How an obese sibling can leave the other at risk

Contrary to popular belief that a child’s obesity risk is more determined by their parent’s weight, it could be true that siblings have more of an impact on their brother’s or sister’s chance of becoming obese. This is according to the findings of a new study carried out in the US.

The research analysed information extracted from the national Family Habits Survey, finding that kids with obese siblings were five times more likely to be obese themselves, whereas children with obese parents were only twice as likely to also be obese.

“When you look at a two-child family, a child’s obesity status was more strongly related with their sibling than with their parent,” commented Mark Pachucki, a researcher with the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and leader of the research.

According to the NHS, you are considered obese if you have a body mass index (BMI) reading of between 30 and 39.9. Becoming obese is basically the result of a calorie imbalance; gaining a large amount of weight from taking in more calories through your diet than you are burning from physical activity. However, the risk can increase through a combination of different factors such as genetics, the environment and lifestyle choices.

Previous research has found links between parent’s obesity and their children’s weight, but there has been little in the way of assessing the role of the weight of one sibling effecting the other’s obesity risk.

“This is really the first project to come out the bigger study, in which we are actually merging about 10 years of families’ food purchases with information about their health,” Pachucki said.

The research comprised of 1,948 families – 807 families with two children and 1,141 with just a single child. Eating and exercising were looked at, in addition to height and weight data to determine who was obese.

Around 12% of the only children could be classified as obese, with nearly a fifth not being physically active and over a third consuming fast food on two or more occasions each week.

A similar pattern emerged for those households with two children, but only 8% of the elder children could be classified as obese, in comparison to 12% of their younger brother or sister.

“We looked at one-child and two-child households, and in one-child households having an obese parent made a child more than twice as likely to be obese themselves,” Pachucki said.

Unsurprisingly, if the parents of an only child had a large intake of junk food, this led to a higher chance that the child would be obese, with a lesser risk if those children were involved in vigorous physical activity.
 
For two-child families, having an obese sibling led to a risk that was in excess of fives time of that than if the brother or sister wasn’t obese.

It was also found that if both children in a two-child family were the same gender, the elder sibling being obese resulted in an even heavier likelihood of the younger child being obese.

Girls with an older sister who was obese were 8 times more at risk of being obese themselves compared to girls with an older sister of a healthy weight, whilst boys with an older obese brother were a staggering 11 times more at risk.

“Parents are often very explicit models of behaviour; they do the food purchasing, and they control a lot of aspects of their children’s lives,” Pachucki said. “I was expecting there to be a stronger correlation with parents’ obesity, but I was surprised that the siblings were stronger.”

Revolutionary ‘VivaGel’ condom that kills HIV could be available in months

An Australian company have made ground-breaking progress in the fight to combat the worldwide problem of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), after gaining approval for their revolutionary new type of condom.

Australian bio-tech firm Starpharma have crafted a condom lubricated with antiviral ‘VivaGel’ which is able to destroy sexually transmitted infections, and the condom has now been given the green light by Australian Regulators.

The condom has been issued with a receipt of Conformity of Assessment Certification by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) – like the CE mark certificates in Europe – and this could now lead to a huge mass production of the product.

Starpharma are now joining forces with Australian condom maker Ansell – the company that own an estimated 70% of Australia’s condom market – to produce the prophylactics, which are currently being analysed by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a potential future release in the US.

For those who are unfamiliar with VivaGel, it is a nanotech antiviral compound that contains 0.5% astodrimer sodium – a non-antibiotic, antimicrobial drug that is made purposely to combat a wide range of sexual infections such as HIV, herpes and human papilloma virus.

Dr Jackie Fairley, the chief executive of the company which created VivaGel, said: “Condoms are not 100 per cent effective in preventing either pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections and so anything that you can do to reduce the number of virus particles by inactivating them with a substance like VivaGel would reduce overall viral load.”

The condom’s TGA approval was given after the product was thoroughly tested in accordance with certain requirements relating safety and performance, and its release cannot come quick enough for Australians.

Genital herpes, caused by the herpes simplex virus, is caught by a staggering one in eight Australians aged 25 and over. A good proportion of these people are probably completely unaware they even have the virus unfortunately as symptoms don’t always rear their ugly head. And worryingly, without sufficient chlamydia treatment, the person can be eventually left infertile.

Statistics show that by the end of 2012, newly diagnosed HIV infections in Australia had increased 10% over the previous 12 months, representing the largest increase for two decades.

Peter Carroll, Ansell president and general manager of the sexual wellness global business unit, claimed that the “ground-breaking new sexual health” product may be on the shelves sooner rather than later.

“Ansell looks forward to rolling out its marketing and sales campaign to support the launch of LifeStyles Dual Protect over the coming months with the first product expected to be available on shelves soon,” he said.

Don’t sweat it! – How to fight frustrating Summer acne breakouts

It’s kind of ironic isn’t it? The summer season is the time of the year when we want/need to bare the most skin, yet can also be the time when some of us suffer the most with acne breakouts.

For those who may have suffered with more acne breakouts lately than usual, perhaps the current glorious weather sweeping across the UK could be to blame.

Heat and humidity result in more sweating so the body can try to remain in a cool state. Unfortunately, this excessive sweating, together with strenuous outside activities air pollutants, dirt, debris, etc. in the air can result in clogged pores on the face, and this is when the blackheads and acne breakouts wreak havoc for our skin.

Acne is caused when the skin produces too much oil, leading to skin pores becoming clogged with bacteria. Though many first believed sweating could aid clearing out these pores, it was eventually discovered that oil pores and sweat glands are independent of one another – thereby one having no benefit to the other. It is in fact the case that sweating leads to more acne by providing a sticky, moist surface for dirt and debris to cling to.

However, the active amongst us may be at an even further risk of acne during the hot summer months. Acne mechanica is a term probably unfamiliarly to most, but it is a form of acne caused by friction, pressure or rubbing from clothing against a particularly sweaty part of the body. It is the trapped heat against the body for long periods of time that leads to this type of acne.

Sports equipment is a common culprit for acne mechanica, and this is why many teenage boys are likely to suffer. Football or hockey pads, sweatbands, helmets, etc. traps sweat and heat against the skin, leading to acne.

It is not just sporty teenagers who are prone to acne mechanica though – Soldiers are another group often suffering with this type of acne. Carrying around heavy equipment, weapons and everything else, puts enormous pressure and friction on the skin, causing breakouts. Any soldier who is based out in hot, humid environments is even more at risk of this form of acne.

So what can be done in the summer months when it is hot and humid, and a higher risk of acne?

.  Consider benzoyl peroxide-containing acne treatments

The majority of acne mechanica cases respond effectively to treatments containing benzoyl peroxide, found in certain body washes, over-the counter acne treatments, as well as highly popular prescription treatments for acne such as Duac Once Daily Gel and Epiduo Gel. In fact, almost every kind of acne treatment recommended by dermatologists will utilise benzoyl peroxide as its primary active ingredient because it is a proven and effective tool at treating acne. After application, the benzoyl peroxide will enter the skin and its free radical oxygen and benzoic acid will combines forces to kill off the acne-causing bacteria.

. Shower frequently

It is obvious that most of us will spend more time outdoors when it is warm. Make sure to shower following excessive sweating and although it may be tempting to have a long soak in the bath after a sweat-filled day outdoors, avoid this as that can actually provoke acne, and stick to having a shower. This will effectively clear away dead skin cells and flush them away from the body. Remember to not shower too frequently though as this can have an adverse effect on the body, and two minutes should be all you need to rinse off.

. Avoid scrubbing

Scrubbing the skin can bring on a high risk of an acne breakout. Therefore, both in and out of the shower, try not to scrub your skin and face. Use a towel to delicately pat yourself dry and simply let the air dry off the skin as much as possible, as this enables essential oils to remain on the skin.

. Choose clothing wisely

It is important to wear light clothing that is loose fitting to lessen the friction against the skin and to ensure the body is kept cool and less likely to sweat. Light cotton, silk, and linen are advisable whilst synthetic fabric appears to be disastrous in respect to acne mechanica as it traps heat against the skin.  Sporty individuals should be cautious that their uniform will probably be made from synthetic fabric. Therefore, it is beneficial to wear a cotton t-shirt underneath the uniform. This is vital under athletic pads to help reduce friction. Athletes should also shower straight after their activities to wash away all that sweat.

. Eat healthily

Greasy foods loaded with fat can release free radicals and other damaging chemicals into the body, causing an accumulation of oil and bacteria. With this in mind, make sure to have a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, which are both fantastic for the skin as they released antioxidants that can fight the free radicals and reduce the risk of acne.

Asthma drug salbutamol amazingly helped teenager’s paralysis

Could the popular blue reliever inhaler Ventolin Evohaler also be used to relieve…paralysis?!
An 18-year-old suffering with congenital myasthenia, an inherited neuromuscular disorder, took salbutamol and after a week the teen stunned doctors by being able to walk unaided after being wheelchair-bound for seven years.

Jimmy Webster, from Cardiff, had been suffering to such an extent that he had required an oxygen mask to breathe on occasions.

On taking salbutamol, Mr Webster commented: “Within three days I could stand and within a week I could walk.” Next on the agenda for Jimmy is a camping trip. He said: “I wouldn’t have contemplated this last year.”

Salbutamol is a fast-acting medicine used in the treatment of asthma, bronchospasm and is also sometimes used for delaying the delivery in women going through a premature labour. The drug is a beta-2-agonist, and works by relaxing the muscles within air passages of the lungs. This means the airways are kept open and it is much easier to breathe.

However, Jimmy’s experience could pave the way for salbutamol being a main treatment option for more of the estimated 12,000 Brit’s with myasthenia.

Myasthenia can either be inherited, or caused by an autoimmune disorder. This means that the immune system – usually working to protect the body from infections – mistakenly attacks its own tissues.

Those with the autoimmune type of myasthenia have a fault in the transmission of nerve messages from the nerves to the muscles. This results in the muscles not being stimulated correctly and therefore do not tighten (contract) sufficiently, becoming easily tired and weak.

Muscle weakness is a particularly common symptom of the disease, but there are a range of symptoms – which may appear suddenly. Weakness in the eye muscles is often the first symptom, with one or both of the eyelids drooping, and there may also be blurred or double vision.

For some, the muscles around the mouth are affected first, resulting in problems with swallowing (dysphagia), chewing and even talking. Impaired speech and a nasal-sounding voice then usually follow.

Like in Jimmy’s case, some people with the condition can have breathing difficulties, especially during exercise or lying flat, and in some extreme scenarios, myasthenia can cause total paralysis.
Previous studies that shown a similar drug – ephedrine – contained in cold and flu remedies, could occasionally be effective for treating myasthenia. For example, there was another teenage patient who ended up being able to go out jogging and do sit-ups after previously having to rely on crutches to walk.

Therefore, Professor David Beeson at the Weatherall Institute, of Molecular Medicine, Oxford University, wanted to find other drugs that could be just as effective, if not better. Salbutamol was one of the medicines analysed.

Salbutamol may be used in conjunction with other drugs or standalone. Professor Beeson commented: “It is not yet licensed for use in the condition, but clinicians are happy to prescribe it.”
He advised Jimmy to try salbutamol together with pyridostigmine, a treatment he had been on since the age of four.

“I expected I’d get stronger, but had no idea I’d be able to walk again,” says Jimmy. “I still use my wheelchair out and about, but at home I walk around – just getting dressed, washing and cooking, it’s amazing to be able to normal things.”

Professor Beeson is delighted with Jimmy’s progress, adding: “It is incredibly rewarding to see results like this. Over the last couple of years we have seen patients rise from their wheelchairs within months, but Jimmy’s quite exceptional.”

Millions more to be eligible for cholesterol-boosting statins

The threshold for those eligible to take cholesterol-lowering statins has been drastically cut by medicines regulator the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), meaning millions more adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will now be offered statins by doctors.

Under controversial guidelines from the watchdog, most men aged over 60 and women over 65 will now be advised to take statins such as Atorvastatin, Pravastatin or Rosuvastatin. This will be the case even if they are only at a one in 10 risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The current threshold is 20%.

NICE say the recommendation to take statins to an extra 4.5 million adults is necessary to avoid “a tragedy waiting to happen” by decreasing the numbers of people suffering with heart attacks and strokes.

Around 12.5 million people are currently eligible for the drugs, and the NHS could see costs of an extra £52 million annually from the extra 4.5 million patients being offered statin medication. Due to decreasing costs for the drugs, the total NHS bill for statins would actually still be less than what it was in 2012.

Speaking yesterday, the NICE guidance panel argued the recommendations were devised from the “biggest ever clinical trial” and that 50,000 lives could be saved each year if those now eligible regularly took statins.

However, that indeed could be one major stumbling block – getting patients to keep taking their treatment. NICE admit that statin uptake only stands at around 60% usually, and that benefits to be gained are more likely to be 4,000 lives saved each year in addition to 22,000 strokes and heart attacks averted.

One in three deaths in the UK are the result of cardiovascular disease. It is for this reason why statins remain the most prescribed type of medication on the NHS, with Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy also seeing massive amounts of patients requesting statins to help lower their ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, whilst raising the ‘good’ HDL cholesterol!

Although some doctors have claimed the new guidelines for statins are primarily based on studies funded by the pharmaceutical industry, this has been quickly refuted by NICE.

Professor Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, blasted that such claims were “ludicrous”.

“Nobody gets onto our guideline groups if they have any significant vested interest, especially a financial interest,” he commented. “Statins are safe and effective and it is a good deal for more people to have access to them under the NHS.”

Professor Peter Weissberg, the medical director at the British Heart Foundation, stressed the importance of positive lifestyle choices in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. He said: “Doctors will now be able to offer a statin to people at a lower risk, but their prescription is not mandated.

“Just as important is the emphasis on trying lifestyle changes before considering treatments with drugs.”

For example, lifestyle changes hinted at by Professor Weissberg include: quitting smoking, maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, consume alcohol only in moderation, manage stress levels better, have a diet rich in fruit and vegetables/limited in trans fats and keep your blood pressure under control.

Drivers could be fined £10,000 if they allow smoking with a child present in the car

Drivers and passengers of cars in England both face being slapped with huge fines if they are caught smoking with children present.

In February of this year MPs voted in a majority for an amendment to the Children and Families Bill, for a ban on smoking in cars carrying children.

However, new regulations could result in drivers of the vehicle actually incurring a fine of over 10 times that of the maximum £800 charge for the person who is smoking (i.e. the passenger).

There are health campaigners who stress such a strict move will save thousands of lives, with children not being forced to inhale the dangerous, toxic chemicals contained in each cigarette.
Opposition to the proposed penalties argue it is ‘excessive and unnecessary’ and merely an example of the government ‘flexing its muscles’.

The idea for the smoking ban in cars was passed by a clear majority of MPs in February, resulting in ministers having to devise clear legislation on the matter.

The cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday led to a consultation leaking out with details of the regulations. In the small print contained information about what offenders can expect to be hit with, stating: ‘A person who does not comply with the law would be committing a criminal offence.’

For anyone caught either lighting up in a smoke free vehicle, or failing to prevent smoking in a smoke free vehicle, enforcement officers will be able to issue a £50 fixed penalty notice.

If this isn’t paid and the case ends up in court, the maximum fine could rise to £800 for anyone caught smoking in a car with a child inside and a ‘level 4’ fine of up to £10,000 for a driver failing to prevent somebody else from smoking.

For drivers wanting to avoid paying potentially thousands, they would need to be able to prove how they took ‘reasonable steps to cause the person smoking to stop smoking, or they did not and could not have reasonably known the person was smoking, or that there was some other reasonable ground for not complying with the duty’.

The Department of Health claims the fines have been created based on those already in place for anyone caught smoking in public places – an act made illegal in 2007.

Public Health Minister Jane Ellison said: “The only effective way to protect children from secondhand smoke is to prevent them breathing it in in the first place. Exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard, especially to children and a significant number of children say that they are exposed to secondhand smoke in private vehicles.”

Deputy PM Nick Clegg – a smoker himself – unsurprisingly opposed the plans as they went through parliament earlier in the year, saying that ‘as an old-fashioned liberal’ he believed that ‘laws and legislation are not always the solution’.

However, campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) want the banning on smoking in vehicles where children under the age of 18 are present put into action prior to the next parliament.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash, said: “Cars are small tin boxes where concentrations of tobacco smoke can reach dangerous levels very quickly.

“As David Cameron himself has said, the time has come for it to be illegal to make children breathe in these toxic fumes. Laws stopping smoking in cars with children are popular with the public, with parliament and with children and we urge the Government to bring them into force before the next election.”

Chlamydia testing leads to safer sex amongst young adults

If young adults are offered the chance to undergo a chlamydia test, this has positive ramifications for their sexual health and motivation to seek out healthcare in the future, according to a new report by Public Health England.

Contraception schemes – such as the providing of condoms – in addition to chlamydia screening, apparently can encourage safe sex behaviour for the future in young adults.

Testing for the highly common sexually transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia is normally advised on a yearly basis, or for sexually active people upon meeting a new partner. Screening for the disease is often implanted through primary care (general practices and pharmacies), community sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services (including termination of pregnancy services) and GUM clinics.

Not many realise it but in fact pharmacies such as Medical Specialists™  are at the forefront of providing sexual health services to the millions who require it.

This is not only vital to adults in the UK, but indeed the world, and include things such as medicine supply; this could be chlamydia treatment, genital herpes treatment, or treatment for gonorrhoea.
Also Medical Specialists™ can provide almost 100% accurate pregnancy tests to be used in the privacy and comfort of your own home, a wide variety of condoms to suit different preferences, emergency hormonal contraception (morning after pill), other contraceptive pills, and even a chlamydia test you can take at home and post off for a quick analysis and result, saving you the time and embarrassment of having to personally attend a clinic for a check-up.

The PHE report showed positive findings, discovering that 62% of respondents to an anonymous web survey claimed they were more likely to use condoms with a new partner after previously having a chlamydia test, with 66% even saying they would probably get tested again for it in the future.
For those who answered the PHE web survey, nine out of 10 stated they have received sexual health advice when they had undergone their previous chlamydia test.

Dr Anthony Nardone, consultant epidemiologist at PHE, commented: “Our survey of young adults found chlamydia screening has a positive impact on both health-seeking and sexual behaviour, and provides an important channel for the delivery of safer sex messages to young adults. This enhances the cost effectiveness of chlamydia screening, offering value beyond that of the testing itself.”

Simon Blake OBE, chief executive of Brook, said: “Young adults remain the age group most at risk of STIs in England. C-Card schemes are an effective way to help young adults take responsibility for their sexual health; providing them with easy access to free contraception, education about sexual health and wellbeing, and are an opportunity to signpost to related services.”