health – Page 32 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Health Secretary opens Royal Victoria

Health Secretary Alex Neil officially opened the new Royal Victoria building within the Western General Hospital this morning. The £43.6 state of the art facility replaces the Royal Victoria Hospital on Craigleith Road which closed last year.

The new building is all single-bed rooms – the government set out an aim in 2008 that single rooms would become the norm for new and refurbished hospitals.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said there are substantial financial and health benefits to single rooms. He said: “You have to look over the life cycle of the hospital, the building, what is going to be the savings made for example by reducing the incidence of hospital acquired infection. It’s not just the financial cost of that, what’s most important is the benefit to the patient. I think most people would want to be in an environment where the risk of hospital acquired infection was kept to the absolute minimum.”

Call 111 for free medical help

NHS 24 calls to be free of charge

A memorable new free number for NHS 24 is to be introduced. The existing number for NHS 24 will be replaced by 111 in summer 2014, meaning people in Scotland will no longer be charged when calling the advice service from a landline or mobile.

NHS 24 will continue to deliver the same high quality service for anyone seeking advice and support during the out of hours period when their GP surgery is closed. The current cost to call NHS 24 from a BT landline is the price of a local phone call, with calls from other landline service providers and mobile providers often costing more.

Health Secretary, Alex Neil, said: “I strongly believe that our NHS should be free at the point of contact and this new number is about ensuring that this applies to those who seek support and advice from NHS 24. By introducing this memorable and free number we are removing any barrier for the public to access the health advice when their GP surgery is closed. By ensuring people have access to health information it will also help to keep emergency lifesaving services available for those who really need them.”

NHS 24 Chief Executive John Turner said: “We welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s announcement today. NHS 24 has been providing high quality, safe and effective telephone triage and support services to the people of Scotland during the out of hours period for the past 10 years. We have a range of highly skilled staff taking 1.5 million calls per year from patients when their GP surgery is closed.

“NHS 24 will work closely with a range of NHS services such as the GP out of hours service, primary care emergency centres, A&E services, the Scottish Ambulance Service and patient representatives to fully plan and implement the change to 111. This will help ensure that, when 111 is introduced to Scotland next year, NHS 24 and our partners across Scotland, will continue to provide high quality support to patients and their families on the new number, which is easy to remember and free to call.”

Don’t be fooled by sweet talk, warns Green MSP

Scottish Greens are warning that yesterday’s ‘pledge’ by soft drinks firms to reduce the amount of sugar in their products is a diversion from the real issue.

The Public Health Responsibility Deal includes AG Barr, who produce IrnBru. However, Barr say they have no plans to reduce the sugar content of their regular IrnBru product. The deal has previously been criticised as being industry-led and does not have the support of organisations such as Alcohol Concern, the British Heart Foundation, the British Medical Association and Diabetes UK.

Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian (pictured below), said: “The issue of what’s in our food has returned to the top of people’s agendas with the supermarket value burgers scandal. Today’s incredibly weak fizzy drink deal is a diversion from the real problem of secret sugar. People know full well fizzy drinks are bad for their health but many will be unaware of the hidden sugar they’re consuming in common foods like crisps, pizzas, burger buns and ready meals. Even baby foods and rusks are bloated with sugar.

“If we are serious about tackling the growing obesity and diabetes crisis in Scotland we must keep up with the processed food industry and big retailers. It’s not just drinks firms who know how addictive sugars and sweeteners are.”

NHS Lothian launches organ donation pilot programme

A new organ donation pilot programme is to be launched in NHS Lothian, it was announced yesterday.

The pilot will ensure that people who cannot be resuscitated after suffering a cardiac arrest in the community and who have previously expressed a wish to donate their organs in the event of their death, will have that wish respected.

The pilot will run in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where emergency medicine clinicians and the Scottish Ambulance Service practice the most advanced resuscitation techniques. As a result many more people who have suffered a cardiac arrest in the community are now making a good recovery.

Should the resuscitative measures prove unsuccessful, a decision will be made by two doctors that further treatment would no longer be in the best interests of the patient. End of life options (including organ donation) will then be discussed with the family.

Previously organ donation was not possible in these circumstances, even if the patient had made it clear that they wished to be an organ donor. The resuscitation process will continue to be run entirely by the emergency department based on their current policies and is totally separate from any consideration of organ donation.

Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson said: “We welcome the fact that more people who experience a cardiac arrest at home or in the community are now surviving due to the introduction of modern resuscitation techniques by the emergency department clinicians and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

“However when all attempts at resuscitation in hospital have been unsuccessful it can be a source of comfort to the family to be able to respect the wishes of their loved ones who have made their organ donation wishes known by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register. This pilot programme is about doing this.”

Dr Matt Reed, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh said: “We have an ongoing programme of improving the management of patients who have had a cardiac arrest in the community. The modern resuscitation techniques practiced by the Emergency Department in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the Scottish Ambulance Service in the South East of Scotland have seen survival rates for these patients improve dramatically and many more patients are now going on to make a good recovery.

“Unfortunately however, there are some patients who do not survive despite every attempt to save them. Many of those people will have expressed a wish to be an organ donor by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register in the expectation that their wishes be respected in the event of their death. This pilot will allow their wishes to be acted upon.”

Dr Jean Turner, Executive Director, Scotland Patients Association said: “Scotland Patients Association(SPA) welcomes this pilot which offers patients and their relatives the utmost assurance for the best outcomes from resuscitation with consideration and respect when organ donation may become an option for them.”

The pilot relates to adults aged 16-60 who have a witnessed cardiac arrest and who have expressed a wish to donate organs and/or tissues after their death. In its initial stages it will operate between the hours of 9-5 on weekdays.

Families will continue to be consulted on the proposed donation of their loved one’s organs.

Lothian is leading the way in Scotland in terms of population signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register (just under 50% of the population). There are currently more than two million Scots on the NHS Organ Donor Register – over 41 per cent of the population which is the highest in the UK. The UK average is 31 per cent (October 2012).

In 2011/12 there were 346 transplants in Scotland. The majority of people on the transplant list are waiting on kidney transplants – 514 people.

NHS Blood and Transplant research found that 96 percent of people would take an organ if they needed one, but only 41 per cent of Scots have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register.

You can join the NHS Organ Donor Register by visiting the Organ Donation Scotland website or by texting LIFE TO 61611.

Try fitness for free

Personal trainers Claire Adams and James Hepburn are running weekly Energize fitness sessions at Craigroyston High School and are now offering local people the opportunity to try a session for free.

Claire explained:

We are holding a FREE taster evening on 30 January from 7-8.30pm.

“We implement a weekly class at Craigroyston High School on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. Participants arrive 20 mins prior to the class commencing and they are weighed, this includes Weight, Body fat and hydration levels. On a weekly basis they receive nutritional information on a vast array of topics to help aid with diet and nutrition. Furthermore they have a 60 minute exercise class which is tailored to all levels of fitness and abilities.

“We believe we are offering a very valuable business in the local community to help educate on the importance of regular exercise and healthy eating and we offer participants ongoing support.”

A free fitness session – what have you got to lose, but weight?

LEAP celebrates 300th graduation

LEAP (Lothians & Edinburgh Abstinence Programme) has celebrated its 300th patient graduation since launching in September 2007.

Gail Richardson, 50, is the 300th patient to complete the three-month, community-based rehabilitation programme. She was congratulated and presented with a certificate by Sarah Boyack MSP for Lothian, at a ceremony last Friday.

LEAP is the first abstinence programme of its type in Scotland, which operates seven days a week and provides structured support for those who want to conquer addictions to substances like alcohol and drugs.

Gail has tried to beat her alcoholism for much of her adult life, having lived through two violent marriages, a failed business, an eviction, homelessness, depression and drug use.

She explained: “I wasn’t happy so I thought rehab might be the answer. It was like a sudden realisation that I had to do it for myself, no-one else would. I had to take responsibility.”

Since being admitted to LEAP last October, Gail said that her life has been transformed thanks to the project. She says: “It has changed my life. It has given me a real focus. From here I will go into supported accommodation and then I hope I can find a permanent housing solution.”

While on the intensive programme, LEAP participants receive clinical medical and therapeutic help as well as support with accommodation, education, training and employment opportunities.

LEAP is funded by NHS Lothian and three local Alcohol Drug Partnerships and is operated in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and Access to Industry (Transition). The project is currently seeking a new base.

Sarah Boyack MSP said: “Gail’s graduation today marks the fantastic collaborative work achieved by herself and all of those at LEAP. Well done to everyone involved and I wish Gail well for the future.”

Clinical Lead of LEAP, NHS Lothian, Dr David McCartney, said: “I’m really proud to be celebrating our 300th graduate in our first six years. Although LEAP is a challenging and demanding programme, it really does have long term, positive impact on not just our graduates, but their friends and families too. We recognise that multiple strands of support are required to conquer the often complex and deep-rooted causes of addictions, and we do this by offering services such as one-to-one counselling and self-help groups.

“We know that evidence points towards recovery being more likely where support is ongoing which is why we facilitate help with aspects like jobs and training. Recovery is a long term process and we also provide aftercare for up to two years further consolidating the hard work our patients have put in.”

In September, Friends of Leap, aimed at raising funds for the project, was launched.

Drop a glass size in 2013

A campaign encouraging women to ‘Drop a Glass Size’ in 2013 has been launched today by Health Secretary Alex Neil.

As part of the campaign, which also includes a national roadshow, a new ‘drinking mirror’ smart phone app has been developed to show people the shocking affects of regularly drinking too much. The app is free until the end of March and will show users that cutting down a glass size can have a significant affect on the ageing process.

Latest figures show that around 38 per cent of women regularly exceed daily or weekly sensible drinking guidelines, by drinking more than 2 to 3 units a day / 14 units a week. .

The number of alcohol-related deaths among women aged 30-44 has doubled in the last 20 years, and the chronic liver disease and cirrhosis death rate among 30-44 year old women in Scotland has trebled since the mid to late 1980s.

The campaign encourages women to think about the health effects of regularly drinking above the recommended alcohol guidelines. Making small changes, such as alternating alcohol with soft drinks or water and having two alcohol-free days a week, can lead to big health improvements.

Mr Neil said: “Evidence shows us that most people who drink alcohol, particularly at home, have no idea of how much they are actually consuming. This campaign will show people how small changes to their drinking habits can have a significant impact on their health and wellbeing.

“Scotland has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and much has been done in the last five years to address this. Our alcohol framework outlined a package of over 40 measures to reduce alcohol related harm. We have made considerable progress including banning quantity discounts, restricting promotions on off-sales and working to introduce a Minimum Pricing Bill.

“I have always been clear that there is more that can, and must, be done. Alongside educational efforts such as this campaign, we will work to ensure that people drink less and that we become a healthier Scotland.”

Dr Samantha Robson, GP, added: “Alcohol undoubtedly has an effect on our appearance in the short and long-term. As well as causing bloating and dark circles under your eyes, alcohol dries out skin and can lead to wrinkles and premature aging. Many people forget that alcohol also affects their sleep, which doesn’t do skin any favours. But drinking more than you should over time can have other, more permanent, detrimental effects on your skin and more importantly your overall health.

“Many women don’t think about the longer term effects of drinking or that on average it takes them longer than a man to recover from the damage caused by a big night. But cutting down a glass size, or having a break some nights, the result could make a huge difference to how they look and feel.”

Weight a minute …

Is losing weight your New Year resolution? Here are some faddy diets to avoid, courtesy of the British Dietetic Association:

The BDA Announces the Results of its Annual Top 5 Worst Celebrity Diets to Avoid in the New Year

The annual and eagerly anticipated list of the 5 worst celebrity/fad diets to avoid in the New Year has been issued by the British Dietetic Association (BDA). When Christmas has come and gone, January signals a UK-wide dieting frenzy. People up and down the country will be scouring the internet, book shops and magazines searching for the magical quick fix, or even a long term solution to undo the damage of the festive season or to achieve their best body ever.

However, with so many diet books and celebrity-endorsed fitness DVDs on the market, it can be an absolute nightmare understanding who is giving good nutrition and diet advice and who, quite frankly, needs a good talking to!

The BDA has heard it all: the good, the bad, the weird and the whacky! The press office receives literally hundreds of calls from the media every year on this very subject. Here, in the opinion of the BDA, are the top 5 dodgy celeb diets to avoid in 2013.

5. The 6 Weeks to OMG Diet (new entry)

Celebrity Fans: A-list celebrities, according to the diet’s author Venice A Fulton

What’s it all about?

To be the envy of all your friends you are told to exercise first thing in the morning after drinking black coffee, then sit in a cold bath to encourage the body to burn stored fat as it tries to keep warm and delay breakfast til 10am (which for most people would mean skipping breakfast). Fruit should be ditched, snacks are off limits and whilst your plate is loaded with protein, it doesn’t matter if carbs come from broccoli or cola.

BDA Verdict:

OMG indeed! Six weeks of hell and isolation more like it. Seriously, who has the time, let alone the energy to follow this diet? Guilty of being selective with research rather than a balanced view many people’s routine could not accommodate this and a healthy breakfast and exercise should be encouraged to fit in. The ‘rules’ and competitive dieting element encourage extreme behaviour. Support from friends and family is an important part of weight loss as is taking a long term approach. And what about the other 46 weeks of the year?

4. Alcorexia / Drunkorexia Diet (last year number 2)

Celebrity Fans: It is widely thought that many top models and other red carpet celebrities are fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?

It’s when people eat very few calories during the day/week and ‘save’ all the calories they have not eaten then use them to binge drink alcohol.

For example, if you favour a VLC diet (very low calorie) to follow the Alcorexia Diet, you could be banking around 1,500 calories a day, which then gives you 10,500 calories to drink during the week. This amounts to:

45 pints of lager (based on a single pint being around 230 kcals). With a pint of lager being 2 units, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 90 units.
201 shots of spirits (based on a single shot being around 52 kcals). With a single shot of spirit being 1 unit, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 201 units.
52 alcopops (based on a single alcopop being around 200 kcals). With a single alcopop being 1 unit, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 52 units.
131 glasses of red wine, or 26 bottles (based on a glass of red being around 80 kcals). With a single glass being 1 unit, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 131 units).

To put this in context, the safe weekly alcohol unit intake is 28 units for men and 21 units for women.

BDA Verdict:

Don’t have a few too many! Following a VLC diet alone is madness, as you will most certainly not be getting the calories, vitamins and nutrients your body needs to survive and function. In addition, you will feel weak, tired, have no energy and could become very irritable. Alcohol has little nutrition other than calories. To avoid food in order to ‘bank’ your calories so you can go a use them on alcohol is absolutely stupid and could easily result in alcohol poisoning and even death.

3. ‘Party Girl’ IV Drip Diet (new entry)

Celebrity Fans: Rihanna and Simon Cowell are reportedly fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?

These kinds of IV drips were originally used to treat severely malnourished and clinically ill patients. However, people who are feeling run down are paying hundreds of pounds to have a bag of solution (usually around 250ml) injected, usually including vitamins B and C, magnesium and calcium.

BDA Verdict:

You must be a bit of a drip to do this. There is very little evidence that this even works in well people. Even if it did, as food and drink contains packages of nutrients then eating food and drinking water or other healthy drinks is preferable to having an IV drip inserted into your body? This also carries possible side effects to such as dizziness, infection, inflammation of veins and, ultimately, anaphylactic shock!

2. The KEN (Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition) Diet (new entry)

Celebrity Fans: It is widely thought that many top models and other celebrities are fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?

The KEN involves eating absolutely nothing at all. Instead, for ten days per cycle a liquid formula is dripped directly into the stomach via a plastic tube that goes up the patient’s nose and is taped on to their face. At the other end of the tube is an electric pump, which works day and night to deliver two litres of the formula over 24 hours. While on the KEN, dieters can go about their lives as normal but must carry the pump and liquid in a bag or backpack and hang it by their bed at night. They are allowed to unhook themselves from the pump for one hour a day and can drink water, tea, coffee (with no milk, sugar or sweeteners) or sugar-free herb teas with the tube in.

BDA Verdict:

You KEN not be serious! It is shocking that people are electing to have naso-gastric (NG) tubes inserted in order to lose weight, usually reserved to sick or chronically ill people. Not only that but one of the side effects is having to take laxatives because this diet provides absolutely no fibre! Nice touch!

1. Dukan Diet (last year number 1)

Celebrity Fans: Carole Middleton, Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bundchen are reportedly fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?

A complicated four-phase diet that starts off with a ‘no carb/protein only’ approach that promotes rapid weight loss.

BDA Verdict:

Dukan not sustain this! There is little solid science behind this. The diet works on restricting foods, calories and portion control. Cutting out food groups is not advisable. This diet is so confusing, time consuming, very rigid and, in our opinion, so very hard to sustain. Even ex Dr (as of 2012) Dukan himself warns of the associated problems like lack of energy, constipation and bad breath. That sounds lovely!

Speaking about these and other fad diets, Sian Porter, consultant dietician and Spokesperson for the BDA, said:

“As much as we all would love it to be the case, there is no magic solution to losing weight and keeping it off long term. There is no wonder diet you can follow without some associated nutritional or health risk and most are offering a short-term fix to a long term problem. It may be obvious, but if you want to lose weight you need to make healthier choices, eat a nutritionally balanced and varied diet with appropriately sized portions, and be physically active. In a nutshell the solution for most is to, eat fewer calories, make better choices and move a bit more!

“On a serious note, glamorous images of celebrities saturate our daily media in all forms. These celebs have an army of people to help them to keep looking good, which is essential to their livelihood and plenty of money to do whatever they think it takes. You need to remember too, a lot of these images are airbrushed and retouched to give celebrities an unachievable body image that does not exist in real life, yet many aspire to. Some people look at these images and will try anything they think will help them achieve the ‘perfect’ body. If you have some weight you need to lose, then do it in a healthy, enjoyable and sustainable way. In the long term this will achieve the results you are after.”

For more information and tips about healthy weight loss, please visit www.bdaweightwise.com.

Resolve to give the gift of life

Scots are being urged to make it their New Year’s resolution to become a organ donor. The Scottish Government is calling on more Scots to join the NHS Organ Donor Register in 2013 to build on the milestone of having 40 per cent of Scots on the Register – the highest percentage in the UK.

The call is backed by transplant patient Kirsten Harrold, aged 43, from Portobello.

Kirsten was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age 16 but a New Year’s gift of a transplant on January 1, 1990 not only give her back her life, but allowed her to go on to be a mum of four healthy kids.

Public Health Minister Michael Matheson said: “I don’t think there is a better New Year’s resolution than to become a potential life saver by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register.

“We know the festive season is an important time for people to spend with family and friends, but I’d like people to spare a thought for the Scots who are waiting for an organ, hoping that they get to spend another Christmas with their families and loved ones.

“For them, the most admirable New Year’s resolution would be for more people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register. Stories like Kirsten’s show the incredible impact organ donation can have on not just one person, but a whole family. Simply letting your loved ones know your wishes about organ donation could make all the difference to those desperately waiting.“

Since receiving her kidney transplant, Kirsten has had normal kidney function and is leading a full and busy life, raising her children Peter, 13, Matthew, 8 and twin girls Charis and Gracie, aged five.

Explaining how her illness affected her from a young age, Kirsten explained, “I was unwell for a while before I was diagnosed, feeling really tired, fainting regularly and suffering from headaches. I’d been back and forward to the GP, but by the time I reached 16, I weighed around five stone and was really ill. After having bloods taken, I was admitted to hospital immediately.”

Kirsten suffer from kidney failure as a result of a condition which meant she couldn’t keep salts or minerals in her body. The fainting was due to dehydration and Kirsten spent the week in hospital where she was stabilised, put on medication and told to maintain a low protein diet.

Kirsten said, “Although I looked after myself, when I was around 18, the medication wasn’t enough and I was put on dialysis. Because I was so young, I was quite naïve about it all and didn’t realise what being on dialysis meant, or how serious it was. At this time I was also assessed for going on the transplant list.”

Visiting the hospital three times a week, for up to two and a half hours of dialysis per session, Kirsten’s condition started to take its toll, “I was on dialysis for around 18 months which had huge implications for my family as my dad had to take me to and from the hospital. As a dialysis patient I was quite well, but compared to any normal 18 year old, I was really pretty ill.”

The call to say a suitable kidney had been found came on Hogmanay in 1989 whilst Kirsten, aged 20, was celebrating the turn of the year with friends. Twenty four hours later, on the first of January, Kirsten’s life had been changed forever.

She explained, “Everything went really well with the transplant and my recovery. It was amazing, I didn’t know how ill I was until I felt better.”

In the July of that year, Kirsten met her partner Pete and as the years passed the pair started to look to the future and the possibility of kids.

“Having a child wasn’t a decision we took lightly. By my late twenties, my transplant was well established and there were no problems, but obviously due to the medication I was on and the pressure a pregnancy would put on my body, it takes a bit of thinking through.”

Kirsten attended pre-pregnancy counselling where she found out more about the risks and what would happen with her medication if she became pregnant.

After a textbook pregnancy, Peter was born by caesarean section and Matthew, Kirsten’s second son was born four years later.

As Kirsten’s experience of pregnancy had been so positive, and she was keeping well with healthy creatinine levels, they decided to try for a third baby – and got the news it was twins. They welcomed identical twin girls Charis and Gracie into the world in August 2007.

“Being a mum and being able to do all the mum things like breastfeeding was amazing.”

Almost twenty three years on from her transplant, Kirsten is under no illusion that she wouldn’t be enjoying the life she has if it wasn’t for the decision made by her donor and is still so grateful.

She said, “What do you say to someone that has made that decision? It’s not just my life it has changed, it changed the lives of my family and gave me the chance to have a family of my own. If I’d still been on dialysis, I wouldn’t have been able to sustain four pregnancies or be fit and well to raise small children.

“My transplant allowed me to make decisions and choices that everyone else takes for granted, such as working full-time and having kids. We’re a really active family and my kids wouldn’t be leading the full lives they have if it wasn’t for my transplant and my excellent kidney function.

“It’s not just the recipient that benefits from the NHS Organ Donor Register, it’s everyone around them which is why it’s so important that people sign up to help those waiting. I’m very grateful to have been given the opportunity to have this life and my family. I always will be.”

Scotland reached the milestone of having 40 per cent of the population on Register earlier this year.

In Scotland, there are around 600 people needing a life-saving transplant.

In October this year, the Scottish Government launched a campaign designed to get people talking about organ donation, to make their wishes known to their loved ones and to join the Register.

Join the NHS Organ Donor Register by visiting the Organ Donation Scotland website.

Think about your drink

The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Harry Burns, has called for people to take care over New Year and drink alcohol responsibly.

Sir Harry said: “Scotland’s Hogmanay festivities are recognised around the world and we want everyone to have fun. If you are planning on drinking over New Year, it is best to take it steady, pace yourself and have a meal beforehand to soak up some of the alcohol. A good tip is to try to have a soft drink or water in between having an alcoholic drink.

“While we have seen a decrease in overall consumption, it is clear that too many people, across all age and demographic groups, are continuing to drink too much all year round and are putting themselves at increased risk of injury and illness.

“Scots drink 20 per cent more than our counterparts in England and Wales. The bottom line is that alcohol misuse is still taking its toll on too many people across Scotland, young and old. I would urge everyone to take care when they are out and about over New Year. Taking a few precautions will ensure that New Year is a night to remember, but for all the right reasons.”