8 Tips for Boosting General Health and Wellbeing

On the whole, Britain has been basking in glorious sunshine now for the last month – except for the odd few typical days of British heavy rain. With summertime usually comes a nationwide health kick. Perhaps it is to fit into those skimpy healthy clothes and look better on the beach, or maybe the sun just improves peoples’ moods to the extent that it provides a motivational spur to change lifestyles for the better.

Whatever it is, summertime is commonly the time of the year when people make positive changes to their general health, whether it be dietary or simply getting out the house more and going for walks in the sunshine.

With this in mind, Medical Specialists® Pharmacy have decided to run through some tips for improving general health and wellbeing, which everyone can use as a starting point for long-term health benefits.

. Become more active

Great weather means more people will have the urge to get out the house and move about. Keeping fit and active is great for your waistline and general appearance, but exercise is great for the heart too. Previous studies have suggested that 7 in 10 of us are not engaging in physical activity and thus are increasing the risk of heart disease. Keeping active helps to lower blood pressure; a risk factor for heart disease, boosts good HDL cholesterol that is responsible for moving fat away from arteries and back to the liver for processing, and will help to improve circulation by stopping blood clots from forming which can cause a heart attack or stroke. A brisk walk for 30 to 40 minutes completed 3 times each week should ease cardiovascular risk.

. Consider a Mediterranean diet 

The Mediterranean diet has repeatedly been linked to huge health gains such as ideal for weight loss, reducing the risk of cancer, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, as well as being beneficial for the skin with various anti-aging boosts.

The diet is usually comprises of a daily consumption of plenty of fruit, vegetables, beans (legumes), grains, pasta, olive oil and nuts. It also contains moderate amounts of chicken and fish, with a small amount of red wine allowed as this has been shown to boost the health benefits of the diet, helping to thin the blood safely while providing its benefit through the antioxidant resveratrol.

. Cut down on salt intake

A diet high in sodium can lead to serious health problems. Sodium increases blood pressure as it causes the body to keep hold of excess fluid and blood volume increases, creating an added burden on the heart with increased pressure in the arteries. It is generally recommended that an adult should not consume more than 6g/1 teaspoon of salt each day. Certain foods are high in hidden salts and you should try to limit how much of them you eat. These include: baked beans, canned vegetables, cheese, crisps, pizzas and ready meals.

. Drink more water

Everyone needs to be getting 6 to 8 glasses of fluid per day and water is an essential part of your diet as well as being an incredibly healthy and inexpensive way of quenching your thirst. It contains zero calories or sugar, meaning it will not damage the teeth. Try to avoid empty calories from fizzy drinks, energy drinks or juices with added sugar. Not everyone enjoys plain water, so try sparkling water or add a slice of lemon or lime, or adding no-added-sugar squash.

. Eat plenty of fruit and veg 

It’s recommended that we eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg per day, comprising of a wide variety as they contain different combinations of vitamins and minerals. Fear not though, it is actually easier than it may sound. Merely a 150ml glass of unsweetened 100% fruit juice or smoothie counts as 1 portion, with vegetables cooked into dishes – i.e. into bolognaise sauce – can also count. Chopping up fruit to put on top of your morning cereal is another quick and easy way to bolster fruit intake.

. Get enough sleep

Past studies have shown that the gap between getting just enough and too little sleep may have a negative impact on a person’s health, mood, weight, and even their sex life. The majority of adults require about 7 to 8 hours of good quality sleep each night, on a regular schedule. Those finding it hard to get enough sleep should alter their routine to accommodate for sleep. It isn’t just important to get a certain number hours of sleep, the quality of sleep is vital too in order to feel rested when you awake.

. Limit alcohol intake

Drinking more than the recommended units of alcohol per day (3-4 for men, 2-3 for women) can have a detrimental impact to your heart health. Excessive alcohol can raise the quantity of a type of fat in the blood known as triglycerides and also lead to abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke and obesity. Excess weight may then even cause type 2 diabetes. For those concerned that they are drinking too much and want to reduce their alcohol intake, Medical Specialists® Pharmacy can provide alcohol dependency treatment Selincro (nalmefene) to suitable patients.

. Stop smoking

Smoking damages the lining of the arteries, limiting the space for blood to travel through. The carbon monoxide in cigarettes also reduces the amount of oxygen able to get to the heart and other areas of the body, forcing the heart to work much harder to supply the body with the oxygen it requires. The dangers of smoking are further explained on the British Heart Foundation’s website, but remember that smokers are at double the risk of suffering a heart attack compared to those that have not previously smoked, and smoking is the primary reason for a wide range of different types of cancer. Smoking cessation treatments such as Champix can help people quit smoking for good and reduce the risk of cancer and major heart problems.

We hope these 8 tips get you on the road to a healthier lifestyle which will both boost your energy, but also cut the risk of developing serious health problems in the future. Obviously, there are countless ways to improve health and wellbeing, but at Medical Specialists®, we believe that sustaining these 8 factors are particularly vital for your long-term general health.

British men warned about buying dodgy and dangerous fake Viagra online

Medical Specialists® Pharmacy have worked tirelessly for many years to warn men about the dangers of buying cheap and potentially fatal fake Viagra pills, both online and from that dodgy geezer down the pub.

If price is the concern with men, it need not be anymore! Since Pfizer’s Viagra patent expired in 2013, other drug manufacturers can now produce ED treatments that contain Viagra’s active ingredient, sildenafil. To put it into context, prices of generic sildenafil from Medical Specialists® work out from as little as £1.54 a tablet through an online consultation, and just £1.35 if the patient already has a private prescription ready to send to the pharmacy.

Therefore, there is no excuse for following the lead of one 36-year-old man from Herefordshire, who last week spoke to the Daily Mail Online about his “horrible” experience as a way to warn other men about the dangers of buying inexpensive and fake Viagra pills online.

The countless warnings the Manchester-based pharmacy has given over the years – such as describing the filthy environment the pills are produced in and listing some of the toxic ingredients sometimes added to the ingredients of the counterfeits – has therefore been validated with the unfortunate male featured in the Daily Mail.

The low price of these poorly made knock-off erectile dysfunction (ED) tablets might appeal to people in a day and age where money is tight, but why put your life at risk for the sake of a few quid?
Another reason why men might be driven to buying cheap impotence pills online – on top of some money saved – could possibly be the potential embarrassment of speaking to a doctor about problems ‘down there’.

There is no reason to be afraid of speaking to a GP though, he or she will have previously spoken to thousands of men suffering with similar issues and it will be nothing new to them. Erectile dysfunction is a very common condition, especially prominent in older men. Furthermore, around half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 will have it to some degree.

Of course, there are obviously men who will flat-out refuse to see a doctor face-to-face and fortunately there are genuine online pharmacies out there such as Medical Specialists®, who provide online consultations where men can answer a series of medical questions and have this reviewed by a GMC-registered doctor. The doctor will assess the patient’s suitability for that particular drug using the answers provided, and the patient will be contacted if there is an issue raised or if further information is required.

The man in question featured in the Daily Mail story had come out of a long-term relationship and was getting back into the dating scene. However, the 36-year-old chef began his dinner-date with a young woman, and soon began to suffer with something a little more than ‘nerves’.

The father-of-two felt his heart rapidly beating, his head thumping and he was pouring with sweat. Things were so bad he even feared he was having cardiac arrest.

It soon hit home that the symptoms were his own doing. Feeling optimistic about the night’s proceedings, the man had swallowed a small, blue, diamond-shaped pill before the date, one of 10 ‘Viagra’ pills he had bought online for £25. Bearing in mind that Viagra is manufactured in boxes of 4 and 8 tablets, this is the first clue that all is not what it seems.

“Before I even got to the date, I started to feel really hot and sweaty,” he said. “I thought it might be nerves — but then my heart started going really fast, I got a headache and felt a bit woozy.”

“I felt horrible for two days,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep, my nose was blocked, I was dehydrated and I had red blotches all over my face.” After a quick check online, he quickly realised his ED medication didn’t resemble a genuine Viagra pill and he had been sold fakes.

“I crushed them up and flushed them all down the toilet, because there was no way I was going to take them again,” he said.

“I only took them as a back-up. I’d never had any problems before, but I just wanted to be sure. I would never buy anything like that online again, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else to do so either.”

Not surprisingly, the date didn’t go too well. Instead of a passion-filled evening, the man found himself alone in bed at home and considering a trip to A&E.

Hopefully men around the country will take heed from this man’s experience, but unfortunately figures demonstrate how the illegal market in fake or unlicensed erectile dysfunction pills has increased in recent years.

In the last year alone, officials have seized in excess of £11 million worth of these types of drugs. This represents a rise of 3 times the amount seized from the year previous and a 15-fold increase on the £740,000 haul apprehended during 2013.

For those concerned about how to spot a fake online pharmacy from a real one, Medical Specialists® has already listed some of the most common red flags to be aware of when browsing online.

As mentioned earlier, there is no need to be embarrassed about experiencing ED. It is a common condition that more men are finally starting to feel comfortable talking about. Men need not seek out their mate down the pub for pills that could contain any number of dangerous chemicals, or buy cheap fakes from illegal websites, especially when genuine Viagra or genuine generic sildenafil ED treatments can be obtained from a well-respected, fully registered MHRA-approved pharmacy like Medical Specialists®, from as little as £1.35.

Viagra skin patch in development – And it works faster than tablets!

People usually wear plasters to stem blood flow, but imagine putting one on to actually get something into the bloodstream?

For that is the idea behind a new way to treat erectile dysfunction in men, with scientists at universities at Cairo and Saudi Arabia looking at getting viagra into the blood, acting in a similar way to a smoking patch.

Men suffering with impotence problems would theoretically be able to wear the viagra skin patch on their upper arm or the abdomen, and perhaps most importantly for men, will kick-in within just a matter of seconds or minutes. Viagra can take between 30 minutes to an hour to work.

This means it will get men in the mood for sex even quicker than the time it takes them to get into the bedroom and take their clothes off!

Moreover, after taking the tablet version of viagra, some men occasionally experience various non-life threatening side effects such as blurred vision, slight headache, indigestion and muscle pain. The new erectile dysfunction skin patch would mean an end to these unwanted effects.

The team involved in the research at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, along with scientists at Cairo University, utilised a new drug delivery method, known as transferome technology.
A tiny patch measured at just 1cm squared was created, comprised of minute particles of sildenafil citrate (the active ingredient in viagra) which is coated with thin layers of fat and chemicals that will enable the skin to absorb the drug.

The patch was then tested on rats in order to judge just how much – if any – of the medicine would manage to penetrate the skin. The patch used on the rats only contained 1 milligram of viagra, which means bigger patches would need to be fashioned to accommodate for doses of viagra prescribed to men, which can range from 25mg to 100mg.

In a report in the journal Drug Design, Development and Therapy, scientists said the results demonstrated that viagra particles successfully transmitted through both the outer and inner layers of the skin.
In a report on the findings they said: “This could be a promising delivery system for the drug.
“The skin is an alternative route to the oral one, prolonging the effect and reducing variability.”
Although the patch has only been tested on rats thus far, there are hopes for future clinical trials on humans.

Since viagra first became available in 1998, its popularity has skyrocketed and has boosted the love lives of millions of men across the globe. After viagra became a huge success, its chunk of the market was somewhat reduced following the 2003 FDA-approvals of both levitra (vardenafil) and cialis (tadalafil) for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

According to official health statistics, over 3.5m prescriptions were dispensed in England during 2015 alone for medicines to treat erectile dysfunction.

The manufacturers of viagra, Pfizer, were forced into lowering the hefty price of viagra after seeing its patent expire in 2013 and this led to many generic sildenafil products entering the market, drugs that contained exactly the same active ingredient of the branded viagra, but could be sold to patients for just a fraction of the price.

However, men might not want to completely ditch their oral medications just yet. The British Society of Sexual Medicine’s Dr Geoff Hackett warns that the patches will actually hit patients hard in the wallet compared to existing treatments.

“It might be a nice way of delivering the drug,” he said.

“But I can’t see how a patch likely to cost around £10 is going to replace a pill that’s a fraction of the price.”

Plain cigarette packaging introduced – A guide into the new rules

It is now almost a week since the new smoking legislation came into force in Britain, but what are the changes implemented and exactly does it mean you may ask?

From May 20, cigarettes are now being sold in green-coloured standardised, plain cigarette packaging depicting graphic warnings showing the grave health dangers emanating from smoking. These new rules are mainly aimed at helping to prevent youngsters from picking up the habit.

In a report compiled by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) published in July 2015, it was claimed that around 207,000 children in the UK start smoking each year, with an estimated two-thirds taking up smoking prior to turning 18 and over 80% before the age of 20.

ASH also say there’s around 10million smokers in the UK and a further 2.6million are using e-cigarettes.

However, new rules coming into play under the Tobacco and Regulated Products Regulations 2016 will look at getting more people to stop smoking, reducing the number of nicotine addicts by about 2.4million.

Changes will affect all cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco and e-cigarettes manufactured for sale across Britain.

All products had to adhere to the regulations from May 20, however retailers have been given a one-year transitional period whilst old stock in sold.

Smokers going into their local shop for a packet of Marlboro cigarettes will no longer be able to spot the famous red and white packaging, but will now be faced with every brand bearing an identical olive-green colour, opening and font styles.

‘lipstick-style’ packs targeted at women, such as Vogue cigarettes, are also now forbidden, with at least 65% of the packaging being covered with public health warnings, graphic photos and text clearly showing the horrendous effects that smoking can do to the human body.

It isn’t just the packaging that has been hit hard…Promotional material will now no longer be able to utilise misleading descriptive words like “lite”, “natural” or “organic”. Statements such as “free of additives” and “less harmful than other brands” have also been outlawed.

Quantity has also been affected with the new changes, with all packs having to contain a minimum of 20 cigarettes so there is sufficient space on the packing itself to display all the health warnings.

Moreover, small bags of rolling tobacco will also be banned. Pouches now have to weigh at least 30g, whilst the current smallest pouch size is 8g.

Menthol cigarette smokers will be devastated to learn that flavoured cigs are being eradicated, becoming completely illegal by May 20 2020.

Other flavours set to go in the next four years include fruit, spice, herbs, alcohol, candy and vanilla.
Presently, there is no limits with regards to refill container size, but this is now consigned to the past. Containers will be capped at 10ml and 2ml for disposable e-cigarettes, cartridges and tanks.

This will undoubtedly impact the price of the containers as e-cig users can no longer purchase in bulk. Also, the highest strength of a vile of vaping liquid will now be 20mg per ml of nictotine, dropping from 24mg.

E-cigarette packing will also be forced to change. About 30% of the packet has to have the warning: “This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance.” As vaping liquid can be dangerous if ingested, e-cigarettes now have to be childproof and tamper-proof.