The FHT Blog

Tag: Health

  • Update on The Royal College of Midwives e-petition for 5,000 more midwives

    A little while ago we posted about an e-petition from The Royal College of Midwives calling for 5,000 more midwives. The petition closed today (22nd August 2012) at 11:53am with a staggering 75,723 in support of the Government taking action to recruit more midwives. Although not the 100,000 signatures RCM was calling for, the petition…

  • New campaign urges middle-aged to check their sun-damaged skin: A striking new campaign was launched today urging people with the common condition actinic keratoses to have any suspicious lesions checked out by a GP for fear of developing a form of skin cancer. The national skin disease research charity, the British Skin Foundation is launching…

  • Yoga: a cost-effective treatment for back pain sufferers?  Specialised group yoga classes could provide a cost-effective way of treating patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain, according to the UK’s largest ever study of the benefits of yoga. Led by the University of York, and funded by Arthritis Research UK, the study provides an…

  • How much sun is too much sun? We all know that we need the vitamin D the sun provides, but we also know that over exposure and excessive tanning can put us at risk of skin cancer. But do you know how much sun is too much for your skin? A new study has launched…

  • Study shows that exercising in midlife can protect the heart, as report by the BBC: In the study, which is published in the journal Circulation, people who did the recommended 2.5 hours of exercise a week had the lower levels of inflammatory markers in their blood.  Full article Image: iStockphoto

  • Good news for chocoholics!  Dark chocolate may lower blood pressure: The Cochrane Group’s report said chemicals in cocoa, chocolate’s key ingredient, relaxed blood vessels. Full article Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

  • Aromatherapy massage for menopause relief, as reported by Reuters Health: Aromatherapy oils included lavender, rose, rosemary, almond and evening primrose. The women completed a standard menopause symptom-rating scale before and after the four-week treatment period. In the end, women in the aromatherapy group reported the biggest decline in symptoms. They fell from an average score…

  • New study on compassion for preventing emotional burnout: Training people to be compassionate rather than empathic might help to solve problems such as depression, burnout and narcissism, according to Tania Singer at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. “People with a lot of empathy want to change that to compassion so…

  • Talking bath soothes hospital patients

    Patients in the care of Yeovil District Hospital are enjoying baths which are usually experienced in the most expensive of spas. Initially installed to help soothe dementia patients the top of the range, high tech baths are now being experienced by many of the patients from two of the hospital’s wards and are set to…

  • Researchers at a university in Belgium have reported that advice on staying active, and reassurance for those suffering with lower back pain, increases their recovery and likely return to work.  The study also found that fewer experienced repeated episodes. The researchers found that the 38 percent of those who were given the advice on back…

  • New research shows that yoga reduces depression in pregnant women and boosts maternal bonding, as reported on medicalxpress.com Pregnant women who were identified as psychiatrically high risk and who participated in a 10-week mindfulness yoga intervention saw significant reductions in depressive symptoms, according to a University of Michigan Health System pilot feasibility study. Mothers-to-be also…

  • Cancer Research UK is set to launch its new identity: Our new logo and specifically the ‘C’ symbol embodies our role and ambition – lots of smaller parts that make up the bigger picture, all coming together to disintegrate cancer, and deliver a world where cancer is no longer feared. More info