A round-up of today's health news in brief
HSE helps people in Cork to walk away from diabetes
PEOPLE AT high risk of developing diabetes in the west Cork area can avail of a new programme that helps prevent the disease by making small lifestyle changes.
The Walk Away from Diabetes programme was developed by the University of Leicester to prevent the disease, which affects more than 5 per cent of the Irish population.
The HSE in west Cork is now screening people to help identify those in danger of developing diabetes through a risk assessment which looks at factors such as family history, weight, large abdominal measurement, low activity levels and high blood pressure.
Once identified as being at risk, people are offered the Walk Away from Diabetes programme, a one-off three-and-a-half hour interactive course run by HSE community and public health nurses and physiotherapy staff around west Cork every second Wednesday.
Clair Haseldine, HSE community physiotherapist, said: “It is very important to catch people who are at risk as large- scale studies in America and Finland have shown that small changes in lifestyle can actually prevent diabetes from occurring in 60 per cent of prediabetics.
“No medicine or costly treatments, no surgery – just being a little bit more active can actually prevent diabetes.”
If you are interested in attending one of the programmes in your area or if you want to find out if you are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, contact Bernadette O’Riordan, HSE community nurse at tel: 087-1312890 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Waterford Regional first to get HealthStat 'green light'
WATERFORD REGIONAL Hospital (WRH) has been congratulated on becoming Ireland’s first acute hospital to receive “green light” status for “very good” in the HealthStat programme.
Published on Friday, the December 2009 HealthStat analysis shows WRH achieved a “green light” for very good performance in each of the three areas measured. The hospital was the only one out of 52 measured in the new “traffic light” system to get the green light status.
The programme measures hospital performance on a monthly basis against national and international targets in delivering patient care, according to the HSE. WRH achieved the green light under the three areas measured – access to services, patient-centredness and best use of human and financial resources, according to a spokeswoman.
Fine Gael Senator Paudie Coffey last night said: “The common element behind the categories is the enthusiasm and commitment of staff, doctors, nurses and all the people in support roles. We all know people who work at WRH, and they deserve their success.”
WRH’s general manager, Patricia Sullivan, added: “We are absolutely delighted that the evidence is there to demonstrate the efforts being made for patients to access both local and regional services at WRH.”
The HSE South regional director of operations, Pat Healy, said: “Efforts to improve access for patients to our hospital services and making the best use of people and monetary resources will continue to be the focus, not only at Waterford Regional Hospital, but in all the acute hospitals across HSE South.”
Website aims to get elderly moving
A WEBSITE has been launched to help older people stay active and independent. The website, www.getmommoving.com, offers activity cards with exercises for the mind and body, according to Ed Murphy of Home Instead Senior Care. “There are many older people who are literally trapped in the home because they are too weak to perform many of the activities they need to remain independent, or even enjoy life. I hope the activity cards encourage seniors to become more active and improve their health,” he said.
British drug users warned of anthrax contamination
HEALTH AUTHORITIES in Britain have repeated a warning to drug users that a batch of heroin contaminated with anthrax was probably circulating in Europe, posing a potentially serious health threat.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said a second case of anthrax had been confirmed in an injecting heroin user in London, adding to two previous cases in England, 24 in Scotland and one in Germany. A total of 12 people have died in Europe of anthrax infection since the first cases emerged in Scotland in December.
European health authorities said in January they believed a batch of heroin was circulating in the region that had been contaminated with anthrax, a fairly common bacteria whose spores can be used as a biological weapon. Experts have said the heroin is unlikely to have been deliberately contaminated.
Rachel Heathcock from the London branch of the HPA stressed there was no evidence of person-to-person transmission in any of the recent anthrax cases, and the risk to the population, including those close to infected patients, was “negligible”.
“It is extremely rare for anthrax to be spread from person to person,” she said in a statement. Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by spores of bacillus anthracis bacteria. It occurs most often in wild and domestic animals in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe.
Humans are rarely infected but touching contaminated hides or hair can cause skin lesions. If the spores are inhaled, the infection can take hold quickly and by the time symptoms show, it can be too late for successful treatment with antibiotics.
Childhood stress may lead to severe depression
CHILDHOOD STRESS, such as abuse or emotional neglect, can contribute to changes in the structure of the brain, rendering people affected more vulnerable to developing depression, according to a new Irish study.
The research, carried out by scientists at Trinity College Dublin, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the brain structures of 24 patients being treated as inpatients for severe depression.
Prof Thomas Frodl at the School of Medicine and Trinity Institute for Neuroscience said: “This improved neurobiological understanding shows how stress and genetic variants interact and affect brain structure and function. In turn it demonstrates how it could affect a person’s propensity for depression.
“Early intervention in the case of major depression is necessary to increase the chance of a good disease outcome. Fortunately, depression can be treated very well by psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. Moreover, prevention strategies for childhood neglect and misuse are highly important to increase public health and to avoid in later life for these individuals, the burden of major depression,” he said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) found that major depression was one of the most important human diseases with a prevalence of about 10 per cent worldwide. About 500,000 people in Ireland have or will develop major depression in their lives.
The WHO has forecast that major depression will be the second most common cause of disability by 2020.
The study has just been published in the international scientific journal, Neuropsychopharmacology.
Diets can reduce artery damage
WEIGHT-LOSS DIETS can reverse life-threatening artery damage in obese individuals, a study has shown. Low-carbohydrate “Atkins”-style diets, low-fat and Mediterranean diets were equally effective, scientists found. Tests showed that patients who went on the diets lost moderate amounts of weight, lowered their blood pressure and developed healthier arteries. After two years, their carotid arteries had lost 5 per cent of their wall volume on average and 1.1 per cent of their thickness.
