Disregarding digestive problems may lead to anaemia and osteoporosis

Are you one of the 12 million Brits who are suffering with the common traits of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? Bloating, trapped wind and diarrhoea are a few of the digestive complaints associated with IBS. However, if you do not believe you have IBS or have not been formally diagnosed with the gut condition, you should still not ignore these digestive problems that could be occurring on a regular basis as they may be a warning sign that something more serious is wrong.

The concern has emanated as a result of a study carried out by a2 Milk UK, a company who have released a specialised kind of milk across supermarkets such as Morrison’s and major Tesco stores in the UK. Normal cow’s milk contains various types of proteins and one of these is called ‘caseins’. The main types of the beta-casein fraction are a2 and a1, and the a1 protein has been linked to various symptoms similar to what a person would suffer with IBS. The a2 Milk however is extracted from certain British dairy cows, unique in the fact that they simply produce milk comprising of just the a2 protein.

The a2 Milk UK survey found that an incredible 84% of women will experience some degree of digestive pain or discomfort after they consume a particular food. Of this total, 46% claimed they simply self-medicated for short term relief from symptoms and 35% said they do nothing at all about their problems.

Amongst the reasons for deciding to take no action about gut complaints, women said they felt embarrassment about going to visit their doctor to discuss the issues they were experiencing, and others said that they felt the symptoms were not severe enough to seek help and treatment from a GP.
Unfortunately, choosing to neglect these symptoms over a period of time could prove damaging for someone’s health in the long term and result in the digestive system becoming inflamed.  The inflammation means that there could be difficulty for the digestive system to successfully take in nutrients from other foods, not just the problematic ones.

GMTV’s ‘Health Editor’ Dr Hilary Jones, reflected on the findings of the survey and he said: “When people’s bodies are not digesting crucial nutrients found in many foods – as is the case with symptoms such as diarrhoea and bloating – the risk of certain illnesses dramatically increases. While it may be tempting to self-medicate or hope the problem will go away, sufferers are not getting to the root of the problem.”

Dr Jones was interested in the fact that 28% of the women who were polled said that discomfort occurred after eating dairy. He added: “This issue is particularly key with dairy and milk intolerance as there are a range of reactions that people can have to milk. It’s not as simple as lactose intolerant or not. All too often people soldier on or cut milk out entirely when there are alternative options available. If in any doubt, talk to your GP – we aren’t scary I promise!”

Melanie Bibby, a2 Milk UK’s Nutrition Manager, added her opinions on the tricky subject of digestive discomfort. She said: “You really shouldn’t be getting any digestive discomfort after eating. But people think that it’s just the norm, especially if it’s been not quite right for a long time – they forget that it’s not how it should be. She advises that sufferers should monitor their problems from the use of a food diary, and also use a process of ‘trial and error’ with suspect foods. She continues: “But it’s very difficult to work out what you’re intolerant to. Many people have a problem with dairy but it’s hard to tell if you’re reacting to the lactose or to the milk proteins. Most people are intolerant to a particular protein found in milk called a1. Or you can react to the lactose. If it’s the lactose, switching to soya milk can help but if it’s the a1 protein, it won’t make any difference as soya contains similar proteins. A2 milk is normal milk, but it comes from dairy cows that naturally don’t produce the a1 protein; instead their milk contains a2, which is much better tolerated. I want people to know that there might be an alternative to cutting out dairy for them, because of course that can mean you miss out on very important nutrients too.”

Stomach troubles are a common complaint amongst Brits, including former Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon who recently spoke out on her own struggles.

If you do have IBS, why not browse around the ‘stomach and bowel’ area of the Medical Specialists website.  We offer an ever-growing range of effective medications such as Mebeverine and Buscopan IBS relief. In addition, the medication Lansoprazole can help with acid reflux problems that cause heartburn and complications with swallowing. All of these medicines are available right now at low prices, in addition to the new wonder treatment for IBS – Symprove. If you have not heard about the miracle that is Symprove then you need to get clued up about it immediately! We have even ran two separate features on this highly effective probiotic drink and now offer the 500ml mango and passion fruit flavour of Symprove, which can be purchased today from the Medical Specialists chemist shop, priced just £19.93.

German researchers claim heavy drinking can kill you sooner than smoking

According to experts in Germany, heavy boozing can send you to an early grave and ‘kills you quicker than smoking’ they say. In particularly, women who drink heavily are at a much greater risk of a premature death in comparison to men.

Academics in Germany recently published their study and the subsequent startling findings in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Professor Ulrich John, of University Medicine Greifswald and his team analysed a completely random selection of over 4,000 people between the ages of 18 and 64. From this total, 153 were identified as being alcohol dependent (AD). Of the 153, 149 were closely tracked for 14 years (119 men, 30 women).

This latest study has caused such a buzz mainly because it has assessed the impact of alcohol dependency over a longer period of time, whereas past studies have been mainly established via clinical trials to find risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Professor Ulrich John explained, “Clinical data have revealed a higher proportion of individuals who have died than among the general population of the same age. Gender-specific data are rare, even among clinical samples. Furthermore, these studies have two main limitations. First, we know that only a minority of AD individuals receive treatment of this disorder, but we lack knowledge about how this selection occurs. Second, we have no evidence about potential effects of specialised alcoholism treatment on mortality among people who had been diagnosed as AD. We would like to know whether treatment might enhance survival time. For ethical reasons, no controlled trials are possible. Thus, longitudinal descriptive data as in this study are helpful.”

After the 14 years, there were some shocking findings for Professor John. He continued, “First, we found that annualised death rates were 4.6-fold higher for females and 1.9-fold higher for males compared to the age- and gender-specific general population. Second, we found that the mean age at death was 60 for females and 58 for males, both of which are about 20 years lower than the mean age at death among the general population. None of those deceased had reached the age of life expectancy. Third, having participated in inpatient AD treatment was not related with longer survival compared to not having taken part in treatment, meaning that it did not seem to have a sufficient protective effect against premature death.”

Overall the findings would seem to heavily suggest that alcohol abuse can result in more early fatalities compared to a lifetime of smoking. Professor John concluded, “Smoking-related death cases are more due to cancers which seem to occur later in life than many alcohol-attributable causes of death do. Furthermore, drinking can also contribute to other risky behaviours such as smoking, becoming overweight, and obesity. Alcohol is a dangerous product and should be consumed only within guidelines.”

If you think you have an alcohol dependency problem, Medical Specialists Pharmacy believes you should see your own GP as soon as possible. A dependency on alcohol is risked if you are regularly drinking large quantities of alcohol and find it difficult to even go through a single day without feeling like you need a drink. With many people, a high tolerance to alcohol may develop and larger amounts of alcohol than previous are needed before any effects are actually felt. By visiting your GP, they can warn you of the health dangers that your drinking is having and the resulting damage to your body that will occur if you continue down that particular path. In addition, they can offer treatment programs and get you involved in support groups or counselling. It has been proven on many occasions that alcoholics can cut down or stop drinking altogether by discussing their problems, and from the additional support of family and friends.

However, alcohol is not the only subject in this story. Medical Specialists Pharmacy is slightly concerned that people could misinterpret the findings from this particular study and now underestimate the dangers of smoking, wrongly believing it is safe to smoke. Both heavy smoking and alcohol intake are incredibly damaging to a person’s health and ideally both should be limited to an absolute minimum, or stopped altogether. In fact already this year we have discussed how smoking can contribute towards the bone disease osteoporosis, skin cancer and asthma. In addition we have recently looked in-depth at the huge hidden health risks associated with secondhand and thirdhand smoking.

Prevent the risk of developing these conditions today though with the help of Medical Specialists.  Champix is a prescription medication that can be obtained following an online consultation with one of our GMC registered doctors. It works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack, an incredibly small price when it comes to your long-term health. Champix 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.

Evidence shows correlation between smoking and the bone disease osteoporosis

A report published in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research, has investigated the connection between cigarette smoking and the development of bone fractures, as well as the bone degeneration condition osteoporosis.

Sufferers of osteoporosis will usually experience the spine, wrist and hips affected, but other bones such as the arm or pelvis can deteriorate too.  Once becoming weak and fragile, the bones are at a higher risk of fracturing (breaking).

Common risk factors for osteoporosis include:
. Family history of the disease.
. The inability to absorb certain nutrients from food (malabsorption).
. Diseases of the hormone glands, such as an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism).
. Eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.
. Having Rheumatoid arthritis is a risk factor.

Another risk factor for osteoporosis is cigarette smoking, which may come as a surprise to some people to know that it was first established as a cause of the bone disease nearly 20 years ago.
The latest analysis into the link was carried out by Gary Guishan Xiao and colleagues from the Functional Genomics and Proteomics laboratories at the Creighton University, USA. They decided to compare the genetic activity in the bone marrow cells of both smokers and non-smokers.

Their intrigue developed after they had realised that past studies  had just primarily centred on how toxins in cigarette smoke debilitated bones by having detrimental impacts on osteoblasts (cells that originate in bone marrow and contribute to bone production), and osteoclasts (cells that break down and absorb bone tissue back into the body).

After concluding their investigations, Xiao and his team found that smokers produce abnormally vast amounts of two different proteins that support production of bone-resorbing osteoclasts compared to the non-smokers.

There are currently around 3 million people in the UK who are believed to be suffering from osteoporosis and because of this, an estimated 250,000 bone fractures occur each year. Once thought of as just an older woman’s disease, the condition is actually a widespread global problem. In fact, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, there are 2 million North American males who suffer from it, which equates to approximately 20% of the 10 million US sufferers.

There are numerous steps you can take though to minimise your chances of developing the disease, and they include:

. Avoid excessive levels of alcohol consumption and this can hinder your body’s ability to absorb calcium.
. If you think you are suffering from depression, seek immediate help from your doctor. Depression that is left untreated can lead to the production of cortisol, a stress-related hormone that can actually deplete minerals from your bones.
. Exercise regularly. The workout you give to your bodily muscles can help to stimulate bone-making cells and bolster your bones. It is recommended that adults undergo at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week. Weight-bearing and resistance exercise is also vital for enhancing bone density.
. Quit smoking. Chemicals from tobacco smoke enter the bloodstream and have been shown to make bone loss worse. If you do smoke then we advise that you make an effort to stop, and Medical Specialists Pharmacy can help you, providing effective treatment for this.

Champix is a prescription medication that works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack, an incredibly small price when it comes to your long-term health. Champix 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.