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Round-Up of Global News In Health and Complementary MedicineNews Beginning Wk 09 Oct 2000
The Blues Increases Risk Of Heart DiseaseSuffering from depression is bad enough but the latest research from the USA suggests that it can actually effect our hearts and lead to health problems in later life. A team of medical scientists based in North Carolina studied over 4,500 people over 65 years of age and asked them to complete a questionnaire examining their psychological health. All were volunteers and following this initial questionnaire they were retested after a period of six years. The results were very interesting indeed. The researchers discovered that the people who reported typical symptoms of depression were over 40 per cent more likely to suffer from heart problems in later life compared with those who had no symptoms of clinical depression. Research team leader, Dr Curt Furberg, comments that the study’s results definitely showed that "symptoms of depression are an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease in older people". He hastens to add that the depression is unlikely to be a direct cause of heart disease, however the presence of depression symptoms would "predict the development of the disease". Further, He it was very unlikely that the depression was in any way prompted by existing heart disease. The findings have implications for possible treatment of heart disease – further studies will be carried out to see if treating depression reduces the incidence of heart problems. The Daily Telegraph 10 October 2000
Sex – A Little Of What You Like Might Keep Cancer At BayOk so what’s new? Sex is good for us – didn’t we already know that? Well, a new report published this week tells us that it regular sexual activity could actually reduce our risk of contracting cancer. The report has been published in the British Journal of Cancer and discusses a study which revealed that those men with low sex drives were significantly more likely to develop breast cancer than their colleagues with a high sex drive. The study was carried out in Greece (where else?) and compared 23 men diagnosed with cancer with 76 healthy men. All of the men were asked about the frequency of orgasms they had experienced at different stages in their lives. A particular link between cancer and the frequency of orgasms was found to be greatest in men over 50 years old . The author, Professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos, based at Harvard University, USA, remarks: "The frequency of orgasms is thought to be related to testosterone, which drives men’s sexual behaviour. Our work has shown for the first time that men with breast cancer tend to have a lower sex drive." The Daily Telegraph 10 October 2000
Work Stress Makes Us Sick To The Teeth (And Other Parts)If you are reading this at work and feeling stressed then welcome to the unhappy band it seems. Job stress continues to rise and that’s not all according to a study carried out by the charity MIND. It is in fact one of the most common causes of mental ill health. Their study involved 1,500 people, each was enquired about his/her perceptions of mental illness. The charity discovered that job stress was considered far more serious stressful life events such as bereavement or the breakdown of a marriage. It was found that in excess of 61 per cent of people believed that job stress could result in severe illness, including depression. Financial Times 10 October 2000
Taxing The Big WhopperThe need to stem the tide of obesity in the UK is leading some to put forward to some novel solutions. One University Professor has proposed that hamburgers should be taxed in order to tackle Britain’s growing obesity problem. Based at St Andrew’s University in Scotland, Professor Mo Malek warns that the fattier the burger, the higher the tax that should be levied on its sale. Professor Malek believes that such a move would ensure that manufacturers take responsibility for providing healthier food – in the case of burgers this means more use of lean meat. He continues, "Bad diet is going to be one of the major health problems this country faces in the future, and unless something is done, the NHS will continue to be treated like a repair shop". The Professor’s proposal is given credence by recent figures highlighting the obesity problem – 50% of the population over the age of 50 years are overweight; and even more horrifying, 1 in every 10 six-year-olds have now joined the growing obesity figures. The Daily Telegraph 9 October 2000
Yes, We Have Some BananasThis week saw the launch of a new Government nutrition initiative aimed at reducing the incidence of cancer and heart disease. The initiative, known as the "Give Me Five" campaign, has been set up to encourage those members of the UK population at risk of aforementioned diseases to consume more fruit and veg. "Give Me Five" will primarily focus on the 1 million poorest people in the country, providing a service which includes free fruit for children and extensive supermarket promotions. The Independent 9 October 2000
GPs Look To Alternative MedicineHard-pressed NHS GPs are now beginning to bow to consumer pressure for increased access to complementary health services. Furthermore, providing this access could actually save doctors money. GPs are increasingly opening their minds to alternative therapies as means of treating their patients because the same patients are urging them to offer such therapies. Latest figures show that one if 5 GPs now provide access to complementary health therapies and experts predict that this number will continue to rise steeply. This change in feelings about complementary therapies is now supported by the Department Health – in June the DOH will be publishing a distributing a guide to obtaining alternative medicines for GP surgeries. Changes in the way GPs are funded to provide their health services, changes introduced by the Labour government, has had a big part to play in this increase in popularity of alternative therapies. Doctors are now keener to explore treatments which are cheaper but nevertheless effective. Complementary therapies fill this role admirably. The Independent 7 October 2000
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