Health

(CNS): With two out of three deaths of people younger than 70 resulting from a chronic disease the Cayman Islands health minister said the region is facing an epidemic. Mark Scotland said that in Cayman the issue of non-communicable disease was at the top of the national health agenda. As a result of questions in the national census the minister said the country knows that the top three diagnosed illnesses here are high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma. Speaking at the 57th Annual Caribbean Health and Research Council/Caribbean Public Health Agency (CHRC/CARPHA) Scientific Conference – held in Cayman last week he said research was essential to addressing the problem.

(CNS): The results of a recent survey of people using the services and facilities of the Health Services Authority including the Cayman Islands Hospital shows people believe things are going well with 78 per cent rating the HSA facilities as Excellent or Good. However, those surveyed said that the accident and emergency needed some improvement as 17% said they had a poor experience at A&E. The research, called the Cayman Health Facilities Usage and Attitudes survey, was carried out by Tower Marketing and was commissioned by the Health Services Authority to gauge public opinion on the its facilities and performance since a similar survey was carried out in 2010.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Health Services Authority has expanded its clinical team with the addition of a new Chronic Pain Specialist. With chronic pain affecting a significant number of people Dr John Lee brings over a decade of experience in pain medicine to the hospital.  He previously held the position of Consultant in Pain Medicine at the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery in the UK where he led a department of around  40 staff.  “Chronic pain affects a significant portion of the community with just under 20% of the population suffering from long term pain issues,” said Lizzette Yearwood, Chief Executive Officer.

(The Telegraph): Breast cancer has traditionally been viewed as a single condition which has three or four varieties, but researchers discovered it can be separated into ten distinct types which give patients dramatically varying chances of survival. Knowing which category a patient's cancer falls into will help doctors determine which treatments stand the best chance of eliminating the tumour, and avoid those least likely to benefit the patient. The project, the largest genetic study of breast cancer tissue that has ever been conducted, was hailed by charities as a step towards the "holy grail" of tailoring treatments to the needs of individual patients. Unnecessary treatment with toxic drugs is still a major risk in breast cancer treatment because doctors are unable to determine which patients will respond best to which drugs.

(CNS): Health Minister Mark Scotland opened a regional meeting of chief medical officers Monday with a call to improve healthcare throughout the Caribbean, while announcing that next month his ministry will undertake a risk-factor survey. CMOs and other officials from 13 countries are attending the two-day CARICOM meeting, which Scotland told the gathering was about “identifying priority health areas and promoting technical cooperation among all of us so that we can all optimize our resources”.

(CNS): The latest scientific research in health care will be under discussion in the Cayman Islands next week, when the country plays host to this year’s Caribbean Health and Research Council/Caribbean Public Health Agency (CHRC/ CARPHA) Annual Research Conference. This will be the first time that the largest health research conference in the English-speaking Caribbean will be held in Cayman. Over 200 delegates are expected to come to the conference, including researchers, policy makers and healthcare providers. This year, close to sixty researchers will share their findings. Cayman’s health minister said it would provide Cayman access to valuable information to strengthen health policies.

(CNS): The premier has said he does not need a $500,000 consultant to tell him that the project proposed by Dr Devi Shetty for a medical tourism facility in the Cayman Islands is a good idea. Speaking at the signing of a deal between the Indian doctor and an American health care company last week, McKeeva Bush said the project would bring significant benefits to the Cayman Islands. The hospital, which is scheduled to get underway this summer, is seen as the first step in the much hoped for diversification of the islands’ economy. Bush said the “eyes of the world" would be on Cayman as the project unfolded and the islands emerged as a medical destination of choice.

(CNS): Dr Devi Shetty has entered into partnership with one of the largest non-profit hospital chains in the United States in order to build and operate his proposed Cayman Islands healthcare city in East End. The renowned Indian heart surgeon who has proposed creating a facility based on his now famous low cost model has signed what was described as ‘document of public commitment’ with Ascension Healthcare Alliance. This deal will see the Ascension group handle purchasing, facilities management and biomedical engineering services at the new hospital, while Dr Shetty’s group will provide technical input and run the facility.

(CBS): America may have a worse weight problem than anyone thought. Current estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show roughly one-third of Americans are obese. But the authors behind a new study that questions the test commonly used to measure obesity think that rate might be underestimated. "Roughly 30 percent of Americans are obese," based on their body mass index (BMI), study author Dr. Eric Braverman, president of the nonprofit research group, the Path Foundation in New York City. "But when you use other methods, closer to 60 percent are obese. We call BMI the 'baloney mass index.'

(CNS): Marking this year’s world health day which will be celebrated on Saturday the health minister said that this year’s theme which focuses on aging and health and the need to promote good health throughout one’s entire life fits in with the work going on at the health services authority. Mark Scotland said one of the main objectives of the Be Fit Cayman Campaign is to raise awareness of the link between a healthy lifestyle and the prevention of illness, such as diabetes and heart disease. “This campaign also serves to empower people to make the right choices to live a healthier and more productive life in later years,” he said.

(CNS): For more than ten years the Cayman Islands has observed April as Alcohol Awareness Month and this year the National Drug Council (NDC) will be focusing on the need to  increase public awareness and understanding to help reduce the stigma that too often prevents individuals and families from seeking help. The 2012 Campaign entitled “Healthy Choices, Healthy Communities: Prevent Underage Drinking" will be about informing the public that alcoholism as a chronic, progressive disease, fatal if untreated, and genetically predisposed. Alcohol remains the number one drug of choice among local students.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands joins the international community today (Monday 2 April) in marking World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD). To draw attention to the condition, which local experts say is often misdiagnosed and unnoticed by parents, the Special Needs Foundation of Cayman is teaming up with Cayman’s ARK, Camana Bay and Tower Marketing to join the ‘Light it up Blue’ worldwide campaign.  Around the world places such as the Empire State Building, Sydney Opera House, CN Tower, Niagara Falls and many other high-profile landmarks will ‘light it up blue’. Here in Cayman the Town Centre at Camana Bay has been shining blue.

(CNS): The Caring for Life Foundation received over $25,000 last month from the Scotiabank Golf Tournament. The game netted CI$15,578 but the bank added $10,000 to the funds which will be used by the health charity to purchase hospital equipment and other resources to assist HSA and its patients. “We are delighted to say that this year’s event surpassed the objective we had hoped to reach,” sais Sharon Diaz, Chairperson of the Caring for Life Foundation and Senior Manager, Retail Banking at Scotiabank. “These funds will help to bring the Cayman Islands one step closer to achieving the Foundation’s goal of better healthcare right here at home.”

(CNS): The National Drug Council is looking for volunteers to assist in its sixth cycle of the Cayman Islands Student Drug Use Survey (CISDUS), which will be carried out across local schools next month. The survey is fundamental to developing policies to help with prevention of drug, alcohol and tobacco use among the country’s young people. The survey also collects information about school climate, safety and important contributing factors to youth risk behaviours that can impede learning.  “Having reliable and consistent data allows the development of programming in line with the community’s needs,” said the NDC boss, Joan West-Dacres.

(BBC): A biological clue to male baldness has been discovered, raising the prospect of a treatment to stop or even reverse thinning hair. In studies of bald men and laboratory mice, US scientists pinpointed a protein that triggers hair loss. Drugs that target the pathway are already in development, they report in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research could lead to a cream to treat baldness. Most men start to go bald in middle age, with about 80% of men having some hair loss by the age of 70. The male sex hormone testosterone plays a key role, as do genetic factors. They cause the hair follicles to shrink, eventually becoming so small that they are invisible, leading to the appearance of baldness.