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AW
September 2018
T: 0121 771 4545 HEALTH More strokes are now occurring at an young age Measles www.asianworldnews.co.uk
Public Health England’s statistics show that over a third (38%) of first time strokes happen in middle aged adults (between the ages of 40 – 69). More first time strokes are now occurring at an earlier age compared to a decade ago and South Asian people are at a greater risk of experiencing a stroke at a significantly younger age. Stroke survivors, Amit Amin and Ranj Parmar both had a stroke in their late thirties. Amit said “Although I had seen the Stroke Act F.A.S.T adverts I never thought it would happen to me. I was a young man, I led a healthy life – I didn’t drink or smoke and was not overweight. It was a huge shock to my family and I.”
Amit experienced weakness on his left side and he couldn’t raise his arms. His speech was slurred too, he said “I sounded as though I was drunk but I hadn’t been drinking.” Amit’s fiancé noticed these signs and acted FAST, “When I got to the hospital I was quickly seen to by a nurse and neurologist. I had a brain scan which revealed a blood clot on the right side of my brain. It was then I knew I had a stroke.” He goes on to praise the NHS team that treated him “They were brilliant. I was helped by stroke specialists, nurses and psychologists. I also had speech therapy and physiotherapy. I made a good recovery, regaining my motor skills
and ability to speak which is amazing. I had issues with my memory but that is getting better. The only residual issue I have is impaired vision which means I can’t drive.” At the time Amit wasn’t aware that South Asians were at a higher risk of stroke and were more likely to have a stroke at a younger age than the white population. Neither did he know how important it was to act FAST when you notice any one the signs of stroke. Now he strongly advocates the importance of South Asians being aware of the signs of stroke and acting FAST “Because of the heightened risk within our community we need to be more aware of the signs of stroke – facial weakness, arm weakness and slurred speech. Calling 999 as soon as you see even one of the stroke signs in yourself or others is essential. Speedy treatment will help prevent deaths and disability.” Ranj Parmar said “At the time I didn’t know how serious stroke was until it happened to me and I certainly didn’t think I could have a stroke in my thirties.” “The day I had a stroke I was walking around the shops and suddenly it felt like someone hit me at the back of my head with a club. I felt an intense pain and started to lose mobility in both arms
and neck. It was a terrifying experience.” “I was rushed to hospital where I had a brain scan that revealed that I had a stroke.” Like Amit his experience of the NHS team was positive “They were great, the way they quickly got me the medical attention I needed.” Nine years on, he said “To look at me now, I look normal. I socialize, play light sports and can do most things I want to but the road to rehabilitation was challenging and took a lot of time and effort.” Following his stroke Ranj co-setup a support group for other stroke survivors and their families – Different Strokes Southampton, affiliated to the national charity Different Strokes. He is committed to raising awareness of the disease “Stroke is still one of the leading causes of death in England. It’s often associated with older people, however the latest research from Public Health England and my story shows that people are having strokes at a younger age. Everyone needs to be aware of the signs.” “Every minute counts when you have a stroke and calling 999 straightaway can make a significant difference to someone’s recovery and rehabilitation.”
Smoking Addiction To some extend the habit of smoking is a product of socialization. Socialization is simply the tendency to repeat patterns of behaviour one sees other persons in the society exhibit. Socialisation is one major way children and young people learn social skills. Children and teenagers learn skills necessary to live and work in the society by a socialisation process. Unfortunately also bad habits and bad ways of thinking are learned the same way. If one lives or works together with other smoking individuals, one will more or less automatic adopt these individuals’ smoking habits. If one then tries to break out of the social structure, one will feel anxiety for not being accepted any more by the social group one is a part of. If the other individuals also make moves to threaten or freeze out an individual trying to break this bad social standard, the difficulty of breaking out of the habit will be even greater. The threatening actions may not even be very serious to frighten a person from braking out of such a socially standardized habit, and may not even be meant as a threat. THE NEED FOR SUCKING AND CHEWING Every person has a need for sucking and chewing. This need is necessary in early infanthood, but it also persists into adult life to some degree. Some persons use cigarettes or other smoking devices and the smoke as a means to satisfy this need. There is a hypothesis that this need is greater by some adults then by others because this need, or some other similar basic need, has not been fully satisfied in early infanthood. If you want to stop smoking, you can try to satisfy this need by other means, for example by always keeping some-
thing in your pocket that you can put in your mouth to chew at when the need for smoke appears. AUTOMATIC REPEATING When a person have done something many times and frequently enough, there will be created a pattern of automatic repetition of that particular behaviour. This is especially true if the particular action is done in a distinct recognizable situation. The pattern of automatic repetition also have the effect of making a person feel safer in the daily life and routines. Such a pattern of automatic repetition is always a component in the smoking habit. It you want to quit smoking, you should make an investigation to find out in which situations and which environments you usually take a cigarette. Then try to avoid these situations or environments where you use to smoke, or to deliberately alter these situations. NICOTINE USED AS A SELF MEDICATION Nicotine has a tranquilizing effect upon nervous feelings. At the same time it has some anti-depressive effect, at least in the short run, and it makes a person feel more awake. A person suffering from nervousness or from depressive symptoms may feel that the smoking helps him against his mental symptoms. However, gradually there will be a need for steadily higher doses of nicotine to give these good effects, and if there is a lack of nicotine in the body, the nervous or depressive feelings will be greater than before. This gratification, but with the need for steadily higher doses to get the good effects is a major incentive for the smoking habit. You should consider if this anti-depressive or tranquilizing effect is a reason for your smoking. Then you
should try to find other ways to achieve the same effect. Engaging in some sport or outdoor life will often make you feel less depressed. If the depressive feelings are more serious, some appropriate treatment can be necessary. THE PLEASURE COMPONENT There is to some degree a plain and direct pleasure connected with smoking. This pleasure is in itself a good effect. This good effect is probably in most cases too small compared to the painful effects of smoking, but will gives a temptation for an individual to continue the habit. However, also this pleasure effect will gradually be difficult to obtain without increasing the doses. If the plain pleasure of smoking is a main reason for your habit, then you should try to find other sources of pleasure instead, for example some good food, some good music or some erotic action. THE GENETIC COMPONENT Not all people get equally easy dependent of nicotine. There are factors yet not fully understood that make some people more easily addicted than others. Perhaps some persons have receptors on their
nerve cells that more easily get trigged by nicotine than others, or perhaps some people have more receptors with the ability to get trigged by nicotine, and this is inherited in the genetic code. THE NERVOUS MECHANISMS WORKING BY ADDICTION The normal brain has signal substances with a tranquilizing effect, and substances with a stimulating effect upon nerve cells. Like most narcotic substances, nicotine act like a signal substance by fitting into receptors on some brain cells. Nicotine attaches itself to some receptors and thus gives the nerve cell having these receptors a signal. The cells getting such a signal from nicotine, will react by secreting another signal substance, dopamine that influences still other cells. Dopamine will tranquilize some brain cells and stimulate others, and the total effect of this is the pleasurable effects of smoking. However, when nicotine steadily induces dopamine release, the brain will gradually decrease the production of dopamine when nicotine is not present, and the brain will feel a steadily greater need for nicotine to work normally and feel well.
Rise in Europe
Measles cases have risen by 400% in Europe during 2017, affecting more than 20,000 people and causing 35 tragic deaths as stated by the World Health Organisation. Fifteen European countries, including the UK, saw outbreaks of the deadly virus over the duration of last year with countries such as Romania, Italy and Ukraine being the most affected. This is a major step backwards following a record low is measles cases in 2016. Experts have suggested that opting out of vaccinations is a big part of the problem, with the WHO stating that there have been overall declines in immunisation coverage, particularly amongst marginalised groups. Alongside this, interruptions in vaccine supplies and underperforming disease surveillance systems have also been blamed. Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, from the WHO, said: “Every new person affected by measles in Europe reminds us that unvaccinated children and adults, regardless of where they live, remain at risk of catching the disease and spreading it to others who may not be able to get vaccinated. This short-term setback cannot deter us from our commitment to be the generation that frees our children from these diseases once and for all.” 282 cases were recorded in the UK in 2017 and at the end of January 2018, there were 51 confirmed cases in the West Midlands alone. The highly infectious, viral illness can be prevented by the MMR vaccine that is given to infants over two doses, which can also be given to previously untreated adults. Measles symptoms include a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, red eyes, a high temperature and a red-brown blotchy rash.
AW Facts Did you know? Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest fat on the planet.