As part of this, we will be producing a weekly roundup of healthcare stories that have recently been circulating the news, highlighting the merits and pitfalls of these stories and as always giving guidance on how you can be healthy.
Note: We are based in the UK, so there will be a focus on NHS healthcare rather than other healthcare systems, however if big news breaks somewhere else in the world, you can believe we will be talking about it!
Now without further ado, welcome to the first ever weekly roundup.
1. New PM, same Hancock.
A week of new Cabinets, a new Prime Minister and a new Health Secretary. Here are 5 of the stories hitting our headlines this week.
WARNING. NEW PRIME MINISTER APPOROCACHING. Maybot’s out, and
Bo-Jo is in. And as is necessary for any PM to mark their territory, we also
find ourselves with a brand-new cabinet. Yet despite an unprecedented turnover of
inner circle positions, the previous Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has defended
his crown. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock has secured his
position, one year after being appointed to the role. a position which he has
held for just over a year. But what has Hancock done to warrant a place in
Bo-Jo’s new Cabinet, and what does this mean for our struggling NHS?
It’s almost no wonder that Lord and Master Boris kept
Hancock around. Reports were released, days before Bo-Jo was signed in as PM, that
showed Hancock had been trying to bury health proposals linked with reducing
smoking and improving diets. Johnson was openly against these proposals, much to
the dismay of May, who was heavily involved in their development. After some top-shelf
schmoozing, it is no wonder that Johnson has kept Hancock in his crew.
However, despite this under-the-carpet sweeping, many NHS executives
do not despise Hancock, rather, they seem wholly apathetic towards him. The
Guardian reports him as ‘wholly forgettable’. This is largely due to a certain
lack of activity from Hancock during his tenure, largely avoiding opinion generating
activities. He has released a bland, poorly rated App, and beyond that has done
very little else. Its hard to say the NHS is in safe hands with Hancock, but
certainly not shaky ones either.
But, whilst largely uninspiring, no-one expects a Hunt style
move from Hancock. No 7-day week campaigns, or aggressive attacks on Junior
doctors any time soon. Hancock may be the anti-hunt in fact, no bark and no bite. Not a damming
figurehead, but certainly no saviour.
2. The NHS Health Check: An End to the Diabetes Epidemic?
This week researchers from Kings College London and King
Saud University released an article analysing the potential success of the NHS
Health Check Scheme. Launched in 2009, the Health Check was designed to identify
those who are at increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease,
stroke and dementia, and to offer advice on combatting these conditions. Targeting
those between the ages of 40 and 74 this scheme aims to reduce the impact of some
of the leading illnesses in the UK today. But how successful has the scheme
been?
The study looked at outcomes including BMI, total cholesterol,
smoking status and blood pressure, and compared over 100,000 participants of
the scheme with over 300,000 control subjects, not involved with the scheme. These
participants were followed over 6 years to see if they improved their health
over the long term. Compared to the control group, the participants of the NHS
scheme showed lower blood pressure, lower BMI and fewer smokers!
It wasn’t a perfect result however, as cholesterol levels have
remained unchanged and the changes in blood pressure and BMI were small. Additionally,
the study did show some bias as those who attended a health check were likely
to have been more thoroughly assessed, providing more detailed and accurate results.
Due to the enormous scale of the study this bias was difficult to overcome, but
it is possible with enough resources in the future.
Whilst it would be great to see stronger results, this study
certainly demonstrates that the NHS Health Check Scheme has showed some success
in reducing the national risk of cardiovascular disease. So if you are
over the age of 40, go book in for a FREE Health Check today. What have you got
to lose?
Read the full article here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/313617403. Upside-down Workouts - the Topsy Turvy Trend
This week the telegraph posted an article about merits of the
topsy-turvy trend of upside down workouts. Now if, like many you cannot access
this article thanks to the paywall it site behind, here is our take on the
trend.
Mostly this movement has grown through yoga-based practices
however there is an upwards trend in both the ultra-modern ‘anti-gravity’
classes (the kind where you are wound up in a hammock and perform aerial exercises),
and the ultra-old-school headstand, an ever increasing feature in many a gym-workout
class.
Over half a million posts exist with the tag 'inversion' on Instagram,
and a further 200,000 have the tag ‘anti-gravity’, (and a quick skim through the
search results tells you the VAST majority are posting about yoga rather than
the next Space-Ex mission!). But despite the hype, is there any merit to this
upside-down trend?
Unfortunately, there is very little research. Aside from dozens of
papers on ‘upside-down swimming catfish’, we were only able to dig out one
relevant paper –which was dated, poorly cited and hidden behind a paywall. It
does allude to the fact that hanging upside down (not necessarily exercising)
could be beneficial for easing symptoms in certain arthritic joints, however
with limited access, and limited review its not exactly a reliable source.
But where the science is lacking in support for this movement of inverted motion, so-called personal trainers and fitness blogs have provided plenty of claims regarding the benefits of the practice (based on what we like to call, ‘makes-sense science’, where if it sounds about right you can get away with stating as fact). Listed benefits of inverted exercise include: Strengthening of muscles (good), increasing blood circulation (usually good) and oxygen to the head (ummm… certainly not always good, see oxygen toxicity), decompresses spine reducing back pain (good). Risks are also reported including damage to joints due to sudden impact, stroke or blood clotting conditions in those with high blood pressure. With no actual backing for any of these claims you cannot assume their reliability. Also, its worth noting that almost all of these claims can be achieved through other forms of exercise, eg. Running, weight training, swimming, or regular yoga.
So there you have it, our first ever weekly roundup! We hope you enjoyed and don't forget to tune in next week for more updates debunking and debugging the latest healthcare stories in the the media!
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