Would you get a head tattoo to cover baldness?

Male pattern baldness is the most common type of hair loss in men, afflicting an estimated 6.5 million men in the UK and for many it is noticeable by the time they reach the age of 35.

In recent times there has been countless celebrity hair loss stories in the media. For instance, we have seen celebrities such as Wayne Rooney and Calum Best opt for expensive hair transplants, and even pop superstar Justin Bieber has come out and said that Prince William needs to take hair loss medication Propecia.

Other effective and proven hair loss treatments for men include Regaine Foam, Regaine Lotion and Alpecin caffeine shampoo. However, how about covering up your diminishing hair with a tattoo?

Yes, you read that correctly, a tattoo! British men are now able to benefit from a procedure which involves tattooing tiny dots on their scalp, helping to mask receding hairlines and hair loss.

The new technique will set men back quite a hefty amount however, between £500 – £3,000, providing them with what will seem like a full head of hair – all in just a couple of hours. Men will end up with a ‘buzzcut’, which may or may not be to everyone’s liking, but has been made popular in the last decade by celebrities such as Wentworth Miller and David Beckham.

A hair expert will apply differing shades of specifically blended pigments into the patient’s scalp, mimicking the size, shape and density of micro hairs, creating the buzzcut appearance.

The idea was formulated by Ian Watson, 42, founder of HIS (Hair-Ink-Skin) Hair. Mr Watson was in his mid-twenties when he suffered with alopecia, brought on by the loss of his brother to cancer.
In an attempt to cover the hair loss, Mr Watson asked his brother’s widow to use a fine ink pen and draw tiny black dots onto his scalp. Although the ink washed off in the shower, the whole premise got Mr Watson thinking and his idea gathered pace from there.

The treatment is suitable for varying types of hair loss, whether it be alopecia, cancer, and baldness. No anaesthetics, incisions or adhesives are used during the procedure, leaving the patient without any scars on their head. Adjustments can also be made in the future if there is further hair loss suffered, or style preference is changed.

The downside is the price as not many people in the current financial climate can afford to pay between £500 and £3000 for treatment, plus no actual hair is regrown or prevented from being further lost, as opposed to the previously mentioned Propecia.

Medical Specialists Pharmacy are able to offer the prescription-only medication Propecia (finasteride) to suitable males, which works by blocking the conversion of testosterone to DHT, responsible for hair loss.  It is obtainable following a quick and easy 4-step process which includes an online consultation with one of our in-house GMC-registered doctors, priced from as little as £47.58 per month.

11,000 UK deaths from poor heart attack care

New research published in the Lancet indicates that thousands of lives could have been saved each year in the UK from heart attacks, but substandard care for victims means that the UK is lagging behind other countries in Europe.

The failure to administer rapid treatment and good quality aftercare has resulted in the loss of at least 11,000 lives in the last seven years, with death rates one third higher than other countries.

The study involved researchers from the UK and Sweden looking at information regarding the care and outcomes of 120,000 heart attack patients across hospitals in Sweden and more than 390,000 in the UK between 2004 and 2010.

Sweden was picked for comparison because its health system is comparable; universally available, receives it’s funding from tax, with no cost at the point of use. Both also have national guidance implemented for heart attack management, although the two countries drastically differ in size with the population in excess of 63 million, whereas Sweden only has a population of between nine and 10 million.

After just 30 days of the occurrence of a heart attack, death rates were discovered to be over a third higher in the UK than Sweden – 10.5% compared with 7.6%.

Over time, the difference in death rates between the two countries decreased, but the UK always had higher mortality, but mortality was always higher in the UK.

Even considering factors like age, sex, the severity of heart attacks, smoking, blood pressure and diabetes, researchers still estimated 11,263 deaths between 2004 and 2010 could have been “delayed or prevented” if patients in the UK had received treatment in the same standard as their Swedish counterparts.

It may also be a concern to learn that the study found patients in Sweden were significantly more like to get quick treatment to help unblock their arteries.

Only 22% of UK patients received balloon angioplasty or stent placements, however a staggering 59% of heart attack patients in Sweden received such treatments.

It gets worse; upon being discharged from hospital, 89% of the Swedish patients were prescribed medications such as beta blockers, with this figure being 11% higher than that in the UK.

Lead author Professor Harry Hemingway, from the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research at University College London, said: “Our findings are a cause for concern. The uptake and use of new technologies and effective treatments recommended in guidelines has been far quicker in Sweden. This has contributed to large differences in the management and outcomes of patients.”

NHS England claim that things are improving though, with National Clinical Director for cardiac care, Professor Huon Gray, saying: “The advanced treatment patients now receive in the UK means heart attack death rates have fallen from one in four in the 1970s, to one in 20 now, but we know more needs to be done and we are working hard to further improve survival rates.”

Premature ejaculation campaign urges men to get treated

TV Doctor and star of ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ Dr Christian Jessen, yesterday launched a new premature ejaculation campaign in Ireland.

The ‘Take Control’ awareness campaign is aimed at tackling a condition which is still the most common type of sexual dysfunction in men, affecting around 1 in 5 Irish males.

The Irish Association of Sexual Medicine have voiced their concerns that many men are simply ignoring their symptoms, disregarding it as just ‘stress’, or are feeling to ashamed to discuss the problem, which should not be the case in the 21^st century and there are a whole range of premature ejaculation treatments out there for men.

Although opinions about what could be classified as ‘satisfactory sex’ can vary between couples, it should be worth noting that the NHS state that if you are regularly ejaculating prior to or within one minute of entering your partner’s vagina, this is usually regarded as a medical issue that should be treated.

Hopefully, with the new campaign which kicked off yesterday, more men will now feel open about the issue of premature ejaculation. There is also a Take Control website offering some myths and truths about premature ejaculation, advice on how to speak to your doctor about it, as well as real life stories from people who have also experienced premature ejaculation problems.

“PE is one of the last remaining sexual taboos and so many men who suffer from it find it embarrassing and difficult to talk about,” commented Dr Jessen at yesterday’s launch. “Leaving it unaddressed can have a very negative impact upon men’s confidence and their overall well-being, not to mention their relationships.”

Erectile dysfunction is one issue Medical Specialists Pharmacy are inundated with phone calls and emails about, with thousands of men seeking our help with the best impotence treatment for them, however premature ejaculation is an area that more men need to come forward about and get treated for. Following an online consultation with one of our doctors, men with the condition can buy Priligy, an oral medication that can prolong a man’s sexual performance by an average of 200% to 300%.

After all, recent research showed that an incredible 85% of Irish people believe it is an imperative thing to satisfy their partner sexually as it will boost the strength of the overall relationship, and this is one stat that is probably applicable to other countries around the globe, not just specific to Ireland.
Trish Murphy, a psychotherapist, has spoken to countless couples and helped them with the condition, witnessing herself how it can be detrimental to relationships.

She says: “The potential shame and embarrassment combined with anger and frustration for men and their partners can create a vicious cycle that compounds the problem and limits the chances of reclaiming lost intimacy. These psychosexual aspects underline the importance of sexual counseling and the treatment of the couple in finding solutions.”

Air pollution puts obese children at higher risk from asthma

A new study shows that obese children exposed to high levels of air pollution could be three times more likely to develop asthma in comparison to their peers who are not obese and exposed to less air pollutants.

This conclusion was drawn up by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), who analysed 311 children in predominantly Dominican and African-American areas of New York City.

The air within each child’s home was monitored for a period of two weeks at age 5 or 6, in order to assess that child’s exposure to a type of air pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).

In addition, the child’s height and weight were tracked and respiratory questionnaires were asked. It was found that 20% of the children were suffering from asthma and going off body mass index, 20% could be classified as obese.

It was determined that high exposure to PAH exposure was only linked to asthma for the obese children. The link was due to alkylated forms of PAH; released by a variety of things such as candles, cooking, cigarette smoke, incense, and more.

A two-to-three-fold rise in asthma risk was witnessed amongst obese children that were exposed to significant levels of PAH chemicals 1-methylphenanthrene and 9-methylphenanthrene, but just PAH or obesity on their own could not foresee asthma risk.

Lead author Kyung Hwa Jung, PhD, associate research scientist in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, said: “Our results suggest that obesity may magnify the effects of these air pollutants, putting children at greater risk for having asthma.”

The study is useful as it could result in the development of better targeted treatment. “These findings suggest that we may be able to bring down childhood asthma rates by curbing indoor, as well as outdoor, air pollution and by implementing age-appropriate diet and exercise programs,” commented senior author Rachel Miller, MD, Professor of Medicine (in Pediatrics) and Environmental Health Sciences, chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at CUMC, and co-deputy director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Asthma and obesity are two conditions that have been on the increase in recent decades, both in the US and in the UK.

Obviously this study was conducted in the US, where the percentage of American children who are obese has risen from 7% in 1980 to 20% in 2008, while childhood asthma has gone up from 4% in 1980 to 10% in 2009.

In the UK, there are 5.4 million people currently receiving treatment for asthma, of which 1.1 million are children (1 in 11) and 4.3 million are adults (1 in 12). Last year a 11-year-old boy from Manchester hit the headlines after weighing in at a staggering 24 stone.

Exercising for a few hours each week could cut diabetes risk by a third

Want to reduce your chances of type 2 diabetes? According to the findings of a new study, weightlifting could be the key.

The new study into diabetes was conducted over a period of 8 years and involved researchers monitoring the health of almost 100,000 nurses in the United States; all middle-aged or slightly older and none of whom had diabetes at the beginning of the study period.

The findings have been published in PLoS Medicine and show that lifting weights, doing press-ups or other similar resistance exercises on the muscles, shows a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. Current guidelines state that people aged between 19 and 64 should already be doing such exercise at least 2 days a week.

Benefits witnessed in the study arose from also engaging in aerobic workouts such as cycling or fast walking; activities that again healthy people aged between 19 and 64 should be doing for at least 150 minutes per week.

So, how much exercise is sufficient enough to make an impact in this regard? The women in the study who managed to do at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity each week, together with at least an hour a week of muscle-strengthening activities had the most significant drop in risk, reducing their risk of type 2 diabetes by about a third. However, those who only engaged in a total of one hour a week still managed to reduce their risk by about 13%.

It is already known that regular aerobic exercise such as jogging, fast walking, cycling, etc., can help to reduce the risk of diabetes, but the study would suggest that incorporating resistance training will provide an even bigger boost – although this type of training is already recommended by the NHS.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body’s cells are not reacting correctly to insulin. It is estimated that around 90% of adults in the UK with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, commonly in recent times due to a poor diet and obesity. Other risks include a family history of the disease, are over the age of 40 and are of South Asian, African-Caribbean or Middle Eastern origin.

The charity Diabetes UK say that for overweight individuals, each kilogram you lose in weight could equate to up to a 15% decrease in your risk of developing diabetes.

Dr Richard Elliott, spokesman for the charity, commented: “Despite limitations to which this research can be applied to women in general, it underlines the message that leading an active, healthy lifestyle can help to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. We know for certain that the best way to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes is to maintain a healthy weight by eating a healthy, balanced diet and by taking regular physical activity. At this time of year, many people are looking for an easy way to lose weight and be more physically active. We recommend finding an activity you enjoy as you are more likely to stick with it and stay motivated.”

‘Viagra for women’ on the horizon…and it could even help you lose weight!

Viagra for women has been a topic of great debate ever since Pfizer Viagra first became available way back in 1998, approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

However, that could be a reality by the end of next year as scientists conduct trials on a new wonder drug that almost sounds like it is too good to believe. Not only will be the tablet provide a boost to the woman’s sex drive, but it will apparently also help to curb their appetite and lose weight.

ORLIBID, the British company involved in developing the drug, are optimistic they will be successful in having ‘ORL101’ on shelves by the end of 2015.

An estimated four in ten women complain at some point that their sex life is larking the spark it once had and drug companies have toiled for a number of years to create a female equivalent of the hugely popular but still male-only Viagra – Pfizer’s sixth-biggest medicine, with annual sales of about $2 billion (£1.22 billion).

A strong psychological factor linked to a woman’s libido makes it difficult for pharmaceutical companies to create something effective and beneficial.

Dr Mike Wyllie, part of the team behind the development of Viagra, is of the opinion that ORLIBID could hold the key to unlocking the problem of a woman’s sex drive, and possibly succeed where others have not.

Increasing the brain to desire, ORL101 is a synthetic version of melatonin, which those with a penchant for tanning may have heard of.

Many experts have already been aware of melatonin’s ability to boost sex drive, but the task of getting it into a pill, as opposed to an injection, has proved a complex task.
The cost of ORL101 is anyone’s guess but it is assumed the drug will be comparable to Viagra’s price when it initially launched; up to £12 a tablet.

The tablet will only need to be taken 15 minutes prior to sex, providing a boost to the woman’s libido for up to an impressive 2 hours. This conclusion has been derived from studies conducted on jabs with comparable formulas, which led to better sex and a decreased appetite too.

Dr Wyllie is offering his services to ORLIBID on an advisory basis, free of charge, and will not profit from sales. He says: “It will be for everyone from those where female sexual dysfunction is destroying their relationships to those just wanting to spice up their sex life.”

Dr John Dean, a former president of the International Society for Sexual Medicine, said a drug could be ideal when no medical or psychological cause for sexual problems is found.

He added: “Low sexual desire is by no means a trivial problem. It affects lives, relationships, productivity and satisfaction.”

Health experts demand 30% reduction in food sugar content

Sugar is the primary food and drink component which is causing havoc for Britain’s obesity crisis, health experts claim.

The scientists and doctors behind ‘Action on Sugar’ – which is modelled on the 1990s group Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) – are hoping to put enough pressure on the government and industry enough to help enforce as much as a 30% sugar reduction in food and drink products. Cash, chaired by Professor Graham MacGregor, who also heads Action on Sugar, managed to bring down salt levels in our food and the hope is a similar impact can be had on our sugar levels.

The say that with a 20-30% reduction in sugar content, this could slash calorie intake by about 100kcal a day and this figure could be much higher for those who have a high sugar intake each day.
Instead of drastically cutting sugar in one clean swoop, Action on Sugar argue for a gradual decrease in the amount of sugar within ready meals, cereals, sweets and soft drinks, as this is less likely to be noticed by the general public. Basically, it would be comparable to weaning people off sugar!

Professor MacGregor says: “This is a simple plan which gives a level playing field to the food industry, and must be adopted by the Department of Health to reduce the completely unnecessary and very large amounts of sugar the food and soft drink industry is currently adding to our foods…Provided the sugar reductions are done slowly, people won’t notice. In most products in the supermarkets, the salt has come down by between 25% and 40%.”

Dr Aseem Malhotra, cardiologist and science director of Action on Sugar, said: “Added sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever and causes no feeling of satiety. Aside from being a major cause of obesity, there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver.”

To try and ease the obesity crisis, the government’s strategy so far has been to reduce targeted marketing and calorie reduction, mainly done through the public health responsibility deal.
MacGregor says it is not enough though and has had little bearing on calorie intake. He says “We must start to slowly reduce the amount of calories people consume by slowly taking out added sugar from foods and soft drinks.”

But the food and drink industry is obviously fighting its corner and has argued it is unfair to pinpoint sugar as the cause of the obesity crisis gripping the UK.

The Food and Drink Federation commented: “Sugars, or any other nutrient for that matter, consumed as part of a varied and balanced diet are not a cause of obesity, to which there is no simple or single solution. That’s why the food industry has been working on a range of initiatives with other players to tackle obesity and diet-related diseases.”

They also argue that consumers can clearly see the sugar content of the products they are buying, with manufacturers being forced to adhere to strict regulations for this, adding that the industry has already lowered salt and saturated fats, with little concrete proof that sugar is particularly damaging.