It seems even the risk of cancer cannot persuade Brits to drop their excess baggage

Brits do not seem to possess enough motivation to shift those extra pounds it seems according to findings published this week by Cancer Research UK. At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we have already looked into many serious health issues that are directly linked to obesity such as lumbar disc degeneration of the back, and how having a poor diet is linked to high blood pressure and erectile dysfunction.

Cancer Research UK say there is an increasing number of kidney and womb cancer cases being diagnosed, and that more and more of these can be linked to obesity. Smoking is still the main culprit for causing cancer, but being overweight or obese comes in second in terms of cancer risks that you can actually do something about to avoid.  In fact recent data compiled by Cancer Research UK, showed that more than four in 10 cancers could be prevented by people making positive changes to their lifestyle.

Amongst those who answered questions for Cancer Research UK’s latest study, 68% of the overweight women claimed that they lacked the required willpower to lose weight. This was 8% more than the men who admitted the same thing. Overall, 87% of those surveyed did say they wanted to lose weight, but then problems such as ‘having too many other things to worry about’ and ‘ trying it before and not being successful’ were listed as reasons that eventually prevented them for losing weight.

In the midst of a recession, it can be understandable that a lack of money could be one of the main things people are ‘worrying’ about these days. But surely your short and long-term health is just as important? Overweight and obese individuals may regret the decision to decide to give up the admittedly tasking chore of losing those love handles, but bear in mind just some of the many health risks that are associated with obesity:

. High blood pressure (hypertension).
. Type 2 diabetes.
. High cholesterol.
. Joint and back pains.
. Severe tiredness or the inability to exert energy into physical activity.
. Poor circulation, ultimately leading to erectile dysfunction, as explained in great detail here.
. Psychological problems such as low self-esteem, confidence and feeling isolated.

Dr Harpal Kumar is chief executive for Cancer Research UK and he gave his views on the obesity crisis, “Unless we tackle the obesity epidemic in the UK, we risk cancer cases soaring. We understand that it can be extremely hard for people to maintain a healthy weight but keeping those extra pounds at bay could ultimately save your life.”

Dr Susan Jebb, head of diet and population health at the Medical Research Council, added to Dr Kumar’s comments and said, “It’s encouraging that most people recognise a poor diet and lack of physical activity significantly increase their risk of developing cancer. But it’s also clear that most people find it hard to turn their good intentions – to eat better and move more – into sustained changes in their lifestyle.  This gap between knowledge and behaviour helps to explain why the number of people who are obese is continuing to increase. Research shows that to make sustained changes in diet and physical activity people need tangible support from family, friends or health professionals. In the longer term, it’s important that the places we live and work make the healthier choice the easier choice, so healthy living becomes a way of life, not a matter of personal willpower.”

L’Oreal experts develop new treatment for hair loss

Trichologists from Paris have discovered information that could possible pave the way for new methods of treating baldness. Head of hair biology Dr Bruno Bernard and his team at L’Oreal Paris underwent research and found that some hair follicles can become trapped in their resting or ‘sleeping’ state, which then means new hair is not grown and eventually will fall out. Usually hair strands grow for about four years before the follicles become dormant and the strand will fall out. As the follicles remain dormant, stem cells in the skin should begin to kick-start the procedure of growing new hair. However, this process is interrupted and fails to occur for people who are suffering from baldness.

The researchers however may not be able to completely halt the balding process forever; the hair follicles inevitably lose the ability to make new hair. For people who are looking a little thin on top, the future products the team are developing could come in handy and prevent you from having to do a dreaded ‘comb over’, using embarrassing wigs, or hugely expensive hair transplants. Of course, there are already many products available on the market right now that have been shown to effectively combat hair loss in both men and women, such as Propecia, Regaine, Alpecin caffeine shampoo, and Dianette for women – which can also be used for acne, hirsutism and contraceptive purposes.

Dr Bernard says that the company are exploring a treatment that can either be applied to your scalp in a cream or shampoo which may help in hair regrowth. He spoke out on the current developments and said, “Hair follicles exist in two stable states – either an active state or a dormant state. From time to time, they will jump from one state to another. Some of the follicles are just resting in the dormant state and are waiting for the right signal to make new hair. They are in a latency period. If you can reduce this latency period, you will have more hair. We have identified a compound and we are going to make a formulation of it that can be applied to the scalp to wake the follicle up from its sleeping state to the active state.”

David Bailey, a leading UK Trichologist and now retired said, “I can’t see how this treatment can help. There are basically three stages to the hair cycle: Anagen (growing phase), Catagen (resting phase) which lasts about three months, and Telogen (falling out phase). It would seem that this treatment works on shortening the Catagen phase, which is only three months, and would not stop the hair loss process which reduces the Anagen phase.”

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we are fully aware of the impact both male and female pattern baldness can have on a person. It can be massively detrimental to one’s confidence and self-esteem. Male-pattern baldness is the most common type of hair loss, affecting 6.5 million men in the UK and an estimated 35 million in the U.S. In addition, it is believed there are 8 million women just in the UK who suffer from some degree of hair loss. As mentioned earlier, we offer a huge range of prescription and non-prescription treatments that can slow down the process of thinning hair, promote hair growth and help regain your confidence.

UK trio appear in court after money laundering profits from fake impotence drugs

On Sunday three men appeared at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court and were sentenced to a combined 89 weeks in prison in relation to money laundering in excess of £256,000. This followed a criminal investigation conducted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The guilty trio were Michael Bowyer, 63, who was handed a 45 week sentence, David Fairhurst, 61, received 26 weeks and 50 year old George Lowe received 18 weeks which has been suspended for 18 months. All three were arrested in connection to the laundered monetary gains from a Cyprus-based illegal online pharmacy. The illegal activities were orchestrated by a UK criminal who had numerous illegal online pharmacy businesses selling counterfeit medication from outside of the UK.

The MHRA accessed illegal websites which offered counterfeit Viagra and purchased some of the fake pills. They then cooperated with expert financial investigators to begin unearthing the audit trail. After thorough investigations, it was found that the illegal businesses turnover stood at over £1 million over a three year period. The three men took proceeds from the websites’ UK bank account, transferring this to an account in Cyprus using various means.

MHRA Acting Head of Enforcement, Nimo Ahmed, condemned the activities of the convicted counterfeiters and said, “This case highlights the criminality of the people who continue to put profit before patient’s health. These illegal pharmacy websites selling medicines bought from illegitimate sources pose a real threat to people’s health because they simply don’t know what they are getting. We strongly advise people to protect themselves by purchasing their medicines only from sources such as legitimate pharmacies and to take prescription-only-medicines following an appropriate consultation with their GP.”

Ahmed’s comments echo similar warnings Medical Specialists Pharmacy have issued countless times previously such as back in February. Patients’ welfare is always at the core of our thinking, and we are strongly fighting against the high volume of illegally operated pharmacies that are appearing on the internet. These websites do not care for the welfare of the unfortunate men who purchase the dangerous and cheap pills, and more often than not you simply do not know what you are getting. We only have genuine branded medication and do not supply any illegal products such as ‘Kamagra’ and it is illegal to buy or sell this within the UK.

Weight loss can give obese men a rise in testosterone levels

Results from a study into diabetes conducted by Irish-based doctors were delivered on Monday night at The Endocrine Society’s 94^th Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas. Doctors from Dublin analysed almost 900 males for their ‘Diabetes Prevention Program’. The men who were involved in the study had an average age of 54 years old and all had prediabetes, which means they were at a heightened risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and also at a good risk of developing heart disease. Prediabetes is also known by other names such as non-diabetic hyperglycaemia and impaired glucose tolerance.

It is common knowledge that if you are overweight you are more at risk of developing diabetes. Men who are at risk of the disease can drastically reduce their chance of getting diabetes through weight loss and overweight men are also at a higher chance of having low testosterone levels. With this in mind, study co-author Frances Hayes and colleagues decided to further investigate the correlation between weight loss and testosterone levels. They decided to ignore men who had been prescribed medicine that could potentially conflict with their testosterone levels, or those who had previously been diagnosed with hypogonadism. This is a term for when the sex glands lack the ability to effectively produce hormones.

The men recruited for the study were segregated into three parties. The first group consisted of 293 men and these were instructed to begin 150 minutes of exercise each week, eating fewer calories and a low-fat diet. The second group included 305 men and they were given the diabetes medication metformin and finally the last group of 293 men were given a placebo to take.

After a year of their respective programs, it was found that the incidence of low testosterone in both the groups taking metformins and placebos was mostly unchanged. The numbers slightly decreased from 24.8% to 23.8% and 25.6% to 24.6% for each group respectively. However, most change was noted in those who had made alterations to their lifestyle, with this group seeing a massive reduction in low testosterone; down to 11% from an initial 20% at the beginning of the study.

Dr Hayes gave her view on the results, “Doctors should first encourage overweight men with low testosterone levels to try to lose weight through diet and exercise before resorting to testosterone therapy to raise their hormone levels. Losing weight not only reduces the risk of prediabetic men progressing to diabetes but also appears to increase their body’s production of testosterone.”

It appears then that we can conclude weight loss has many benefits to obese middle-aged men. Obviously it will probably boost their confidence with the opposite of sex but it seems getting rid of your love handles can also boost sex drive, give you a stronger erection and improve your sperm count. If you are suffering from erectile problems and are interested in receiving information on the vast range of treatments available at Medical Specialists Pharmacy, you can click here. The medications we provide for male impotence can be obtained with or without a private prescription, and pending approval from one of our registered Doctors, can arrive to you within a mere 24 hours. Prices start from as little as £29.97 for 4 Viagra tablets. We also have Cialis, Levitra and Levitra ODT at great prices too.

High levels of a potentially dangerous colouring agent found in UK Coca-Cola cans

Campaigners will today write to British health ministers demanding that companies cease the use of a chemical that is used in Coca-Cola, after it has been linked to causing cancer. The chemical 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) is what provides the drinks with their unique colour and was shown in tests to be connected to cancer within some animals.

In March both Coca-Cola and Pepsi claimed that they had requested suppliers of this colouring to change their manufacturing processes in an attempt to reduce the levels of the dangerous chemical inside the drinks. In the U.S., The Center for Science in the Public Interest have stated that samples of Coca-Cola tested in nine different countries revealed an ’alarming amount’ of the chemical.

In California, legislation was introduced earlier this year that forces any drinks consumer to have a clear health warning on the side of a drinks can that has a 4-MI total of more than 30mcg. After this ruling, Coca-Cola subsequently acted swiftly and now all cans sold in California at least currently have only 4mcg of the dangerous chemical. However some Coke samples from Washington D.C. were shown to have 145 micrograms.

Despite the health warnings that are now well-known regarding the chemical, it is somewhat inexplicable and irresponsible of Coca-Cola to carry on allowing high amounts of 4-MI inside cans worldwide. Cans sold in the UK have been found to contain a staggering 135mcg. This has angered Malcolm Clark, one of the co-ordinators of the campaign to ban the chemical and he spoke in a national newspaper saying, “Coca-Cola seems to be treating its UK customers with disdain. The company should respect the health of all its customers around the world by using caramel colouring that is free of known cancer-causing chemicals. The UK Government must regulate to protect public health from companies that aggressively market sugar-laden drinks that lead to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.”

Even worse, samples from Brazil contained 267 micrograms and samples from Kenya had 177 micrograms. The issue would appear to be cost related as manufacturers have stated that they are able to supply a caramel colour that is completely absent of 4-MI, however would be four times more pricey for them.

With sales of Coca-Cola roughly £1.1billion annually in the UK alone, clearly it is one of our most popular soft drinks. If you do enjoy the refreshing fizzy drink, it may not be time to start panicking just yet. An FDA spokesman declared earlier this year that people would have to consume “well over a thousand cans of soda a day to reach the doses administered in the studies that have shown links to cancer in rodents”. In addition, a spokesman from the British Soft Drinks Association has tried to dispel any public concern and said, “The 4-MI levels found in food and drink products pose no health or safety risks. Outside the state of California, no regulatory agency in the world considers the exposure of the public to 4-MI as present in caramels as an issue.”

Statins linked to reduction in strokes and deaths

This year alone we have heard in the news just how beneficial statins could be in a huge range of health conditions such as helping to thwart cancer in heart transplant patients, possibly helping to cut the risk of Parkinson’s disease, and even some doctors have put forth the argument that everybody could benefit from a daily intake of statins. Now, researchers have uncovered more evidence that shows how cholesterol-lowering statins such as Crestor and Lipitor can help to reduce strokes and death in men and women, but maybe more-so in males.

The new report on statins has been published in the June 25 edition of ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’. For the study, Dr Jose Gutierrez and his team from the Columbia University, U.S. studied information collated from 11 different trials, involving over 43,000 subjects. All patients’ records were from prior to September 2010 and they had been treated for a variety of problems such as a prior heart attack or stroke, cardiovascular disease and peripheral artery disease. Statins that had been administered in the studies included pravastatin, atorvastatin and simvastatin.

Within the studies Dr Gutierrez and his colleagues had analysed, men and women at risk of suffering another stroke or heart attack were randomly given either a statin or a placebo, which was free of any drug ingredient. Both sexes were discovered to be roughly 18 to 19% less likely to suffer from any cardiovascular-related problem. It was determined that 7% of those who took statins had suffered another heart attack in comparison to 10% on the placebo. In addition, males taking the statins were found to have a 19% reduced chance of having a stroke and 21% less likely to die than the patients taking a placebo.

Similar results were shown in females across both groups; however the margins were much smaller. Dr Gutierrez spoke out on the findings, “Statin therapy reduces the recurrence of cardiovascular events rate in both men and women. For women, the reduction in the recurrence rate of stroke and all-cause mortality is less robust than in men.” Less effectiveness for statins has been linked to a few reasons though, such as only a fifth of the total subjects being made up of women. In addition, some of the women had much worse cardiovascular profiles than the men, and not all women were taking a daily aspirin tablet, which some doctors recommend you take if you have had a heart attack or stroke. Dr Gutierrez further added, “Other factors, such as differences in hormonal profiles or sex-specific characteristics, are not ruled out, but these issues cannot be addressed with the result of this meta-analysis.”

Some people have hit out at the implications of the report though. For example, Dr. Tara Narula, a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, highlighted the apparent limitations of the studies. She said, “Statins are beneficial for men and women, they work equally in men and women” and also added that the results could be a little misleading as the researchers had looked at studies that included much older and sicker female patients.

These studies were primarily focused on patients who had already suffered a heart attack or stroke. If you are suffering from high cholesterol, you can act today to prevent yourself from experiencing any cardiovascular disease which can then lead to a heart attack or stroke. The World Health Organisation has estimated that nearly 20% of all strokes and over 50% of all heart attacks can be attributed to high cholesterol so clearly the dangers of this are quite apparent.

Medical Specialists Pharmacy provides online consultations for high cholesterol, and for suitable patients our house doctors can prescribe statin medication (Lipitor and Crestor), and our in house pharmacists can dispense to patients within 24 hours. We also dispense statins for patients who can provide a private prescription, and have recently introduced the legally available generic Atorvastatin at much lower prices for suitable patients.

Relationship cheats and teens living in poor regions are more likely to get an STI

Figures have been released in the last week that illustrates the severity of sexually transmitted infections and how more work needs to be done to rectify the issue. A study has been published by The University of Michigan that indicates that serial cheats are more likely to contract a STI in comparison to those who are involved in an open relationship.  Some of the reasons suggested for this include those who cheat on their partner are probably likely to be drunk when doing so and not likely to bother with contraception. In addition, people in open relationships are probably sober when sleeping with somebody else and more aware of what they are doing.

The researchers in the study created an online questionnaire to quiz people about monogamy and if anybody involved in an open relationship actually practiced safe sex. They received over 1,500 replies and 801 people said they have had sex with somebody besides their partner. Of the 801 people, 493 said that this was because of an agreed open relationship. Interestingly, cheats were shown to have used condoms for vaginal and anal sex roughly 27% and 35% less respectively than those in open relationships. Alcohol and drug usage was shown at 64% more in the former group too, which may play some part in their deceptive actions.

Dr Terri Conley is a researcher who was involved in the study, and commented on its findings, “Our research suggests that people who are unfaithful to their monogamous romantic partners pose a greater risk for STIs than those who actively negotiate non-monogamy in their relationship. Monogamy can be an effective method for preventing the spread of STIs, but only if couples test negative for STIs at the start of the relationship and remain faithful while they are together. If people do not find monogamy appealing or feasible, they clearly need to think about the risk this poses to their partner and consider whether an open relationship would suit their needs better, and better protect their relationship partners.’

Of course this study was purely targeted at adults, and Medical Specialists Pharmacy have reported previously how many adults are now careless in regards to their sexual health. However, it now seems the younger generation are falling victim to STIs too, especially those in the poorest areas in England. Figures have been released following an NHS survey last year discovered that 27% of girls were having sex before legally old enough to do so. Latest statistics show over 30,000 teens aged between 13 to 17, were diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in 2011. These included things such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia and genital warts. Of this total, 5,973 live in poor areas and 2,116 were from wealthier places of the country. It was found that 78% of the 30,000 were girls.

This trend of more STIs prevalent in deprived areas appears to have been developing since 2009. Over the last three years, the number of cases per 100,000 teens aged 13 to 17 has jumped up from 881 to 903, and the figures in comparison for teenagers in wealthier areas has merely increased from 310 to 312 in the same time period.

Overall it seems that people of all ages are not taking enough steps to protect their health, and are displaying a truly alarming approach to sex and their risk of catching an infection. At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we cannot stress enough the massive importance of looking after yourself in this aspect and you should act now to prevent yourself catching an STI, or if you have diagnosed with something, receive the treatment you need to manage your symptoms. If you want to make sure you are OK, there are numerous sexual health clinics you can go to and they can usually provide you with results within one week. We have recently added many more products to our website and now offer a chlamydia Clamelle test kit, which you take in the privacy of your own home and post directly to the laboratory for analysis. You can get your result sent to you in the post and this service is a confidential and convenient way to test and treat for chlamydia.

The most common occurrence of catching an infection stems from the male not wearing a condom, which in the 21^st century is careless as we and many other organisations constantly report on the dangers of this. Genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are just some of the many diseases that you are at risk of catching. Some can pose serious health problems if left untreated and can even leave you infertile. We offer a massive range of treatments for various sexually transmitted infections so do not delay in seeking help from us.

Studies find smoking is connected to both skin cancer and cognitive decline

Two English studies have been published this month that further highlight the health dangers of smoking. Only a few weeks ago, Medical Specialists Pharmacy touched upon just some of the many negative impacts that smoking has on the body, and how the myth of being ‘too old’ to quit, is not true. Our arguments about how detrimental cigarettes are to a person’s health have been backed-up by the two new studies to emerge.

The first was conducted by experts at the University College London and has been made available in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. The authors analysed data extracted from the ‘Whitehall II study’, which was an on-going process that studied cigarette smoking habits and effects in 7,236 British Civil Service employees and first started in 1985, running through until 2009. Of the subjects in the study, 5,099 were male and 2,137 were female.

It was determined that middle-aged men who smoke are more likely to see deterioration in functions related to cognition (i.e. memory, perception, problem-solving, attention, etc.). A vast decline was especially shown when comparing male smokers to males who had never lit up. Strangely, the difference in cognitive function in women was shown to be minimal when comparing female smokers to females who had never previously smoked.

Lead author Dr. Severine Sabia, had this to say on the results, “There is increasing evidence that smoking is a risk factor for dementia. However, its impact on cognitive decline and particularly on cognitive decline in early old age remained unclear.” Dr. Sabia further went to on to explain the difference in results for the sexes and said, “Several reasons could explain the fact that we did not find an effect in women. First, our sample was composed of less women than men, reducing the probability to find an association in women. Furthermore, it is possible that smoking behaviour is differently associated with other behaviour in men and women.”

The second study that demonstrates the bad effects of smoking emanates from experts at the University of Nottingham and was published one week ago in the Archives of Dermatology. This study has linked the smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco as leading to a heightened chance of having cutaneous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Squamous cell skin cancer can show anywhere on the body, but is usually evident on areas exposed to the sun such as the face, ears, neck, hands, or arms. SCCs will often appear red and scaly in appearance and is currently the second most common skin cancer with an incidence rate of approximately 10,000 per year in England and Wales, particularly higher in Caucasians. If detected at an early age, cases are nearly always treatable and the patient can make a full recovery. However if the symptoms are ignored for an extended period, this can leave the person disfigured and may even prove fatal.

Lead author of this latest analysis on smoking, was Dr. Jo Leonardi-Bee. She and colleagues reviewed 25 separate studies and came to the conclusion that smoking is ‘significantly associated’ with cutaneous SCC, but that smoking does not increase risk for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The authors are not surprised at this finding though as nonmelanoma skin cancers are heterogenous, with differing causes and prognoses. The authors explain why BCCs are not linked to smoking, “For example, BCC is slow growing and locally invasive, in contrast to cutaneous SCC, which is generally more aggressive and has the potential to metastasize. Therefore, it would be expected that the effect of smoking on the risk of the diseases would also vary considerably between the subtypes of nonmelanoma skin cancer.”

They add that their findings are based on data across studies from 11 countries and 4 continents, so should be taken seriously to a certain degree. The authors are not fully certain as to how smoking contributes to cutaneous SCC, but suggest it could be down to a decreased immune function or the carcinogenic properties within tobacco.

Can daffodils be used to help depression?

Everybody loves to receive flowers; a colourful bouquet of flowers can help to cheer people up in times of feeling low, or can simply prove useful for decorative purposes around the home. However, scientists at the University of Copenhagen are now claiming that a particular species of South African daffodils may actually help to treat depression.

They say that the daffodils contain compounds that can travel to the brain and pass through the blood-brain barrier. This is a defensive wall composed of cells that block certain substances from reaching the brain from a person’s bloodstream. Glucose is one substance that is able to get through this barrier, but a lot of drugs fail to do so and this has posed many problems for experts who are looking to create effective medication to treat such conditions like depression.

Professor Birger Brodin from the University of Copenhagen assisted in the research process and he claims he and his team have found that the two South African flowers Crinum and Cyrtanthus, were both able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. He commented, “Several of our plant compounds can probably be smuggled past the brain’s effective barrier proteins. We examined various compounds for their influence on the transporter proteins in the brain. Our results are promising, and several of the chemical compounds studied should therefore be tested further, as candidates for long-term drug development.”

We should not get too carried away about this news though, and it could be a long time before any medication has been developed based on a daffodil’s properties. Professor Brodin acknowledged that the results do show promise, but that a lot more work needs to be done in the future to understand more about the plant’s compounds. He concluded, “This is the first stage of a lengthy process, so it will take some time before we can determine which of the plant compounds can be used in further drug development.”

Obesity costs the NHS millions of pounds each year

More news has emerged this week that demonstrates just how bad the obesity epidemic is within the UK. Statistics show that there are approximately over 110,000 people in England alone, who have a Body Mass Index of over 50. To put this into context, a person who has a BMI score that falls between 25 and 29.9 is classed as ‘obese’. There are an ever-growing number of overweight people with sky-high BMIs that are over 50 and these people are apparently costing the NHS over £450million each year.

The figures emerge less than a month after Medical Specialists Pharmacy reported how Welsh teenager Gemma Davis had to be removed from her house and hospitalised due to complications arising from her obesity. Gemma’s weight was last noted as 63stone, with a staggering BMI of 142.3 Claims also arose last month that suggested there are at least 200 morbidly obese people in the UK who are draining the NHS of £16million annually because they are too big to leave their home. In addition, it is believed there are 11million people in England alone with a BMI of at least 30. The epidemic clearly needs rectifying by the government as soon as possible.

Even worse, it is expected that by the year 2025, nearly half of men and over a third of women will be obese. This has been calculated using The Foresight report, a scientific model that is used to aid government policies. According to figures published back in 2009, nearly a quarter of adults (22% of men and 24% of women) in England were in the ‘obese’ category.

The problems sometimes start at an early age. This is shown in new research from experts at Newcastle University, who electronically monitored 508 schoolchildren who were all aged between 8 and 10 years of age. The children were tracked on just how active they were during the time they were actually awake and on average across both sexes, only 4% of their time (about 20 minutes) was actually because of physical activity. However, the boys in the study were shown to be more active than the girls. One main reason for the shocking inactivity in the children has been identified as the growing number of children these days that prefer to sit indoors and play computer games instead of playing out with their friends.

Dr Mark Pearce was lead researcher and he spoke out on their findings, “Given the importance of physical activity in maintaining good health, we know we need to get our kids more active. What we hadn’t known until now is how young we need to be catching them.” According to the Department of Health, children who are aged between 5 and 19 years of age should ideally participate in at least an hour of moderate to vigorous activity every day. Within all this, they also should engage in sports and exercise than strengthens their core muscles and bones, including gymnastics, skipping and dancing.

Obesity experts have warned that factors such as increasing demands for junk food from children are not helping matters. Also many older fathers may have more responsibility at work and working longer hours, which then leads to less time for their children and simple things like playing football with them, etc. Tam Fry, a member of the National Obesity Forum, gave his opinion on the crisis, “Exercise alone won’t bring down obesity levels but it is desperately important to the health of the child and it will make them concentrate better in the classroom and improve their behaviour.”

Levitra’s active ingredient could help to fight Raynaud’s

This year we have already heard about how erectile dysfunction medication has been found to possibly help with certain conditions in men such as premature ejaculation, but now it appears that vardenafil (the active ingredient in Levitra), may help in aiding blood flow and relieving symptoms for those who suffer from Raynaud’s syndrome.

This is a condition that restricts blood supply to certain areas of the body, with the fingers and toes often found to suffer most in this aspect and can actually change to a pale white colour. Symptoms are brought on when blood vessels become narrow due to very cold temperatures and it is believed that Raynaud’s may be a sign of an underlying issue such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or scleroderma. In many cases, it has been found that by quitting smoking, you can help to alleviate your symptoms as smoking can have a detrimental effect to your blood circulation.

The latest study on Raynaud’s syndrome (or ‘phenomenon’ as it is sometimes known), was published three days ago in the online Archives of Internal Medicine. It is the most wide-scale randomised study that has ever been conducted on the disease and was orchestrated by Evren Caglayan, MD, from the University Hospital in Cologne, Germany. This study is not the first to examine possible benefits of erectile dysfunction medication in treating Raynaud’s, but it is the first to show promising results.

To begin with, Evren and his colleagues’ randomly selected 53 subjects who had attended clinics at the University Hospital because of their Raynaud’s, between the time periods January 2006 to August 2009. Of the 53 patients, almost 90% suffered with secondary Raynaud’s (due to an underlying cause such as systemic sclerosis), and the rest of the patients had primary Raynaud’s, whereby there was no known cause for their condition.

For the study, a 2-period crossover for 6 weeks was implemented, to understand the efficiency and safety of two doses of 10mg vardenafil each day. After a week’s break, the treatment group and those who were given a placebo were switched around so that the treatment group would now receive the placebo. The severity of everybody’s Raynaud’s was established via a daily questionnaire, whereby a ‘Raynaud condition score’ would be calculated. In addition, a laser Doppler perfusion imager was utilised to assess digital blood flow in patients.

The authors reflected on the findings of their study and commented, “Interestingly, in patients receiving vardenafil first, the RCS remained low during the washout phase and the entire second phase of the study when patients received placebo, suggesting a prolonged drug effect. This study is, to our knowledge, the largest randomised controlled trial investigating the efficacy and safety of a PDE5 inhibitor in patients with RP. The findings demonstrate that vardenafil is safe and improves clinical symptoms in these patients.”

Health professionals from around the country to meet in Manchester next week

On Thursday 28 June, Manchester will play host to the fourth annual LinkGov Health & Care Conference. This will see a whole host of Health and Care Senior Leaders, Board Directors, and many more healthcare professionals and volunteers from all across the country, meeting to discuss how best to move forward and constantly improve healthcare for patients, against regulations and strict financial restraints laid out by a coalition government who are seemingly always looking to cut expenditure on things such as health and education in an attempt to reduce the countries massive debt.
The conference will begin at 10am, finishing with a 4pm discussion from keynote speaker Jim Easton, the Director of Improvement and Transformation, who’s topics of debate will include ‘Strengthening links between better use of information and greater efficiency and improvements in care’ and also ‘Supporting patient choice and helping people make decisions about their care’.

Easton’s speech will probably touch upon the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), and how better to efficiently manage this. This service enables prescribers to electronically send a patients prescription to a nominated pharmacy of the patients choice. There are obviously major benefits to this revolutionary and efficient process, such as the patient not having to worry about misplacing the paper prescription, pharmacies such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy can take care of your repeat prescriptions and monitor when they are due – saving you the trip to your GP practice each time you need to collect your repeat prescription. As of 18 June, there are 181 general practices and 4,928 pharmacy sites are now ready to start using EPS Release 2, including Medical Specialists Pharmacy, who are listed on the NHS choices page, so clearly the service has become huge and in the future it will probably be responsible for how the majority of medications are dispensed to patients.

As we reported last month, the  government are currently planning some of the most radical health reforms ever seen and everybody will soon be able to even browse around online to compare doctors and the success rates of particular operations in their local hospitals. The 2012 LinkGov Health & Care Conference will aim to study how these changes effect patients, what kind of financial restrictions will be present, and how future strategies and technologies can provide more safer, cost-effective and efficient service for patient’s needs.

A main part of the afternoon in Manchester will be the meetings will be focused on ‘The QIPP Challenge’ (Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention), and the awards given out for them.  The QIPP is a national Department of Health strategy that involves all NHS staff, patients, clinicians and the voluntary sector. The strategies main aim is to make a £20bn efficiency saving by 2014/15 which will all be reinvested back into the NHS. The awards aim to recognise the efforts of health and social care staff and those who have helped to innovate or improve working practices, reduce costs, improve patient care, and many other things. Some of the recipients of a QIPP Challenge Award include the NHS North of England North West for their ‘Energise for Excellence in Care Program’ and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s ‘Commissioning Leader’ scheme.

Jack Osbourne reveals he has multiple sclerosis

Former reality tv star Jack Osbourne and son of legendary Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The news first emerged on Sunday night after the 26 year old revealed he has the illness in an interview with People magazine. Multiple sclerosis severely effects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Currently there is no known cure for the disease and it is believed that those who suffer from it generally have a life expectancy of 5 to 10 years lower than usual. Symptoms can include vision impairment, difficulty with balance, losing muscle control and paralysis in certain cases.

Osbourne first shot to fame in 2002 when he regularly appeared on his families reality television show ‘The Osbournes’, where he was portrayed as a party-loving and fairly rebellious teen. The show gained a massive following and led to him making cameo appearances in the film Austin Powers: Goldmember and television shows such as That ‘70s Show and The X Factor.

Once known as an overweight teenager, Jack lost an incredible 23kg in 2005 when he filmed the first series of Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie, partly due to a physically intense Muay Thai boxing camp near Bangkok where Jack was put through his paces on a daily basis. In more recent times, Osbourne has been employed as a talent scout for Epic Records and also helped to make a documentary about his rock star father. In addition, Jack and his fiancée Lisa Stelly, welcomed a baby girl into the world in April and named her Pearl Clementine. This particularly makes his recent admission about suffering from the incurable condition hard to take.

In his interview with People magazine, Jack revealed he had initially gone for tests at the same hospital that his daughter had been delivered at just three weeks prior and said, “While I was waiting for the results, I got really angry. Then I got really sad for about two days and after that, I realised being angry and upset is not going to do anything, it’s only going to make it worse.” However, it seems Jack is trying to remain positive for the sake of his young family and added, “Adapt and overcome is my new motto!”

If you have any health concerns whatsoever, feel unwell, or show any symptoms that may concern you, Medical Specialists Pharmacy strongly recommend that you speak to your GP as soon as possible. The earlier any potential conditions can be diagnosed, the better the chance of effective treatment being available to you or even a full recovery. Even in the 21^st century, some people are amazingly still reluctant to go and see their GP. This could be down to embarrassment or some even say ‘I can’t be bothered to go’, but doctors are there to listen and help you.  Remember, the earlier a diagnosis, the better!

Misery expected for hay fever sufferers

Those who suffer from hay fever are set for a miserable week, with pollen levels ready to sharply rise due to the unexpected warm weather that has suddenly hit the UK after a massive rain-filled previous month. Grass pollen in particularly will be most prevalent at the moment, and this will effect roughly 95% of the people who unfortunately suffer from hay fever. The Met Office has created a ‘pollen calendar’ on their website, which lists the different types of pollen and when they are at their peak. According to this calendar, grass pollen peaks in June and July, lasting from May until September.

Charlie Powell, Met Office spokesman, commented on the ever-changing weather situation,  “The recent unsettled weather has kept pollen levels to a low count but the drier conditions will push them up into higher levels. With grass pollen at the moment being at its peak, we could see some high pollen counts.”

The current problems for those who have hay fever mirrors the situation that occurred in March this year, where Medical Specialists Pharmacy reported in detail just how the several unexpected weeks of soaring temperatures caused havoc for the approximate 16 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, and also analysed the links between hay fever and asthma.
Today has been predicted to see the warmest conditions so far in June, with temperatures expected to peak to as high as 23C (73F) in London. Moreover, experts say that pollen levels could be at an incredibly high level on Wednesday and Thursday, where pollen levels are estimated to be particularly high in the East and West Midlands. Sales of over the counter medication such as Loratadine are expected to sky rocket in the coming days, as millions try to keep their symptoms under control.

Patrick Sachon, health manager at the Met Office, further added to Powell’s comments,  ”Following the rain we saw in April and the rain over the last few weeks, grass has grown well, more than last year, when it was much drier. This is therefore expected to cause higher levels of grass pollen than last year. The Met Office forecast for the next couple of days is for the UK to be drier and a little more settled that of late in most areas. Occasional showers are likely but with plenty of bright or sunny spells and temperatures in the high teens or low twenties in some parts. This will lead to much higher pollen counts than in recent weeks. This means that those who suffer from hay fever will need to keep an eye on the pollen count over the next few days.”

In May Medical Specialists Pharmacy managing director David Bailey spoke out about the range of options available to treat the condition and how the company had expanded its product range since the March heat wave, saying, “Since then we have expanded our rapidly growing range of medications, and now offer Prevalin allergy nasal spray, Prevalin allergy kids nasal spray and Alomide allergy eye drops. All three can help with the symptoms of hay fever, along with our highly requested Ventolin Evohaler, which we sell cheaper than the NHS. With over 10million sufferers in the UK alone, we are determined to help our patients manage their hay fever and live a stress and pain-free life”.

A scientist who helped to develop Viagra now creates a spray for premature ejaculation

Premature ejaculation in men is the ability to last during sex for a time period deemed ‘satisfactory’ for either partner. However, fully defining the phrase has long been difficult for many people.  What one couple deem satisfactory may be unsatisfactory to another couple. This condition of ‘coming too soon’ is particularly common in younger males who are sexually inexperienced or men who are with a new sexual partner, where the excitement and thrill could get the better of them.

If ejaculation happens sooner than what the man would like, and before the woman herself has ‘climaxed’, then this often leads to frustration and performance anxiety. This can carry over into the next time the man has sex, again resulting in a similar situation happening, effecting the man’s confidence further. Sex therapists will usually suggest various tips and tricks such as the squeeze technique, and various breathing exercises, or even stopping and starting during foreplay. However, many men can find these things futile and a lot will turn to medication such as Priligy, which is currently the only proven oral treatment available and can prolong a man’s sexual performance by a massive 200-300%. In addition there are anaesthetic delay sprays such as Stud 100 which work by reducing sensitivity of the penis.

It has now been announced that another spray will soon hit the market, designed to help premature ejaculation in men. The new spray will be called ‘Tempe’ and has been conjured up by Dr Mike Wyllie, who was one of the team of scientists who were responsible for the development of Viagra, back in the late 1990s. Viagra is a highly effective and widely used prescription medication for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men and in the year 2000 (2 years after its introduction), it accounted for 92% of the worldwide sales of prescription medication for impotence. Since then, it has seen its market share cut thanks to the subsequent introduction of Bayer’s Levitra and Eli Lilly’s Cialis.

The new spray-on medication has been labelled by Dr Wyllie as his ‘new Viagra’ and has been created by British biotech firm Plethora Solutions, where Dr Wyllie is currently the chief scientific officer.  The drug is believed to triple a man’s ‘staying power’, however whilst using Tempe within trials, some men who used the spray prior to sex reportedly managed to have sex for up to eight times longer. Tempe apparently comes into effect after just five minutes, but can also be sprayed on a few hours prior to sex if the man wishes to keep his new-found staying power a secret from his partner.

Just how beneficial Tempe is for men suffering from premature ejaculation remains to be seen though, with no definite release date set for the drug. Plethora hope to have it on sale this year though and possibly inexpensive enough to be available via an NHS prescription. In the mean-time, why not try medications and products that are already available now such as Priligy, or Stud 100 spray, obtainable from our chemist shop.

Antihistamine and probiotic therapy could treat allergic rhinitis

A study conducted by the Chung Shan Medical University Hospital in Taichung, Taiwan, has found that supplementing the antihistamine ‘levocetirizine’ together with the probiotic ‘Lactobacillus johnsonii EM1 (Lj EM1), helped to lessen the symptoms of perennial allergic rhinitis. Antihistamines are a particular group of medicines that aid in alleviating the problems caused by a number of other conditions as well as allergic rhinitis, such as hay fever, eczema, and allergic conjunctivitis.

The Taiwanese study involved the tracking of 63 schoolchildren for a 1 year period. The subjects were aged between 7 and 12 years old, and all were suffering from moderate to severe perennial allergic rhinitis. The study has been published in the July issue of the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, and was carried out by conducting a 2-phase crossover trial that compared how effective levocetirizine was by itself, against the use of the anhistamine together with the probiotic Lj EM1.

All children were chosen at random to receive either just the antihistamine, or that supplemented with the probiotic. After 12 weeks of being on a particular course of treatment, every child was switched over to the other one and were again monitored for a 12-week time period.

Daily activity diaries were kept for each child and a ‘total symptom score’ was adopted to assess the 4 nasal and 5 nonnasal symptoms for the children each day, working on a 4-point scale from 0 to 3, with 0 being no symptoms and 3 being most severe. The TSS was the combined count of all 9 symptoms. How well each child slept every night was also noted, again scoring from 0 to 3.

In the first 12-week period, a TSS improvement was evident in both groups after 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Interestingly though however, a more effective response was seen in the children who were taking both the antihistamine and probiotic at weeks 4, 8 and 12. Those just taking antihistamines were said to have shown improvement ‘continually and progressively’ in the second 12-week stage of the study, whereas the others did not.

Researchers have now come to the conclusion that probiotics may be effective for treating early-stage allergic disease through an alteration of the inflammatory response and immunity. It is still unclear yet if probiotics can help allergic airway diseases such as asthma and hay fever, and experts have called for more studies on this.

One effective treatment for allergic rhinitis is Nasonex nasal spray. Available with or without a prescription, Nasonex is a medication used to help with congestion, sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, and nasal itching due to allergies. It is also prescribed for nasal polyps (small, non-cancerous growths on the lining inside the nose). Prices of this medication are from as little as £9.98 per pack.

We also have a massive range of asthma inhalers, such as Ventolin Evohaler, which we sell cheaper than the NHS. 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. We offer both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone, Qvar Easi-Breathe and Pulvinal Beclomethasone. We are constantly looking to increase our vast range of products and treatments, and recently expanded our chemist shop to include Prevalin allergy nasal spray, Prevalin allergy kids nasal spray and Alomide allergy eye drops, which can all help to ease the symptoms of hay fever.

The FDA and Pfizer hit out at the global counterfeit drugs trade

The Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) spoke out yesterday about the global crisis on counterfeit medicines finding their way into drug stores and how the internet plays its role in the problem. They were speaking at a health forum in Manila, Philippines, which included representatives from Pfizer present. According to the FDA, China is now one of the biggest sources of counterfeit drugs, followed by Jordan, the U.S., Israel and Canada. Back in 2005 a FDA study estimated that sales of counterfeit drugs were generating over $3.5 billion per year.

Scott Davis, Pfizer’s security expert for Asia, said on Thursday, “The internet has led to an explosion of availability of these products. About 90% of counterfeit drugs are at some point marketed and sold on the internet.” He also highlighted several points that Medical Specialists Pharmacy have touched upon previously, mentioning that if you spot a website selling pills for erectile dysfunction and the website does not have a physical address for its business, this would be an automatic suspicious sign that the seller is not a genuine pharmacy.

Davis added, “They are getting more sophisticated. We often have to send the pills to our labs to tell us the difference.” Pfizer’s Viagra and Eli Lilly’s Cialis are two of the most commonly duplicated medicines. However, many men who purchase the cheap counterfeits or ‘generic’ versions of the erectile dysfunction medication are often unaware of the risks that they can pose.  A particular batch of fake Viagra tablets was seized in Dubai a few years ago and were deemed ‘potentially deadly’ by customs officials. Experts had discovered that each pill contained a massive 130mg of sildenafil citrate (the active ingredient in Viagra); this is 30% more than the maximum recommended dose of genuine Viagra tablets. Ingesting a high dose like that could cause fatally low blood pressure or even a heart attack.

However, counterfeiters do not merely just copy impotence drugs according to Davis. He continued, “But now it’s not just Viagra or lifestyle drugs but other medicines like malarials. These criminals will copy anything to make a buck.” At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we offer a safe and secure service and only provide genuine branded medication for our patients.  We are strongly against the continuing increase in illegal websites on the internet that claim to be a ‘pharmacy’, all of which will not have a NPA and green cross pharmacy logo on their website, an obvious sign of their fraudulence.

Teenage girl awakes from a two month sleep and missing her GCSEs

A 15 year old schoolgirl from Telford, Shropshire, has finally awoken after sleeping for the last two months. Stacey Comerford suffers from an incredibly rare condition called ‘Kleine-Levin syndrome’, a complicated neurological disorder that results in the sufferer experiencing an excessive amount of sleep and altered behaviour. The disorder has been labelled by some as the ‘Sleeping Beauty Syndrome’, and in Stacey’s case, it means she can sometimes sleep for up to 20 hours per day.

Stacey initially began to experience symptoms of Kleine-Levin syndrome about a year ago and was formally diagnosed with the condition in March of this year after her mother Bernie Richards took Stacey to see a GP. The doctor thought Stacey was just being a typical ‘moody, depressed teenager’ according to Richards. It was only after a neurologist suspect a brain tumour, that the rare condition Stacey had finally became clear.

It is thought there are only approximately 1,000 people around the globe who also have Kleine-Levin syndrome. In her most recent occurrence of the condition, and the longest episode so far, Stacey slept for a staggering two straight months and subsequently missed all of her GCSE exams and attained just a 30% attendance record this year. This comes after the teen was predicted to achieve As across the board in her subjects. She has also shed 12kg of body weight since her diagnosis.

Stacey’s mother commented on her daughter’s plight, “There’s never any warning. I’ve even found her fast asleep on the kitchen floor. When she’s in an episode, she might get up to go to the toilet or get a drink but she’s not awake. I call it sleep mode. When she’s awake, she thinks it’s the following day. She doesn’t have any memory of it. She needs reassurance during an episode. It’s like she reverts back to being five years old. When she talks, she sounds like a child.” Despite the problems the condition has posed for Stacey and her family, doctors believe she may simply ‘grow out of it’, like other sufferers have done previously.

You are never too old to give up cigarettes says new study

We probably all know a person who has been smoking for the majority of their life and says something similar to ‘I have smoked all my life, what’s the point in stopping now!’ However, it is never too late to permanently stub out according to researchers from Germany, after a new study published in the June 11 edition of the ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’, found a strong connection between smoking cessation and a reduced risk of death.
There are already a lot of widely known benefits to stopping smoking. These include things such as:

. Increase your fertility levels and the chance of having a healthy baby.
. Reduce the risk of your children developing asthma, bronchitis, meningitis, etc.
. Not exposing those around you to harmful second hand smoke.
. Reduce the risk of you developing lung cancer, heart disease.
. An improvement to skin, nails and teeth.
In addition, there may be some facts that you didn’t know in relation to smoking and just how detrimental it is to your health and well-being:

. Each cigarette has more than 4,000 different chemicals inside and the majority of them are harmful to the body.
. Over 60 of the harmful chemicals can cause cancer.
. Some studies have shown a positive link between smoking and baldness. A 2007 Taiwanese study claimed that smokers who lit up more than 20 cigarettes each day were more than twice as likely to have moderate or severe hair loss compared to people who had never smoked.
. Nicotine slows down your body’s ability to heal itself by dehydrating your skin.
. Some scientists say that the average smoker will lose 14 years of their life because of smoking.
. Sugar approximates to about 20% of a cigarette and many diabetics are unaware of this fact.

The latest study regarding the effects of smoking was carried out by the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. The team of researchers, led by Carolin Gellert, studied information garnered from 17 separate studies which were published between the years 1987 to 2011, spanning  across 7 countries.  The total number of participants in the studies ranged from 863 to 877,243.

In all studies, in comparison to those who had never smoked, a higher all-case death was discovered with current smokers. A huge 83% heightened relative mortality was determined for current smokers, with a 34% increase for former smokers.

The researchers noted that benefits were evident with smoking cessation even within the oldest participants in the study, some being over 80 years of age. They also say the results were similar for both men and women.

An editorial was written with the study, provided by Tai Hing Lamb, MD, from the University of Hong Kong School of Public Health. In the editorial he writes, “Many older smokers misbelieve that they are too old to quit or too old to benefit from quitting. Because of reverse causality and from seeing deaths of old friends who had quit recently, some misbelieve that quitting could be harmful. A simple, direct, strong, and evidence-based warning is needed.”

Couples who share a bed may reap health benefits

In recent times it has not been uncommon for many couples to insist on sleeping apart and in separate rooms. Issues such as snoring, sweating, wind and even fighting over the sheets can lead to one half of a couple deciding enough is enough and sleeping in the spare room. However, if you are in a relationship with one of these problems and are considering leaving your partner to sleep alone, stop! According to experts in America, there could be major health benefits sharing a bed with your long-term partner.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh claim that sleeping with somebody by your side, can decrease the stress hormone cortisol. They believe this could be related to feelings of safety and security elevated due to someone being next to you.  A high cortisol level is often attributed to prolonged stress. Occasional increase in the level of cortisol may not be too dangerous. However, a prolonged case of high cortisol release can then result in too much ‘cytokines’ being emitted. These are proteins can cause inflammation that can bring on heart disease, depression, and have detrimental effects on the immune functions, fertility, and eventually, lead to the condition known as Cushing’s syndrome.

Lead researcher Wendy Troxel spoke about how a couple sleeping together may help to decrease these damaging proteins, “Sleep is a critically important health behaviour that we know is associated with heart disease and psychiatric wellbeing. There is extensive literature showing that married people — happily married people, in particular — live longer, happier, and healthier lives than their unmarried or unhappily married counterparts. We also know sleep is critically important for health and wellbeing, and it happens to be a behaviour couples engage in together, so it stands to reason it may be an important link with their health.”

However, there are even more reasons for partners to continue to share a bed. Some experts say that this will increase levels of the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin and many people have previously assumed that this is only released during sex. Dr David Hamilton is a scientist who has released a book titled ‘Why Kindness Is Good For You’, and he has studied in great depth that the role oxytocin plays in the body. He says, “Sleeping together will increase oxytocin levels, providing you are happy in the relationship. Making love is one of the most reliable ways to produce oxytocin, as is going to sleep embracing someone or just being physically happy in their company or with the conversation you are having in bed. And oxytocin has a super-spiral effect; the more physical contact you have, the more oxytocin you’ll produce, which causes you to want more contact, and so on. Oxytocin can have an addictive effect.”

Dr Hamilton also says that low levels of the love hormone oxytocin have been shown to be existent within patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. He comments, “Oxytocin has also been shown to reduce inflammation. While inflammation is a necessary part of the healing process, too much of it, which can accompany bacterial infections or chronic stress, is damaging to the body. It’s well known, for example, that inflammation plays a role in many types of cancer. Meanwhile, a number of recent studies have shown how oxytocin can affect the heart.”

Of course, for single people out there suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, relying on the release of oxytocin may be a futile thing! At Medical Specialists Pharmacy, we are currently analysing the massive range of products for IBS sufferers with a view to expanding our evergrowing span of medications and chemist shop items, and we hope to offer effective solutions very soon, so keep checking our website regularly for more updates. Mebeverine is just one of the IBS products which will soon be available to new and existing patients. In the meantime, feel free to browse around our website for help with other such common problems like male and female hair loss, impotence, help with quitting smoking, lowering cholesterol and much more.

Diesel fumes are a major cancer risk according to The World Health Organisation

Diesel exhaust fumes can cause cancer and should be reclassified into the same deadly category as asbestos and mustard gas, according to The World Health Organisation. The International Agency for Research on Cancer released a statement yesterday saying that there are huge number of people breathing in diesel fumes and that the status of it should be altered from ‘probably carcinogen’ as it was declared back in 1989, to ‘carcinogen’.

Experts and health officials now argue there is enough evidence to show that consistent exposure to diesel fumes is just as damaging as passive smoking, in terms of causing cancer and that governments all around the world should consider action on how to effectively ‘clean up’ the fumes from vehicle exhausts.

This comes after a week-long series of meetings by an expert panel selected by the IARC, who studied new scientific evidence that showed diesel fumes should be in the same category of risk as arsenic, asbestos, alcohol, tobacco and mustard gas.  It is thought that particles in an exhaust can trigger inflammation in the lungs, and then lead to lung cancer. Kurt Straif, director of the IARC, indicated that groups particularly at risk include lorry drivers, railway workers, mechanics, miners, ship passengers and crew, those operating heavy machinery and even just pedestrians.

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, gave her opinion on the latest developments, “This report, from an international panel of experts, sends a clear message that diesel fumes can cause lung cancer. The evidence of harmful health effects of diesel, particularly for people exposed to high levels through their jobs, has been accumulating for many years. But, the overall number of lung cancers caused by diesel fumes is likely to be a fraction of those caused by smoking tobacco. In the UK there are already guidelines in place to protect employees from the harmful effects of diesel fumes. Employers and workers should take appropriate action to minimise exposure in the workplace.”

The furore has been met with some disdain with some car and truck manufacturers around the world, who argue that the diesel fuel engines on their vehicles are continually being refined and that the fumes should have a less high-risk classification because of tighter emission standards. Moreover, Professor Ken Donaldson from the University of Edinburgh, says that cigarette smoke is still far more deadly. He says, “For the man on the street, nothing has changed. It’s a known risk but a low one for the average person, so people should go about their business as normal, you could wear a mask if you want to, but who wants to walk around all the time with a mask on?”

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy, we are well aware of the dangers that smoking and second-hand smoking can cause to a person’s health. Back in March we studied the links between smoking and asthma, and back in 2011 we looked at the connections between smoking and birth defects. If you would like help in stopping smoking, Medical Specialists Pharmacy provide medication for this. ‘Champix’ is a prescription medication that mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment. Studies have shown 44% smokers who used champix on a daily basis where able to quit smoking.

Swedish study unearths possible link between dental plaque and cancer deaths

More evidence to support the need for people to have good dental hygiene has emerged as Swedish scientists claim there may be a possible link between persistent dental plaque, and the risk of dying from cancer. Dental plaque is a pale yellow coloured soft deposit that forms naturally on the surface of teeth. It contains many types of bacteria (germs). Poor dental hygiene has been linked to many numerous health problems in the past, such as erectile dysfunction, which Medical Specialists Pharmacy managing director David Bailey first commented on last year within the ‘In The Press’ section of the website and we reported about again only last month.

The findings of this study have been published in the ‘BMJ Open’ online journal. The authors analysed the lives of nearly 1,400 Swedish adults between the years 1985 to 2009. All subjects were selected at random and all were in their 30s and 40s at the beginning of the study. Participants were asked questions in relation to anything that could increase their chance of getting cancer, such as smoking habits and their level of affluence. In addition, their mouth hygiene was also evaluated over this time period.

After the 24 years had passed, it was noted that 58 of the patients had died and 35 of these deaths were due to cancer. The researchers found that within those who had died, there was a substantially elevated level of dental plaque in comparison to the patients who were still alive. The results were determined via a ‘dental plaque index’ and those who had died were registered between 0.84 to 0.91 on the index and the survivors saw their scores significantly lower, between 0.66 to 0.67.

From the patients who had died during the study period, it was discovered that the average age of death for both sexes was much lower than the normal life expectancy figures. The women’s average age of death was 61 and for men it was 60. Respectively, this is 13 and 8.5 years lower than what would usually be expected and authors say their deaths can be considered premature.

The researchers concluded that dental plaque could be linked to a 79% increased chance of an early death and said, “Our study hypothesis was confirmed by the finding that poor hygiene, as reflected in the amount of dental plaque, was associated with increased cancer mortality.” However, they have argued that is not yet definitely known that dental plaque contributes to cancer and further studies into the connections between dental plaque and cancer will need to be carried out in the near future.

22,000 see former footballer Michael Gray‘s hair transplant

Yesterday approximately 22,000 people from around the world tuned in to witness former Premier League and England footballer Michael Gray receive what is thought to be the first ever live streaming of a hair transplant procedure. The seven-hour long intricate operation was performed by medical director of the Institute of Trichologists, Dr Bessam Farjo, and came to a conclusion at 6.50pm after initially getting underway at 10am. Dr Farjo is a hair loss and hair transplant expert and incredibly he is in his 19^th year of performing such procedures like the one seen yesterday on 37 year old Gray, who is currently employed as a football pundit on Talksport.

Viewers were able to see a close-up of Dr Farjo extracting thousands of hair follicles from the back of Gray’s head and implanting them into the receding areas at the front. Gray explained that after seeing other celebrities such as Wayne Rooney have similar procedures, he chose to go under the knife himself after his previous blonde flowing locks began to diminish at around the age of 32. Gray took to his Twitter account throughout the operation to update his followers on the proceedings, and was involved in a question and answer session. In addition, Dr Farjo also answered questions throughout the procedure, which involved a team of two doctors and six nursing technicians.

The ex-England International gave a detailed account into what persuaded him to seek the help from Dr Farjo, “I think it’s more acceptable now and that was one of the reasons that I wanted to go through with it,’ he said before the operation. Cosmetic surgery now is an everyday occurrence. People might be out there and may be worried about the operation and if I’m going to get it done then why not let people see it. There’s a lot of people out there who are worried about it. Here they can see it from start to finish. I’m working in the media at the moment and doing quite a lot of the TV and when I watch myself back I’m conscious about the way I look, so from the confidence side of things I’m hoping that will beat that. People refer to the harrowing experience a woman must go through when losing her hair, however it can be equally upsetting for men, who can suffer from a severe loss of self-esteem. I hope the live broadcast will help us to educate people about hair transplant surgery and open up discussions around the solutions available to those experiencing hair loss.”

With more and more people undergoing hair transplant operations, Dr Farjo links this to the recent increase in celebrities who have paid for the expensive solution to hair loss. Dr Farjo commented, “Obviously 20 years ago people generally had a different attitude or feeling about things like cosmetic surgery and lifestyle issues, it was very much not talked about. It’s a far cry from where we are now.” Dr Farjo is now optimistic that yesterday’s live streaming may pave the way for more men to seek help with their hair loss and added, “Our broadcast is intended to orchestrate a pioneering moment for the hair loss community, as well as the surgical field, giving the nation a first-hand look at the procedure and helping to dispel misconceptions around hair transplant surgery.” Gray can now look forward to hairs beginning to grow in around three months time, with more obvious results visible after between eight and fourteen months.

Disney forbid the advertising of junk food aimed at kids

It has been announced that from 2015 in the U.S. there will be no longer any junk food adverts broadcast during any of Disney’s television channels, radio programs and its website. The company announced the news last Tuesday and said that they will be carrying out a ‘Mickey Check’ approval on all foods it deems to be nutritious. The Mickey Check will be seen at all of its parks, resorts, stores and online.

Some basic guidelines it will put into place include no meal having more than 600 calories in it and any cereal that contains 10g or more of sugar will be banned from being aired.  The new proposals from Disney came a week after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to tackle obesity in the city, stating that he wanted to prevent the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in places such as delis, restaurants, theatres and vending carts. In addition, only last year leading companies in the U.S. such as Kellogg’s, Kraft and Coca-Cola, all agreed to adhere to nutritional criteria in regards to any particular product that was being aimed at children under 12 years of age.

Disney’s rules will not take effect for another three years though. This is due to existing advertising agreements that are in place. However, the proposals were met with praise from First Lady Michelle Obama, who also fronts a campaign that is trying to cut down on child obesity. Obama commented, “Just a few years ago if you had told me or any other mom or dad in America that our kids wouldn’t see a single ad for junk food while they watched their favourite cartoons on a major TV network, we wouldn’t have believed you.”

It is unclear at the moment just how much money Disney stand to lose out on from the changes to its advertising alterations, but they hope that businesses will appreciate the potential lost opportunity from being able to advertise via Disney’s outlets, and thus manufacture products that do meet the guidelines.  Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger however, clearly welcomes the forthcoming changes, commenting, “We’re taking the next important step forward by setting new food advertising standards for kids. The emotional connection kids have to our characters and stories gives us a unique opportunity to continue to inspire and encourage them to lead healthier lives.”

High numbers of over 40s are being diagnosed with STIs

An increasingly worrying lax attitude in the over 40s to 60s and even beyond, has been blamed for the rising number of STIs in this age group. Although the rates of infection are still highest in adults aged between 18 to 30, STI cases are becoming a lot more prevalent within older people. Now, as we enter the summer months, Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust are trying to urge those who are travelling abroad for their holidays, to show some degree of caution and look after themselves. Jim McVicker, Clinical Director for Liverpool Community Health Sexual Health Services, spoke out on the issue, “At the end of each summer, we see a significant increase in the number of people attending our sexual health clinics with concerns about STIs following a holiday abroad – so we want to encourage everyone to relax and enjoy themselves on holiday, but also to be sensible and stay safe.”

There are a number of factors being blamed for the surprising surge in STIs in the over 40s. For example, many people in this age group will probably have been in long term relationships for a number of years, where issues such as contraception and going for regular sexual health checks, will not have been a major worry. Also as more and more people are finding themselves divorced and single, they may suddenly start to enjoy their new single status and may have multiple sexual partners. McKiver further commented, “Being the wrong side of 40 myself, I can identify with the problems that the older generation may have.” Effective erectile dysfunction treatment such as Viagra, was the focus of a study regarding STIs in the older generation in a story that Medical Specialists Pharmacy first reported about almost two years ago, however this medication is purely to help men suffering with impotence to achieve an erection, and cannot be blamed for the STI rise.

Only two weeks ago we further analysed the attitudes of sexually active adults, and there were some shocking results. In this particular online study, one third of the women questioned stated that they get ‘swept away in the moment’ and forget about using condoms, 18% of single women said they are often too drunk to use contraception and 8% said they ‘just don’t like using condoms’. Some of the familiar STI symptoms to be aware of include abnormal discharge, bleeding after sex or between periods and pain or discomfort when urinating. Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, with 186,753 people in England testing positive for this during 2010. Up to 70 per cent of people do not experience any symptoms of infection and it can cause infertility in both men and women. The only way of checking if you have a chlamydia infection is to take a chlamydia test such as the Clamelle test kit, available from just £24.85 at Medical Specialists Pharmacy.

Genital herpes is another common STI, especially seen in people aged between 20 to 24 years. In 2008, it was reported that roughly 29,000 people attended a sexual health clinic in the UK with a first clinical attack of genital herpes. An effective medication for this is Valtrex, which is an antiviral drug that contains valaciclovir. It slows the growth and spread of the herpes virus so that the body can fight off the infection. It is a prescription medication licensed to treat several conditions related to infections with the herpes virus. We have recently lowered the price of Valtrex, and you can now obtain this medication from as little as £3.50 per tablet. The consistent and correct use of male latex condoms can reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections. Popular condoms include the Durex and Skins brand of condoms, which are both available at the Medical Specialists Pharmacy Chemist Shop.