The British College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) has realeased some very helpful and slightly tongue-in-cheek guidelines about how to stay fit and well this festive season. From looking after your back to beating the traditional hangover, there are some helpful tips to be found in their report. Here’s an example:
Turkey Back!
Beware of turkey back this Christmas, The British College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) warns. The BCOM Clinic is usually busy in January treating muscles and ligament strains as a result of simply getting the turkey in and out of the oven. Lugging extra shopping around on the Christmas shopping spree is also a culprit when it comes to pulled muscles, aches and pains.
To avoid turkey back BCOM advises: When you’re lifting the turkey out of the oven, bend your knees and keep your back straight. Don’t’ stoop or twist and you’ll avoid unnecessary pulled muscles. When out shopping, try to keep the weight of the bags distributed equally, and take regular breaks.
In a bid to help people have a healthier Christmas, the Department of Health has teamed up with the Ramblers Association to promote a series of festive walks that can be used to help burn off those festive calories.
It is estimated that the typical Christmas dinner of turkey and pudding, contains enough calories to make up half of a man’s recommended daily intake and two thirds of a woman’s, so a bit of exercise after the meal can’t be a bad idea!
Group: Banbury & North Oxfordshire Date: Sunday 3 January 2010 Start gridref: SP471465 Start time: 10:30am Grade: Leisurely Distance: 5 miles Longer description: The Sports Ground car park for a circular walk in the area. Car sharing CHF 10:00. Pub stop at the end. Contact phone: 01295 262780 Distance: 8 km Start place: Cropredy
Group: Cirencester Date: Sunday 3 January 2010 Start time: 9:30am Grade: Moderate Distance: 10 miles Longer description: Our traditional ‘start of the year’ walk. The route will take in Coberley, Leckhampton Hill, hoping for fine views over Cheltenham and continuing round the escarpment. We pass by Ullenwood and on to Crickley Hill for a lunch stop, before returning to our starting point. Moderate walking. Distance: 9½ miles. Contribution to travel: £2 Contact name: Bill Contact phone: 01451 860943 Start place: Cirencester, The Waterloo SP 026021
Piriformis Syndrome is a common condition where the muscle piriformis becomes inflammed causing pressure on the sciatic nerve. This can result in localised tenderness in the buttock and referred pain down the back of the leg, often described as sciatica.
Although very painful, it can be controlled by focussed stretching and manual therapy such as massage or osteopathy. Another approach which can be very successful is using a foam roller. This video explains how you could use one to good effect.
Nottingham-based patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are being offered a service that can help them manage their condition through the winter. Research has shown that there is a strong link between COPD hospital admissions and environmental factors such as the weather and levels of circulating infections.
The Healthy Outlook® COPD Forecast Alert is a service provided by the Met Office which has been developed to help improve patients’ quality of life. It has been created using this knowledge and helps COPD patients manage their condition more effectively by warning them of periods of increased risk to their health.
If you would like more information, please contact Lynne Sharp at Principia on 0115 956 0308 or email lynne.sharp@nottspct.nhs.uk
What is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease?
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an ‘umbrella’ term for people with chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. With COPD the airflow to the lungs is restricted (obstructed). COPD is usually caused by smoking.
Symptoms include cough and breathlessness. The most important treatment is to stop smoking. Inhalers are commonly used to ease symptoms. Other treatments such as steroids, antibiotics, oxygen, and mucolytic (mucus thinning) medicines are sometimes prescribed in more severe cases, or during a flare-up (exacerbation) of symptoms.
Rcent research shows that divorce can be harmful to your health, so it’s important to look after yourself during this tricky time.
As you adjust to life after divorce – settle into a new home, organise custody of the children, restructure the finances – it’s important to note this can also be a trying time for your health and wellbeing.
Researchers from the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University in the US found divorced people have 20 per cent more chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer, than those who are married.
According to the study authors, Linda Waite and Mary Hughes, we each enter adulthood with a certain “stock of health”, depending on our genes and experiences.
“The transition to marriage tends to bring an immediate health benefit in that it improves health behaviours for men and financial wellbeing for women,” say Waite and Hughes. If that marriage fails, our health stock can take a bit of a beating.
This evidence supports the rationale for 20mph zones not just in major cities in Britain, but also in similar metropolitan areas elsewhere
Study leader, Chris Grundy
UK cities should have more 20mph speed zones, as they have cut road injuries by over 40% in London, a study claims.
In particular the number of children killed or seriously injured has been halved over the past 15 years, the British Medical Journal reported.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine study estimates 20mph zones have the potential to prevent up to 700 casualties in London alone.
At 20mph, it is estimated only one in 40 pedestrians is killed in a crash. This compares with a one in five chance for someone hit at 30mph.
The researchers compared data on road collisions, injuries and deaths in London between 1986 and 2006, with speed limits on roads.
After adjusting for a general reduction in road injuries in recent years, they found that the introduction of 20mph zones were associated with a 41.9% drop in casualties.
The greatest reduction was seen in children under the age of 11 years and in the numbers of all ages killed or seriously injured.
Cyclist injuries fell by 17% once 20mph zones came in, and injuries in pedestrians have been cut by almost a third.
There was also no evidence of a higher rate of casualties in areas bordering the 20mph zones, as in areas adjacent to 20mph zones casualties fell by an average of 8%.
There is no clear evidence that Tamiflu prevents complications in people with flu, an analysis suggests.
While studies have shown the antiviral can cut the length of time people have symptoms by about a day, no real evidence has emerged that it prevents conditions like pneumonia, researchers said.
In August, experts said the drug was unlikely to prevent complications in children. More than a million courses of antivirals including Tamiflu have been given out to people across Britain since the start of the swine flu pandemic. Around a million courses have been handed out through the National Pandemic Flu Service for England, with many more given out through GP surgeries.
The information provided on this website is for use as information purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical care by a qualified doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. We do not warrant that any information included within this site will meet your health or medical requirements. This Health Network website does not provide any medical or diagnostic services so you should always check with a health professional if you have any concerns about your health.
Comments (2) 
The British College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) has realeased some very helpful and slightly tongue-in-cheek guidelines about how to stay fit and well this festive season. From looking after your back to beating the traditional hangover, there are some helpful tips to be found in their report. Here’s an example:
Uncategorized
In a bid to help people have a healthier Christmas, the Department of Health has teamed up with the Ramblers Association to promote a series of festive walks that can be used to help burn off those festive calories.
– £17.90
– £15.80
– £18.31
This evidence supports the rationale for 20mph zones not just in major cities in Britain, but also in similar metropolitan areas elsewhere 
Themocracy