May is Ehlers-Danlos Awareness Month

May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder – Awareness Month. I checked out the Ehlers-Danlos Society and the folowing is a description from their website:

What are these disorders?

The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are a group of 13 heritable connective tissue disorders. The conditions are caused by genetic changes that affect connective tissue. Each type of EDS has its own set of features with distinct diagnostic criteria. Some features are seen across all types of EDS, including joint hypermobility, skin hyperextensibility, and tissue fragility. 

What is joint hypermobility? 

Joint hypermobility means that a person’s joints have a greater range of motion than is expected or usual. Some people have joint hypermobility that does not cause them pain or other issues. However, some people with joint hypermobility also have joint instability. Joint instability occurs when the bones of a joint aren’t held in place securely. This can lead to joint subluxations, dislocations, sprains, and other injuries. Joint instability can cause both acute and chronic pain and interfere with daily life.   

Joint hypermobility is observed throughout the body in most types of EDS, but hypermobility may be limited to the hands and feet in some types. Although joint hypermobility is observed across all types of EDS, not everyone with a type of EDS has joint hypermobility. You can read more about joint hypermobility here.

What is skin hyperextensibility? 

Skin hyperextensibility means that the skin can be stretched beyond the normal range. Skin extensibility, or skin stretchiness, is measured by pinching and lifting the skin on the volar surface (same side as the palm of the hand) at the middle of the non-dominant forearm. Skin is hyperextensible if it stretches greater than 1.5 cm. Mild skin hyperextensibility may be observed in people with any type of EDS. More severe skin hyperextensibility, greater than 2 cm, is observed in certain types of EDS. 

People with a type of EDS may also have other skin characteristics and symptoms, such as unusual skin texture, skin fragility, very thin skin, delayed wound healing, and abnormal scarring. Not everyone with a type of EDS has skin hyperextensibility or unusual skin characteristics.  

What is tissue fragility? 

Tissue fragility means that the body’s organs and other structures are more vulnerable to damage. Tissue fragility can present as easy bruising and poor wound healing in many types of EDS. Some types of EDS can also cause severe fragility of the skin, blood vessels, abdominal organs, eyes, gums, and bones.  

Find out more about EDS and HSD – and how you can help the Society click here

World Sleep Day: March 17th

Sleep is essential for life and health. It is not for nothing that sleep deprivation is considered a torture. Most people need at least seven hours sleep per night to be healthy and we should consider it as important as a good diet and exercise, to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Personally, I found I was falling asleep while watching TV and even feeling sleepy in the car – definitely not good for your health! I changed my sleep habits to make sure I got seven hours a night and my tiredness disappeared! I also found out my thyroid was underactive and noticed that, now that I take a small dose of thyroxine, I have more vivid dreams. Dreams are also an essential part of sleep.

Read more here.

World Hearing Day – March 3rd

Most of us are ‘visual’ people – our sight is our dominant sense and we all envisage how losing our sight would be a terrible thing so hearing tends to take second place. People who are deaf or hard of hearing are often seen as stupid, because they may not respond correctly to a question, for example.

Hearing Impairment Sign

My aunt was born hard of hearing and really suffered at school because she was put at the back of the class, and couldn’t hear the teacher properly. She was then reprimanded for inattention! Hopefully these days this kind of thing is less likely to happen. My sister-in-law is completely deaf and it was difficult to communicate with her because of this. But avoiding communication with the deaf or hard-of-hearing just makes them feel more isolated.

Additionally, it has been shown that deafness/hearing loss can make people more likely to develop dementia. So we really should think more carefully about our interactions with such people and try to include them more in our conversations and activities.

How can we help? Here is a great website that has tips to help us communicate better: Click here

World Hearing Day is every March 3rd – here is a link to the WHO site: Click here

World First Aid Day

This Saturday, the 10th of September 2022, is World First Aid Day and it highlights and spreads awareness of the importance of first aid.

Correct and up-to-date first aid skills and knowledge are vital for creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment, both at work and at home. Equally as important is ensuring that you have the correct first aid supplies necessary to ensure you can respond effectively in an emergency.

Did you know it is a legal requirement to ‘provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work.’ This applies to all workplaces and the self-employed.

Find out more about what you need to provide here First Aid at Work

14 June is World Blood Donor Day

Every year countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.

A blood service that gives patients access to safe blood and blood products in sufficient quantity is a key component of an effective health system. The global theme of World Blood Donor Day changes each year in recognition of the selfless individuals who donate their blood for people unknown to them.

I was a blood donor for many years and it’s easy! The only difficulty I had is that if I actually saw the needle in my arm, I would start to feel faint, so I simply turned my head so that I couldn’t see and then there was no problem at all.

Image creditVegasjon, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month – May

Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic illness which affects the digestive and respiratory systems. CF occurs in about one in 3500 live births. Many people carry the defective CF gene but have no symptoms.

The main symptom of cystic fibrosis is the production of a thick, sticky, mucus. This clogs the lungs leading to persistent coughing and frequent infections of the lung which can be life threatening. Thick, sticky mucus can also block the pancreas, preventing natural enzymes from properly digesting food. As less nourishment is absorbed by the body, this leads to complications including difficulty putting on weight and poor growth.

Other symptoms of cystic fibrosis include:

• wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and damage to the airways (bronchiectasis)
• yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes (jaundice)
• diarrhoea, constipation or large, smelly poo
• a bowel obstruction in newborn babies (meconium ileus) – surgery may be needed.

CF can also lead to other related conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis (thin, weakened bones) infertility in males and liver problems.

Babies are now usually screened for cystic fibrosis, so the awareness campaigns are more focussed on providing support towards treatments and finding a cure.

To find out more or donate, take a look at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust website: Click here

I love their current slogan: ‘We were coughing before it went viral‘

Image credit: Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436., CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Parkinson’s Awareness Week (10th – 16th April 2022)

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurological condition that affects the brain and much more. It is a long-term condition which usually gets worse over time. People with Parkinson’s disease experience a loss of nerve cells in the part of their brains responsible for controlling voluntary movements.

This part of the brain produces a chemical called dopamine which helps the communication of messages from the brain to the rest of the body via the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). As these cells are lost, people with Parkinson’s disease experience a loss of dopamine and the messages controlling movement stop being transmitted efficiently.

Many people think that Parkinson’s is a condition that only affects othe elderly. Although, it is more common in the older population, it can affect anyone at any age and there are thousands of people who have been diagnosed under the age of 40. Parkinson’s Disease seems to affect men more than women.

It is a condition which is of great significance for me as my father suffered with it and I know of other members of the family and of friends’ families who have suffered from it.

This week is Parkinson’s Awareness Week and you can find out more about it by clicking here.

Image credit: BruceBlaus. Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436., CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

You may know that we are encouraged to wear pink in October to increase awareness of breast cancer. If you want to find out more, here is a link to the NHS site with all the information you need: Click Here

Arthritis Awareness Week – October 7th – 13th

If you are young, you probably don’t think about arthritis. It’s only oldies that get it, isn’t it? Well, although Osteoarthritis is associated with aging and wear and tear of the body, there are other types of arthritis which can affect people of any age.

Rheumatoid Arthritis can affect any age group, even children, although you are most at risk if you are a middle-aged woman with rheumatoid arthritis in the family and you smoke. It is an autoimmune disease so it doens’t just cause problems in the joints, despite its name. It is the most common inflammatory arthritis and those affected often describe the joint pains as ‘burning’ – the joints can actually feel hot because of the inflammation. It usually affects the peripheral joints first (hands, wrist, feet) and is commonly bilateral – it affects both feet, both hands, etc. The joints may be swollen, painful and red, There is usually severe stiffness in the mornings that lasts for longer then thirty minutes.

However it can also lead to inflammation elsewhere in the body, such as the lungs, heart and eyes. These days there are many different medications which can slow down its progression. Patients commonly have flare-ups which then subside.

Other types of arthritis are:

Psoriatic Arthritis, which is also imflammatory and is usually associated with psoriasis skin problems.

Gout, which is caused by the presence of uric acid crystals within the joints and is excruciatingly painful, but again can be treated with a range of medications. Certain foods, such as offal, seafood, beer and fruit sugars can lead to increased production of uric acid. The most coomonlyy-affected joint is the big toe, but it can affect other joints.

Right foot with gout – red, hot and swollen

Ankylosing Spondylosis, which tends to affect younger people, more men than women, and usually starts in the spine, leading to chronic stiffness which can become permanent fusion if allowed to take hold. The inflammation can also cause eye problems.

Juvenile Idopathic Arthritis, which affects children under 16. It used to be called Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis as the symptoms are similar. It can last a few months or many years.

Reactive arthritis, which follows infection. It usually targets your knees, ankles and feet. Inflammation also can affect your eyes, skin and urethra. It may come and go and disappears within a year.

Septic Arthritis, which can occur after a germ enters a joint, such as following a trauma (animal bite, pucture would) or surgery.

Thumb Arthritis, which affects the base of the thumb. It occurs most often with aging, more in females and other risk factors are jobs and activities which put more stress on this joint, previous injury, obsity, diseases which affect the cartilage of the joints and pre-existing conditions such as hypermobility.

Although osteopathy cannot cure arthritis, it can certainly help to alleviate some of the symptoms, especially for osteoarthritis. With the inflammatory ones, we can work on the unaffected joints surrounding the painful one(s) and ensure they are working as optimally as possible to take the pressure offf the affected one(s).

Find out more here: Arthritis Foundation

Image by cnick from Pixabay

Trampolining Safely

What are the dangers you can see in this pic?

The sun is shining, the children are smeared with a mixture of sun-cream and ice lolly gloop, the smallest one is covered in grass cuttings from falling on the newly mown lawn.  And the new trampoline is waiting to keep A&E busy, and to provide me with an opportunity to use some terrible jokes.

Trampolines are excellent exercise and entertainment, but they must be used safely.  I won’t do health and safety paranoia, but for every person telling you that jumping on a trampoline is great fun, another will label it a death trap.  So, is your trampoline waiting to spring into action and cause you an injury?  Or can your afternoon be bouncy?

Here are four simple steps that you can take, to ensure that you won’t leap off the trampoline and land in the waiting room at A&E.

1.  Think carefully about letting more than one person bounce at a time.  Around 60% of trampoline accidents occur when more than one person is bouncing.  Collisions, becoming unbalanced, and even being catapulted off are all dangers.

2.  Make sure that young children aren’t on full-sized trampolines.  Children under 6 make up about 15% of all trampoline injuries.  Supervise them and keep them on age-appropriate trampolines to avoid accidents.

3.   Buy the extra safety stuff: a safety net is essential to keep anyone from falling off, and padding over the springs will prevent fingers from being trapped or anyone slipping through.

4.  Get some lessons if you can.  If the kids know how to move on the trampoline it will be safer.

Clearly, trampolines have their ups and downs. However, if you’re thoughtful you can bounce to your heart’s content.

Hazards in the picture:

No net around the trampoline

Boy has his tongue out – very easy to bite it and cause nasty injury

Leg position could be a problem

Image by Ron Porter from Pixabay