Our last health news round-up of November 2018 features an exciting new health trial for the over-65s, a major achievement by Public Health England (PHE) and the continuing theme of the UK’s major diabetes challenge. Keep up to date in just 2 minutes.
Can yoga help with long-term health conditions?
An article on the NHS reveals that “Researchers are investigating the clinical benefits and cost effectiveness of a specially-adapted yoga programme for older people with multiple long-term health conditions.”
Northumbria University is conducting the four-year study, which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Technology Assessment programme. The NIHR believes that “people with a number of long-term health conditions are more likely to have reduced physical function and lower quality of life and life expectancy”.
According to the NHS, two-thirds of people over the age of 65 in the UK have two or more long-term health conditions – this is called ‘multimorbidity’. Such conditions can include diabetes, heart disease and asthma, as well as mental health problems like depression and anxiety.
Read the full article on the NIHR website.
Low-calorie diet to reverse type 2 diabetes
If you’ve already watched the news on television today you might have seen that the NHS is rolling out a low-calorie diet programme to thousands of people in the UK. Around 90% of people with diabetes have type 2, which is strongly linked to lifestyle and diet. A trial at the end of last year reversed the condition for around half of those who took part. The new trial will involve 5,000 men and women on a strict 800-calorie diet, made up of liquid meals and shakes, with follow-up support. Once the success of the trial has been assessed it will be extended to a much larger population.
Find out more on the BBC news website.
talkhealth is developing its myweight support programme, which you can now sign up to if you wish.
Is the world running out of insulin?
Another BBC News article about diabetes asks whether the world is running low on insulin. The 400 million people around the world with type 2 diabetes can’t produce enough insulin to regulate their blood sugar levels. (Half of them live in either China, India or the US.) The article states: “A new study in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal says nearly 80 million people with the disease will require insulin by 2030 as the demand for the drug is projected to rise by 20% by then.” Dr Sanjay Basu from Stanford University in the US, who led the research, said, “Access is defined as the combination of availability and affordability.”
Read about this story on the BBC news website.
Some good news to start with… The UK has hit a significant UN HIV target on the long journey to eradicate the HIV epidemic. As the Guardian newspaper describes it: “UNAids has set a “90-90-90” target for every country, challenging health authorities to diagnose more than 90% of people with HIV, put 90% on treatment and ensure 90% experience viral suppression, meaning the amount of HIV in their body being kept so low by antiretroviral drugs they are not infectious to others.”
PHE, which estimates that there were 102,00 people with HIV in England last year (of whom around 8,000 are unaware they are infected), has reached 92%, 98% and 97% respectively, a major achievement.
Noel Gill, head of STIs and HIV at PHE, told the newspaper, “There can be no doubt prevention efforts to end the HIV epidemic in the UK are working. Our efforts must continue apace in order to eliminate HIV. With an estimated 8,000 people still unaware of their infection it is vital that people seek out an HIV test if they consider themselves at risk, or accept the offer of an HIV test by a healthcare professional, as early diagnosis is key to stopping transmission.”
Visit the Guardian website to learn more.
News from talkhealth
We are hosting two more Ask the Expert sessions before the end of the year.
Our first, Problems Peeing is in partnership with the Urology Foundation, the only UK charity committed to fighting all urological diseases and illnesses. Our panel of experts will answer your questions on Thursday 6 December but the clinic will be open from Monday 3 December for you to post your questions in advance.
The following week we host the next session in our ongoing monthly Mental Wellbeing series, with Work/Life Balance the focus this time. Our panel will reply to your questions on Thursday 13 December, but the clinic will be open from Monday 10 December for you to post your questions in advance.
Next year, our online clinics and Ask the Expert sessions kick off in January. Take a look at the schedule on the Online Clinics page.
Wherever you are in the world, enjoy the weekend!
talkhealth
This is the talkhealth blog spot, where we post on a wide range of health conditions, topics, issues and concerns. We post when we see something that we believe is of interest to our visitors. Our posts do not reflect any particular view or standpoint of talkhealth, but are merely to raise attention and awareness.
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