Can’t get a doctors appointment?

I don’t know about your surgery, but mine operates an appointment only system and it can take several days to get one, and up to 30 minutes hanging on the phone to actually get to speak to the receptionist at all. That may be about to change as The Health Minister, Lord Ara Darzi, has proposed a three year plan where he wants more than 50 per cent of practices in England to extend their opening hours.

The Health Minister is also proposing to set up 150 large, GP-led practices that will be open seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm. They will be situated in easily accessible locations offering a range of services including walk-in services. He said funding would be available but if existing practices refused to open extended hours other providers would be commissioned. Can’t quite imagine what ‘other providers’ means; is he thinking of setting up freelance surgeries, rather like the ‘walk in’ doctors you can consult at mainline stations in London? Except they are all private and although you can see a doctor immediately, you usually want to see your bank manager afterwards.

It sounds a bit confused to me, as he is also saying there will be an increasing proportion of the NHS payments made to GP practices but that these are going to be linked to their success in attracting patients. So they want the doctors to have more flexible hours, offer the ability to book advance appointments and be able to see a GP within 48 hours – none of which they can manage with their existing patient lists in my area – but they are expected to do it only if they also have an increase in patient numbers. Paying them more to attract new patients doesn’t exactly help the existing ones does it?

Blood Test for Alzheimer’s diagnosis?

18 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer’s, but it has been hard for doctors to make an accurate diagnosis until the disease is well progressed. Now, researchers have developed a simple blood test that may be able to predict whether mild lapses of memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. In a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, an international team of researchers describe 18 cell-signalling, or communication, proteins found in blood that predicted with 90 percent accuracy whether a person would develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Currently, doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease by excluding other potential causes of memory loss, such as stroke, tumours and heavy drinking. They can also administer simple paper-and-pencil tests, and sometimes use brain scans, but this blood test could be used to detect changes in these proteins and because they occur early on in the disease process they could be used to predict the disease two to six years ahead of its onset.

Girls reaching puberty as early as 8 in the USA

Health care professionals in the natural hormone field, like Dr John Lee, have been expressing concern for some years that the onset of puberty in girls is happening at a much earlier age than in previous generations. Their concern has centred on the fact that reaching puberty at a very early age will increase their risk of breast cancer because puberty exposes girls to more oestrogen. High levels of oestrogen are a known risk factor for breast cancer and indeed can cause it to flourish. According to a report by American biologist Sandra Steingraber, puberty is now occurring more regularly at the age of 8, rather than at 13 which was the previous norm. Her data indicates that if you get your first period before age 12, your risk of breast cancer is 50 percent higher than if you get it at age 16 and so her theory is that for every year we could delay a girl’s first menstrual period we could prevent thousands of breast cancers. Early puberty also has social and emotional implications for these young girls but hard evidence on what causes it are not known. Sandr Steingraber herself believes there are a number of causes but that is likely an ecological disorder arising from the increased amounts of oestrogen in our food and water, exposure to environmental chemicals coupled with increased childhood obesity and a substantial drop in exercise and activity like outdoor games.

Natural ways to control high blood pressure

As there are 16 million people in the UK with high blood pressure (hypertension), and of those nearly a third are not aware that they have the condition, it is obviously an issue that needs to be addressed. High blood pressure is defined as being at a level consistently at or above 140mmHg and/or 90mmHg and it is a both a preventable and manageable condition. You would think that as it is the direct cause of half of all strokes and heart attacks in the UK that those who have it would be regularly monitoring it, but sadly only 10% of those diagnosed with the condition have their blood pressure controlled to target levels.

Yet there is something that is so incredibly simple, that everyone can do, at no cost and no risk that will naturally help control high blood pressure. Hypertension results from the balance between two factors: how hard the heart is pumping (cardiac output) and how easily plasma can diffuse out of your capillaries (peripheral resistance) and most people with high blood pressure have a normal cardiac output but increased peripheral resistance. That resistance means you are more at risk of heart attacks and strokes and the most likely cause is dehydration.When you are dehydrated the level of blood in your body falls but the body has it’s own incredibly clever regulatory system where it prioritises the maintenance of your essential organs and shuts down blood supplies to the capillaries of non-essential areas like the muscle and skin. The effect of this is to increase your peripheral resistance and also to increase the production of histamine, a hormone-like substance, and this causes your blood vessels to narrow and this in turn further increases blood pressure. This can be also exacerbated by the fact that many treatments for hypertension include the taking of diuretics and this again reduces the amount of fluid in the body.

The remedy? Drink at least two litres of plain, still, water every day – not tea, coffee, soft drinks as a substitute but pure unadulterated water. Often the easiest way to measure is to have a full bottle by the kettle and make sure it is empty by the time you have that bedtime drink – or even earlier for preference so you aren’t then getting up too often in the night.

If you want to try and control your blood pressure without drugs, then one of the most effective supplements is Co-enzyme Q10. This is a substance which is produced naturally in the body and taking it has lowered blood pressure as effectively as prescription medications in a number of patients. Unlike some of the drugs, it’s only side effects are the good ones of lowering cholesterol and preventing diabetes and gum disease and the recommended dose for supplementation is normally between 60-120mg a day, but always start on the lower amount first and in consultation with a natural practitioner.

Natural tips for avoiding cataracts

It is estimated that 80% of people in the UK over the age of 75 have some form of cataract, and more worryingly some doctors believe that it could soon be 100%. Cataracts occur when the proteins inside the lens of the eye come under attack from sugar molecules which attach themselves to the proteins, causing them to clump together and become distorted so that incoming light has trouble reaching the eye and it can seem as if you are seeing everything through a waterfall effect. The lens clouds over and loses its elasticity and transparency. A preventive health tip?

Reduce your sugar intake as it can seriously compromise your eyesight. Carbohydrates are a natural home for many sugars so avoid refined carbohydrates, white rice and white bread, you could also lose weight too! Having a high-protein diet will also help as it plays an important part in protecting and repairing eye tissues and particularly good sources are tuna, mackerel, halibut and sardines. Also ensure your diet has enough of the nutrients that protect your body from the effects of free radicals as these can also affect your eyes.Include plenty of vegetables, garlic, nuts and berries too.

An aspirin a day keeps heart attacks at bay?

It is part of the daily routine for many, but is it actually doing you good? Aspirin prevents platelets (a type of blood cell) from forming into clots and it is so effective that a single tablet can increase the tendency to bleed easily for up to a week. That’s fine if all you want to do is thin the blood, but too much blood thinning can be quite dangerous as researchers from McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada found when they examined 4,000 cases of patients suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding. They found that when the anticoagulant drugs warfarin and clopidogrel were taken with aspirin, gastrointestinal bleeding was four to six times higher than in subjects who didn’t combine these drugs. When these prescription blood thinners are prescribed, aspirin use is usually discouraged, but that doesn’t mean that each patient gets the message. Those who don’t may be experiencing much more harm than good.

In a previous study in 2004, UK researchers at the University of Hull produced a Warfarin/Aspirin Study in Heart Failure that divided patients into three groups: one group received 300 mg of aspirin daily, one received a standard daily dose of warfarin, and a third group received a placebo. All the subjects in the study had experienced either heart attack or stroke, prompted by thrombosis. After an average follow up period of more than two years, researchers found that neither the aspirin nor the warfarin therapies provided any greater protection against death, nonfatal stroke, or nonfatal heart attacks than the placebo. In fact, subjects who received aspirin therapy were nearly twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke compared to those who took warfarin or placebo. Gastrointestinal problems were also elevated in the aspirin group, confirming the findings of McGill University.

So if you’re taking a daily aspirin, should you stop? NO. Not before talking to your doctor first. In a 2003 study that reviewed more than 1,200 cases of coronary episodes, researchers found more than 50 cases of heart attacks or other severe coronary problems less than one week after patients discontinued aspirin use.

Sugar Power!

Sugar often has a bad press for health, but there may be a whole new use for it. Researchers at St. Louis University in Missouri have developed a type of fuel cell that can produce electricity from almost any type of sugar. The scientists successfully tested the new cell with a glucose solution, carbonated soft drinks, sweetened drink mixes and even tree sap.

The cell consumes sugar and leaves behind a handful of by-products, primarily water. The researchers have suggested that a battery constructed from the cell could contain easily replaceable cartridges filled with a sugar solution.

As I personally have often warned of the health dangers of carbonated drinks, I was interested to see that the biodegradable cell runs best off of the simple glucose solution, and it runs worst off of carbonated drinks, which caused it to weaken.

The US Department of Defense funded the research as part of an ongoing search to find ways to charge portable electronic devices in battlefield or emergency situations where no electricity is available. Initial research suggests that this sugar-powered fuel cell could be used to replace lithium-ion batteries in laptop computers and cell phones and they think it could ready for the mass market in about three years. The prototype battery is about the size of a postage stamp and the researchers used it to power a handheld calculator. Next time you go camping, pack a couple of extra bags of sugar in case your mobile battery runs down!

Coeliac disease – avoiding hidden gluten

Although often wrongly thought of as an allergy, it is an auto-immune disease, which means that the body produces antibodies that attack its own tissues. If you have coeliac disease then you know that gluten drastically reduces the small intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients but it can be a nightmare trying to identify it in your everyday diet. Nor do you have to have celiac disease in order to be sensitive to gluten as many people are allergic to wheat. Gluten is found in barley, rye, oat and wheat and it is what makes bread rise so beautifully. But just avoiding bread and grains isn’t the whole answer because gluten is often hidden in foods such as soups, soy sauce, low-fat or non-fat products, and even in sweets. The possibilities of where it might be are endless, but there is a short cut to help you find out if any supermarket products contain it and that is by reading the labels carefully. The Coeliac Disease Foundation list the following phrases to be cautious of if you spot them in the ingredients list:

* Unidentified starch * Modified food starch * Hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP) * Hydrolysed plant protein (HPP) * Texturised vegetable protein (TVP) * Malt and other natural flavourings * Binders, fillers, excipients, extenders

Non-food items can also contain binders and fillers, and you may have them listed on both supplements and medicines. If in doubt ask the pharmacist to contact the company direct or go to the supplement website and email them for more information. Oh and if you like a good dose of vinegar on your chips, be aware that malt vinegar does contain gluten. A good diet for those with coeliac or gluten sensitivity needs to be very low in processed foods and to include dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, oily fish, eggs and liver on a regular basis.

Swedish research has shown that taking a probiotic supplement can be very helpful in managing the condition, as patients tend to have very different gut flora from those without gluten sensitivity and there may also be a link with candida. If you want to take a probioitic it should contain at least three billion live organisms per capsule and for best results include a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement and take extra magnesium (500mg daily), as around one third of coeliac patients are deficient in this mineral. For more information visit the website at www.coeliac.co.uk

Osteoporosis drugs and heart disease risk

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on October 1st 2007 it was reviewing reports of abnormal heartbeats in patients who took medicines in a class of osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates. This is just a precaution after a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last May described increased rates of serious atrial fibrillation, a type of abnormal heartbeat, in patients who took either of two bisphosphonate drugs Fosamax and Reclast. These drugs are normally prescribed to increase bone mass and reduce fracture risk in patients with osteoporosis. They also are used to slow bone turnover in patients with a disorder called Paget’s disease and to treat bone metastases and lower blood calcium in cancer patients. Other commonly prescribed bisphosphonate drugs include Boniva, Actonel, Sanofi-Aventis; Zometa, Aredia; Didronel, and Skelid.

Most frequently prescribed in the UK are probably the drugs Didronel and Fosamax, and if you are concerned about osteoporosis then it would be worth investigating natural progesterone supplementation which has been shown to increase bone mass and density. As it is a natural hormone, it does not have any of the side effects of conventional drugs and if you wish to know more, have a look at the book Natural Progesterone: The Multiple Roles of a Remarkable Hormone (2nd Edition) or What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause: Breakthrough Book on Natural Progesterone

The fizz that could be fatal

An ingredient widely used as a preservative in fizzy soft drinks has triggered alarm for several years but now it may be even more dangerous than was believed. Sodium benzoate (E211) has been identified, when linked with vitamin C in soft drinks, as a combination that forms benzene, a recognised carcinogen. The Food Standards Agency ordered four fizzy drinks removed from sale last year after unsafe levels of benzene were detected, though it is still present in many other soft drinks. Now scientists at Sheffield University have identified another danger from E211 in that when it was tested on living yeast cells in a laboratory it was seen that the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA. Peter Piper, the lead researcher, stated that ‘these chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether. If the mitochondria is damaged then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously”. Diseases that are linked with damage to this DNA include Parkinson’s, cirrhosis of the liver, a number of neuro-degenerative diseases and of course the whole process of ageing. I am a great advocate of label checking, I am the one standing in the supermarket aisle for ten minutes trying to read the small print, and in this case it would be sensible to see whether your favourite soft drink contains the vitamin C and E211 combination.

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