Health

(CNS): Following another recall by McNeil Consumer Healthcare Inc. relating to children’s and cold medicines, Foster's Food Fair has pulled all Children's Benadryl Allergy Fastmelt Tablets and Tylenol Cold Liquid Product from its shelves. The voluntary recall by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Inc. was made in consultation with the U.S Food and Drug Administration after a review revealed insufficiencies in the development of the manufacturing process. There is no indication that the recalled products do not meet quality standards, and this recall is not being undertaken on the basis of adverse events.

(The Herald): A record-breaking round of organ transplants has helped save the lives of 14 patients in 15 days. The surgeries were carried out by John Forsythe, Scotland’s lead clinician for organ donation, as part of a campaign to increase the number of people adding their names to the donor register. The 14 patients who underwent liver, kidney and pancreas transplants between October 28 and November 11 at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary received organs from donors. Ten patients received liver transplants, three had kidney transplants and one patient had a combined pancreas and kidney transplant, meaning staff carried out 15 transplants in just 15 days.

(Daily Telegraph): An American study questioned over 2,000 women about their size, diet and exercise habits and took measurements. It found that many women were often unaware about whether they were a healthy weight or not. Co-author Dr Mahbubur Rahman, of University of Texas, said: "As obesity numbers climb, many women identify overweight as normal, not based on the scale but on how they view themselves." It was found that 25 per cent of overweight women misjudged their body weight along with 16 per cent of normal weight women. The findings have serious consequences for obesity prevention, the researchers said, as many women do not recognise they are overweight and so will not join programmes.

(Daily Telegraph): Evidence is building that the benefits for many healthy middle-aged and older people “far outweigh” the side effects, according to the academics. In particular, individuals at higher risk from the country’s two biggest killers would be helped by taking the painkiller as a preventive medicine, they added. The experts were speaking at the Royal Society of Medicine a month after research from Oxford University published in The Lancet showed that taking 75mg of aspirin daily for five years reduces the risk of getting bowel cancer by a quarter, and deaths from the disease by a third. A 75mg dose is a quarter of the standard over-the-counter pill.

(CNS): A new charitable foundation which intends to raise cash for much needed equipment and improvements for government hospitals has now been formally launched and has collected its first $35,000 -- a very small step towards the almost $9million it hopes to eventually raise. The Caring for Life Foundation (CFLF) will be like similar foundations in Europe and North America, operating independently of the HSA and government and working as a charitable trust with a board of advisers assessing needs and expenditures, Bruce John, the founder of the trust said.At the official launch of the foundation last Wednesday week, John who is a Scotiabank Director cited a five-page list detailing $8.7 million in needed equipment and improvements.

(CNS): Cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Shetty has said the Cayman Islands is the perfect jurisdiction to launch a medical tourism product. The doctor, who has proposed to build a 2000 bed health city somewhere on Grand Cayman, says medical tourism will work here because of its proximity to the US, which has an expensive and badly managed health system. Cayman, Devi says, offers the perfect alternative place for Americans looking for inexpensive quality treatment as it is a secure, well-developed country known to the US public. He also said the Cayman government’s willingness to both facilitate the movement of international healthcare workers and amend the necessary legislation will open the doors to this lucrative industry.

(CNS): Despite huge health gains in the Caribbean region as a result of successful immunization programmes, outbreaks of certain viral diseases threaten to reverse those gains as a result of growing skepticism about vaccination, in the West the health minister noted at the start of the EPI conference this week being held in the Cayman Islands. Mark Scotland said the UK and the US had both reported a large numbers of measles cases because of a drop in MMR take-up rates. While Cayman still had high take up on vaccination rates he said experts were forced to be ever vigilant in the fight against communicable diseases.

(CNS): There could be more than 4000 people in the Cayman Islands suffering from diabetes the health minister has revealed. According to local statistics the Health Services Authority (HSA) is currently treating 2,000 diabetic patients and officials have estimated that an equal number is receiving care through private practitioners. In his message for world diabetes day on Sunday, Mark Scotland said that apart from the personal cost and hardships that comes with diabetes the country is also facing an economic problem. He encouraged people to get screened and learn all they could about the disease.

(CNS): As the second half of the War on Weight (WOW) transformation contest comes towards a close, the organisers said this week that the contestants have lost more than 79 pounds and 100 inches in total. The challenge officially kicked off on Tuesday 24 August, with 10 contestants competing to be crowned the biggest loser after sixteen weeks on Tuesday 14 December. Committee chairperson, Leandra Charles, said that she was delighted with the progress this year's contestants are making. "This year has really been one of the most successful to date and the camaraderie amongst the group is really inspiring,” she added.

(CNN): Even though teenage boys are known for their risky behavior, it’s girls who are more likely to engage in unprotected first sex, according to research presented Monday at an American Public Health Association meeting in Denver. Nicole Weller, a doctoral student at Arizona State University, analyzed government data and found adolescent girls were 30 percent more likely than boys to have sex without contraception during their first sexual encounter. Weller said that surprised her. “It does because of the history of boys engaging in risky behavior across the spectrum and then seeing that females are having first unprotected sex is telling a different story,” Weller said.

(CNS): Department of Environmental Health (DEH) staffers are reminding parents that when it comes to preparing school lunches it is vital to follow good food-safety practices to help prevent their children from catching food-borne illnesses. These include keeping food-preparation areas clean, washing hands with antibacterial soap and warm water before handling food, cleaning cutting boards, dishes, utensils and countertops with hot water and a sanitizer or antibacterial soap. The DEH also advises against allowing pets to jump on kitchen counters, and reminds parents to return perishable foods, like cheese, deli meats and mayonnaise, to the refrigerator promptly after preparing lunch.

(CNS): At the Seafarers Association annual Wellness Fair, Community Affairs Minister Mike Adam urged seniors to use the CAY Health Programme, which is geared at improving healthcare access. The programme, which is a collaborative effort between the ministry, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Health Services Authority (HSA), affords seniors access to a personal physician at a local health centre and enables them to collect medication without leaving the district, HSA’s Dr Orrett Thane told those present, noting that it also provides health education and healthy lifestyle advice.

(Daily Telegraph): Overweight children often eat more healthily than their thinner classmates, according to research suggesting that a lack of exercise, rather than a junk food diet, may be to blame for obesity. A study of 900 primary school pupils in Norway found that fat children ate healthy foods - such as fruit, vegetables, fish, and brown bread, as well as low-calorie cheese and yoghurt - more frequently than their normal-weight peers. The research suggested that a good diet without exercise would not be enough to prevent weight gain. It follows research published in September that suggested that diet had the greatest influence on weight.

(CNS): A local radio station and a number of business sponsors have come together with the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority to hold the country’s first every Health & Vitality Expo. Billed as a one-stop-shop for everything relating to health, exercise and overall wellness the event will take place at Camana Bay this weekend. The day long expo will feature the latest products, services and information for all interested in ensuring their overall health wellness. Organisers also promise “an abundance of free product samples,” as well as demos in everything from yoga to personal training.

(BBC): Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack, according to a study published in medical journal the Lancet. The report is co-authored by Professor David Nutt, the former UK chief drugs adviser who was sacked by the government in October 2009. It ranks 20 drugs on 16 measures of harm to users and to wider society. Tobacco and cocaine are judged to be equally harmful, while ecstasy and LSD are among the least damaging. Members of the group scored each drug for harms including mental and physical damage, addiction, crime and costs to the economy and communities. The modelling exercise concluded that heroin, crack and methylamphetamine were the most harmful drugs to individuals, but alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the most harmful to others.