News.Scotland.Org

Scotland, May 14: On the backdrop of concerns raised against the skin cancer threat raised by sunbeds the sunbed parlours began to raise their voice in an attempt to register their opinion to lift the ban.

They are of opinion that most of the sunbed parlours do not use coin operated tanning machines that are banned for people under 18 years old. They also opined that the proposed law by MSPs will not bring fruitful results in minimising the threat of skin cancer. The operators will submit their evidence to the health committee at Holyrood.

The main point to be highlighted by the parlour operators is that among 730 sunbed parlours in Scotland, only 32 of them use coin operated machines. They will also suggest the politicians about effective ways to tackle the raising rate of skin cancer, melanoma, by implementing prevailing European guidelines to reduce the emission from sunbeds.

While addressing the committee the Sunbed Association will emphasise on the lack of evidence and the unnecessary ban of 16 and 17 years old from using coin operated tanning machines on the grounds of them being more vulnerable to get affected.

On the other hand, the British Medical Association suggested that the sunbed users are 2.5-times more probable to develop skin cancer and it also supports a licensing system for suntan parlours.

April, 13

Obesity has become one of the scariest things for people of Scotland; this rich country holds a huge number of obese population which has put Scotland in the second spot for being the second obese nation in the world. Many programmes and campaigns have been so far implemented to overcome this vast problem. Moving a step forward a new drive has been launched recently to break this jinx which is haunting Scotland for quite a long time.

This new obesity eradication drive will be focusing specially on children, meanwhile the Mend (mind, exercise, nutrition- do it) programme will focus on to make sure that the children and their families are well aware about the nutritional value of food. Mend has started its initiative in East Ayrshire, in which children and their parents are taking part in two sessions a week for a total of ten weeks. In this educative session they will gain essential information regarding nutritional values, importance of exercise and also will motivate them to stick to a healthy living.

It was also informed that after this informative session gets over in the East Ayrshire region, it will then be launched for other places like Aberdeen, Borders, Glasgow and Edinburgh. This programme which was started to control the growing obesity issue is gaining positive feed backs from many families. People are benefiting from this session and are very excited to move on to a healthy life.

Obesity has not only affected ones physical identity, but also had made them psychologically weak. Obese people have to go through many harsh realities in our society and have to live a discarded life. There are instance when this mental trauma makes them to go for suicidal attempts. Well the problem seems very big and scary, but we ourselves are responsible to develop this fat trouble in a slow course of time. Its better to stick to a healthy diet, so that one doesn’t regret afterwards.

With the active participation by people of Scotland towards these health programmes it seems as if Scots have very well understood the ill-effects of obesity and are desperately looking for a better and healthier tomorrow.

Scotland, May 7: The Health Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government in its report said that the misuse of alcohol in Scotland amounts to £2.25bn per year. The amount is more than double when compared with previous statistics. The study considered cost to business, police, court service and the NHS.

On the other hand the Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) whose members operate 1500 pubs in Scotland have questioned the reliability of the figures. The Scottish government has allocated £120m for the next three years to restrict the raising problem of alcohol abuse.

According to the report the costs include the £405m spend by the NHS, £170m spend by social work service and £385m spend by the fire service and criminal justice. The wider economic costs were estimated at £820m and the human and social costs were estimated at £470m.

The lower productivity at work and the day off due to hangover is costing £150m for the NHS and the A&E services costs £32.3m.The misuse of alcohol costs £288m for the police as alcohol is believed to be the reason behind 40 per cent of the crimes. Premature death due to regular alcohol consumption costs £328m for Scotland.

While commenting on this Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison said: “The statistics give a clear picture about the huge impact created by alcohol misuse in crucial sectors like the police, courts, the NHS and social services. It has an adverse effect on our economy. Not only the alcohol misuse affecting our services and health but also slows down the potential as a nation.”

Proper awareness to control the over use of alcohol is what needed to check the adverse effects posed by it.

May, 6

It is very well known that breastfeeding is the main and very essential diet for young ones as it protects the child from various diseases and allergies. But recently a new study has found that breastfeeding helps the child to have a higher IQ level. This research has revealed a new and significant benefit of mother’s milk for the child.

The recent study was conducted on 14,000 children also involving mothers who support breastfeeding in a long run and those mothers who don’t believe in long-term breastfeeding. The results of this study were remarkable, with children who were breastfeed for a long-term showing great intelligence than rest.

The ability of these children was tested by doctors and teachers who examined these kids on the basis of their performance in reading, writing, mathematics and other subjects. The children who were breastfeed for long run scored higher in all departments than the other kids.

The figures states that over 76 percent of the infants in the UK are initially breastfed. It is also known that about 90 percent of the women support breastfeed than bottled milk. From years it has been said that breastfeeding is one of the most essential and basic requirement for infants. This research has thus made it much clear that mother’s milk has many benefits for the babies. Also it helps the immune system of the baby to be much strong so that it could resist and fight out many diseases.

April, 23

Well if you wanna be moms out there have a desire for having a baby boy then increase your calorie intake while trying to get pregnant. This new research has suggested that eating a bowl of cereals every day can increase the chances of having boy. It was seen that those women who had a good calorie intake before conception were more likely to have a boy than other women with normal diet.

It could sound strange but the study conducted on women has revealed that about 56 per cent of women who took more than 2200 calories a day before conception had give birth to a boy. Well hope this research brings some relief for the people of western countries where the proportion of boy child are very low.

This study has also revealed how women in western countries have become less concerned for taking a good calorie diet, which is dropping down the proportion of boy child rapidly. Scientific studies have shown that high level of glucose levels boosts the growth of male embryos while inhibiting female ones. Even doctors have backed the study revealing that increase in calorie intake while trying to conceive helps to up the chances of having a boy. So if you are planning for a baby and wish for a boy then make sure your diet includes a high intake of calories.

April, 18

Is your doctor working in a spacious and healthy environment? Well it may at first sound a funny question but you may be surprised to know that about two-third of Edinburgh GPs are working in a cramped atmosphere. This present way of practicing not only affects their work but also does an adverse affect to the patients, opines one of the doctors.

One can easily sight out the general problem of space in many clinics makes it even tough for patients to fix an appointment and also affects the consultation process. Other than that scarcity of rooms and other basic requirements are also a worry sign. This problem has now grown widely and taken a huge shape in Edinburgh raising an alarm for the medical department to step in and act on this issue.

It was known that the British Medical Association had raised this issue some two year back, but nothing much was done in this regard. The main hurdle in this problem is the monetary investment needed to meet the standards. It is also seen that the majority of these general practitioners find it really hard to deal with surgeries and provide enough beds for patients adding more woes.

Now-a-days the general practice has jumped to a great number with more and more docs offering consultation other than hospitals to patients. A lot of improvement is still needed to bridge the gap between this inadequate way the practice is going on. It’s the need of the hour to take an initiative to improve the standards of these practices going around in Edinburgh.

April 16

Have you ever heard of a mushroom which can fight breast cancer by slowing the growth of tumours and starving them of blood? No, then research has found that mushrooms which are mostly used in oriental medicine is capable to fight with breast cancer. The study has also shown that mushrooms can also hold back the growth of skin, lung and prostate cancer cells.

After studying the properties of the mushroom it was found that it helps to blocks the activity of an enzyme called AKT. This enzyme controls the signals which lead to cell growth and also in the growth of newer blood vessels feeding the tumours.

Although the study has shown positive results to overcome breast cancer, some scientists still think it’s too early to draw any conclusion. They feel the need for further research in this field before finally coming to the conclusion. It is known that mushrooms have always been a medicinal plant from our past, and several varieties of mushrooms have been widely used to cure many ailments.

This new benefit of mushroom will be a great founding for the medical sector and also to all those patients who were fighting hard with this dreadful disease.

Scotland, Apr 15: In a bid to control the growing concern over the grave issue of childhood obesity the Scottish government has expressed its willingness to spend £6m to effective restrict the obesity problem. According to a statistics released last year 21 percent among the primary one student were overweight among them 8.8 percent f them are considered as obese and 4.3 percent of them were found as severely obese.

While in deprived areas the figure is even higher with 22.5 percent of primary one children were overweight, 9.9 percent of them were obese and 5.5 percent of them were considered as severely obese. This initiative of the government is expected to improve the health of at least 20,000 obese children. This proposal was announced by the Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon on the eve of an international conference on Health Inequalities in Edinburgh.

While commenting on this she told that health boards will be asked to concentrate on family focussed weight loss treatment for the children aged between 5 and 15. The process includes promoting healthy eating habits and physical activities among children. The funds will be used for the direct benefit of the overweight children and it will encourage the initiatives already taken by the Scottish government.

Those initiatives include school meals, raising the age limit to 18 for cigarette sales and expanding the Keep Well programme. With more funds the anti obesity campaign against childhood obesity will be more strengthened and is expected to bring fruitful result. Prominent politicians and health experts from all across the UK, Europe and North America attended the international conference on Health inequality held in Edinburgh.

April, 12

In a shocking report it was revealed that teenage girls are getting exposed to drugs far earlier than their male counterparts. The research showed that girls get use to these drugs at a much early age than boys. Even these young girls try out all sorts of drugs including cocaine, LSD, and Ecstasy way before boys. This trend in girls has shown how these teens are getting attracted to these recreational drugs apart from the fact that these drugs could harm them.

The reasons which makes these young girls fall into the drug culture is through older boy friends and also by getting use to visiting the nightclubs. You can easily spot many teenage girls smoking and hanging out with their boy friends in nightclubs and even taking drugs without any hesitation. All this has a lot to do with their lifestyle and friend circle, which plays a vital role for getting adapted to this drug culture in such an early age. Even the way these days girls are getting into relations with older boys gives them the comfort to easily get into these nightclubs which are main centres for getting such drugs. The lack of check at the entrance of these clubs gives these under-age-girls to have an easy way in to these clubs.

While the mindset of these new generation girls to have a go at everything gets them into such situations where they themselves don’t know what they are into. And when they finally come to know, it becomes too late.

April, 10

Obesity has always been one of the scariest words for almost every single person; no one really desires to be called obese. But the saddest thing is that this bulky term has slowly become a part of our lives. Nowadays one can find obese persons any where, and even children neither are spared from its effect. In order to regulate this obesity syndrome in children the schools have taken an initiative by banning burger and ice cream vans from outside school gates.

This bold step was taken to make sure children stay away from those junk foods. This positive move by Renfrewshire Council was taken to tackle this growing problem. It was informed that changes were made in the licences of street traders restricting them to trade around school. As per the new rule there would be a ban on the sale of food and drinks within 500 metres of the 51 primary schools and 11secondary schools in the area. With this restriction junk food items and fizzy drinks will now not been seen around the school area.

As it is very well known that the main reason for obesity is basically due to a bad food habit and the main source of fats comes from these junk food and restricting them can help to some extent. Many health experts and dieticians have also agreed to the fact that the increased rate of obesity in children is due to an improper diet. The snacks and junk foods they consume are poor in nutritional levels and high on fat contents which develop a serious health concern slowly.

Obesity has affected Scotland to a great extent and it is sad to say that Scotland is the second most obese nation in the world. In this present scenario it is a major concern to control this disorder from its grass root level. And if children are kept away from these junk foods atleast around school it will do some benefit. These fast food and ice cream traders are targeting schools as their hot trading ground. But after this new regulation these vendors have to stop their operation around schools.

Even the parents should come forward in this initiative to fight against obesity and make sure their kids follow a balanced diet.