Health Information for July 2022
Coercive control
In the UK, coercive control is a criminal offence. One of the less recognised forms of domestic abuse, it can have a devastating impact on victims. Abusers may not recognise control of money, restriction of autonomy, or jealousy as abusive behaviours.
https://www.healthline.com/health/coercive-control
If you are a man and concerned that your behaviour towards a partner or family member may be abusive, you may find the advice from Men’s Health Forum useful. There is a five step programme to help you get out of a cycle of abuse. https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/domestic-violence-you-dishing-it-out
Men can find themselves being abused by partners or family members. It can be difficult to accept that you’re being abused, and harder still to seek help. https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/domestic-violence-receiving-end
If you’re a victim of coercive control, you might recognise some of the themes in this article from Vogue. In the early stages of a relationship, it’s easy to mistake control for caring. https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/taking-back-control
Women’s Aid has information about domestic abuse including coercive control. The site has a quick exit button, in case you’re concerned someone may see you. You may want to consider using a private or incognito browser. https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/coercive-control/
Women’s Aid has a wealth of information about how to help keep yourself safe online if you’re concerned that a partner or family member is monitoring your online activity. If possible, use internet away from the home. Make sure you understand private or incognito browsers and how to clear your history. https://www.womensaid.org.uk/cover-your-tracks-online/
Preventing diabetes
Diabetes causes around 500 premature deaths in the UK each week. If you’ve never thought about your risk of type 2 diabetes, the NHS has a risk calculator that can help you to work out whether changes to your lifestyle may be needed. https://riskscore.diabetes.org.uk/start
There are some easy lifestyle changes you can make to help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. More than half of all cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented or delayed, so making simple lifestyle changes now could improve your long term health. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/preventing-type-2-diabetes/can-diabetes-be-prevented
Hot weather advice
With temperatures rising over the summer months, it’s an ideal time to think about how to stay safe in warmer weather. In the UK there are over 2000 deaths each year which are heat related. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/heatwave-how-to-cope-in-hot-weather/
Signs of heat exhaustion include headache, dizziness and confusion, loss of appetite or feeling sick, excessive sweating and a high temperature of 38C or above. If you’re suffering from heat exhaustion, it’s important to try and cool yourself down within 30 minutes. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heat-exhaustion-heatstroke/
Heat stroke can be very serious and should be treated as an emergency. If you feel unwell after 30 minutes resting in a cool place and drinking plenty of water, you have a temperature of 40C or over, if you feel confused, or aren’t sweating even though you feel very hot, these could be signs of heat stroke. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heat-exhaustion-heatstroke/
Holiday advice
Whether you’re going overseas this year, or planning to stay closer to home, the fitfortravel website has brilliant information about how to choose a suncream, who is most vulnerable and the other preventative measures you can take to make sure you stay safe in the sun. https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/sun-safety
The fitfortravel website has a wealth of information about health issues that can occur on holiday and ways that you can stay safe while travelling. If any kind of travel is in your plans, it’s well worth checking out. https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice
National citizenship
National Citizen Service is a scheme for young people (aged 16 to 17) that aims to give them experiences and opportunities that enrich their lives as well as those of their communities. It takes place over two weeks each summer, and if you haven’t thought about doing it, now is the time to try. https://wearencs.com
Healthier food ideas
Given rising levels of obesity and a trend towards less active lifestyles, it’s important to teach the young people in our lives how to eat healthily. A maximum of two 100 calorie snacks per day helps towards that goal. https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/food-facts/healthier-snacks/
Small changes to your diet can make a big difference. Swapping food you eat regularly for healthier alternatives can make improvements to your diet with almost no effort. https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/food-facts/healthier-food-swaps/#snacks
Mental health for young people
Kooth is an online support service for young people. It’s available in areas across the UK. If you think you might benefit, it’s worth taking a look. https://www.kooth.com
If you, or someone you care about is a young person who needs support with their mental health, Young Minds might be just the support you’re looking for. https://www.youngminds.org.uk
The NHS website has a fantastic page about how you can help and support children and young people with their mental health, including ways you might be able to identify if someone is struggling. https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/supporting-others/childrens-mental-health/
Dehydration advice
Dehydration can be a big problem in warmer weather. If you’re dehydrated, you may feel thirsty. In fact, feeling thirsty and dark coloured pee are two of the earliest signs of dehydration that you should look out for. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dehydration/
What does the colour of your urine tell you? Dark coloured urine is one of the earliest signs of dehydration, but different colours mean different things. If your urine is orange, would you know whether to be concerned? https://www.infectionpreventioncontrol.co.uk/content/uploads/2018/12/Urine-colour-guide.pdf
Hot weather alerts
If you, or someone you care about is likely to be affected by extreme weather conditions, you can sign up for email alerts from the Met Office that will tell you when extreme weather is expected. Some groups of people are more likely to be adversely affected by weather conditions, including older adults, babies and young children, and those living with long term health conditions. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/guide-to-emails
Sarcoma Awareness (July)
In the UK, 15 people per day are diagnosed with Sarcoma. Sarcoma is an uncommon cancer that can affect any part of the body, including soft tissue, muscle and bones. Symptoms of sarcomas can be a growing or changing lump, or one that is bigger than a golf ball. They can also include swelling or tenderness of the bone, stomach pain, bloating, loss of appetite, or feeling full after eating only small amounts, or blood in your poo or vomit. https://srcoma.org.uk/about-sarcoma/what-is-sarcoma/
Osteoporosis prevention
While your genetics determine your height and how strong your bones are, you can make changes to your lifestyle that will influence how healthy your bones are. Regular and varied exercise along with a healthy diet can help you to ensure the long term benefits of having healthy bones. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/osteoporosis/prevention/
Sun cream application
SunSmart is an Australian programme to help reduce the number of deaths from skin cancer. While we may not live in Australia, we can use lessons learned there to help and support children to stay safe in the sun. By improving early learning around sun safety, we can influence the ability of our own children to look after their skin long term. https://www.sunsmart.com.au/advice-for/schools-early-childhood/education-resources
400/600/600 rule and TDE
An average adult needs between 2000 and 2400 calories per day, but it can be hard to translate that to what a meal should look like. This handy page has a wealth of ideas that fit the 400/600/600 model to ensure you only eat the necessary number of calories each day. https://thrivingworkplaces.org.uk/what-does-400-600-600-look-like/
If you’re overweight, losing just 5% of your body weight can have significant benefits. We tend to underestimate the amount of calories that we’re consuming. Calculating the number of calories you need to maintain, lose or gain weight can help you stay within a healthy range. https://tdeecalculator.net
Samaritans
If you’re struggling and need someone to talk to, but you don’t want to talk to a GP, the Samaritans are available to speak to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Whatever the issue that you’re facing, you will be listened to by someone non-judgemental and supportive who will give you space to speak. https://www.samaritans.org
If you don’t feel that you can talk to someone about the thing that is bothering you, the Samaritans have more than one way you can access support. https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
Parkrun
Parkrun is a free-to-enter activity held across the UK each week. With junior parkruns at 2km, and parkruns for all at 5km, there’s sure to be something suitable for you, no matter what your age. You don’t have to run the whole course, so even if you’re walking, you can get something out of it. https://www.parkrun.org.uk
[NOT FOR POSTING TO YOUR PUBLIC FACING PAGES] If you think that your practice could join over 1600 parkrun practices and get your surgery population moving, you can find out more here. https://volunteer.parkrun.com/principles/united-kingdom
Shingles
Shingles is a painful condition related to the chicken pox virus. While you cannot catch shingles, people who have not previously had chicken pox can catch it from someone who has shingles. Shingles often appears on one side of the body only. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/shingles/
If you are aged 70 to 79, you’re eligible for vaccination against shingles. Shingles can cause pain and lasting complications. Vaccination helps to reduce your risk. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/who-can-have-the-shingles-vaccine/
Vaccination
In the UK, we offer a number of vaccinations at different times of life, from babies through to adulthood. Do you know whether you’ve had the vaccinations recommended for you? From meningitis and measles to shingles, we aim to protect you from the worst effects of these illnesses. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/
Mindfulness
You might describe mindfulness as being “in the moment”. The practice of mindfulness has been shown to help with stress and anxiety. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/tips-and-support/mindfulness/
Mindfulness can help with stress and anxiety. If you think that having an app might help you practice mindfulness in your everyday life, you might find this article helpful.
https://www.independent.co.uk/extra…cessories/best-mindfulness-apps-a8217931.html
Health Information Week (4th to 10th July)
Access to informative, high-quality health information is critical to ensuring we stay healthy and have a good quality of life. Health Information Week aims to ensure that we all have access to high-quality health information. https://healthinfoweek.wixsite.com/healthinfoweek
International Friendship Day (30th July)
The International Day of Friendship was named by the UN in 2011, with the ambition of encouraging friendship between peoples. On a local level, though, we can extend the same principles of friendship, support and encouragement to build our local communities. https://www.un.org/en/observances/friendship-day