Problems as young boys try to make themselves look more muscular by using anabolic steroids...

From the Guardian - Boys of 12 using anabolic steroids to 'get girls'

Extract:

"The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is to write to the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, voicing grave concerns about the growing abuse of anabolic steroids which are now being used by "tens of thousands" of bodybuilders and teenagers.

It had been estimated that there were tens of thousands of people using steroids to improve the results of training regimes to make themselves look more muscular, said Professor David Nutt, chairman of the council's technical committee. Steroid users, rather than heroin injectors, were now the main clients of needle exchanges, the committee heard.

Those who used anabolic steroids were often oblivious of the risks, which included acne, breast enlargement, sterility, liver tumours and hepatitis, the council chairman, Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, said. He added: "It can also make the testicles wither - which is probably not what the users want."

The latest figures show that 200,000 people in Britain have tried anabolic steroids, with 42,000 saying they have used them in the last year and 20,000 in the previous month. Home Office controls on anabolic steroids are aimed at suppliers and traffickers and it is not an offence to possess them to enhance performance.

Lord Victor Adebowale, chief executive of the drugs charity Turning Point, said elite athletes knew what they were doing using steroids, but their increasing use by boys as young as 12 and 13 was extremely worrying. "They do it because they want to be in boy bands and get girls," he said.

The advisory council, which was meeting in public for the first time in its 36-year history, is also to press the government to ban 26 anabolic steroids currently proscribed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which controls the use of illicit substances in sport. Council members said action was needed in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics."

Convicted surgeon can return to work. - In my considered and informed opinion, the GMC is not fit for purpose and should be scrapped.

Convicted surgeon can return to work

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"A doctor who went to practise in India after leaving a father to die of an infection has been told he can return to Britain to work.

Amit Misra, 37, was suspended for a year after failing to act when Sean Phillips, 31, fell ill after a routine knee operation at Southampton General Hospital in 2000.

He was convicted of manslaughter at Winchester Crown Court in April 2003 and given an 18 month suspended prison sentence.

Despite failing to prove himself in a series of medical assessment tests, the General Medical Council has ruled the trainee surgeon should be allowed to work here again."

"Mr Phillips, from Southampton, was expected to leave the hospital the day after his operation, but caught a bacterial infection and developed toxic shock syndrome. He died after doctors failed to spot the infection or properly examine the blood test results.

Mr Phillips' father, Myles, of Faversham, Kent, said: "The doctors have assessed his performance and have found it lacking. There is no way he should be back on the register.""

You can rarely, if ever, accuse the General Medical Council of putting patient safety first...)o:

Suffering from ME (Myalgic Encephalitis), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Fibromyalgia?

These are some of the conditions that are often linked to salt sensitivity and fluid retention, and can be prevented or made less severe, or their progress slowed down, by lowering salt intake. - You might like to try it...

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Huge toll of avoidable suffering and deaths because of blunders in NHS hospitals. - A million are harmed each year. - I am one of those harmed.

From the Telegraph -

Hospital blunders 'kill 90,000 patients'

Extracts:

"More than 90,000 patients die and almost one million are harmed each year because of hospital blunders, research suggests.

Errors during surgery, misdiagnosis, falls, infections and complications are all to blame for the problems that contribute to the death and injury tolls in England each year.

Researchers found that between 8.7 per cent and 10 per cent of hospital stays involved such mistakes and up to a half were preventable.

Prof Trevor Sheldon, the author of the study published in the British Medical Journal, said a stay in hospital was as "risky as bungee jumping".

He examined medical notes from one hospital over six months and said the results were representative of what is happening across the country.

In 15 per cent of cases the adverse event led to impairment or disability that lasted for more than six months and increased the average stay in hospital by eight days.

The study did not include patients who were in hospital for less than a day, had mental health problems or gave birth.

There were 9.1 million hospital stays in England in 2005/6 if day case, maternity and mental health patients are not included and Prof Sheldon's figures mean 910,303 of these patients suffered harm as a result of a blunder. In 91,030 cases it contributed to their death."

"Errors included a patient at high risk of blood clots who was not given blood thinners, an avoidable delay in diagnosing cancer, a patient addicted to painkillers after being prescribed them repeatedly and a spleen that was torn during surgery, leaving the patient needing treatment for life.

Peter Walsh, of Action against Medical Accidents, a charity, said the real figures could be much higher as the research does not include incidents in General Practice, ambulance trusts or mental health and covers only England.

A Health Department spokesman said patient safety had long been a priority. "It is important to remember that serious failures are uncommon in relation to the volume of care provided by the NHS."

And remember - a great deal of medical negligence and poor care of patients is not recorded...

Amazing that the Health Department spokesman said patient safety had long been a priority and that it is important to remember that serious failures are uncommon in relation to the volume of care provided by the NHS! - This is so manifestly untrue that one can only assume that the spokesman has not yet read the report...(o:

I know personally all too well that patient safety is by no means a priority in the NHS. I have been in great pain and substantially disabled for 3 months now because my reporting excruciating pain and great swelling, including a huge blue 'hump' on the back of my right hand, was effectively disregarded by the many (dozens?) healthcare staff I informed. Having broken my right humerus at the end of August, I am still unable to use my right hand and lift my right wrist and am in very great pain with it. This is because I had to wait 12 and a half days before my arm was operated upon, and during that long, intensely painful time the hand and lower arm became extremely swollen because of the splint I had to wear, and the radial nerve was damaged. I also have lymphoedema in the arm. I now have to have carers come to help me get washed and dressed and undressed...)o: - As a steroid victim with fragile thin skin and delicate veins already, I did not need to be further harmed by the NHS...)o:

M&S £45 pyjamas have silver lining to help stop MRSA

From The Telegraph -

M&S pyjamas' silver lining helps stop MRSA

Extract:

"Silver-laced nightwear has been tested in a handful of hospitals, but M&S has become the first retailer in Britain to stock the pyjamas.

They are only available for men at present and come in three colours - teal, navy and burgundy. A spokesman for M&S said: "They are produced using a fabric which has two per cent silver woven into it. Silver is know for its infection fighting properties and has previously been used by the military.

"The fabric that the pyjamas are made of has been clinically proven to reduce the risk of MRSA by killing bacteria that come into contact with the fabric. Clinical trials are currently ongoing and are three quarters of the way through. The interim results were positive.""

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

A Small Amount of Weight Gain Adds Up to a Big Risk for Patients With Uncontrolled Asthma

Medscape article - Small Amount of Weight Gain Adds Up to Big Risk for Patients With Uncontrolled Asthma

Extract:

"November 15, 2007 (Dallas) — Gaining just 5 pounds during 1 year resulted in an exacerbation of asthma, particularly in those with poorly controlled asthma, researchers reported here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) 65th Annual Meeting.

Female and black patients who have asthma were at elevated risk of controlling asthma in the study, reported Bradley Chipps, MD, allergist, Capital Allergy and Respiratory Disease Center, Sacramento, California, during his presentation.

A total of 2396 adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with baseline and 12-month follow-up visits from The Epidemiology and Natural history of asthma: Outcomes and treatment Regimens (TENOR) 3-year observational study were categorized into weight loss, stable weight, and weight gain using a 5-pound or more difference from baseline to determine whether 1-year weight changes predicted the following asthma-related health outcomes: asthma control (as measured by the Asthma Therapy Assessment Questionnaire), asthma-related quality of life (Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire), steroid bursts in the previous 3 months, and exacerbations (overnight hospital stay or emergency department visit during the previous 3 months).

The study found that patients who gained weight were 22% more likely to have poorly controlled asthma after 1 year (odds ratio [OR], 1.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 - 1.49) compared with patients who had stable weight during this period, after adjusting for demographics, body mass index (BMI) at baseline, duration of asthma, asthma severity, specialty of the treating physician, total immunoglobulin E, skin test result, lung function, and oral steroid use.

"The results of the study suggest that the problems of uncontrolled asthma will continue into adulthood and reconfirm that obesity should be considered a risk factor for asthma," Dr. Chipps told Medscape Allergy & Clinical Immunology.

Other independent risk characteristics were a higher BMI at baseline, older age, and being female."

Since steroids are often used in the treatment of asthma, and since steroids frequently cause sodium retention/salt sensitivity leading to fluid retention/weight gain/obesity, it would be advisable for people with asthma to be informed that reducing intake of salt/sodium reduces the fluid retention and therefore reduces or prevents this sort of weight gain.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Professor David Southall could face the end of his career after a further reprimand from the General Medical Council

Controversial paediatrician reprimanded again

Extract from The Guardian:

"Leading paediatrician Professor David Southall could face the end of his career after the General Medical Council found yesterday that he inappropriately accused a distressed mother of drugging and then murdering her 10-year-old son.

The GMC tribunal will sit again today to decide whether Southall's behaviour constitutes serious professional misconduct and if so, what the penalty should be.

Southall has faced a series of inquiries by the GMC into allegations brought by parents of children taken into care on the basis of his evidence of abuse.

He was banned from child protection work for three years after he was found guilty of serious professional misconduct in 2004 for accusing jailed solicitor Sally Clark's husband of murdering their children on the basis of remarks he made on a television programme. Clark was later freed on appeal and has since died.

Yesterday's hearing concerned a woman referred to only as Mrs M, whose older son had been found hanged in 1996. Southall was asked to prepare an independent report for Shropshire county council in 1998, after concerns about the safety of the younger son, then eight years old, led to him being taken into care.

The GMC panel found that Southall went beyond his remit in accusing M of killing the older boy.

Giving evidence by video link from Adelaide, where she now lives, M said Southall had repeatedly asked her how the older boy died and she demonstrated using a pencil and a shoelace. She told the panel that Southall looked at her and said "very clever" in a sarcastic voice.

The boy was found hanging from a curtain rail. Southall said to her, she continued, sobbing: "I put it to you that you killed your son by injecting him, hanging him up, leaving him there and then ringing an ambulance.""

I hope that the GMC decides on the severest penalty for this foolish, dangerous man, who has caused grieving parents and families such great, needless, unjustified further suffering.

BBC Radio 4's File on 4 report about cancer research wasting vast amounts of donated money and taxpayers' money on worthless studies.

Cancer studies 'wasted millions'

Extracts from the BBC webpage:

"Millions of pounds of charity donations and taxpayers' money have been wasted on worthless cancer studies, the BBC has learned.

File On 4 has discovered thousands of studies have been invalidated.

It found some scientists have failed to carry out simple and inexpensive checks to ensure they are working with the right forms of human tumour cells."

"Cancer Research UK, which spends £315m a year on research, would not be interviewed for the programme."

Well I've had a low opinion of Cancer Research UK for years because they were extremely late in the day advising people to reduce salt intake and they still do not give salt reduction sufficient emphasis. - It is the simplest, easiest, cheapest and most effective way of reducing the risk of developing cancer...

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Vulnerable children are 'stars' after three years at boarding school

Vulnerable pupils are 'stars' after three years at boarding school

Extract from The Independent:

"The children in the research project were all placed in private or state boarding schools by the Royal Wanstead Children's Foundation – which aims to support vulnerable children, mainly from one-parent families, in boarding schools.

In addition to 70 per cent with emotional problems, 60 per cent had been exposed to abusive, threatening or violent behaviour in their home or family environment before starting at boarding school. Most were in the care of mothers with serious mental or physical illnesss and 13 per cent were having to act as "carers" to another sibling or parent.

After three years at boarding school, 85 per cent of the 11- to 17-year-olds were performing better than the average for a child of their age. Thirty-five per cent were in the top 25 per cent for their age group. The report, Breaking Through, says the children were "star performers" within three years.

Colin Morrison, chairman of the foundation, said: "I call on ministers ... to provide means-tested grants to enable more children who are not in local authority care to attend boarding school. We calculate that within the existing boarding school provision in the UK there is capacity for an extra 2,000 vulnerable children who could be accommodated with just a little additional funding."

Lord Adonis began talks with state and private boarding schools over opening their doors to children in care last year – and said many were keen to back the idea. He said: "Such placements come at a price – but they could prove good value in terms of greater stability and educational success for looked-after children in the right circumstances.""

If you would like your child/ren to do better at school, you might like to consider reducing the amount of salt and salty food they eat...

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions

Dirty ambulances help to spread superbugs, claims Unison union

Dirty ambulances help spread superbugs, claims union

Extract from The Guardian:

"NHS ambulances could be helping to spread potentially deadly infections such as MRSA, a union said today.

Poor cleaning arrangements and a lack of resources are exacerbating the problem, a nationwide Unison survey found.

Experts warned there had been little progress since the issue was raised two years ago.

Unison officials called for "urgent action" and the removal of dirty ambulances from service for cleaning.

"Ambulance cleanliness is a key factor in the battle against healthcare-related infections and the standards laid down should be strictly applied and monitored," said Sam Oestreicher, Unison's national officer for ambulance staff.

"The guidance on ambulance infection control is comprehensive, but in practice the essential resources necessary to keep vehicles clean and infection-free are not being provided.

"In many trusts, ambulance crews are responsible for cleaning their own vehicles and this is a waste of their time and training.

"They should be out there saving lives, not mopping out the back of a dirty ambulance.""

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Psychotropic drug prescriptions for children who have been labelled as having ADHD have tripled in seven years. - Why is this GP drug-pushing allowed?

Hyperactivity prescriptions triple in seven years

Extract from Telegraph:

"Figures show that GPs wrote nearly 406,000 prescriptions for such drugs last year, compared with 135,000 in 1999. Last night, politicians and children's groups branded the rise "astonishing".

David Laws, the Liberal Democrat children's spokesman, said: "We need a fundamental review of whether we are right to be pouring chemicals into our children in this way. Perhaps we should instead be looking at issues such as food, sleeping patterns, family upheaval, and general environment."

Mr Laws, who obtained the figures in a Parliamentary question, said some families may be pressuring GPs to prescribe drugs to allow them to claim child disability allowances.

Parents who have a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are entitled to benefits of up to £10,000 a year. According to the latest figures, more than £17 million was spent last year on drugs to treat ADHD."

In my opinion, there should be a legal ban on prescribing these psychotropic drugs to children. - And rewarding parents whose children take these drugs with £200 a week is criminally insane!!

Let the buyer beware when it's cosmetic surgery! - Boob jobs, liposuction, botox treatments - unethical practices by surgeons out for a fast buck...

Beauty surgery's ugly secret

Extract from The Observer:

"Earlier this year Rachel received damages of more than £20,000 in an out-of-court settlement from the clinic. That was to cover her pain, trauma and suffering, both physical and psychological, and the cost of corrective surgery. She plans to have that soon, but will be much more rigorous in checking the experience of her surgeon.

Cosmetic surgery is a booming market which offers everything from invasive procedures requiring a general anaesthetic, such as breast enhancement, tummy tucks and liposuction, through to non-surgical treatments, which include Botox injections, laser removal of hair and 'fillers' to tackle signs of ageing.

Around 700,000 cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in the UK in 2005 at a cost of £360 million, more than three times the 202,000 treatments undertaken in 2001. The vast majority of procedures in 2005, around 595,000, involved non-surgical treatments such as chemical peels. They cost on average £200, compared with about £3,700 for those in which a surgeon wields a scalpel.

Research by Which?, formerly the Consumers' Association, shows that almost five million adult Britons would consider having cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance. Four per cent, or 1.4 million people, want their partner to consider some form of cosmetic enhancement.

The influence of celebrities who have had surgery, such as Anne Robinson, Sharon Osbourne and Debbie Harry, has probably played a part.

But failed operations like Rachel's are only one reason why the industry arouses concern. Which? has produced a dossier of evidence which exposes an array of 'hard sell' tactics being used by clinics. Which? claims that such practices are being used worryingly often in an attempt to persuade people to sign up for treatment, even though such tactics breach the letter and spirit of codes of conduct of the various regulatory bodies which are meant to govern the industry's behaviour and ensure high standards. The Good Medical Practice in Cosmetic Surgery code of conduct, drawn up by the industry's Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IHAS), appears to have been breached time and time again in an increasingly competitive market.

In a letter to IHAS, Which? recounts how its staff who attended the recent Body Beautiful show, a huge trade fair at the Business Design Centre in north London attended by many members of the public, found 20 examples of rule-breaking and bad practice by cosmetic surgery clinics in the promotional materials they gave out to visitors. Which? found some of the country's best known operators such as Forma, Linia, Harley Medical Group and Make Yourself Amazing among the offenders. The organisation's catalogue of complaints includes claims, backed up by evidence sent to the IHAS, that clinics at the show were:

· offering patients money off the usual price of a procedure if they booked by a certain date, even though industry codes of conduct specifically ban such deals. Four clinics, including Linia and the Harley Medical Group, have been accused.

· advertising Botox, even though doing so is illegal because it is a controlled toxin and against the regulations of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, which approves medicines for use in the UK. Which? accuses both Harley Medical Group and the Forma group of doing this."

It is a long, detailed article - worth reading in full if you are considering having this kind of treatment.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Are you overweight/obese and tired of people telling you that you are greedy and should be eating less?

A person who gains weight has a higher calorie requirement. There are two reasons for this. Having to carry a greater mass around and service a more massive body uses more calories. And having a bigger surface area means greater heat loss, since heat lost is proportional to surface area. - A greater calorie requirement results in greater appetite/hunger, so, really, overweight people need to eat more than people of normal weight. If the overweight eat insufficient calories (ie if they 'diet') they may lose weight, but it is at the cost of being hungry. There has never been the slightest evidence that the practice of fewer calories in and more calories out by way of exercise reduces obesity! - It is often confidently stated that fat will be lost by doing this. - Sadly, what is more often lost is lean tissue, usually an irreversible adverse effect.

The result of the misunderstanding of the cause of obesity is the well-known fact that over 95% of dieters actually gain weight in the long term! - They cannot be expected to go hungry all the time. - Nor would staying hungry all the time benefit them. - With insufficient calories for the body's needs, the body feeds on itself. - The skin becomes thinner; the bones become less dense; there is some hair loss, etc.

Contrast this with the safe, effective, fast way to lose excess weight - by eating less sodium. - Eating less sodium releases some of the excess water held in the blood stream. This lowers the blood pressure and, significantly, lowers the weight. - Weighing less results in a lower calorie requirement so very gradually less food is eaten and this becomes a virtuous circle because less food eaten results in lower sodium intake.

In societies in which no salt is eaten (what some might describe as undeveloped or uncivilised societies) there is no obesity and no hypertension.

The cavemen and women who were our ancestors lived for millennia without added salt. Our bodies evolved on a low sodium and high potassium intake. The modern diet has reversed this to high sodium and low potassium. The intake of salt has massively increased in recent years - as has the incidence of obesity.

I submit that the universal 'slimming' advice - to eat fewer calories/less fat and take more exercise - is a major cause of obesity. - All that is usually necessary to lose weight is to eat less salt/sodium. This is a drug-free, cost-free course of action. There are no hunger pangs and no adverse side-effects. It requires no visits to the doctor or to the gym and it WILL work.

Lose weight by eating less salt!-Go on!-Try it! My website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk provides more details and advice.

Here is some more information about lymphoedema...

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/02/2007_13_fri.shtml

"There are estimated to be a hundred thousand people living with lymphoedema in the UK. And the number is growing as more and more people survive cancer for longer but without a lymphatic system - which leaves them vulnerable to painful swelling and serious infection."

There is very little treatment for lymphoedema available on the NHS. - I myself am paying for lymphatic drainage massage once a week at the moment. Recommended therapies are exercise, manual lymph drainage and compression therapy. I found a private lymphoedema therapist in my area by searching on the internet.

Calcium channel blockers - type of heart medication prescribed for angina and hypertension - can cause swelling of your gums, among other side-effects

See http://www.periomao.com/heartmed.html

It is prudent always to check out for yourself information about your prescription drugs and their possible adverse side-effects in case your physician has not covered this with you. Calcium channel blockers include nifedipine, aka Adalat. You could look at Medline info about nifedipine or many other drug information websites.

Lose weight without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

Sir Liam Donaldson, the UK Government's Chief Medical Officer, has blocked a plan for folic acid to be added to bread.

Top doctor blocks plan for folic acid in bread

Extracts from the Sunday Telegraph:

"England's top doctor has blocked a controversial plan to force bakers to add folic acid to their bread - a move which might have prevented scores of babies being born with severe disabilities every year."

"Sir Liam Donaldson, the Government's Chief Medical Officer, has put the brakes on the move amid growing worries that the proposal could increase the risk of serious health problems, including cancers, in the rest of the population."

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

Want to slow down the aging process and avoid some of the illnesses attributed to aging? - Avoid salt and salty food.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!
Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods and
Associated health conditions and
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Microwave dinners are too salty.

The microwave dinners with 'half a day's salt'

Extract from the Telegraph

"Eating too much salt has been linked to raised blood pressure, which in turn leads to a higher risk of heart disease and strokes.

Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) found one of the saltiest meals was Asda's Indian chicken tikka masala with pilau rice at 5g of salt per portion. Guidelines from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommend adults eat no more than 6g, about a teaspoon's worth, in a day.

Waitrose chicken tikka masala and pilau rice plus the Co-op's chicken in Thai green curry sauce with oriental rice both had 3.6g of salt per portion. Both the Co-op's "healthy living" cottage pie at 2.3g of salt per portion and the Waitrose "perfectly balanced" spaghetti bolognese at 2.2g per portion were saltier than their normal counterparts."

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Do you have lymphoedema? "A fluid swelling that’s chronic, persisting for months, in any part of the body is likely to be a lymphoedema."

In few minutes time, as I write, there will be a broadcast about this health problem on BBC Radio 4. - I believe that a transcript of the programme will be available online later. - See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/checkup.shtml

I have lymphoedema in my right hand and arm so I shall be listening to this programme.

Do you have an enlarged heart? - The good news is that it can be reduced in size by avoiding salt and salty food.

You have probably heard that cutting down on the amount of salt/sodium that you eat lowers your risk of a stroke or a heart attack, and lowers high blood pressure/hypertension. - But it has many more benefits for health as well, including reducing the size of an enlarged heart - and that means your breathing will be easier too...(o:

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Painkiller, Prexige (lumiracoxib), taken for osteo-arthritis, has been removed from sale in UK because it may be linked to liver damage.

Osteoarthritis painkiller is removed from sale

Extract from the Telegraph:

"A painkiller taken by thousands of people for osteo-arthritis has been removed from sale because it may be linked to liver damage.

The use of Prexige (lumiracoxib), which has been taken by 5,000 people in the last year, has been suspended by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency."

It is not at all unusual for prescription drugs to cause liver damage. - The drug-free, completely safe way to reduce chronic pain such as that of osteoarthritis is to avoid eating salt and salty food.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

There were warnings on ITV's "Tonight with Trevor McDonald" about the bad side-effects experienced by some people when taking Lipitor, a statin drug.

Statins, among them Lipitor, are clearly being over-prescribed both in the USA and in Britain, and are undoubtedly harming some of the people who take them; and sometimes the harm done is both serious and permanent.

This sensible programme explored changing to a healthier lifestyle as an alternative to statins as a way of reducing high cholesterol levels; and the healthier lifestyle brought about significant improvement in all of the patients who tried it. - And unlike with taking statins, there were no adverse side-effects.

You can also lower high cholesterol levels by cutting down on salt and salty food.

You can read more about statins, and the bad experiences of people who have taken statins, by clicking on the statins tag under this blog entry.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

NHS hospital consultants are 'grossly overpaid'.

Senior doctors are 'grossly overpaid'

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Hospital consultants have enjoyed annual pay rises of more than 25 per cent despite refusing to spend more time with patients, a report by MPs will claim this week.

The doctors received a 27 per cent pay increase last year, on average, taking their earnings to £110,000 a year, but the NHS is yet to see any real benefit because the Government made a mess of contract negotiations, the public accounts committee is due to suggest.

Its report will accuse the Department of Health of failing to get a commitment from the 29,000 consultants in English hospitals to work harder to improve patient care when new contracts were agreed in 2003."

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Information about another 'superbug' that may be killing hundreds of hospital patients

New 'superbug' may be killing hundreds

Extracts from Telegraph article:

"Pseudomonas is dangerous because it is especially virulent in intensive care units and has become increasingly resistant to treatment, says Professor Mark Enright, an authority on healthcare-acquired infections.

"Pseudomonas is a nightmare for hospitals - a real struggle," said Prof Enright, of Imperial College, London.

"It is not as common as MRSA or C diff, and not one of the most aggressive pathogens, but Pseudomonas is probably untreatable in a lot of cases.

"It ends up killing some people because it is so resistant to antibiotics."

"Although not officially classed as a superbug, Pseudomonas is usually found in specialist wards and can cause a wide range of illnesses, including meningitis, and can also lead to blindness or the loss of limbs.

It is a serious problem in patients whose immune systems are low, such as those in the late stages of cancer, cystic fibrosis, HIV, or suffering from severe burns.

In September, the paediatric intensive care unit at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children was closed for 48 hours after Pseudomonas bacteria were found in five children.

In 2005, an outbreak at Guy's Hospital in London left one woman dead and infected 18 other patients who were receiving treatment in the urological surgery department.

Survivor Alfred Nell, 40, from Luton, believes that he developed blood poisoning after coming into contact with Pseudomonas through a contaminated microscope. He is now planning to sue the hospital for damages."

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

I've just been watching the first episode of "Cranford" on BBC1 and I envy the healthcare received by the carpenter who broke his arm in the 1840s...

The carpenter had his broken right arm dealt with as speedily as the young doctor could manage it, and in consequence he did not suffer radial nerve damage and so was able to use his hand again. Nearly two centuries later, having broken my right humerus at the end of August, I am still unable to use my right hand and lift my right wrist and am in very great pain with it. This is because I had to wait 12 and a half days before my arm was operated upon, and during that long, intensely painful time the hand and lower arm became extremely swollen because of the splint I had to wear, and the radial nerve was damaged. I now have to have carers come to help me get washed and dressed and undressed...)o:

There's been wonderful progress in healthcare since the 1840s? - Not in my opinion... - Not in the NHS, at any rate...)o:

Patient welfare has a low priority in the NHS...)o:

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Another warning of the harm done by prescribed medications, e.g. Zestril

Dr James LeFanu: Second Opinion

Extract from the article in the Sunday Telegraph:

"Suddenly feeling unwell? It's probably your medicine, writes James LeFanu

The news this week that drugs used in the treatment of Parkinson's can turn people of impeccable character into pathological gamblers is a reminder that medication is the likely culprit for any novel or unusual symptom.

Surprisingly, this most reliable rule of thumb is often overlooked by doctors, as a lady from New South Wales discovered when prescribed Zestril for raised blood pressure. After six months she began to have "extremely debilitating" episodes of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. A gut specialist did all the usual tests and, finding nothing wrong, recommended the fashionable high-fibre diet.

Another six months elapsed with a further dozen or so episodes till she woke one morning with a terrifying swelling of the lips and tongue - diagnosed as the allergic condition angio oedema, which she was advised was caused by house dust mites. She says this "did not ring true", and on further investigation she found that both the tongue swelling and bowel symptoms were known side-effects of Zestril. Besides the gut specialist she had consulted four other doctors "but not one had made the connection"."

One wonders which is worse - the serious/harmful/dangerous side-effects of prescribed drugs, or the medical profession's scandalously widespread ignorance about them!...)o:

Note: Prescription drugs and doctors' lack of knowledge/understanding about their adverse side-effects are major causes of morbid obesity and all the many illnesses associated with obesity.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Modern babies need to crawl more...

Modern babies need to crawl more, say experts

Extract from Sunday Telegraph article:

"Baby seats, booster chairs and wooden floors rob infants of the chance to crawl, leading to learning problems, child development experts have warned.

Babies are spending less time on their stomachs, which is hampering their ability to crawl. The early movement is vital to balance, hand/eye co-ordination and motor skills, which all play a part in children's ability to read and write, says Sally Goddard Blythe, director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology, in Chester.

She argues, in a book due out next year, that babies' first playground should be the floor. "Children are spending more time in car seats, sitting in moulded baby chairs, using baby strollers," Mrs Goddard Blythe told The Sunday Telegraph. "The sleeping on the back campaign, while absolutely necessary, means there is less of a tendency to put babies on their stomachs when they are awake."

Pet rabbits are now increasingly becoming overweight/obese... - They should not be given food containing salt.

Sweet treats creating wave of tubs bunnies

Extracts from Sunday Telegraph article:

"Like the much-loved children's book character, who became so fat he was barely able to dodge Farmer McGregor, British pet rabbits are piling on the pounds.

A new survey has found a quarter of all pet rabbits are overweight, with eight out of 10 vets saying the trend is escalating. Owners are blamed for giving treats such as honey and chocolate. Even carrots are contributing to the problem, with many varieties grown for their high sugar content to make them sweeter for human tastes."

"Two of the country's largest pet insurers say obesity-related issues now make up 25 per cent of claims for rabbits, which have increased in popularity in recent years. Up to two million are kept as pets.

Elaine Pendlebury, a senior vet at the PDSA, said: "The number of obese rabbits I see in the surgery is only the tip of the iceberg. If you are feeding a rabbit toast and honey, that is a lot of calories for them and will pile on the pounds.""

"Fat rabbits can find it difficult to clean themselves and this may lead to an infestation of maggots, which can be fatal. Obesity can also lead to a condition called "sore hocks", involving painful wounds on the paws, which can also cause death. Overweight females can suffer life-threatening pregnancy toxaemia.

As with other species, obesity in rabbits can lead to joint and bone problems, heart and breathing difficulties, and an increased risk of cancer.

Simon Wheeler, head of marketing for insurance firm Petplan, which carried out the latest study, said 25 per cent of all claims for rabbits related to dietary issues or obesity, up from 12 per cent last year.

He said: "The results of the survey suggest rabbits are catching up with the nation's cats and dogs in the obesity stakes. It's serious in all pets, because being overweight can lead to heart problems, diabetes and respiratory problems.""

But it is not overeating and too many calories that are causing this obesity and its attendant illnesses, disabilities and needless pain and suffering. - As with obesity in general, both in people and in pets, the cause of the obesity is fluid retention, and the way to reduce/prevent the obesity is to reduce the fluid retention. - This means not giving your rabbit (or cat, or dog) food containing salt, e.g. bread/toast, leftovers from your ready meal or takeaway.

Lose weight and improve your own and your pets' health in many ways without drugs or expense by avoiding salt and salty food! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

amitriptyline

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

The slimming drug, Rimonabant/Acomplia, an appetite suppressant, causes depression and other adverse symptoms, and is not much good for losing weight.

Study links slimming drug to depression

Extract from the Telegraph:

"The safety of a slimming drug taken by tens of thousands of people in UK has been questioned after new research linked it to a 40 per cent increase in the risk of depression.

Rimonabant, marketed as Acomplia, is an appetite surpressant prescribed on the NHS for people who are obese.

Research carried out in Denmark involving records of 4105 people found that although the patients on the drug lost 4.7kg (10lbs) more than those on a dummy pill, they were much more likely to suffer psychological problems.

Patients on rimonabant were 2.5 times more likely to stop taking their medication due to depression and were three times more likely to stop because of anxiety.

The Danish research is published in The Lancet medical journal accompanies an editorial by Australian experts saying the study 'raises major questions about the safety of rimonabant in obese people'.

In 2006 over one million prescriptions were written for obesity drugs in England alone."

The objective of an appetite suppressant drug is to get the person taking it to eat less food/fewer calories than their body requires. If it succeeds in this objective - getting someone to eat less food than their body requires - it should be no surprise that the person feels depressed. - You, too, would probably feel pretty miserable if you were eating less food than your body required. - Eating less food than your body requires? - Go figure! - It's not likely to do you any good, is it? - Dieting makes you tired, cold, hungry - and depressed. - It doesn't make you slim...

It's easy for obese people to lose weight without any adverse side-effects if they give up dieting completely, and concentrate instead on giving up eating salt/sodium and salty food. Obese people who do this seriously lose about a stone (14 pounds) in the first month! - One woman, Joyce Barnard, lost 5 stone (70 pounds) in a year by doing this! - She completely stopped sprinkling salt onto her meals and she used LoSalt instead of ordinary salt in her cooking. - That is all she did. - You'd never get weight loss like that by using appetite suppressants!

I think it's scandalous that the NHS is wasting money and damaging people's health by paying for this pharmaceutical junk to be prescribed to innocent patients.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Marks and Spencer's bras with larger cup sizes...

M&S weighs in with the J-cup bra

from the Telegraph article:

"The nation's ballooning weight has already led to larger sports stadium seats, wider cars and roomier jeans. Now the bra is expanding, with Marks & Spencer selling a J-cup for the first time.

M&S, whose previous biggest size was a G, said there was a demand for bigger garments."

"A quarter of bras sold by the chain are now DD cup or above, double the number of three years ago.

The J-cup will be sold online as a trial before any decision to put them in stores."

It is fluid retention that causes this problem in women who are sensitive to salt. - Reducing salt intake helps to reduce the size and weight of large breasts and reduces the pain and other problems that they cause.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Prescription drugs that can and do cause weight gain include Prednisone, Prednisolone, HRT, some oral contraceptives, amitripyline, Zoloft, Zyprexa,..

Higher doses cause greater weight gain. The drugs that cause the greatest weight gain tend to be some steroids like prednisone and prednisolone, oestrogen-containing drugs like HRT and oral contraceptives, some antidepressants including amitriptyline/Elavil, Paxil, Tofranil/Imipramine and Zoloft, and some antipsychotics including Zyprexa. The antiseizure medication, Depakote, diabetes drugs like Diabeta and Diabinese, and the high blood pressure drugs Atenolol, Cardura and Inderal and heartburn drugs like Nexium and Prevacid may also cause drug-induced weight gain. NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like Brufen/Ibuprofen/Nurofen and some other painkillers can also cause weight gain.

The weight gain is because of sodium retention and water retention, and this fluid retention can easily be reduced by avoiding salt/sodium and food containing salt, such as bacon, ham, pork pies, Marmite, ready meals, tinned soups, shop-bought sandwiches, sauces, etc. - So eating less salt is the fastest, surest and safest way to lose excess weight...(o:

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.