Statin treatment should be based on ‘risk and not cholesterol levels’
February 21st, 2010There’s no quick fix for depression
February 21st, 2010The NHS favours pills and short-termist CBT. Life-changing therapy takes time, but could save our economy millions
Luiza Sauma - guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 February 2010 12.00 GMT
When it comes to depression, the British stiff upper lip is alive and well. A recent survey by the charity Turning Point reveals that three quarters of British people experience depression at some point, making it one of the UK’s most common health concerns. Despite its prevalence, a third of sufferers do not seek help due to embarrassment, worries about confidentiality and a feeling that they could cope by themselves.
Turning Point’s findings are depressingly familiar to me. As well as being a journalist, I work part-time as a parents’ helpline adviser at the mental health charity YoungMinds, where depression is the most common theme of the calls – even if the “D” word is never mentioned. Some of these calls are carbon copies of each other – the names, locations and social classes change, but the story remains the same: a young person has dropped out of education or employment, they’ve stopped seeing their friends; they can’t even get out of bed or hold down an undemanding part-time job. Why, ask many parents, won’t they just pull themselves together?
I’m originally from Brazil, where chatting openly about your emotions, problems and, indeed, your psychotherapist (among the middle classes, at least) is de rigueur. But I was brought up in Britain, where depression is rarely out of the news, yet is often treated with a mixture of suspicion, contempt and shame. It’s not just young Neets (not in employment, education or training) who are falling prey to it – although one could be rather superficial and say that, what with today’s job market, they have the most to be miserable about.
Depression is, of course, much more than just status anxiety. From Alexander McQueen’s death to Dolly Parton’s recent revelation that she had been suicidal in the 1980s, every week another gifted and admired public figure is revealed to have suffered from crippling misery. Artists, writers and performers, however, have a get-out clause: they are allowed to express their dark sides, so we don’t have to.
Around 31m prescriptions for antidepressants are doled out every year to the British public. After all, pills – like cognitive behavioural therapy – are cheap, and fit neatly into the idea that a depression is a “chemical imbalance” that can be easily cured. The psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr John Steiner tells me that the chemical imbalance idea can be “damaging, but it’s partly true. Some people are just more prone to depression than others. But then there’s also an interaction of that person’s genetic make-up with their relationships”. According to Steiner, CBT “can often work in the short term, but it doesn’t affect the underlying problem. It’s a symptom-treatment, like antidepressants”.
Longer-term psychotherapy aims to uncover those underlying problems. But as anyone with depression will know, getting referred on the NHS to anything other than CBT is almost impossible. On the YoungMinds helpline, I’ve even heard of young people being offered electroconvulsive therapy before talking therapy – one would think that it would be the last, not the first or second, resort.
Imagine if you had cancer and you couldn’t get referred to a life-saving treatment. Like cancer, depression kills people and destroys lives – not just of sufferers, but of their families too. Just as there are different types of cancer, there are different types of depression. I suffered a relatively mild version a couple of years ago and I was at pains to disguise it: after all, I had a fantastic job at a newspaper, a wonderful boyfriend and loving, supportive family and friends – what did I have to be miserable about?
A friend of mine has suffered from a more aggressive form of the illness. “It feels walking through treacle,” she said. “Everyday tasks seem exhausting and impossible, people terrifying and hostile, and life an endless desert of weariness and despair.” Unlike me, she’s been through the mill of NHS mental health services, has gulped down the antidepressants and tried CBT, to little or no avail.
“It too often seems like an admittance of weakness, in a way that having a broken arm or gastric flu just doesn’t,” she admits. “I’ve felt very, very patronised by GPs. Being asked questions like, ‘Do you feel worthless?’ or ‘Do you feel suicidal?’ in a form-filling monotone is somewhat dispiriting. It’s hard to be strong and assertive when you’re suffering. And often that’s what you need, when services are very hard to access.”
In short, people who cannot afford private treatment are being locked out by a system that favours cheap, temporary fixes over long-term results. Yes, access to proper treatment for depression – the kind that can actually change one’s life – would be a drain to the economy, but so are all the depressed, under-supported people who make up the majority of incapacity benefit claimants.
Economically, it could make perfect sense, if a more productive, happier Britain was within our grasp.
Obesity ‘often set before age of two’
February 21st, 2010The “tipping point” that sets children on the way to a lifetime of obesity often occurs before the age of two, say US researchers.
A study of more than 100 obese children and teenagers found more than half were overweight by 24 months and 90% were overweight by the age of five.
A quarter were overweight before they were five months old, the researchers reported in Clinical Pediatrics.
In the UK, around 27% of children are now overweight.
The children in the study - who had an average age of 12 - were all overweight or obese by the age of 10.
Although the reason for rapid weight gain in early life is not well understood, contributing factors are likely to be poor diet, early introduction of solid food, and not getting enough exercise, the researchers said.
Eating behaviour
They added that food preferences may be set by the age of two, so changing a child’s eating behaviour at a later stage may be difficult.
Study leader Dr John Harrington, an assistant professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, said the results should be a “wake-up call for doctors”.
He went on: “Too often, doctors wait until medical complications arise before they begin treatment.
“Getting parents and children to change habits that have already taken hold is a monumental challenge fraught with road-blocks and disappointments.
“This study indicates that we may need to discuss inappropriate weight gain early in infancy to effect meaningful changes in the current trend of obesity.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “What happens in the first years of a baby’s life has a big effect on how healthy they are in the future.
“Despite recent encouraging statistics which show that childhood obesity may be levelling off, obesity levels are still too high and it is important we keep the momentum going.”
Why I love being a stirrer, by Prince Charles
February 21st, 2010By Rebecca English
Last updated at 11:32 AM on 04th February 2010
Prince Charles has spoken of his pride in being a thorn in the side of those who object to his views on architecture, planning and the environment.
In a bullish speech yesterday, he spoke of facing ‘unbelievable abuse’ but vowed to continue speaking out on issues close to his heart.
He told the annual conference of The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment at St James’s Palace, London, that he was proud to have been accused of being the ‘enemy of the Enlightenment’.
The Enlightenment was the movement in Western philosophy that originated in the 18th century and which saw reason, scientific evidence and critical thinking used to question tradition.
‘I was accused once of being the enemy of the Enlightenment,’ Charles remarked yesterday.
‘I felt rather proud. I thought hang on a moment, the Enlightenment started over 200 years ago.
‘It might be time to think again and review it and question whether it is really effective in today’s conditions, faced as we are with huge challenges all over the world.
‘We cannot go on like this, just imagining that the principles of Enlightenment laid down in the 18th century still apply. I do not think that they do but if you challenge people who hold the Enlightenment as the ultimate answer to everything you really upset them.’
He also touched upon the ‘abuse’ he faced when speaking about the need for architects to consider the natural world when designing.
In particular he suggested that The Prince’s Foundation should consider securing bird boxes as a matter of course on all its properties.
‘We have to consider these issues,’ he said. ‘That’s another why reason I battle so hard … despite the unbelievable abuse that’s heaped on me every time I open my mouth.’
Brits lack confidence to ‘grow your own’
November 23rd, 2009Yet 92% say self sufficiency could beat the recession
Lack of confidence in their skills could be holding Brits back from taking the plunge towards self sufficiency, with half admitting they have lost the practical skills of their grandparent’s generation - 45% admit they have fewer cooking skills, 47% say they are less able to grow their own food, 48% have lost the rural craft skills that make self sufficiency possible and 51% say they would have no idea how to rear animals.
A staggering 92% [1] of people in the UK say that self sufficiency and traditional skills like growing your own food, crafting and rearing your own livestock have become more and more important during the financial crisis, yet less than a third of the 300,000 acres of prime growing land in gardens and allotments in this country is currently used to grow food. [2]
However, budding ‘grow your own-ers ‘ can now get a confidence boost and gain the skills to cultivate their land from the Soil Association, who are launching 300 Organic Farm School courses over the next two years, [3] with support from the Daylesford Foundation. [4]
The Organic Farm School offers hands-on courses in growing your own food, rearing animals, cooking and rural crafts. Participants will learn practical skills direct from organic farmers, growers and producers with personal experience. Courses include bee-keeping, chicken keeping, vegetable growing, cider making, bread baking, willow weaving, hedge laying and many others. [5]
Patrick Holden, Soil Association director, said:
“The Organic Farm School is about relearning skills which are vital to becoming more self-sufficient. In the recession this will not only be cheaper but it’s healthier for you and the environment too. I think one of life’s greatest pleasures is eating food that you’ve produced yourself.
“My vision for the Organic Farm School is that it enables and inspires a whole generation of young people to acquire these vitally important skills from the very best practitioners – the farmers and growers themselves.”
Monty Don, Soil Association president, said:
“The Soil Association’s Organic Farm School is a fantastic opportunity for anyone to come and learn skills from the experts. Each course is an enjoyable day out on an organic farm and a chance to experience the rich satisfaction of country life.”
The Soil Association hopes to reach over 3,000 individuals with the Farm Schools - from young families and gardening newbies, to allotmenteers and wannabe smallholders - encouraging a reconnection of urban and rural. The courses are not only a fun day out on an organic farm, they offer a chance to rediscover the precious knowledge of our grandparents.
Whether you want to skill up and make that step towards making your life more sustainable, learn how to live closer to the land, or get inspired and try something out as a possible career option, the Organic Farm School has the right course for you.
http://www.soilassociation.org
Chlorella: the superfood that helps fight disease
November 23rd, 2009Â
By Victoria Lambert
17 Aug 2009
17 Aug 2009
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What excited the scientists, including the notable Carnegie Institute in Washington DC, was that this green algae proved to be almost a dream food. It is packed with protein – twice as much as spinach – and about 38 times the quantity of soybeans, and 55 times that of rice. It also contains nine essential amino acids, as well as vitamins and minerals.
These are the latest in a long line of health claims – ranging from boosting the immune system in cancer patients to improving the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Chlorella is a tiny, unicellular green algae, three to eight micrometres in diameter, which when grown in large quantities in South East Asia and Australia gives lakes and rivers a green tint. Before being used as a supplement, it must be gathered, dried to a paste, crushed to a fine emerald green powder, and converted to tiny, soft, crumbly tablets, which smell vaguely of the sea.
Although chlorella was discovered by a Dutch microbiologist in 1890 and studied as a potential protein source by German scientists, it wasn’t until after the Second World War that the reality of food shortages, combined with the expectation of a population boom, led to bureaucrats globally examining chlorella in the hope that it could be used to feed the masses cheaply – this proved uneconomic. Later, NASA studied it with a view to feeding it to astronauts, and perhaps growing it on space stations.
It is currently being used in the UK to help cancer patients. Nadia Brydon, senior therapist in complementary medicine at Breast Cancer Haven, the charity that supplies integrated health care to support women with breast cancer, is convinced it is an important food source with many health benefits.
“So many of us eat a calorie-dense, nutrionally-deficient diet that it is no wonder we’re all getting sick and tired all the time,” she says.
Nadia says chlorella is a great way of taking on magnesium, which can be found in green vegetables. “Magnesium is one of nature’s antidepressants and helps us cope with stress. One of our best sources is from chlorophyll in green plants – and chlorella is bursting with that,” she says.
Nadia also believes chlorella is highly protective against toxins. “We are bombarded with chemicals in pesticides and fungicides; chlorella helps to get them out of the body. It is a fantastic detoxifier and deodorant.”
Tests have shown that chlorella stimulates the growth of probiotic or friendly bacteria, and its cell walls absorb toxins within the intestine and encourage peristalsis – the muscular contraction that moves material through the bowels – preventing constipation and toxic material in the stool being reabsorbed into the bloodstream.
As it is a natural food, chlorella is safe for most people to take; but one exception seems to be those who are prescribed warfarin. This is because chlorella contains vitamin K1, which is important in helping blood clotting – the very opposite of warfarin, which acts as an anticoagulant.
But it’s not just the alternative medicine fraternity who are fans. Prof Randall Merchant, professor of Neurosurgery and Anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University, in the US, has been involved in research into brain tumours, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. In 1986, he began clinical trials, funded by chlorella producer Sun Chlorella ‘A’, into whether the algae might boost a patient’s immune system.
“Fascinating,” is how he describes the results. “It didn’t make brain tumours go away or shrink, so it didn’t cure the cancer, but it did help the patients by boosting their immune system so that they resisted opportunistic infections.”
Since then, Prof Merchant has performed clinical trials to test whether chlorella could be useful in helping with chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia, ulcerative colitis and hypertension. In the first two trials, his team found that “patients’ symptoms diminished quite nicely”. For hypertension, the results were more dramatic; while it lowered blood pressure in about 50 per cent of cases, which was promising, the studies showed that it also significantly lowered serum cholesterol.
In 2008, he examined the effects chlorella has on those with metabolic syndrome – the collection of symptoms that often lead to the cells in our bodies becoming less sensitive to insulin, and therefore a precursor to diabetes.
Prof Merchant says: “It seems that chlorella turns on the genes that control the way insulin is normally used by the cells in the body. This research shows that chlorella could in theory help correct the problems of metabolic syndrome. It is not a magic bullet, but taking it is one other preventive thing you can do, like exercise or watching your diet.”
Homeopathy IS More Effective
November 10th, 200922/05/2009
More research evidence has emerged that demonstrates homeopathy is more effective than conventional medicine in the treatment of chronic disease.
The study found that patients with chronic diseases, ranging from headache, low back pain, depression, sleeping disorders, sinusitis, atopic dermitis, allergic rhinitis and asthma, benefited more from homeopathy than conventional medicine. The German researchers studied 315 adults and 178 children over a period of 12 months, with half receiving homeopathic treatment, the other half conventional medical care. In both groups, the health status of patients improved, but improvement was greater in patients on homeopathic treatment.
The homeopathic group reported an improvement in the severity of their illness from 57 to 32 points (judged on a scale of 1 to 100), compared to the conventional group from 59 to 44 points. When ‘quality of life’ was compared, the homeopathic group reported ‘moderate’ improvements in physical ailments (with only ‘small’ improvements reported in the conventional group), and ‘large’ improvements in psychological ailments (compared to ‘moderate’ in the conventional group).
This evidence follows closely on a project organised in Northern Ireland that found acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, osteopathy, reflexology and aromatherapy can offer significant health improvements to NHS patients. Patients receiving homeopathic treatment reported an average 54% improvement in their health and wellbeing.
For more information about Homeopathy and other methods of complentary and alternative heathcare call our advice line: 0845 4638901
Winter Blues
November 10th, 2009The shorter days that Autumn bring can mean misery for sufferers of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). At its worst, SAD can be extremely difficult to live with, causing recurrent depression, stress, tiredness and lethargy, with symptoms typically being worst in December, January and February, although individual symptoms and patterns can vary.
Other symptoms reported often include: mood swings, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, crying for no reason, wanting to retreat from the world, loss of sex drive, sleep problems, anxiety, concentration problems, appetite changes (including cravings for carbs and sweet foods), and a general loss of drive, or a feeling that nothing is enjoyable anymore.
Around 1 in 50 people in the UK suffer from SAD, with twice as many women as men reporting the problem. It often affects younger people aged 18-30, and prevalence increases the further away you live from the equator. Up to one in eight people in the UK report the milder symptoms associated with having the winter blues (often eased with regular exercise).
The causes of SAD aren’t yet fully known, but it seems that, in people with SAD, reduced daylight hours affect the hypothalamus and pineal glands in the brain, meaning that don’t work as they should. The psychological process called the circadian rhythm is also considered to play a part: this process helps to regulate your internal body clock, telling you when to sleep and when to wake. There may also be an inherited aspect to the condition. A GP will be likely to diagnose SAD if the winter symptoms have been a problem for two or more consecutive years, with no other discernible cause, and have been interspersed by periods without depression at other times in the year.
For those patients who prefer not to take antidepressants to mask the symptoms, light therapy or a talking therapy like homeopathy may be helpful. Some patients report that taking the herb St John’s Wort can help.
It is also helpful to get as much exercise in the fresh air and sunlight as possible, even if it’s only a brisk walk around the block in the lunch hour; to sit near windows and in the brightest room possible when indoors; and to eat a healthy diet, eating smaller meals and a small healthy snack (like an apple and a few raw almonds, or an oatcake or two spread with hummus or turkey and tomato) mid-morning, mid-afternoon and before bed to keep blood sugar levels stable. It is also helpful for sufferers to talk to their friends, colleagues and family about the problem if they can, so that those around them can understand why they are acting out of character.
To a homeopath though, each case of SAD (or of winter blues) is different, and so we select different remedies for different patients, depending on the patient’s symptoms, family history and character. Remedies that can be helpful include Psorinum, Arsenicum, Natrum muriaticum and Sol.
So if the self-help suggestions above don’t sort the problem out, a well-chosen homeopathic remedy may do.
Call our advice line for more information about Homeopthic treatment on 01256 463899 or e-mail us: clinic@naturaltherapyadvice.co.uk
MHRA issues warnings over statin side-effects
November 10th, 2009The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is updating the product information on all statins to warn GPs and patients of a string of potentially dangerous side-effects.
The UK drug regulator has announced it will amend both the summaries of product characteristics and patient information leaflets to include warnings about side-effects caused by the drugs, including depression, sexual dysfunction and lung conditions.
In its November Drug Safety Update, the MHRA said a European-wide review on statins conducted in February 2008 found there was a need for fresh advice and information on the side-effects of statins.
‘The headline message from the review was that the balance of risks and benefits of statins remains positive,’ it stated.
‘However, the review also identified the need for the product information for all statins to reflect the issues identified from analyses of clinical trial and post-marketing data from adverse drug reactions. These included sleep disturbance, memory loss, sexual disturbances, depression, and interstitial pneumopathy.
‘On the basis of the data examined for individual statins and the class as a whole, the review concluded that there is sufficient evidence to support a possible causal relationship between statin use and the above adverse reactions.’
GPs are also warned to ‘be aware of the changes’ and discuss them with patients.
Dr Stewart Findlay, a GP in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, and a member of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society board, said: ‘Sleep disturbances are quite common in primary care, but the others are not that common.’
‘Generally, statins are well-tolerated drugs, but this might prompt us to keep an eye out. If a condition comes on soon after statins are started, it might be worth stopping them to see if it improves.’
New evidence links mobile phones to a greater risk of tumours.
November 8th, 2009By Tessa Thomas - 03rd November 2009
Since the Nineties, mobile phone use became more widespread and there has been nagging doubts about their safety.
According to a decade-long study, people who used mobiles for a decade or more had a ’significantly increased risk’ of developing some types of brain tumours. The study, which concluded prolonged usage of mobile phones can increase the risk of tumours, failed to include children.
The Interphone study, partly funded by the mobile phone industry, found an increased risk of glioma - the most common brain tumour. This follows the results of an American-Korean study  which showed that mobile use increases brain tumour risk by around 25 per cent. And a similar report from Australian scientists in July showed double the risk after ten years’ use. However, none of these reports included children - and they are the group experts are most worried about.Â
‘I am seeing more patients than ever and at younger ages,’ says Kevin O’Neill, consultant neurosurgeon at Charing Cross Hospital in London. ‘The big fear among brain specialists is that the most likely culprit and certainly the one that gets closest to the brain is radiation from mobile handsets.’Â
It is important not to be alarmist, and mobile phone companies continue to insist their products are safe. Many scientists agree with them, but others have growing concerns.Â
Half of Britain’s primary school children use mobile phones and many have digital cordless phones at home, which emit microwave radiation in the same way. Many experts believe young people, in particular, are more susceptible to the microwave radiation produced by mobiles - and therefore increased risk of brain tumours and other cancers of the head and neck.Â
It is thought that radiation emitted by phones is absorbed by the body, damaging the cells. ‘Mobiles were originally designed to be used for short, urgent calls,’ says Professor Shakeel Saeed, an ear and brain specialist at University College London. ‘But young people use them like any other phone, often for long periods.’Â
One of the few studies on children was carried out this year by cancer specialist Professor Lennart Hardell, showed regular use - more than about an hour a day - of any mobile or cordless phone before the age of 20 raises the risk of brain cancer fivefold. That is more than double the risk reported in the most recent adult studies.Â
Brain tumours
In the UK, cases among children are increasing by almost three per cent a year, with most childhood brain tumours occurring in one to two-year-olds. But how could brain cancer in children too young to own phones be connected to them?Â
Epidemiologists from McGill University revealed that women who worked in low-frequency magnetic environments when pregnant, such as machinists, hairdressers, nurses and dry-cleaners, were twice as likely to have babies that developed brain tumours.Â
‘Low-frequency magnetic fields can suppress production of melatonin, which in pregnant women will deprive the foetal brain of the protective hormone,’ says Professor Henshaw, patron of the charity Children with Cancer.Â
‘Cordless baby alarms, toys and phones expose children to daily radiation. Although the intensity is less than a mobile, children are more susceptible to the effects. A lot of young children have Wi-Fi at school, so their exposure is continual.’
Professor Lennart Hardell says: ‘Why wait for conclusive evidence? Children deserve to be protected and we have enough data to justify warnings and restrictions for them.’Â
Some countries agree. The Russian Health Protection Agency has advised the government to ban mobile use for under-18s. France is introducing legislation to ban advertising of mobiles to under-14s and their use in nurseries and primary schools. In Salzburg, Wi-Fi is banned in schools.Â
Here, the Department of Health circulated leaflets in 2000 advising that children limit use to ’short, essential calls’, but the leaflets were distributed only through health clinics, chemists and libraries.Â
Caution
So, in the absence of a clear Government message or consensus about risks, what should parents do?Â
‘The jury may still technically be out on the link with brain cancer but, in the meantime, most authorities are saying be careful. ‘I routinely ask my patients about their mobile phone use and, like many clinicians, strongly urge caution over use. Use landlines where possible, text rather than call and switch off your phone when not in use. ‘The cost of failing to do this could be significant.’         Â
How to protect your family:
·        Use corded phones and computers. If you must use a wireless phone, use a low-radiation one such as the Orchid LR, which emits only when in use. Turn off the power supply for Wi-Fi routers or cordless phone base stations at night.
·        Text rather than call.
·        Use a headset or hold it at least 20cm from your head with the speakerphone on.
·        Keep calls short: use a corded landline for long calls.
·        Switch off your mobile when not in use Better still, use it like an answer-phone and just pick up messages.
·        Avoid using a mobile in a moving vehicle – its radiation output will increase as it searches for a signal.
·        Don’t allow children to keep a mobile by their bed.
·        Don’t use mobiles at home: making lots of calls will create a demand for a mast in the area.
·        Switch to a lower radiation phone (www.sarvalues.com).