It’s been another busy week at talkhealth but that hasn’t prevented us from monitoring news from the world of health. Our topics this time include sleep, allergies and weight loss.
We always welcome your views so why not air them in the Comments field at the bottom?
Cardiovascular risk of poor sleep
Greek researchers who analysed 11 previous studies on sleep have found that too much or too little sleep seems to increase cardiovascular risk. The research, which covered more than one million people, discovered that short sleeping sessions (less than six hours) and long sleeping sessions (more than eight hours) increased the risk of developing or dying from coronary artery disease or stroke by 11% and 32% respectively.
“Our findings suggest that too much or too little sleep may be bad for the heart,” said lead author Dr Epameinondas Fountas of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre in Athens. “More research is needed to clarify exactly why, but we do know that sleep influences biological processes like glucose metabolism, blood pressure and inflammation – all of which have an impact on cardiovascular disease.”
Read more on this subject at Pharmacy Magazine online.
Help us improve the nation’s sleep
At talkhealth, we’re currently running a sleep survey to help improve the nation’s sleep. If you’d like to take part please do so before the survey ends on 23 November. Soon we’ll also be running a sleep patient support programme, which is now open for registrations.
We’re also giving away ten tickets to SOMNEX – The Sleep Show on 13 & 14 October. Enter by the 8 October deadline if you’d like a chance to attend for free.
Adrenaline pen shortage warning
The makers of EpiPen, the biggest selling adrenaline pen on the market, has warned there could be a shortage. The company has said that a manufacturing problem is slowing down production.
People who suffer severe and life-threatening allergic reactions use the pens to inject themselves with a quick dose of adrenaline. Health professionals advise anyone who does need them to carry two pens with them at all times.
The Department of Health has stated that it is managing limited supplies closely and working with the manufacturers to “resolve the supply situation as quickly as possible”. A government official said that “Any patient who is unable to obtain supplies should speak to their doctor about using an alternative adrenaline auto-injector device,”.
Outside of the UK, Australia, Canada and the US are also currently facing shortages.
BBC News has more information on this story.
Did you know we host a talkallergy forum? Hundreds of people have already discussed and shared their personal experiences, and supported others who are coping with the physical and emotional issues surrounding life with allergies. Why not join the conversation?
Shakes and soups recommended for weight loss
The BMJ (formerly called the British Medical Journal) has said that GPs should be recommending low-calorie soups and shakes, along with other support such as counselling, to people who are obese and want to lose weight. According to the researchers at the University of Oxford, people on such diets lost three times more weight than people who were given standard dietary advice. Another major plus was that they reduced the risk of developing heart disease and type-2 diabetes.
However, experts warned that soup and shake diets are not a silver bullet and acknowledged that losing weight is hard. “It’s boring being on a normal diet and people struggle to stick to it for a year,” said Professor Paul Aveyard, the study author and GP and professor of behavioural medicine at the University of Oxford. “You have to concentrate effort into 12 weeks and because they eat so little, they lose a lot of weight quickly.”
You can read the full article on the BBC News Health pages.
Our talkweight forum is the place to talk to, and support, others regarding all aspects of weight including being overweight or obese, being underweight, eating disorders and more.
We’re also soon be running a weight patient support programme. You can find out more and register your interest on our website.
News from talkhealth
Thanks to our relationship with MediaPlanet, we made it into this month’s Urological Health, a Guardian newspaper supplement. You can read the article, titled ‘How many people suffer from bladder incontinence’ online. If this condition affects you you might be interested in registering for our upcoming bladder patient support programme.
Wherever you are in the world, have a wonderful weekend!
talkhealth
This is the talkhealth blog spot, where we post on a wide range of health conditions, topics, issues and concerns. We post when we see something that we believe is of interest to our vistiors. Our posts do not reflect any particular view or stand point of talkhealth, but are merely to raise attention and awareness.