high hygiene standards rightly required in the food production industry. We recommend that the Government and FSA undertake a broader spectrum of testing for products found to have the highest levels of contamination…to provide assurances that there is no other non-bovine DNA or any other substances that could be harmful to human health present.”
Only last night EU ministers decided there will be random testing of meat products for the horse painkiller drug Bute in addition to the testing for horse DNA. This comes after Medical Specialists reported last month that the anti-inflammatory drug had entered the UK food chain, and can cause cancer in humans.
The MPs were also unimpressed about the way in which the government and FSA had acted since horsemeat was first found in the beef products of some of the country’s largest supermarket chains.
They said: “Whilst ministers are properly responsible for policy, the FSA’s diminished role has led to a lack of clarity about where responsibility lies, and this has weakened the UK’s ability to identify and respond to food standards concerns. Furthermore the current contamination crisis has caught the FSA and government flat-footed and unable to respond effectively within structures designed primarily to respond to threats to human health.”
Agreeing with the senior ministers, Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London, told BBC’s Newsnight that the FSA needed to be strengthened. He commented: “It’s not been doing its job. We need more inspectors; they’ve been slashed and cut. We can’t have the industry policing itself, that’s what’s gone wrong. The big food companies didn’t actually have the control they said they had.”
All this comes in the same week that the results of two public surveys emerged, clearly demonstrating the impact the scandal has had on the attitude and confidence of the UK public to the meat industry.
An online survey of 1,946 people conducted for by YouGov for Sky News found that roughly one in five have now changed the way they shop because of the shocking horsemeat scandal and over half (58%) had actually completely ceased buying any processed meats altogether. Moreover, about a third of those surveyed stated they now refuse to buy cheap ranges and instead are opting for costlier processed meat.
So who is at fault for the scandal? Nearly half (49%) of the 1,946 people questioned blamed meat processing companies, 20% blamed food manufacturers, whilst interestingly only 10% believed the supermarkets were culpable for the crisis. Ministers appeared to have been let off the hook by the general public as only 3% thought the government were to blame and 8% the FSA.
On Monday, the Kantar group who run consultancy, advisory and market research services, conducted a poll to find out if shoppers habits had altered as a result of the scandal. They found that 36% were less likely to purchase processed meat, with a further 36% saying it would make no difference. A quarter of people claimed they did not buy processed meat anyway. It appears that men are taking the scandal less seriously than women with almost half of men (47%) claiming that their future purchases of processed meat would not be affected, compared to just a quarter of women (26%).
Husbands with higher-earning wives more likely to use Viagra
Interestingly, the study emanates from Denmark – a country known for its highly popular political thriller ‘Borgen’, which depicts a fictional female prime minister who runs the country whilst her husband remains at home to care for their children. A role reversal on the stereotypical TV shows of years gone by usually show the wife as the housebound partner who looks after the children.
According to the research team involved in the study, Denmark is one of the most progressive countries in the world in terms of women’s rights and loss of male pride could be an even bigger issue in other areas of the world.
The authors comment: “When women out-earn their husbands, it challenges the traditional social norms of the man as economic provider and female income as supplemental.”
For the study, Danish and U.S. researchers looked at prescription data and salaries from approximately 200,000 married Danish couples between 1997 and 2006.
This analysis found that Viagra and other medications to treat male impotence (erectile dysfunction) were particularly prominent within households where the woman was the primary breadwinner.
Remarkably, the pattern was even evident in couples whereby the woman was only bringing home slightly more money than her husband. Men were not the only one requiring some form of treatment though and their high-salaried wives seemed to be more dependent on anxiety and sleeping tablets – perhaps meaning their careers had taken their toll.
Commenting on their findings, the authors say: “Even small differences in relative income are associated with large changes in erectile dysfunction medication usage when they shift the marriage from a male to a female breadwinner.”
Perhaps intriguingly, the trend was not apparent for couples where the wife had been the bigger earner at the beginning of the relationship. Instead, it was seen in those in which the female had developed a bigger salary than the male during the course of their relationship – suggesting that the men may have had felt a dent to their pride and self-esteem. Stress, depression and other such similar problems are all known to be just some of the causes of erectile dysfunction.
In addition, researchers also discovered that a salary disparity in roughly £10,000 favouring the woman, doubled the chance of the man using Viagra.
Concluding their study, the authors state: “We in no way suggest that the trend towards female breadwinners is socially harmful; greater equality and opportunity for women present undeniable economic and social benefits. Nor do we argue that all men will respond to upward income comparisons negatively; many husbands are proud of and attracted to high-earning wives. Yet recent evidence suggests that gender roles have changed little over the past 20 years. If social norms against female breadwinners continue to be strong, increasing female income will produce real costs in marriage, including the anxiety, insomnia and erectile dysfunction identified here.”
Wednesday 13 February 2013
Small salt reduction could save thousands of lives
British health professionals voiced their concerns about the UK’s ignorance to the dangers of too much salt after the publication of a damning U.S.-based study that linked the high salt content in processed foods to the obesity crisis in America.
British GP Ian Campbell, medical director of charity Weight Concern, said: “The same problems exist in the UK, with heart disease a well-recognised consequence of excessive salt. Greater awareness of the harm salt can do might help people choose to reduce their intake. Processed food is high in fat, sugar and salt. Food manufacturers have significantly reduced salt content, but it’s still too high. The average person has no idea of the quantities of salt in their diet – simply because they’re not adding it, the manufacturers are. People need to be aware the food we eat does affect our health directly. If you don’t know what’s in the food you are about to eat, ask.”
High levels of salt in a person’s diet can raise your blood pressure and hypertension (high blood pressure) means you are at an increased risk of health problems such as heart disease and stroke. Doctors are adamant that if consumers paid more attention to food labels, an incredible 25,000 lives could be saved each year.
Unfortunately though, many Brits are still unaware of theirs or their children’s daily recommended maximum intake, or even any rough idea of how much salt they are currently taking in.
According to health officials, if the average salt intake was reduced by merely a single gram, this could save 6,000 lives and £1.5billion annually. If the average consumption however dropped by four grams, approximately 25,000 deaths could be averted each year. British Heart Foundation statistics say that on average, men consume around 9.7g of salt a day and women fare a little better and average 7.7g – but still way above the recommended limit.
Dr. Campbell added: “Salt is a big problem in the UK too. It’s a silent killer. Over time consuming too much of it increases the risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. About 80 per cent of our salt intake comes from processed foods, so it can be difficult to avoid. Many people are unaware of where salt is hidden, such as bread, soups, ready meals, even breakfast cereals and mayonnaise. The Government approach has been to encourage food manufacturers to modify the amount of salt in their products. There has been a reduction but it is taking too long. The Food Standards Agency should consider setting mandatory maximum levels for salt.”
The recommended daily salt intake for adults has been 6g for many years, (around one full teaspoon), although the World Health Organization have spoken many times in recent years stating that at the very most, 5g should be the maximum intake each day. However, current NHS guidance still sets the current daily limits to:
. 1 to 3 years: 2g salt a day (0.8g sodium).
. 4 to 6 years: 3g salt a day (1.2g sodium).
. 7 to 10 years: 5g salt a day (2g sodium).
. 11 years and over: 6g salt a day (2.4g sodium).
One of the biggest factors why people suffer with heart disease or stroke is because of high cholesterol. Salt itself does not contribute to high cholesterol levels, but consuming too much salt can cause high blood pressure that in turn is attributed to heart disease and stroke. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the salt levels in your food.
To maintain healthy cholesterol levels you can also make other positive lifestyle changes to reduce risk factors, including: quitting smoking, lose weight if you are overweight, and limit the fat in your diet. All these will benefit blood pressure as well as cholesterol. Medication such as statins may be required if dietary alterations alone are not enough to have an effect, and for suitable patients they are obtainable from Medical Specialists Pharmacy at low prices. For more information about Crestor (rosuvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin), and Generic Atorvastatin, visit the Health and Lifestyle area of the Medical Specialists website.
Caesarean babies lose gut bacteria and risk developing asthma
And now a new study recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal has identified that babies born in this particular manner could have fewer than normal ‘good’ bacteria in their digestive tract and thus not benefiting from these protective bugs preventing health problems in childhood and later life such as asthma and allergies.
Researchers in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Hamilton claim that they have compiled evidence that demonstrates infants born by caesarean delivery actually lack group of bacteria common in the stool of those infants delivered naturally, regardless of being breastfed or not. In particularly, babies born by c-section had significantly fewer bacteria of the Escherichia-Shigella and absolute nothing of the Bacteroides species.
“Shigella and Bacteroides are organisms picked up from mom and considered first colonizers,” says senior author Anita Kozyrskyj. “They lay the foundation for further microbes that become part of our normal microbiome.”
For the study, examinations were carried out on the stool samples from 24 healthy infants who are part of the larger Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study. Samples were obtained as the babies reached four months of age. The comprehensive microbial survey was feasible because of advances in DNA sequencing techniques.
The researchers state that the potential long-term consequences of decisions in relation to the way in which a baby is delivered and an infant’s diet are ‘not to be underestimated’. In their report, the researchers comment: “Infants born by caesarean delivery are at increased risk of asthma, obesity and Type 1 diabetes, whereas breastfeeding is variably protective against these and other disorders. Our findings are particularly timely given the recent affirmation of the gut microbiota as a ‘super organ’ with diverse roles in health and disease, and the increasing concern over rising caesarean delivery and insufficient exclusive breastfeeding in Canada.”
Specific reasons for the differences in gut bacteria have not been fully established, but it could be that caesarean-born babies are missing out on physiological changes occurring during labour that includes exposure to bugs that are necessary for the immune system to develop.
Interestingly, in Canada where the study was primarily focused on, a parallel rise of caesareans and certain illnesses such as asthma has been witness in the last two decades. In 1990, roughly 18% of all births were delivered by this method and statistics now show that c-sections currently comprise of about 27% of all births within Canada. The prevalence of asthma has also increased during this time period and there are now about three million Canadians who suffer with the lung condition. This is in addition to the 5.4 million Brits currently receiving treatment for asthma and many more millions worldwide.
Rob Knight, associate professor at the University of Colorado and a co-author of a commentary published with the study, said: “C-section and asthma could be connected. There have been several studies showing that more diverse microbial communities lead to lower rates of asthma, allergies and autoimmune diseases, and this study shows that c-section leads to lower microbial diversity.”
Tuesday 12 February 2013
Effective prescription treatments for adult acne
Have you gotten yourself into a spot of bother trying to find an
effective acne treatment now that Retin-A is no longer available? Well
there is no reason to be a hothead about those blackheads! Medical
Specialists Pharmacy are here to the rescue with three exciting products
to combat acne; Duac, Differin and Epiduo – with the latter two being
shown to have anti-ageing benefits too!If you are unfamiliar with these treatments, we’ll begin by explaining about them and how they work:
Duac
Duac once daily gel is a prescription only acne treatment that can be obtained in either a 25g or 50g tube. The gel is comprised of two key active ingredients that are common medications often used in treating inflammatory acne; 1% clindamycin phosphate and 5% benzoyl peroxide. The antibiotic Clindamycin destroys the bacteria associated with acne while benzoyl peroxide reduces blackheads and whiteheads, making the skin less oily.
Tips for using Duac
. Keep Duac away from your eyes, mouth, nose or mucous membranes. The medication can irritate these particular areas.
. The benzoyl peroxide may bleach hair, clothing, pillowcases, towels, etc. so don’t let it come in contact with these until fully dry and always make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after use.
. If you are using Duac prior to going to bed, a white pillowcase is advised. Other colours may bleach out, regardless if the medication is fully dry or not.
. Have some patience with the medication and the results will be worth it! It may take 4 to 6 weeks before you see the full effect of Duac once daily gel.
Differin
Obtainable in either a gel or cream (both are a 45g size), Differin is a prescription medication used for the treatment of mild to moderate acne. It belongs to a class of medication called ‘retinoids’ and its active ingredient is a form of vitamin A called ‘adapalene’ which has an anti-inflammatory effect, reducing soreness and irritation in the skin. Differin increases the turnover of the skin cells. This aids the natural exfoliation of the outer layers of skin, helping to unblock pores and decreases the formation of comedones and spots. It is used on the face, chest or back for acne, where the skin has lots of blackheads, spots and pimples. Differin is only absorbed into the body in very small amounts and has little effect, except on the surface of the skin. Differin has also been shown to be an effective treatment for anti-ageing.[1]
Tips for using Differin
. For a female; whilst using Differin you must always take precautions when having intimate relations. Should you become pregnant, immediately stop using the medication. In addition, never use Differin when breastfeeding.
. Keep Differin away from your eyes, mouth, nose or mucous membranes. If the medication accidentally comes into contact with your eyes, make sure to immediately wash it out using warm water.
. Differin works by preventing pimples from forming under the surface of the skin. Therefore, simply spot-treating existing pimples will not be very effective. It is advised to apply Differin over the whole area where acne is problematic.
. It is possible to use other skin preparations to treat acne whilst using Differin and some people can be prescribed both Duac and Differin for their acne, obviously following advice from their own doctor. Other treatments should be applied at a different time of day to when you would use the Differin.
. To see maximum result, use Differin regularly and it might be ideal to apply it at the same time daily. Do not apply a larger amount than necessary or use the medication more frequently than advised by your doctor. Otherwise, this could result in pain, redness and peeling.
Epiduo
Epiduo is an effective, prescription only acne treatment available in the form of a once-daily gel. Epiduo is a white to very pale yellow opaque gel and combines two active ingredients; 0.1% adapalene and 2.5% benzoyl peroxide which work together but in different ways. Adapalene belongs to a class of medications called ‘retinoids’ and acts specifically on the skin processes that cause acne. The other active ingredient, benzoyl peroxide, works as an antimicrobial agent and by softening and peeling the outer layer of the skin. The gel unblocks the skin’s pores and kills the bacteria that causes spots to form, thus helping to prevent new spots from breaking out and reduces inflamed, uncomfortable spots. Epiduo also treats blackheads and whiteheads. The active ingredient in Epiduo has been shown to be effective treatment for wrinkles and anti-ageing.[1]
Tips for using Epiduo
. For a female; whilst using Epiduo, you must always take precautions when having intimate relations. Should you become pregnant, immediately stop using the medication. In addition, never use Epiduo when breastfeeding.
. To see maximum result, use Epiduo regularly and it might be ideal to apply it at the same time daily. Do not apply a larger amount than necessary or use the medication more frequently than advised by your doctor. Otherwise, this could result in pain, redness and peeling.
. Only use Epiduo on the skin and do not apply it to the inner lip area, inside the nose and mouth, or on mucus membranes. Do not use the Epiduo on skin that is cut, scraped, sunburned or affected by eczema.
. Epiduo is applied topically over all skin areas where acne is a problem. As well as a facial treatment, and it can be used body breakouts too.
Which is right for you?
Medical Specialists Pharmacy advises you to undergo a consultation with your own GP to ascertain the type and severity of your acne. With this knowledge and the information we have provided about these medications, you may then choose the most appropriate treatment. Duac, Differin and Epiduo are all available today at low prices from the ‘Skin & Scalp’ area of the Medical Specialists website.
1. Herane MI. et al (2012) “Clinical efficacy of adapalene (differin®) 0.3% gel in Chilean women with cutaneous photoaging. ” J Dermatolog Treat. 57-64. PMID 22007702
Friday 8 February 2013
Scottish cigarette display and vending machine ban begins on 29 April
Smaller retailers however appear to have a few years left before the new rules affect them as they will be given until 6 April, 2015 to fully abide by rules as laid out in the ‘Tobacco & Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010’.
The legislation, which was approved in Scottish Parliament on 27th January 2010 by a massive majority, includes key points that are clearly crafted at making it difficult for under-18s to obtain tobacco and lessen the appeal of smoking. It has also been designed to prevent people lighting-up at an early age and later developing a possible whole range of health conditions that are connected to smoking such as: cancer, heart disease, stroke, asthma, high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction and many more.
According to Scottish Governmental statistics, smoking kills approximately 13,500 Scots each year (equivalent to one in five of all deaths), it is the cause of around 33,500 hospital admissions and results in the NHS Scotland spending around £400 million each year to treat smoking-related health conditions.
The Tobacco & Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010:
. Bans the display of tobacco and smoking related products in shops.
. Bans the sale of tobacco from vending machines.
. Introduces a tobacco sales registration scheme, which will be free for retailers to join.
. Makes it an offence for under-18s to purchase tobacco.
. Makes it an offence for adults to buy tobacco for under 18s (proxy purchase).
. Gives trading standards officers powers to issue fixed penalty notices.
. Gives courts the power to ban retailers from selling tobacco where they have continually broken the law.
. The Act also amends the eligibility criteria for persons wishing to run a GP practice.
Only last December a legal challenge was launched by one of the world’s largest tobacco firms. The Supreme Court eventually dismissed the appeal by Imperial Tobacco, who claimed that the prohibiting of cigarette displays was strictly relevant to Westminster, and thus not within the scope of the Scottish Government. A committee of five judges unanimously ruled against Imperial, stating its arguments were not well-founded.
Michael Matheson, the Public Health Minister for the Scottish Government, said: “We know that reducing the number of people that smoke will have wide benefits for Scotland’s health and evidence shows that these bans will help prevent young people from taking up smoking. That is why we believe this is the right approach for Scotland and I am delighted that we are now in a position to implement these bans, which is a key step in maintaining Scotland’s position as a world leader on tobacco control. We have worked closely with retailers to set this date. We appreciate that smaller retailers need extra time to make the necessary changes and so we have decided that April 2015 represents a fair timescale for implementing the display ban for them.”
Brits are drinking 40% more alcohol than they realise
Moreover, many of these apparent moderate drinkers are consistently exceeding official guidance that limits men to three to four units of alcohol (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer) and two to three units for women (equivalent to a 175ml glass of wine per).
The latest potentially concerning insight into the nation’s drinking culture comes in the form of study conducted by the Department of Health (DoH) which is part of their ‘Change4Life’ TV advertisement campaign. It would seem that the results go some way to showing that the British public are underestimating the quantity and frequency at which they consume alcohol.
The news comes less than three months after it emerged that Prime Minister David Cameron is formulating plans to introduce a 45p minimum price per unit to try and put a stop to the weekend binge drinking that is plaguing town centres across the country and also to reduce alcohol-related illnesses. Back in November, the Home Office claimed that this minimum price of 45p for a unit will slash the annual £42bn spent on alcoholic drinks in England and Wales by over 3%, helping to reduce crime and avoid 714 alcohol-related deaths each year.
As part of the DoH study into typical drinking habits, 19 people aged between 35 and 55 were recruited and asked to report their drink intake over a two week period, describing what kind of drinker they would class themselves as.
According to the information in their drinks diary, it was calculated that the individuals in the study were drinking on average the equivalent of an extra-large glass of wine each day – 40% more than they realised they were drinking.
More findings from the study show that roughly 80% of those that drink too much are indeed aware of the risks to their health yet think of themselves as merely a moderate drinker. In addition, 60% of these ‘moderate’ drinkers do not plan to reduce their alcohol intake at any point in the future.
However, in the second phase of the research, the participants were actually instructed to reduce their alcohol intake and were given simple bits of advice on how best to go about this. The tips provided included adding more of the ‘mixer’ to drinks and ditching alcoholic drinks in favour of soft drinks. Participants were also advised to include alcohol-free days if they would usually drink every day, stop drinking at home prior to going out anywhere, use smaller glasses for drinks and to stick to low-alcohol or alcohol-free drinks.
After the second phase, it was discovered that they had managed to cut alcohol consumption by over a third. The participants had also taken in on average 1,658 less calories each week and managed to pocket an extra £33.35 a week that they wouldn’t have usually (equivalent to £1,730 a year).
Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said: “I understand that people enjoy having a glass of wine or beer to unwind at the end of a busy day – but these drinks stack up and can increase your risk of high blood pressure, cancer or liver disease. The alcohol guidelines recommend that men should not regularly drink more than three to four units a day and women should not regularly drink more than two to three units a day. The Change4Life campaign aims to help and encourage people to check how much they are drinking using the Drinks Checker app or online and if they find they are drinking over the guidelines, provide helpful tips and advice to cut down. Cutting back your drinking can reduce your health risks, reduce your calorie intake, help you sleep better and boost your energy.”
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