Current Health Issues

Recently I have been suffering from a painful eye condition. Initially I thought it was an infection, however having had it diagnosed from the Doctors it was a condition called Recurrent Erosion Syndrome.

What is Recurrent Erosion Syndrome (RES)?
Recurrent Erosion Syndrome (RES) is where you have repeated episodes of superficial spontaneous abrasions leading to eye pain. Erosions are “scratches” on the surface of the cornea, the clear portion of the eye overlying the iris and the pupil. RES typically occurs in eyes that have suffered from a sharp, abrading injury such as from a fingernail or paper cut. The area heals acutely, but is prone to recurrent erosions in the future. Some patients may have an underlying corneal dystrophy that predisposes to RES. I personally feel it may be result of contact lense infection many years ago.  Continue reading →

Todays home health test is to “Test your back”.

Most of us do suffer from back pains from time to time, especially as we get older. This could be as a result of facet joint arthritis, which are on either side of the spine, link each vertebra to the next.

The condition, more common in those over 50, generally affects the lower back, which takes most of the load. It occurs as a result of normal wear and tear as the connective tissue covering the facet joints wears away.  Continue reading →

Let us follow some basic home health tests we can try. Today let us test our guts!

A delay in food being processed in the gut can indicate a whole host of conditions including irritable bowel syndrome and gastroenteritis, and in some cases tumours.

Anton Emmanuel, consultant gastroenterologist at University College Hospital in London says: ‘To get an idea of your bowel transit time, eat some sweetcorn, as the body can’t digest the yellow outer shell of the kernels’. Continue reading →

 I’ve just taken the Act F.A.S.T. test to see if I knew how to recognise the signs of stroke. I passed the test in 44:546 seconds!

A stroke is a ‘brain attack’, caused by a disturbance of blood supply to the brain. The sooner somebody who is having a stroke gets urgent medical attention, the better their chances of a good recovery. Acting F.A.S.T. to recognise the signs of a stroke is the vital first step.

See how fast you are and find out more about the signs of stroke, visit the Act F.A.S.T. test: http://www.nhs.uk/actfast/pages/stroke.aspx

Several sources are predicting a gloomy and frightening future world, where simple everyday cuts and treatments could be dangerous. A simple cut to your finger could leave you fighting for your life. The most basic operations – getting an appendix removed or a hip replacement – could become deadly.

Cancer treatments and organ transplants could kill you. Childbirth could once again become a deadly moment in a woman’s life.

It’s what the experts are calling a “future without antibiotics”. Continue reading →

Researchers at Oxford University have updated the body mass index with a new formula that they say more accurately estimates body fat. Use the interactive tool to see how your BMI is different under their proposal for a new system.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9816596/Interactive-calculator-do-you-win-or-lose-with-the-new-BMI.html

Constantly swimming in chlorinated water has a drying effect on the skin. As a result, some people can suffer, particularly if a person suffers from eczema. A few people are generally allergic to chlorine. So here are a few suggestions for skin care.

Tips on skin care for swimmers:
1. Ensure you drink plenty of water. Dehydration makes skin more likely to be damaged by chlorine. Ensure your urine is never darker than light yellow.

2. Ensure your skin has been thoroughly washed with fresh water and no chlorine is bound to your skin’s surface after you have come out of the swimming pool.

3.Wash costumes thoroughly as soon as possible after the swim. Not only will they last longer but skin rashes are often worse under the costume.

4. Protect and moisturise the skin areas where is you would normally suffer from itching. Use Aqueous Cream but more effective is E45 cream or Vaseline. If you have some very dry eczematous patches, 0.5% hydrocortisone can be bought from your local chemist. Applied twice daily, this will soon clear up the patch with no risk of skip atrophy. Any worse than this and you will need to see your own GP.

5. In some pools the chlorine concentration seems particularly high and it may be worth seeing which local pools suits you best.

The BBC reports that according to US researchers a new type of flu drug that can stop resistant strains in their tracks shows promise. It permanently blocks a key enzyme on the surface of the flu virus, stopping it from spreading to other cells.

In mice it was found to effective against strains which were resistant to the two flu antivirals currently on the market, the journal Science reported.

A team of researchers from Canada, the UK and Australia developed a compound that binds to an enzyme on the surface of the flu virus called neuraminidase. This enzyme is responsible for severing the connection between the flu virus and human cell so it can move on and infect other cells.

The new class of drugs – DFSAs – permanently bind to the enzyme, blocking its action and stopping it from spreading further, the journal Science reported.

Currently available antivirals also work by attaching to this enzyme. But DFSAs do so in such a way that the flu virus cannot evolve to be resistant to the drug without rendering itself useless.

Read more about it on BBC.