Signs of a
stroke
Few people know the signs of a stroke
according to a report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Among 61,000 adults who were asked,
only 17.2 per cent could answer accurately.
The danger signs are: confusion/trouble speaking,
numbness/weakness of arm, leg or face, trouble seeing, walking and dizziness or loss of
balance, severe headache with no known cause.
Treating
depression helps arthritis
Depression and arthritis
often go together, for obvious reasons. But what happens if you treat the depression?
Investigators in the US have published their findings in
the Journal of the American Medical Association. They gave patients of
60-plus a course of antidepressants and/or six to eight sessions with a psychotherapist.
After 12 months, there was not only a reduction in depression,
there was lower reporting of pain intensity compared with a non-treated group.
Overall health and quality of life got higher scores in the
treated group, which suggests that whether the depression or the arthritis came first,
state of mind has its own effect on physical infirmity and should be treated accordingly.
New breast
cancer drug
When trials with a new drug are stopped early because results
are so promising, it’s very good news indeed. That’s what has happened
with a new drug, letrozole, to treat breast cancer.
Over 5000 postmenopausal women took part in the trial held by
the National Cancer Institute of Canada. All had undergone breast surgery and 5 years
treatment with tamoxifen, which has little extra protective effect after 5 years.
After 2 ½ years on
letrozole, the group showed a 43 per cent risk reduction compared to women given a
placebo. The estimated survival rate after four years is 93 per cent.
Letrozole works by suppressing production of the female
hormone oestrogen, but there is one downside: it can increase risk of osteoporosis,
and the long-term effects are unknown.
Get well sooner
Being a positive, rather than a passive, patient has long been
known to reap benefits. Recovery time depends on attitude of mind that includes
knowing as much as possible about the treatment beforehand and what happens afterwards
too.
People who smoke or drink before surgery heal more slowly, as
do those who are overweight. Eating healthily before and after surgery also affects
recovery time.
Bone-healing is said to take
twice as long for smokers. Six glasses of wine a day before surgery can double the
complication rate.
Fear of pain after surgery or illness can inhibit the need to
exercise and slow down the return to good health. In all situations, the best thing
to do is communicate: talk to the doctors and nurses about how you feel and what’s
holding you back.
And even if you don’t
normally take vitamin supplements, it wouldn’t hurt to start a course some weeks
before surgery and continue afterwards for several weeks too. Discuss with your
doctor.
 Maximise your memory
This work provides detailed instructions, illustrations and sample
exercises that show the reader how to build a system of personalized frameworks for
storing and recalling information on demand.
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Want to know how long you are likely to live?
Just log on to the website www.fis.org. The
Foundation for Infinite Survival of Berkeley, California, has worked out a questionnaire
based on genetic and social factors, environment and behaviour.
You will be asked about how and when your
grandparents died, income, body weight, diet, whether you take multivitamins, how much you
drink, sleeping pattern, exercise, smoking and drinking habits. In fact all the
usual suspects.
Sex and the fifty-plus
The figures are for the
45-plus actually, but they tell a worrying story. Sexually transmitted diseases are
going up rapidly, with new episodes of gonorrhoea in the 45-64 age group rising by 240 per
cent in men between 1996 and 2002.
Cases of first attacks of genital warts
are also on the rise: a change of 34 per cent among men in the age group. Women aged
45-64 clocked up a rise of 55 per cent of first attack of genital herpes.
The
rises in younger age groups are less dramatic, ranging from 10-15 per cent. The trends
indicate that there’s more sexual activity among older people than there used to be.
Allergy sufferers get new magazine
It’s called simply A and promoted as ‘the new
lifestyle magazine for people with allergies’. The Jan-Feb issue covers food
intolerance, how to allergy-proof your home and is sexed-up with the coverline
‘Allergic to sex: 3 women tell all’.
The magazine is published by Allergy UK,
aka the British Allergy Foundation, a national charity. See more on the website www.allergyuk.org.
If in any doubt about any of the
information covered in healthwise articles and it's relevance for you, consult your GP.
In edition 47:-
Salmon is not the only fish
There are other ways to get omega-3
You don`t need a firm
mattress
Didn`t anybody ever think of asking the punters before?
What vitamin D does
The many valuable benefits of taking vitamin D
All in the genes
If you squint when the sun comes out and have to wear sunglasses even in
February....
OK for steroids
Using steroids to control asthma is not now considered a risk to developing
osteoporosis
Don`t ignore cystitis
Over 50% of women suffer from cystitis at some point in their lives
Getting fit & cheating
Can you combine getting fit and cheating occasionally?
Index to
all previous Healthwise editions
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