Archive for February, 2009

'Enormous rise' in debt counselling

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

The number of debt enquiries has doubled over the past decade, according to Citizens Advice.
The charity now deals with an average of 7,241 new debt problems every day and on average, people who went to Citizens Advice seeking help last year were £16,971 in debt. The number of redundancy enquiries handled by Citizens Advice also read more »

One drink a day can increase cancer risk

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Consuming just one alcoholic drink a day can increase the risk of cancer in women, reports the Guardian today.
A new study, carried out by the University of Oxford as part of the One Million Women research looked into the links between drinking alcohol and cancer and has revealed that having one drink daily – wine, read more »

BBC documentary to explore relationships and family life

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

The BBC is making an animated documentary, exploring the challenges we all face in relationships and family life.
They are looking for people who are trying, or have thought of trying, relationship or family therapy.
They are aware that this is a sensitive issue and the advantage of the animation is that it gives a degree of read more »

People still can't talk about mental health

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Revealing you suffer from a mental health problem is still one of the hardest things to admit, reports the Guardian today.
A new survey of 2000 people showed that 30% would find it difficult to admit they had a mental health condition, compared to 20% who said they would find it difficult to tell people they read more »

Rise in anorexia admissions

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

There has been a big rise in the number of teenage girls being admitted to hospital for anorexia, reports The Independent.
Over the past ten years the number of girls under 16 taken into hospital suffering from anorexia has risen by 80%, according to new figures released by the NHS. The figures rose from 256 being read more »

New cannabis awareness campaign

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

A new advertising campaign launched this week aims to highlight the links between taking cannabis and mental health problems, reports The Independent.
Cannabis was re-classified last month to a Class B drug, and the £2.2 million campaign is targeting 11-18 year- olds, through the ‘Talk to Frank’ initiative.
Along with the re-classification are new penalties for anyone read more »

Taking multivitamins have no benefits for some

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Many take multivitamin supplements in order to try and stay healthy, but for some it has been deemed a “waste of time” reports The Independent.
A study in America of 162,000 women aged 50-79 who took dietary supplements experienced no reduction in the risk of heart disease, cancer, or improved general health. People who eat a read more »

Malnutrition costing £13bn

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Often the only food-related illnesses highlighted in the press are those resulting from being over-weight or obese, and eating too much. However an article on the BBC website highlights the number of people in the UK who are suffering from malnutrition.
The problem is costing £13bn – twice as high as predicted – according to a read more »

New plans to raise awareness of dementia

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

A new Government scheme is to encourage employers to look for signs of dementia in their workers, reports The Telegraph.
The £150 million initiative is designed to raise awareness for the illness, which it’s predicted will double to over 1.4 million cases over the next 30 years. Doctors will be given extra training to help recognise read more »

Hormone check may help predict post-natal depression

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Monitoring women’s hormones levels may help reduce post-natal depression, reports the BBC’s Health website.
Levels of the hormone pCRH hormone were tested in 100 women at several intervals during their pregnancy, and also after they had given birth. The levels of the hormone helped predict those who went on to experience post-natal depression. The pCRH hormone read more »