HEALTH BRIEFING:ALL PSORIASIS sufferers should be provided with psychological support for their condition, a new campaign will claim.
The Under the Spotlight campaign, a joint initiative between the International Federation of Psoriasis Associations and the Psoriasis Association of Ireland, aims to highlight the psychological effects of the condition.
Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition which is caused by the build-up of dead cells on the skin’s surface, causing unsightly patches to appear. It is very common and affects about 100,000 people in Ireland.
Studies have shown that the condition also has a debilitating psychological effect on sufferers. Psoriasis can be brought on by stress and is often exacerbated by it.
Dr Kate Russo, principal clinical psychologist at Queens University Belfast, said the international evidence showed that nearly all psoriasis patients experienced psychological trauma too.
Dr Russo said there were not enough co-ordinated services for people with psoriasis, and that GPs were left with the burden of care in the Republic.
“In the UK, there are more clinical pathways for psoriasis sufferers. It is easy to think of it on the surface as it is just a skin condition, but it has huge effect on how you see yourself as a person and how you relate to other people. It can cause people to be isolated from each other,” she said.
She explained that the impact on the disease necessitated psychosocial care as part of the management of the condition.
Numbers using midwest GP service fell in 2010
NUMBERS USING the GP out-of-hours service, Shannondoc, in the midwest fell last year for the first time since it was established in 2001, new figures show.
According to the annual report by Shannondoc for 2010, the number of calls last year dropped by 4 per cent. The service provides an out-of-hours GP service to a population of 275,000 people across Clare, north Tipperary and Limerick county.
In September, Shannondoc extended its service to Limerick city and today provides coverage to half of the city. Shannondoc’s manager, Larry Maher, said yesterday that it hopes to further extend its services across the city.
Shannondoc handled 95,681 calls last year compared with 99,470 calls in 2009. Factors leading to the drop in the numbers using the service include the general fall-off in those attending out-of-hours medical services, population movement and swine flu inflating the numbers for 2009. As a result of this, Shannondoc’s income decreased by 5.5 per cent from €6.4 million to €6 million.
However, the service recorded a €7,325 surplus last year, compared with a loss of €141,487 in 2009, which was mainly due to a €350,000 settlement with the Revenue Commissioners over a tax liability regarding the employment of locum doctors. The figures show that funding from the Health Service Executive last year dropped by 2.85 per cent from €4.86 million to €4.74 million.
Mr Maher said yesterday that the expansion by Shannondoc into Limerick city had resulted in the employment of an additional seven part-time staff.
Mobile link with cancer rejected
THERE IS no link between the long-term use of a mobile phone and getting brain cancer, new research suggests. In what has been described as the largest study on the subject, researchers from the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen found cancer rates in the central nervous system were almost the same in both long-term mobile phone users and non-users. The study, published on bmj.com, looked at 10,729 central nervous system tumours between 1990 and 2007.
