Health

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It is a shocking statistic but every five seconds someone in the world goes blind. Almost two million people in the UK are living with significant sight loss and this number is predicted to rise to approximately 2.3 million by 2020. It’s essential, like any other body organ that you look after your eyes. Whilst it may not be a life threatening disease, sight loss can have a devastating impact on your quality of life. 84% of people...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Marathon man Mark Vaz is almost halfway through his outrageous challenge of completing 400 marathons in 365 days despite dislocating his shoulder earlier in the week. Mark is raising funds for Adoption UK as he attempts to become the first man to run 400 marathons in a year – so more than one a day. The current record is 239 marathons. To put Mark’s challenge into context, he will be aiming to run a total...

By Mark Turnbull, Health and Wellbeing Practitioner  Blue Monday….how does it feel? During the last full-working week in January, the Monday is said to be one of the most ‘depressing’ days of the year for many people. But why is that? The evidence behind this suggests that there are several reasons and I think it can be useful to consider them using a Cognitive Behavioural approach. Many of us will have difficult situations and problems to deal with during the post-Christmas...

By Jess Bolton SH:24's graduate business associate.  There’s been an huge amount of chatter recently about whether or not dating apps are leading to an increase in STIs. Back in November we put the question to our twitter followers and 53% of them said no - not exactly conclusive... https://twitter.com/sh24_nhs/status/661127893876137984 As the number of casual sexual encounters goes up the rate of transmission inevitably goes up with it but there is nothing about these apps themselves that promotes unsafe sex....

By John Rendel, founder of PEAS (promoting equality in African schools) The introduction of reusable sanitary pads and lessons to reduce the stigmatisation around menstruation is transforming access to education in Africa. As a girl in Uganda you have less than 25% chance of staying in school after completing primary school and, even if succeeding in getting a school place, a girl will miss three days of school a month simply because of her period. Many girls drop out of...

By Sarah James 1. I can do with a month off, it will be easy! 2. It's only been 4 days! I feel like I've not drunk for at least 3 months. 3. I'm bored of staying in the house, I'm going to go to the pub, I can drink sparkling water and watch other people drink! 4. F/ck that! Back to the house, it's safe there. 5. Suddenly I stop drinking and I seem to have been struck down...

Car servicing and repair company Kwik Fit has devised an innovative way to help you shed the festive pounds. A team of their technicians are trialling a fitness scheme in a London garage which will quite literally help people lose their spare tyres. The crew has teamed up with a personal trainer to devise a system – Fit Kwik – using only car and van tyres. The free 30-minute sessions will include tyre flips, lifts and throws, during which participants...

By Dr Helen Webberley MBChB MRCGP MFSRH Christmas is the season of excess - we do a bit more of everything. We spend more money, and pay for it in the following months; we drink more and eat more, and in most cases our bodies recover; we take more risks - physically, emotionally and sexually – and we rely on the NHS to pick up the pieces. The result? Our NHS is bursting at the seams, we are constantly reminded...

By Kasia Mysiak, Marketing & Communications Executive of CLARITY  CLARITY, one of the oldest social enterprises in the UK, was established in 1854 by Elizabeth Gilbert who lost her sight at the age of three due to scarlet fever. The objective of “The Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind”, as CLARITY was called back then, was to enable blind people to support themselves. Blind people were employed and trained to make products, these products were then sold and...