Back

A Quick Guide to Running Better.

Click here to download a pdf.

Submitted by www.momentumsports.co.uk

---

Download these new documnets -

Helicobacter Pylori and its Role in Gastritis and Peptic Ulcer Disease

Gastric Ulcers

Sprain Management

---

Food Allergies in children

Some 40,000 children born each year develop an allergy or an allergy related condition such as asthma, eczema, hay fever, food allergy, allergy to
stings, urticaria (nettle rash or hives), and anaphylaxis. Two out of a hundred infants under one year old suffer from cow's milk allergy, making
it the most common food allergy of childhood, and at least 1 in 50 of all children is allergic to nuts. All allergies are on the increase but there is no
conclusive evidence to confirm why this is. At least 10% of children and young adults with an allergy have more than one allergic disorder. Food
allergies are also more common in babies who are exposed to allergic foods at an early age. About 90% of food allergies in babies and children are to
cow’s milk, soy, egg, peanuts or wheat.

Food types to watch:
Milk, eggs, peanuts, hazel and Brazil nuts (known as tree nuts), sesame, fish, crustaceans (crab, lobster) fruits and soy are the most common food
triggers which cause 90% of all allergic reactions. However, any food that an individual is sensitive to may cause a reaction and needs only a minute
trace to cause a lifethreatening reaction.

· Some people can react to skin contact or even the smell of a food.

· Food allergies are most common in the first 3 years of life.

· Food allergies are more common in those children with a family history of food allergies, or in those with a history of asthma, eczema, allergy or hay fever.

· A large proportion of those allergic to cow’s milk are also allergic to soy.

Typical Symptoms:
Usually the symptoms of food allergy are mild but can be one of a number; Gastrointestinal symptoms are the easiest to recognise and these include:

· loose stools
· excess gas
· diarrhoea
· nausea
· vomiting

Testing for Allergies:
To determine the cause of an allergy or intolerance a nurse or allergist will take a pin prick sample of blood. The Food Detective is a test to identify
antibodies to specific foods using the principals of enzyme immunoassay. The results of this particular test do not provide information about any specific medical condition and along with a skin test provides results for food intolerance and food allergies only.

For further information and testing please contact Nuexcom Health and Medical at the email address info@nuexcom.co.uk

For further information and resources please visit www.theallergysite.co.uk

---

---

Back

“The following excerpts from two separate articles are almost 4 years apart, but what do they tell us about the progress we are making towards improving our children’s health as time goes by?”

Exercises your children will love

NAOMI COLEMAN, femail.co.uk 11:50am 27th April 2001

The alarming news that levels of overweight children in America could become a public health crisis raises questions over Britain's own child obesity problem. Recent studies show a doubling of British children with weight problems. Almost one in ten under four-year-olds are now obese.

Rising levels of child obesity is of major concern to health experts who claim it is the worst disease to hit Britain since the plague. Obesity in childhood can lead to higher risks of coronary problems in later life, cholesterol levels and the possible onset of diabetes - usually caused by poor diet.

There are also concerns that child obesity is already bringing down the age of developing some serious diseases by around five years. Some experts claim that the onset of adult diabetes - triggered by bad diet - is now appearing in children as young as fourteen years old.

Professor Ken Fox of the exercise and health sciences at University of Bristol, believes advances in society and also the environment over the last 20 years is to blame for the rise in obesity. Professor Fox points out that parents need to be aware of how lack of activity can damage children's health, but warns that the right approach is necessary to get the message across.
Professor Fox believes a new approach to physical education is needed in schools. At present, the National Curriculum recommends that all children should receive two hours of physical activity a week.
However, the Health Development Authority - which oversees the Government's health education programme - suggests children aged between five and eighteen do at least one hour of moderate exercise everyday. 'The important thing to remember is that activity for children needs to combine weight bearing (where the child supports their own weight), flexibility (such as gymnastics) and exercises for bone health (such as skipping) to increase bone density.'

Back

BMA raises alarm over increase in childhood obesity

Celia Hall, Medical Editor 23/06/2005

A million British children account for a third of the cases of obesity seen in children in European Union countries, doctors said yesterday as they called for strong Government action to stem the rising epidemic of obesity in under-16s.

In the EU three million children are obese and 14 million are overweight. Numbers of overweight children are rising by 400,000 a year and numbers of obese children by 85,000 a year.

In the UK 22 per cent of boys and 28 per cent of girls aged two to 15 were either overweight or obese in 2002, according to Preventing Childhood Obesity, a report from the British Medical Association Board of Science.

Doctors are now seeing in children and young people diseases and disorders once found only in the middle-aged and elderly, including Type 2 diabetes, problems with joints and raised blood pressure.

Later in life obese children are at increased risk of heart disease and some cancers.  "We are beginning to measure blood pressure in children and that is something I thought we would never do. This is a massive problem, much bigger than people think," Dr Everington said.

---

Premiums fatten on weight rules

Daily Mail/ 5 July 2005

MILLIONS of people are paying higher life insurance premiums because the industry has redrawn the rules on what is considered dangerously overweight.
The changes mean someone only slightly over a healthy weight could be paying 50% more for cover than those of a 'standard' weight.
Heavier people are being punished with five-fold increases in premiums or are being refused cover completely, threatening disastrous consequences for their families.

Five years ago, customers would have to hit a BMI of 43-45 before they were required to pay a high premium or were refused cover. Now it is more likely to be 38-40.
Consequently, someone who is 5ft 10in tall, weighs 19st and so has a BMI of 38.23, would face paying four or five times the standard. That could take the monthly figure up from £20 to £100, which works out an extra £960 a year or £19,200 over 20 years.
Insurance brokers say Britain's obesity epidemic has triggered a rethink in the industry. The view is that fat people will hit profits because they are more likely to die young, which means any payouts on their policies will outstrip premium income. Some 60% of the adult British population is considered overweight or obese, a figure which is rising rapidly.

The higher premiums apply to life insurance linked to home loans, 'critical illness cover', which pays the bills if you are sick, and income protection, which pays out if you lose your job. They also apply to 'family protection' policies, which pay a lump sump or income to a wife and children after the death of a breadwinner. Customers are more likely to be required to undergo a medical than in the past.

Fat customers lay on the lard, says insurer
By John Greenwood 22/02/2006

Scottish Provident, one of Britain's biggest protection insurers, is tightening its underwriting procedures because it suspects customers of lying about their weight on application forms. Britons are now second only to the Greeks as Europe's most obese population, figures out this month show. Twenty-one per cent of British adults are technically obese, with a body mass index of 30 or more.

Last July the Sunday Telegraph revealed that tightened definitions of "overweight" meant people who considered their physique normal could see their life insurance premiums soar. An individual who is 5 ft 8 in and weighs 16 stone would be charged around 50 per cent more for life insurance than someone who was not overweight.

Back

---

Sport and Dance Injury Prevention Workshop

This workshop is aimed at teachers, instructors and participants of both sport and dance disciplines.
Demonstrations and practical advice will be given on the clinical aspect of injury prevention and injury management along with the testimony and day to day advice of sport and dance professionals.

The areas covered for these workshops are:-
 
“Lower back & associated muscles” -
Strength and flexibility/ flexion and extension. 

“Hip & the upper thigh” –
Strength and durability/ adduction and rotation.

To register and receive workshop dates, venues and contents please send your details or speak to an advisor via telephone or e-mail

 

---

The Fat End of the Wedge (excerpt)
By David Batty / UK news 05:08pm

Should your lifestyle affect your eligibility for treatment on the NHS? Well nearly 40% of doctors think it should, saying smokers, drinkers and the obese should be barred from certain treatments.

The findings, from a new survey by the British Medical Association's magazine BMA News, follows an outcry over the decision by local NHS bodies to bar obese patients from undergoing joint surgery. Last November, three primary care trusts said overweight people in East Anglia will be denied replacement hips and knees, even if they are in serious pain, until they lose weight. They justified
their decision with the claim that the surgery is less effective for overweight patients, with artificial joints wearing out sooner. But this was debunked by an expert.

So what really lies behind these moves to ban "unhealthy" people from NHS treatment? On the whole it's money or the lack of it, with many NHS trusts facing a cash crisis. Last December the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, which decides whether treatments are costeffective,
advised it might be appropriate to deny treatment to patients whose ill health was "selfinflicted".

Analysts have warned that we all need to adopt healthier lifestyles in order to prevent the NHS budget from spiralling out of control. With GP surgeries set to be opened in supermarkets perhaps doctors will in future monitor your till receipts to check you're not buying too many Hob Nobs and cheesy Wotsits.

But once you take the decision to deny some patients treatment because you decide it's their fault they're unwell, where does it end?

Do you deny abortions to people because they should know how to use contraception, stop reviving people who attempt suicide, or refuse treatment for sexually transmitted infections because the patient sleeps around too much? There's also the thorny issue of who is most likely to be affected by these bans.

Obesity and poor diet are most common in deprived areas, where it is harder to get cheap fresh fruit and vegetables, so blanket treatment bans are likely to increase health inequalities. What is needed is more carrots, not just sticks.

---

Musculoskeletal disorders

Allan Binder

Neck pain
About two thirds of people will experience neck pain at some time in their lives. Prevalence is highest in middle age. In the UK, about 15% of hospital based physiotherapy and in Canada 30% of chiropractic referrals are for neck pain. In the Netherlands, neck pain contributes up to 2% of general practitioner consultations.

Risk Factors
The aetiology of uncomplicated neck pain is unclear. Most uncomplicated neck pain is associated with poor posture, anxiety and depression, neck strain, occupational injuries, or sporting injuries. With chronic pain, mechanical and degenerative factors (often referred to as cervical spondylosis) are more likely. Some neck pain results from soft tissue trauma, most typically seen in whiplash injuries. Rarely, disc prolapse and inflammatory, infective, or malignant conditions affect the cervical spine and present with neck pain with or without neurological features.

Exercise
RCTs identified by systematic reviews and subsequent RCTs, primarily in people with chronic uncomplicated neck pain, found that strengthening exercise or active physical treatment including exercise reduced pain compared with usual care including drug treatment, stress management, or no specific exercise programme. RCTs identified by several systematic reviews provided insufficient evidence about the effects of exercise compared with traction. The reviews identified one RCT in people with chronic neck pain which compared low technology strengthening exercises plus manipulation, high technology strengthening exercises, and manipulation alone. It found that low technology strengthening exercises plus manipulation improved participant satisfaction, objective strength, and range of movement at 11 weeks compared with manipulation alone. At 1 and 2 years it found that both low technology strengthening exercises plus manipulation and high technology strengthening exercises improved pain and participant satisfaction compared with manipulation alone. The 2 year follow up was in a subset of participants only. Another RCT identified by a systematic review found no significant difference in pain after treatment or at 12 months among exercise, manipulation, or mobilisation. A third RCT found that exercise was less effective in improving pain than mobilisation in people with neck pain for over 2 weeks. One small RCT that compared exercise, McKenzie mobilisation, and control found no significant difference between groups in pain at 6 and 12 months.

Proprioceptive and strengthening exercise versus usual care (analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or muscle relaxants):

The reviews identified one RCT. The RCT (60 people with chronic neck pain, 37% with radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis) found that a proprioceptive and strengthening exercise programme significantly reduced pain at 10 weeks compared with usual care (pain measured on a 100 mm visual analogue scale [0 mm = no pain; 100 mm = unbearable pain: –21.8 with exercise v –4.3 with usual care; P < 0.004). The exercise programme involved 15 individual exercise sessions aimed at improving eye–neck coordination through passive and active movements of the head while maintaining gaze on a fixed or slow mobile target.

Endurance or strengthening (isometric) exercise versus no specific exercise programme:

The reviews identified no RCTs but we found one subsequent RCT. The subsequent RCT (180 female office workers with chronic neck pain) compared a programme of specific “endurance” (dynamic) or “strength” (isometric) exercises carried out three times a week for 1 year versus no specific exercise programme. All participants were encouraged to undertake simple aerobic and stretching exercises. The RCT found that endurance and strength exercises significantly improved neck pain after 12 months of treatment compared with control (pain assessed on a 100 mm visual analogue scale; median improvement in pain score: 40 with strength exercise v 35 with endurance exercise v 16 with control; P < 0.001 for exercise groups v control). Strength and endurance exercises also significantly improved disability after 12 months compared with control (median improvement in Neck Disability Index: 9 with strength exercise v 8 with endurance exercise v 3 with control; P < 0.001).

Exercise (strength training, endurance training, or coordination exercises) versus stress management:

The reviews identified one RCT (2 published papers). The RCT (103 women with work related neck pain for ≥ 1 year) compared three exercise regimens (strength training, endurance training, or coordination exercises) versus stress management over 10 weeks. It found that any type of exercise significantly reduced pain compared with stress management after 10–12 weeks (P < 0.05). It found no significant difference in outcomes among any of the exercise programmes. It also found no significant difference in neck pain among the four groups after 3 years' follow up (AR for neck pain: 47% with strength training v 50% with endurance training v 58% with coordination exercises v 39% with stress management; reported as non-significant, no individual P values reported for exercise v stress management or exercise regimens versus each other).

---

---

Disc Pressure in relation to activity or position 
 The 5th lumbar-1st sacral vertebral area (L5-S1) is the site that causes most of the problems simply because this joint area carries more weight than any other vertebral joint in the spinal complex! 
 

Chart of pressures on the discs, expressed as a percentage of body weight, for various activities [1] 
 

---