Olympic athletes to receive free dental care during London 2012

In order to make sure those gold medal winners smiles are looking their best for London 2012 coverage, the overseas Olympic athletes are being provided with free dental care at a private Polyclinic at the Olympic Park.

This also means that any work that the athletes were unable to access in their home country, due to factors such as high costs, can now be carried out free of charge.  If athletes are receiving treatment for dental health issues at the Olympic village, the National Health Foundation, organised by the British Dental Health Foundationsaid this should help with their overall performance during the games.  Looking after your dental health not only helps to maintain a healthy mouth, your general health will also benefit substantially. 

Generally athletes are in a strong position for oral health as people who regularly exercise are less likely to develop problems that could lead to gum disease and other dental worries.  There is also a large number of links between overall health benefiting from good oral hygiene and is said to benefit issues including lung disease heart issues and diabetes. 

One problem that athletes may find is that they are at risk of dental erosion through supplementing their training with sports and energy drinks to aid performance and recovery.  Due to the high sugar nature of these drinks, they wear away at the enamel coating on the teeth which can cause cavities requiring fillings and tooth loss in more extreme cases. 

If you have budding athletes in the family or if you just have active children, it is important to try regulating the amount of acidic and sugary food and drinks they consume.  If younger adults and children continue to use energy drinks they will face a great number of dental problems in later life.  If they are consuming acidic and sugary drinks, one way to minimise damage to the teeth is to drink through a straw.  Other proactive things that can be done are making sure the child regularly brushes their teeth and visits the dentist.  Another proactive option is to get dental insurance so they will be protected in the event that they will need treatment and will be covered and receive quality care.  

Awe-Inspiring Moments Can Improve Mental Health

Psychologists have claimed that regular ‘awe-inspiring’ experiences can have a positive impact on our mental health and can make us nicer, friendlier people. They also say they can help people deal with stress better and cope with modern day living more effectively. 

These kinds of overwhelming experiences can slow down people’s perception of time, and can bring their attention to the present moment. This ability to live ‘in the moment’ can be key to improving people’s mental state. 

The study on a group of volunteers found that those who were experiencing awe felt they had more time to spare. This change in attitude prompted them to feel they had more patience and were willing to sacrifice more time helping others. 

The experiments included asking people to write about previous awe-inspiring events in their life, as well as showing volunteers videos of ‘vast images’ of natural phenomena and astronauts in space.

Melanie Rudd, from Stanford University in California, concluded: "A small dose of awe even gave participants a momentary boost in life satisfaction... and underscored the importance of cultivating awe in everyday life."

The researchers added: "Our studies ... demonstrated that awe can be elicited by a walk down memory lane, a brief story, or even a 60-second commercial."

Half Of UK Women Face Increased Cancer Risk From Growing Waistlines

Fresh research into the nation’s waistlines has identified that more than half of UK women have waists that are over the recommended healthy size. Health charity Nuffield Health, who conducted the research, say that overweight women face an increased risk of developing a variety of cancers including breast cancer, infertility, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The Research

The research, based on health analysis of over 54,000 individuals seeking to actively improve their health, found that 57% of women had waist sizes over the NHS recommended limit of 80cm. The average female waist measurement was 84.9cm.

In addition to this, 52.5% of the women who took part in the research had BMI’s over the defined healthy range of 18-25.

What Waist Size Means

It is well known that being overweight brings increased risk of a number of health conditions and waistline size is a common measurement by health professionals in determining both the need for weight management, the risk of coronary conditions and of central fat distribution.

Fertility Issues

In women, being overweight also brings additional risks such as increased risk of breast cancer and also infertility. Fat stored around the waistline can affect ovarian function, leading to irregular ovulation cycles and anovulation, whereby the ovaries do not release an oocyte, causing ovulation not to take place.

Of the women who participated in the study, 50% were between the ages of 26 and 46, increasing concerns over the impact of the nation’s growing waistline on fertility.

Regional Distribution

The findings of the research also indicate that the issue of expanding waistlines is prevalent throughout the UK, with average female waist sizes in all regions of England and Scotland falling into the at risk category, making this a nationwide health concern.

Apples and Pears

While it was long held that the average UK woman had a pear shaped figure, the research also suggests that this is no longer true. The data showed that the average waist to hip ratio for the 30,000+ women across the UK who took part in the research was 0.83, meaning the waist size was over 80% of hip circumference. Anything over 0.8 would imply a much rounder midriff and narrower hips, making for a more apple shaped figure.

However, women who fall into this group, but who want to take action to improve their health and their waistline can find consolation in the knowledge that, through dieting and exercise, excess fat stored around the waist is often the first to go.

Additional Insights

The research also looked at men’s health in a similar manner and found that, when it comes to average waist size and BMI, UK men are doing much better than women. The average waist size from the men assessed was 92.7 cm, 1.3 cm under the NHS recommended healthy limit.

However, it is possible that, since the research was conducted on individuals looking to improve their health, the findings say more about motivations and intent of people looking to increase their physical activity and reduce their food intake.

The contrasting findings between both genders suggest that there are very different factors driving men to be exercise and diet to those which motivate women. The research would suggest that men who aim to adopt a more healthy lifestyle do so from a better, healthier starting point, adopting a more preventative mentality to becoming overweight.

UK women, by contrast, appear to be more reactionary in their approach to health, waiting until weight has become a significant issue before seeking to alter their lifestyle to tackle the problem.

Regardless, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that waistlines are growing globally and the sooner action is taken to buck this trend, the better.

Healthcare news: this week on the health pages

In the news this week - the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found that nearly a quarter of NHS services were failing to meet 'essential standards' in England and Wales.

Areas of particular concern centred on things including staffing levels, 'compromised' management of medicines, and record keeping.

The chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing is quoted as saying: 

It is shocking that more than one in four locations inspected in this report have failed to meet even essential standards of quality and safety… this presents a long overdue wake-up call for the Government. Those locations in question must be brought up to standard as a matter of urgency

The news of this research will no doubt be seized upon by the opposition, while providing the coalition plenty to think about when it comes to making improvements to the service. The health minister has responded to the CQC report saying that the government is "determined to drive up standards for everyone".

There is a good précis of the report's main points here. 

In other healthcare news, this time from a private health insurance perspective, HI magazine reports that "waiting times, patient experience and availability of drugs and treatments all set to worsen". The article says that these factors could see an uptick in demand for PMI - while the majority of  NHS bosses surveyed believe that waiting times will increase as financial pressure on the system continue.

Health costs and obesity

Given the amount of space devoted to obesity as a topic within the health and wellness media, you'd maybe think that obesity was a major strain on NHS resources.

But according to the findings of a recent study, it looks as though this may not be the case. Research was carried out by the UK's Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), who believe that ...

argument in favour of fat taxes could be on the grounds of the obese imposing a disproportionate burden on the British National Health Service. However, against this there is some evidence that the obese have shorter life expectancies and therefore are less likely to require the even greater long term costs of geriatric care.

You can read this very interesting (and thought provoking) article in full here.

It's difficult to say whether a fat tax would have much efficacy - especially in light of the fact that we're not in a situation of talking from experience - only informed conjecture as to what might happen. 

And while it may be the case that obese people have shorter life expectancies - it would still be a reflection on the nation's health as a whole if the status quo were to go unchanged and people die younger due to being overweight to this degree.

So, though there may be a link between obesity and the NHS - the onus will still be on government to ensure as many as possible live as healthy as possible regardless of whether that means the individual require geriatric care later on.

the question is whether a 'fat tax' would have a slimming effect on the nation. What do you think?

One in ten patients affected by BMA action

According to the Department of Health, one in ten patients have been disrupted due to the British Medical Association’s (BMA) industrial action.  The disruptions included missed operations, outpatient appointments and treatments that will need to be rescheduled in the near future.  As a result of the action, around 25% of surgeries in the UK operated under reduced services due to doctors’ action yesterday.  The action yesterday marked the first day of this level of protest in 37 years and was caused by the controversial pension reforms proposed by the Government. 

In London alone the action resulted in around 490 operations and 3,200 outpatient appointments alone; however the level of action varied across the UK with some not bothering to reschedule treatments that had been previously arranged for the day. 

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, stated that in the run up to the BMA action, their main focus was to make sure that the action would cause the least amount of disruption to patients as possible; the issue between the Government and doctors should not be passed onto the patients.  He was pleased with the overall level of services and cooperation of doctors throughout the day.  Of course the strike action affected thousands of patients across the UK, some expecting an operation yesterday, others missing important appointments.  He believes the BMA should provide further help in making sure all those missed operations and appointments are rescheduled as quickly as possible. 

The last time strike action took place in 1975 as a result of a contractual dispute, where consultants ceased goodwill activities and junior doctors worked to a 40 hour work week as a result of dissatisfaction with the progress of contract negotiations.  It is believed what with all the recent negative press the NHS have been receiving lately that more people are likely to consider private health insurance options; yesterday’s strikes are probably more than likely another reason for people to consider the move.  If you are tempted to make the move yourself, provider of health insurance,Health-on-Line offer cover comparison on their site with the options to customise your cover.  

Potential Low Turnout For GP Strike

Thursdays intended GP’s strike looks set to involve an underwhelming number of participants, with only a quarter of practices in the country informing their primary care trust that they intend to strike. This is the first time in nearly 40 years that doctors have taken industrial action. 

Of the 20 primary care organisations polled, 281 of 1,265 practices have informed the NHS management that they intend to strike. It is thought that up to 100,000 doctors with BMA membership would strike against the pension reforms proposed by the government.

Pulse magazine had reported that NHS managers notified hundreds of GP surgeries to inform them of the possibility of compensation claims being lodged if they were found to be in breach of contract.

The Royal College of Midwives has urged its members to continue working as normal on Thursday, so as not to undermine the strike action. 

Andrew Lansley, the British health secretary, believes the strike could result in as many as 30,000 operations being cancelled, the postponement of up to 58,000 diagnostic tests and the rescheduling of around 200,000 outpatient appointments. The disruption to GP appointments could be far greater, with an estimated 1.25 million being delayed as a result of the strike.