Health & Beauty
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VAL SAINSBURY Keeping her finger on the pulse Email: val.sainsbury@canarianweekly.com
Poorer people facing more threat of dying from heart conditions PEOPLE who live in deprived areas are still far more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than others. An online tool, showing the variation in death rates and risk factors for heart disease and strokes, reveals that those who live in poorer parts of England are 2½ times more likely to die of these ailments than those from the leastdeprived areas. The UK Government’s Department of Health hopes the comparative system will drive up standards and improve resources for the deprived. It has been developed so that local health services can assess the impact of cardiovascular diseases on their local populations, according to the department. The figures show the quality and availability of services, and where a stronger focus on prevention could improve a patient’s chances. Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and strokes, is the main cause of death in the UK, contributing to about one-third of all fatali-
ties. Figures from the tool show mortality rates for cardiovascular disease in England have decreased, but this varies from more than 55% in Sunderland, mid-Essex and Hartlepool, to around 40% in parts of London and the east of England. Obesity levels also change greatly between areas. Estimates of adult obesity vary from around 15% of the population in parts of London to some 30% in areas such as Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool. Professor Roger Boyle, National Clinical Director for Heart Disease and Stroke, said: “These profiles offer a snapshot of where we need to focus efforts to improve these services. “They are a sobering reminder of the public health challenges around poor diet and obesity. “But different parts of the country can learn from each other, too, which is part of the importance of making this data available publicly.”
Low wages and feeling low - thats the price you pay for a rotten job MANY of you will know the feeling only too well: you’ve got a rotten job, or it’s badly paid with little security, and you simply don’t know which way to turn. New research suggests that these scenarios can impact on people’s well-being just as much as unemployment. In fact, the jobless can feel better-off mentally than those who are in poor jobs of low “psycho-social quality”. Researchers, who analysed 7,000 people Down Under, said government policies tended to focus on job-seekers when they should also take into account the quality of a person’s job. Experts, led by a team at the Australian National University in Canberra featured in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. They wrote: “This study shows that work of poor psychosocial quality (involvement
Lilly saves master’s life to be crowned Top Cat MEET Lilly, the cat who has become a real life-saver because she is able to detect when her owner is about to have an epileptic fit. Nathan Cooper came close to death during a particularly severe seizure, but Lilly stayed by the 19-year-old’s side, nudging and licking him until he starting breathing again. Nathan’s mum, Tracey, says Lilly can sense something is wrong when he is about to have a fit, and runs between her and her son, meowing to alert her. “Lilly has a very close bond with Nathan, but he didn’t believe it when I told him what she was doing,” said Tracey, 38. “After one fit, he stopped breathing and Lilly started licking his mouth. Somehow, it kick-started his breathing. When he came round, from when she licked him into breathing, and Lilly was right there, he just couldn’t believe it.
“He said to me: ‘“I never knew a cat could do this’.” The family, from Bournemouth, Dorset, have no idea how she picked up the skill, but they have been told by hospital staff that animals are sometimes able to detect
impending epileptic fits. Mrs Cooper said Lilly could normally detect an oncoming seizure up to five minutes before it happened. Mrs Cooper, a full-time carer for her son and her disabled husband, 44-year-old Simon,
has entered Lilly for Drontal’s My Pet Superstar competition. Lilly licked more than 6,000 other pets in the UK to be crowned Top Cat, and who could possibly say she didn’t deserve the accolade?
with their working environment), characterised by low job-control, high job-demands, job insecurity and the perception of unfair pay, does not bestow the same mental health benefits as employment in jobs with high, psychosocial quality. “In fact, we found that moving from unemployment to a job with poor psycho-social quality was associated with a significant decline in mental health, relative to remaining unemployed. “This suggests that psychosocial job quality is a pivotal factor that needs to be considered in the design and delivery of employment and welfare policy.” Studies have long found that people in work enjoy better mental health than those who are unemployed. But fewer studies have examined how people feel about their jobs when they are in employment.
18 March 2011 -24 March 2011
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