Health

(CNS): In the wake of news of food poisoning at this year’s Taste of Cayman event, the Department of Environmental Health has confirmed a report yesterday of a cockroach in a burger at a fast food restaurant on Seven Mile Beach. A CNS reader reported that the insect was found in a local teenager’s lunch on Monday.  The DEH director confirmed that the office received the report of a customer complaint today around 2:45pm concerning “a young man who had allegedly consumed a foreign matter (roach) in a burger.” Roydell Carter stated that the matter is currently under investigation to gather evidence and determine if the complaint is substantiated.

(CNS): Updated 2pm --  Government officials have confirmed that at least 20 people may have been brought down with food poisoning just hours after attending this year’s Taste of Cayman event at Camana Bay on Saturday evening. Patients began arriving at the Cayman Islands hospital after attending the food festival complaining of diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps from around midnight on Saturday night. Dr Kiran Kumar said the food poisoning symptoms came 4 to 6 hours after consumption of food at the event. Based on the symptoms, the public health boss said this pointed to staphylococcal, an organism that is widely prevalent, which multiplies and produces toxin.

(CNS): Pinnacle Foods Group which manufactures Aunt Jemima Frozen Pancakes has issued a voluntary recall after the firm discovered the possibility of a potential cross-contact with product that contained soy protein. Although there have been no reports of illness as a result in consultation with the US Food and Drug administration the products have been called back. The recall applies to 'Aunt Jemima Frozen Pancakes' packaged in cardboard cartons (UPC codes below) which were sold and distributed nationally, with a ‘recommended use by date’ between 1 November last year up to and including 16 October of this.

(CNS): Cayman Heart Fund (CHF) is hoping to make this year’s annual fundraiser a real heart stopper as it collects money to save hearts in the future. Ron Adams, famed Elvis impersonator will be the headline act at the annual Red Dress Gala on Feb. 10 at the Marriott.  The best dressed couple will win 3 nights in Miami courtesy of the Cayman Airways and the Marriott.  In addition, there will be silent auction items to bid on, an exquisite dinner by Chef Le Pape, great music, prizes and dancing all night long.

(CNS): The Indian heart surgeon with plans to set up a medical city in the Cayman Islands has told the Indian press that he intends to tie up with a US hospital chain that will be the investor in the project. Dr Devi Shetty told the Business Standard said that the American firm’s doctors would treat the patients at the hospital while his Narayana Group would partner and provide the low-cost model of running a health care system. “We have a model to demonstrate — that with only a fraction of their total cost, we can get the same outcome that they achieve with huge investment,” Shetty told India’s leading business paper.

(CNS):Local Lions are doing their best this month to raise awareness about the sight-stealing disease glaucoma and the importance of early detection and treatment, before it causes major vision loss. The Lions are helping to arrange comprehensive dilated eye exams for persons in need by eye care professionals upon request. They are also helping with the purchase of low vision devices and aids to help those with visual impairment maintain their independence. Glaucoma is called "the sneak thief of sight" since there are no symptoms and once vision is lost, it's permanent. As much as 40% of vision can be lost without a person noticing. 

(CNS): The Health Services Authority has taken on former John Gray High School student, Dr. Ciara Best, who has recently returned home to begin her practice as part of its physicians team.  She received her M.B.B.S. from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and will spend some time with the local health authority before heading off overseas to specialize. Before joining the Health Services Authority, Dr Best interned at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Jamaica where she rotated through Internal Medicine, General Surgery, OB/GYN and Pediatrics departments for a period of three months each.

(CNS): Drugmaker Novartis has recalled a range of over-the-counter medicines as a result of issues at one of its factories that could have resulted in products being mixed up. Hurley’s, Fosters and Kirk supermarkets have confirmed that they have removed several of the firm’s medicines from their shelves as a result of the recall. Novartis Consumer Health has recalled all lots of bottled Excedrin and NoDoz as well as some Bufferin and Gas-X products because the firm said the products may contain stray tablets, capsules, or caplets from other Novartis drugs or contain broken or chipped tablets.

(CNS): The renowned Indian heart surgeon who has plans for developing a medical city in the Cayman Islands says the hospital will demonstrate to the United States and the rest of the world that affordable health care is “doable”. Speaking to the BBC’s Stephen Sackur on Hardtalk on Monday, Dr Devi Shetty denied that the Cayman project was about profit but he said it would show that it would be possible to deliver affordable quality health care to patients at half the cost of that provided in the States. He told the BBC interviewer that it would be a forerunner for taking his model of healthcare beyond the boundaries of India and into the African continent.

(CNS): The much anticipated first phase of Dr Devi Shetty’s health care city will break ground in August, officials on the proposed project said Friday. The internationally acclaimed heart surgeon and representatives from the Indian based Narayana group were in the Cayman Islands this week for a short visit with local partners and government to move forward with the 140-bed hospital, which should take around 12 months to complete. Before returning to India the doctor revealed that he plans to open a medical school in Cayman this coming September offering training to 100 students by partnering with an undisclosed local institution in Cayman.

(Reuters): Toddlers who have poor relationships with their mother are more likely to pack on extra weight as they grow up, according to a study. Researchers who followed nearly 1,000 children into their teens found that more than 25 percent of those who scored lowest on mother-child relationship tests as toddlers went on to become obese at age 15, findings in Pediatrics said. By contrast, only 13 percent of the children who had a good relationship with their mother became obese. While that doesn't prove cause and effect, researchers say other work has shown links between children's emotional and intellectual development and how they interact with their mother at a young age.

(CNS Business): While calling the implementation of a national health insurance scheme a “long-term plan,” Minister of Health Mark Scotland nevertheless has said Cayman first needed to get “healthy” to ensure the system would be financially viable. At the same time, though two former ministers of health lambasted the private insurance industry, they disagreed on the efficacy of a national plan. Scotland warned that even if a national insurance plan were implemented, this would not lead to instantaneous savings, saying that unless the nation became fitter, healthy people would end up paying for the unhealthy. Health ministry chief officer Jennifer Ahearn explained that with any universal health care access, the high utilization of insurance benefits drives up the costs. Read more on CNS Business

(PABNews): Shocking figures revealed by the NHS show obesity amongst primary school children is at an alarming level in the UK. One in three children leaving primary school is obese or overweight by the time they leave, according to data released by the National Child Measurement Programme.  The study looked at more than one million school pupils and showed numbers to have gone up compared to last year. The 2010-11 figure stands at 19% of 10-11 year olds being classed as obese – a rise of 0.3% over the 18.7% figure last year.  Statistics reveal British children are definitely getting fatter as research conducted in 2006-07 revealed the figure to be 17.5%.

(CNS): The non-profit Cayman Heart Fund (CHF) is extending the availability of its training programme to organisations that are part of the project to install Automated External Defibrillator (AED) units in workplaces and public places around the islands. The classes are coordinated by St. Matthew’s University, School of Medicine (SMU).  AED training is offered FREE to all organizations which have purchased or received an AED from the CHF.  When used in the first 3-5 minutes of a person collapsing, AEDs have been shown to dramatically increase the survival rate of a person suffering from sudden cardiac arrest. 

(CNS): Two of Cayman’s medical practitioners have called for more focus on the relationship between patients and family doctors and less on specialists referrals for every medical need. The local doctors said that family-based medicine was the cornerstone of healthcare and could help to reduce escalating healthcare costs. Dr Steve Tomlinson said patients should only be going to the ER if they had a real emergency and should not be hopping from physician to physician and demanding procedures that they did not need, while Dr Virginia Hobday, vice president of the Cayman Islands Medical and Dental Society, said that quality care was not always expensive and that change was needed.