Gum disease increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes

 A study has found that people with active periodontitis, or gum disease, have a greater risk of experiencing major cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes.

• People who have had gum disease in the past but no longer have inflamed gums do not appear to be at greater risk.
• The study suggests that gum disease leads to increased arterial inflammation, which is responsible for cardiovascular events.

Periodontitis, or gum disease, is a serious infection of the soft tissues that surround the teeth. Without treatment, gum disease can lead to bone destruction and, ultimately, tooth loss.

Bacteria in dental plaque, or tartar, cause gum disease by triggering an inflammatory response that steadily erodes soft tissue and bone.

In the early stages of the disease, called gingivitis, the gums become swollen and red and may bleed. Without treatment, the gums may start to recede from the teeth, there may be bone loss, and the teeth can loosen or fall out.

Dentists recommend using a soft toothbrush twice a day and flossing once a day to prevent the buildup of plaque and reduce the chances of gum disease.

They also recommend undergoing scaling and debridement twice a year, which is the only way to remove plaque that has built up below the gumline.

The incidence of gum disease increases with age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 47.2% of people aged at least 30 years in the United States have gum disease to some degree. This figure increases to 70.1% among people aged at least 65 years.

There is a clear association between gum disease and a wide range of illnesses that involve inflammation, including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and heart disease.

However, scientists have found it challenging to prove a direct, causal link between gum disease and these conditions because they have several risk factors in common, such as smoking.

A new study led by researchers at two institutions in Massachusetts, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, in Boston, and the Forsyth Institute, in Cambridge, among others, provides evidence that gum disease really can set people on the road to major cardiovascular events, such as strokes and heart attacks.

“If you’re in the age zone for cardiovascular disease or have known cardiovascular disease, ignoring your periodontal disease can actually be dangerous and may increase your risk for a heart attack,” says lead study author Dr. Thomas Van Dyke, the senior member of staff at the Forsyth Institute.

Ongoing inflammation

For their study, the team reviewed PET and CT scans of 304 individuals for signs of inflammation associated with gum disease and inflammation in the arteries.

The scans had been done for other purposes, mostly during cancer screening. By the time that follow-up scans were performed, around 4 years later, 13 individuals had experienced a major cardiovascular event.

The researchers discovered that individuals with signs of inflammation associated with active gum disease at the start of the study were significantly more likely to have a cardiovascular event.

Individuals with inflammation of their gums were also more likely to develop inflammation in their arteries, which can go on to cause cardiovascular disease.

Crucially, these associations remained statistically significant, even after the scientists had accounted for other factors associated with both gum disease and heart disease, including age, sex, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, or abnormal levels of fat in the blood.

The study found that individuals with signs of bone loss from previous gum disease, but no ongoing inflammation, were not at increased risk of developing heart disease.

“This is very definitely related to people who have currently active inflammatory disease,” says Dr. Van Dyke.

He acknowledges that the sample size was relatively small, so scientists will need to carry out larger studies to confirm the findings.

Source: Medical News Today

Physician work-life balance and burnout: What has changed in the last 40 years?

 In this Special Feature conversation, retired doctor and public health professional Dr. Hilary Guite discusses her experience of working as a newly qualified doctor with her friend, who is 2 years out of medical school.

Hilary: “There are only 168 hours in a week, and my worst [week] was 135 hours. My best were 93. How many hours do you do on average now?”

Fred: “Quite a bit less: I work about 40 hours a week of standard non-on-call shifts and then about 8 hours on call on top of that, which averages out to about 48 hours a week. About half the average when you started.”

I am talking to a friend of mine who qualified as a doctor nearly 40 years after I did. We are comparing our working conditions as junior doctors —the years after qualifying as a doctor and before becoming a consultant or attending physician.

In the course of our conversation, we explored how and why changes in working conditions might have impacted on work-life balance, burnout, and suicides among doctors.

While our experiences are very different, high levels of burnout among doctors continue to be a significant problem.

Source: Medical News Today

Blood thinners may protect against COVID-19 complications

 

• A new study has found that administering heparin-based blood thinners to patients with COVID-19 in the first 24 hours of hospital admission reduced the risk of death.
• The researchers observed a 27% reduced risk of 30-day mortality among patients who received blood thinners.
• Severe bleeding that required a blood transfusion occurred in 4.6% of patients and was not significantly linked with early intervention to prevent coagulation.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 2 million deaths throughout the world. The United States currently has the highest number of related mortalities, more than 499,000 at the time of publication.

While emerging COVID-19 vaccines may eventually help reduce the number of deaths, the relatively slow rollout in many countries has led to concerns that seeing significant effects will take time.

Excessive blood clotting is a hallmark of some severe COVID-19 cases. In May 2020, thrombosis expert Prof. Beverley Hunt told Medical News Today that she was surprised to find such high levels of clotting factors in the blood of patients with severe COVID-19.

“Now we know that these patients have incredibly sticky blood. This stickiness is causing them to have deep vein thrombosis. And of course, if you have a deep vein thrombosis, bits of it can break off and travel through your body and block some of the blood supply to the lungs,” Prof. Hunt explained.

At the hospital where she works, patients were routinely receiving small doses of anticoagulants to reduce the risk of blood clotting. And as data on the use of blood thinners began to emerge, updates to clinical guidelines followed suit.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend that everyone who is hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment, except those who are pregnant, receive prophylactic anticoagulants.

Recently, a team of researchers in the United Kingdom and the U.S. published data from an observational cohort study. They found that anti-clotting therapy was linked with significantly fewer deaths among people admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.

“Our results provide strong, real-world evidence to support guidelines recommending the use of prophylactic anticoagulation as initial treatment for patients with COVID-19 on hospital admission,” the researchers write.

Source: Medical News today

How Google search data can predict COVID-19 outbreaks

 

• New research finds that online searches can accurately predict regional increases and decreases in COVID-19 cases.
• Certain types of searches reveal the activities in which people plan to engage.
• The search volume for outside-the-home vs. stay-at-home activities forecasts the number of COVID-19 diagnoses 10–14 days later.

While some of the behaviors that lead to SARS-CoV-2 infections are clear, new waves of COVID-19 cases do not always follow predicted patterns.

Now, however, a study from researchers at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences describes a possible means of spotting infection surges before they happen through the analysis of online searches.

The researchers discovered a correlation between a surge in searches relating to activities outside the home — activities that could put people at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection — and a rise in COVID-19 cases 10–14 days afterward. Infections fell when there was an increase in searches relating to stay-at-home activities.

Study author Anasse Bari, a clinical assistant professor at the Courant Institute, notes that experts have already successfully used data mining “in finance to generate data-driven investments, such as studying satellite images of cars in parking lots to predict businesses’ earnings.”

“Our research shows the same techniques could be applied to combatting a pandemic by spotting, ahead of time, where outbreaks are likely to occur,” says senior author Megan Coffee of the Division of Infectious Disease & Immunology at the New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine.

Source: Medical News Today

Alma Levant Hayden: First Black woman in the FDA

 History shows many Black women scientists have been at the forefront of research, some holding positions in esteemed medical organizations. However, their accomplishments often go unrecognized. In this Special Feature, we highlight the life and achievements of the first Black woman chemist in the FDA: Alma Levant Hayden.

Many scientists have garnered worldwide acclaim for their groundbreaking discoveries and accomplishments throughout the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

These individuals have been celebrated for their significant scientific contributions throughout history — many of which have saved countless lives.

However, despite their equally monumental achievements, Black scientists have been largely overlooked in the annals of scientific history.

One of these innovative researchers was Alma Levant Hayden (1927–1967). Known as one of the first Black women to hold a position at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), she was not only a pioneer in the field of chemistry but also an integral part of a discovery that exposed potentially dangerous false claims about a widely publicized cancer drug.

In this Special Feature, we look at the life and career of Alma Levant Hayden, her monumental contributions to science, and why she may not have attained the acclaim she deserved.

Source: Medical News today

Probiotics for weight loss: What is the evidence?

 Anecdotally, some probiotics — usually beneficial bacteria — may aid weight loss, but what does the science say? In this Honest Nutrition feature, we investigate.

Probiotics are amongst the most popular nutrition supplements on the market. They have links to an array of health benefits, including improved gut health and enhanced immune function.

Some research also suggests that probiotics may affect weight loss.

However, there are safety concerns related to the widespread use of probiotic supplements as well.

This Special Feature discusses recent scientific findings related to probiotics and body weight.

What are probiotics?

The journal Frontiers in Microbiology cites the definition of probiotics as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.”

Certain foods naturally contain probiotics, while some manufacturers add concentrated doses to other foods. However, this article focuses only on probiotic supplements.

Probiotic supplements contain large doses of live bacteria, typically Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria, that may contribute to improving the composition of colonic gut bacteria and promote health.

Research into the health effects of probiotics has grown tremendously over the past 20 years, as have sales of probiotic supplements.

Some estimates predict that probiotic sales will exceed $64 billion by 2023. This is because of the many links between probiotics and various health benefits.

Even though scientists are still investigating how probiotics work in the body, research has shown that they play a role in enhancing immune function, decreasing inflammation, and positively impacting nervous system function.

Additionally, a 2020 article suggests that probiotics might be a potential treatment for overweight and obesity.

Source: Medical News Today

What are human challenge studies?

 Recently, the government of the United Kingdom received ethics approval to run the world’s first SARS-CoV-2 human challenge study. In this article, we explain what human challenge studies are and what insights they can provide.

As it stands, 11 COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized, across several countries. Waiting in the wings are at least 80 vaccine candidates, 20 of which are in phase 3 clinical trials.

It is truly incredible that within 1 year of discovering a new virus, we already have a range of experimental and authorized vaccines, but this is not the end of the story.

There is still room to improve existing vaccines. Additionally, having a range of companies manufacturing vaccines can be beneficial — if problems arise with one supply chain, another can take its place.

It may also be the case that certain vaccines work better in some populations than in others.

To help streamline and improve vaccine testing and discovery, the U.K. government is funding human challenge studies.

Source: Medical News Today

Can a heart failure drug help treat long COVID symptoms?

 

• Some people who have recovered from COVID-19 experience ongoing symptoms — such as brain fog, increased heart rate, and chronic fatigue — sometimes known as long COVID.
• There is an overlap between the symptoms of long COVID and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which has led some researchers to suggest they are related.
• A small clinical trial suggests that ivabradine, a drug approved for use in heart failure, may be an effective treatment for POTS, with fewer side effects than existing treatments.

An estimated 1–3 million people in the United States have POTS, which causes tachycardia — a rapid heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute — when a person stands up.

Other common symptoms include:

• poor concentration, or brain fog
• lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting
• blurred vision
• palpitations
• nausea
• tiredness

The condition predominantly affects females between the ages of 15 and 50, but males can develop it as well.

Patients are often fit and active before they develop POTS. At its worst, the condition can be debilitating and life changing.

POTS affects the body’s autonomic nervous system, which exerts involuntary control over bodily functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, and temperature.

Its causes are poorly understood, but the condition often follows a viral infection, trauma, major surgery, or pregnancy.

There is a distinct overlap between the common symptoms of long COVID and POTS. This has led some researchers to propose that the new coronavirus, which can affect the central nervous system, may trigger POTS in some people.

Limitations of current treatment

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not approved any treatments for POTS, doctors often prescribe beta-blockers to patients with POTS to lower their heart rate.

The drugs reduce activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which is the wing of the autonomic nervous system that reacts to perceived threats with fight-or-flight responses, such as increased heart rate.

However, a drawback of beta-blockers is that they not only reduce heart rate but also lower blood pressure, which can exacerbate patients’ fatigue and lack of energy.

One promising alternative is ivabradine a heart failure drug that slows the heart without reducing blood pressure.

In the first randomized controlled trial of ivabradine for POTS, researchers at the University of California (UC), San Diego, found that the drug significantly reduced heart rate and improved patients’ quality of life 1 month after treatment started.

They report that the drug was well tolerated and that there were no severe side effects.

The research appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“Ivabradine is a novel agent that’s FDA-approved for heart failure, but based on its mechanism, we thought it could be helpful for patients with POTS, as it reduces heart rate without impacting blood pressure,” said first author Dr Pam Taub a cardiologist at UC San Diego Health and associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

“When we can lower the heart rate, we’re providing these patients with the ability to stand up, something they couldn’t do without difficulty before due to their POTS diagnosis,” she added.

 Source: Medical News Today

What are the best foods to fight aging?

 Eat well for a long and healthy life – that’s a mantra that we’re all familiar with, but what are the best foods to help us achieve that goal? In this article, we give you an overview of some of the most healthful and nutritious foods.

Official figures indicate that, currently, the top three countries in the world with the highest life expectancy are the Principality of Monaco, Japan, and Singapore. These are places where the inhabitants experience a high quality of life, and an important element of that is eating healthful meals.

Often, we find praise for “superfoods” in the media – foods so high in nutritional value that they are seen as dietary superheroes.

Nutritionists reject the term “superfoods” as a buzzword that can influence people to place too high an expectation on a limited range of foods when, in reality, a balanced diet and healthful lifestyle require more effort than eating your five-a-day.

Still, there are certain foods that are more nutritious than others, and many that, as research has shown, have a protective effect against a range of diseases. Here, we give you an overview of some of the best foods that you may want to consider including in your diet in your quest for a happy, healthy life.

Edamame (soybeans)

Edamame, or fresh soybeans, have been a staple of Asian cuisine for generations, but they have also been gaining popularity on the Western front of late. Soybeans are often sold in snack packs, but they are also added to a varied range of dishes, from soups to rice-based meals, though they are served as cooked and seasoned on their own, too.

The beans are rich in isoflavones, a type of phytoestrogen – that is. plant-derived, estrogen-like substances. Isoflavones are known to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and antimicrobial properties.

Thus, they can help to regulate the inflammatory response of the body, slow down cellular aging, fight microbes, as well as, reportedly, protect against certain types of cancer.

Edamame are rich in two types of isoflavones, in particular: genistein and daidzein. A study covered last year on Medical News Today found that genistein could be used to improve breast cancer treatment.

In the meantime, the study authors note that “lifetime intake of soy […] has been linked to reduced risk of breast cancer,” so we may want to include soybeans in our normal diet.

Tofu (soybean curd)

Similarly, tofu, a white cheese-like product made of soybean curds, has been linked to a wealth of health benefits for the same reasons. Tofu is often found cooked in typical Eastern Asian dishes; it can be fried, baked, or boiled (for instance, in soups).

As a soy product, it is rich in isoflavones, whose health benefits we’ve outlined above; it is also a good source of protein, and it contains all the essential amino acids that our bodies need to synthesize protein.

Moreover, it is also rich in minerals, which our bodies need to keep our teeth and bones strong and healthy, and to derive energy. Tofu is a source of calcium, iron, manganese, selenium, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc, and copper.

Some specialists also suggest that eating tofu can make you feel fuller for longer, so incorporating it into your meals may help to prevent overeating.

Source: Medical News Today

Through my eyes: Living with shoulder arthritis

 “You won’t be able to weightlift anymore.” That’s what my orthopedic surgeon told me when we sat down to discuss getting a total shoulder replacement, something that seemed necessary to relieve my shoulder pain and arthritis.

Though I have had a long and successful career as a homebuilder, powerlifting has always been my passion.

I have been powerlifting for about 15 years, competing on the world stage with more than 30 world records to my name.

In 2014, at the peak of my competitive powerlifting career, Kabuki Strength, the gym I co-own in Portland, OR, opened its doors for amateur-to-elite-level lifters. This began the venture that has had the largest impact on my performance, health, and overall life.

However, around this time, I was also suffering from intense shoulder pain and needed it to subside. But by that point, what had started as a hobby had become my passion.

Plus, I was only in my 60s. There was no way that I wanted to step away from it all, retire, and put an end to my powerlifting career.

So, I took a deep breath and told my doctor, “No.” I didn’t want a traditional total shoulder replacement. I refused to accept that I could not continue to lead an active lifestyle. Instead, I decided to do what I had been doing for decades:

I continued to work through the pain.

It wasn’t easy. All that training, especially the squats and deadlifts, were taking a toll.

Over time, the cartilage in both my left and right shoulder joints was wearing out. It was getting to the point that whenever I moved in certain ways, bone hit bone. My range of motion was becoming increasingly limited, and I was often in pain.

Outside of the gym, even simple, everyday tasks were becoming more difficult. You don’t realize how much you use your shoulders until you’re in pain just from trying to put on a shirt.

The same goes for getting a dish from the top shelf of a kitchen cupboard or reaching to open the umbrella on a patio table; I found that ordinary tasks were starting to become challenges, and they usually left me grimacing in pain.

All of this wasn’t just annoying, it was also embarrassing. Here I was, a world-class powerlifter, and yet, whenever we were out in public, my wife had to help me put on my coat. With my limited range of motion, I couldn’t do anything like that by myself anymore.

Believe it or not, this went on for a few years. I continued to train as well as I could, but the deterioration of my shoulder cartilage only got worse. Finally, I decided that I had to take some kind of action, and I went back to my orthopedic surgeon to review my options.

Shoulder implant

This time, he referred me to Dr. Anthony Miniaci at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. When Dr. Miniaci and I met, he told me about a joint-preserving shoulder implant that was an alternative to a traditional total shoulder replacement.

Source: Medical News Today

Being male, having overweight and depression can influence aging

 

• A study finds that biological aging is linked to both mental and physical health.
• Factors consistently related to advanced biological aging include: being male, smoking, being overweight, and having depression.
• The researchers found that depression is linked to more advanced biological aging.
• Combining aging measures from multiple cellular levels best captures biological age.

Our chronological age, of course, is what we celebrate with each passing birthday. But people who are the same chronological age may not be aging at the same rate.

Scientists are using biology to more accurately measure how quickly humans age.

One factor is the length of an individual’s telomeres, stretches of DNA and proteins at the ends of our chromosomes that shorten as we age. An epigenetic clock, meanwhile, looks at the changes in gene function that do not make alterations to the genetic code, or genome.

Another aging clock is based on transcriptomes, a collection of all the gene readouts in a cell. Scientists also measure age with metabolomics, the study of the chemical processes that involve metabolites, small molecules produced by and during metabolic processes.

In addition, scientists use what they call a proteomic clock, which measures levels of proteins in the blood.

For a new study, now published in the journal eLife, researchers set setout to learn whether a composite biological clock outperforms individual biological clocks in predicting health.

“To develop a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying biological aging, we wanted to examine how indicators of biological aging relate to each other, how they link to determinants of physical and mental health, and whether a combined biological clock, made up of all age indicators, is a better predictor of health,” says co-lead author Dr. Rick Jansen, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC, in the Netherlands.

Examining biological aging indicators

The researchers used blood samples from 2,981 individuals aged 18–65 years who took part in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety. Of the participants, 74% had a diagnosis of a depressive disorder, an anxiety disorder, or both, while 26% were healthy control participants.

The participants were recruited from medical facilities and the general population between September 2004 and February 2007.

The team used computer modeling to examine whether five measures of biological aging — telomere length and the epigenetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic clocks — were interrelated and associated with mental and physical health.

The researchers then took the five indicators and incorporated them into an analysis that also included sex, lifestyle factors, physical ability, and known health conditions.

What makes people age faster?

The scientists found that being male was associated with more advanced biological aging according to four of the five biological clock measurements. This is consistent with the understanding that in most places, women outlive men.

Other factors associated with more advanced biological aging according to at least four of the five measures were: having a high body mass index, smoking, and having metabolic syndrome.

The researchers also discovered that depression is linked to more advanced biological aging.

In addition, they noted associations between medication use and this aging. However, they could not determine whether this was due to the medication itself or the underlying physical or mental illness requiring treatment.

Meanwhile, the study allowed the researchers to infer that some biological clocks show overlap, but most seem to be tracking different aspects of the aging process.

Source: Medical News Today

Misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and living with endometriosis as a Black woman

 My name is Nadine Dirks; I am a 24-year-old woman from South Africa who has been living with stage 4 endometriosis for over a decade.

On average, endometriosis — a painful inflammatory disease most commonly of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, and pelvic tissue — can take anywhere from 4–11 years before diagnosis occurs, with an average delay of nearly 7 years in women aged 18–45, according to an article in Current Obstetrics Gynecology Reports.

For a Black woman, this can be even more daunting and stressful. Compared with white women, Black women are less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis.

I received an official diagnosis of endometriosis in 2014, after many years as an outpatient at the local hospital. At the hospital — between misdiagnoses, assumptions that I was a hypochondriac, and assumptions that went as far as suggesting my symptoms must be from an untreated sexually transmitted disease — no one showed any real interest in getting to the bottom of what was causing my unrelenting symptoms.

At the time, I was experiencing severe and heavy menses, chronic lower back pain, intense cramps, bloating, headaches, nausea, vomiting, fainting spells, and chronic constipation — yet this was not enough to convince the doctors to look into my symptoms.

They brushed it off, with one doctor going as far as assuming my insistent bleeding and intense pain was due to a “botched abortion gone wrong” just by glancing at me from behind his desk.

He had not even done a physical examination before deciding the fate of the then 18-year-old me.

Doctors consistently gave me paracetamol and ibuprofen and sent me home, insisting that I was fine and nothing was wrong with me. Needless to say, the paracetamol and ibuprofen did very little, other than pacifying my pain levels periodically.

The doctors had even gotten to a point where they insisted my weight was an issue and the reason for my symptoms, but I only weighed 45 kgs, which was perfectly healthy for my height and age.

One Sunday afternoon, I noticed the pain on the right side of my body was worse, and my abdomen seemed bloated. I decided to rest, use a hot water bottle, and take some pain medication to ease the discomfort.

When I woke up the next morning, the pain was much worse. I decided to visit my general practitioner (GP), who insisted on writing a referral letter to my local hospital.

My GP was concerned it might be my appendix and informed the hospital. I arrived, and they sent me for a battery of scans, tests, and examinations to get to the bottom of the pain.

The doctors informed me that my appendix was perfectly fine. However, I needed emergency surgery because they had seen an abnormally large mass on my right ovary.

At the time, they had me sign a form stating they would need to remove the right ovary because it was under incredible strain due to the mysterious mass.

The doctors informed my family it would be a 30-minute surgery, but after 2 hours, my family had still not heard any word because I was still in the operating room.

The surgeons later informed me that once they had a look to see what was happening internally – they had no choice but to open me up entirely, creating an incision from hip to hip.

Aside from the mass they had spotted initially, my fallopian tubes were attached to my uterus, and my bowels were stuck to the back of my uterus, which had caused it to pull downward.

Source: Medical News Today

Pregnancy loss — delayed dreams, the strength to fight, and future hope

 We don’t talk about baby loss. We don’t feel comfortable with the thought of a baby dying, and understandably so. It is uncomfortable, devastating, and distressing. But it is not shameful, it is more common than people realize, and there is much support.

Nobody can prepare for their worst nightmare becoming a reality. When I first heard about family and friends who had gone through the unimaginable pain of losing a baby, I remember feeling horrified that anyone should have to experience such a traumatic event. I went cold at the thought of having to deliver a baby that was no longer living. I felt in my heart and soul that I would not survive the pain should this ever happen to me.

The signs

I had my second-to-last scan on a Friday, and everything was as it should be. My perfect little nugget of joy was happily, wriggling around at 12.5 weeks. I could feel her tiny little flutters in my tummy, but more than that, I could feel her. Her soul, pure and beautiful. I can still feel it now.

By 17.5 weeks, something felt different. This was my first pregnancy to progress to this stage, and I did not know what was considered usual or not, but I knew something felt physically different, as though there was suddenly extra weight in my stomach.

I asked around, and many people said that everything was probably fine, and worrying was perfectly normal.

I carried on as usual. I went to work, went shopping, carried out my routine. It was a particularly cold, dark November day when I returned to an empty home. I switched on the hallway light and made my way to the bathroom — the familiar feeling of really needing to pee when you get home and into the warm.

As I sat on the toilet, water fell, but I was not peeing. There was no color, no odor — just water. At the time, it did not occur to me that my waters had just broken.

The journey

I called the number for the emergency midwife at my local hospital, and they very calmly told me not to panic and come in as soon as I could. I was not panicked at this stage, as there was no pain and no blood.

I traveled to the hospital on the bus, using a feminine towel to catch the fluid and hoping nobody noticed. The journey time felt a lot longer than it was, and all I can remember now is the darkness and the orange glow of street lights around me.

When I reached the maternity floor, a midwife took me into an assessment room and did her utmost to reassure me. She told me to try not to presume anything and that they will investigate straight away. The midwife took swabs of the liquid, and I was left alone. I was trying to keep as calm and relaxed as possible.

Confirmation soon came that the liquid was, in fact, amniotic fluid, and after what seemed like an eternity, it was time to see the consultant obstetrician.

Source: Medical News Today

‘Living my best life’ with sickle cell anemia

 I’ve always been a little obsessed with having a great quality of life. I guess it makes sense considering I was told from a young age that my life expectancy and quality of life would be low.

It also makes sense then, that I’ve always been precious about how I spend my time, especially the older I get. That’s why I gratefully celebrate every single birthday I have, because aging is a privilege that few recognize.

The serious child

The year was 1990, and we were living in Hamburg, Germany. I was only 3 years old then. My parents tell me this part of my story as I don’t really remember any of it.

Apparently, I had an unexplainable, persistent stomach ache. When the doctors eventually came back with a diagnosis, they said, “Your daughter has sickle cell anemia, the most severe form of sickle cell disease.”

My parents were devastated. My mum cried the whole day and night after the diagnosis.

Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, they had only heard and seen nightmare tales of the sufferings and sudden deaths of people with sickle cell anemia (SCA).

Based on what they knew then, my life expectancy was set at 21 years, while my quality of life was expected to be interrupted by frequent hospitalizations, looking malnourished, and being ill all the time.

The diagnosis truly took my parents by surprise, because they never knew they were both carriers of the sickle cell trait until I showed up with the full-blown condition.

SCA is an inherited blood disease that causes red blood cells to be sickle- or crescent-shaped instead of round. These sickle-shaped blood cells do not live as long as healthy cells and can get stuck in blood vessels, leading to chronic anemia and oxygen shortage as the blood flow is obstructed. This obstruction is known as a vaso-occlusive crisis, or pain crisis, and can lead to severe joint pain, vital organ damage, and even death.

Looking back on my childhood in Germany with SCA, all I remember are the rules I had to stick to, to avoid being hospitalized, and being raised to teach others around me about the illness to foster awareness, acceptance, and critical support when needed.

Sorrowful ‘early teens’ into joyful ‘late teens’

I feel like I went through a lot of my early teen years crying. I didn’t have it in me to be rebellious, so I reverted to tears — tears of frustration, tears of isolation, tears of pain.

I was hospitalized more often than my peers because of SCA. I was the only black girl in most of my school environments, desperately trying to fit in. Yet, I wasn’t able or allowed to participate in those status-affirming sleepovers or class trips because of the risk of me getting sick, or worse —wetting my bed because of my required high water intake, was too great.

Thank God, life started improving for me once I overcame the bedwetting, found my tribe of friends, and surrendered to the fact that I wasn’t going to follow fashion and have my midriff on display for multiple reasons.

Being hospitalized wasn’t as depressing anymore, because I had friends to visit me and to look forward to hanging out with when I was discharged.

Then came my A-level years and getting my driver’s license. Those were some of the sweetest years of my life. They combined my love for learning, the freedom from serious responsibilities, and the pleasure of being permitted to drive my mum’s car and stay out until late.

I felt alive. I felt normal. I felt like I finally belonged. And then, my family emigrated to the UK.

Source: Medical News Today

Adjusting to life with a spinal cord injury

 I had just turned 55. I was fit and healthy and happily married. My two fantastic kids were both at university, we’d paid off the mortgage on our house and sold our previous house (with money in the bank to spare), and I’d left my job at eBay and set up my own consultancy.

Just a regular ride

Just 4 days after my 55th birthday, I’d booked a demo on a new mountain bike called the Yeti SB150. I’d been riding mountain bikes for close to 10 years and rode an average of 75–100 kilometers (km) a week, so I was competent but, if I’m honest, nothing special.

I planned to go out for a steady ride to get a feel for the bike before I rode with my friends the next day. To be safe, I put on my full body armor and a full-face helmet before heading out to session my favorite trail.

On the fifth run, I clipped a tree, and my life changed forever.

I remember lying on the ground, thinking, “What? I’ve never crashed on this trail. I love this trail!”

Then, not realizing what had happened, I tried to get up and couldn’t feel my legs. I will never forget that feeling of absolute horror. I knew instantly what I’d done.

It took 6 hours for the ambulance crew to find me in the woods and get me to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where they established how bad the spinal injury was — an unstable fracture at the seventh thoracic vertebra (T7).

I was then transferred to St George’s Hospital in London for emergency surgery to stabilize my spine.

I spent a week in intensive care, which was grim — especially as I was the only person in there not on a ventilator. After another 2 weeks in recovery, I was transferred to Stanmore, a specialist spinal rehab center, where I spent a further 3.5 months learning to live with my injury.

Rehabilitation

To be honest, I was a bit like a rabbit in the headlights at St George’s. Stanmore is where I really had to face the reality of my injury.

The reality was, as I call them, the three horsemen of the apocalypse: paralyzed from the chest down (meaning that I was unable to walk), no sexual function, and doubly incontinent. Just one of those would be bad, but to have all three is frankly horrendous.

But it is what it is, and you just need to accept what’s happened and get on with it. I also realized early on how incredibly hard it is on your family and friends, so I tried to role model the person I’d like them to see. After all, the better you deal with it, the easier it will be for them. Easy to say, but not always easy to do.

To say that the learning curve at Stanmore was steep would be an understatement. Where do I start?

I had to learn to both live in and operate a wheelchair, learning skills such as going over curbs and back wheel balancing, which is pretty scary; self-catheterizing 24 hours a day (I’ll never get used to the 4 a.m. one); managing my own bowels by digital stimulation (I’m not explaining that one here!); and learning to transfer from my wheelchair to my bed or sofa, etc. (initially, I was hoisted).

I also had intensive physio 5 days a week to help keep my body healthy and build my upper body strength.

What I also learned was to be grateful for the things I had rather than be angry about what I’d lost.

There were 25–30 patients at Stanmore, including quite a few with more severe quadriplegic or tetraplegic injuries and some with difficult personal circumstances. I was in awe of the courage they showed.

I can’t imagine what life must be like without the use of your arms, hands, or both or without being surrounded by a loving family and friends. Divorce is not uncommon after a spinal injury.

Stanmore wasn’t without its challenges. For one thing, I really struggled with the transfers. I initially thought it was a strength issue, but I realized — with the help of my psychologist — that my crash had destroyed my self-confidence when it came to taking any physical risks (you use a small wooden board to shuffle from your wheelchair to your bed, and you can fall off).

I got there in the end, mainly due to the help and support of the amazing National Health Service (NHS) medical team around me, to whom I’m eternally grateful.

But after 3.5 months of intensive physio, poor quality sleep, and low budget hospital food, I was done. I needed to get out — ready or not. Luckily I was… just.

But that wasn’t without a few last minute panics, as I needed my new wheelchair and shower chair to be delivered and my care package agreed and in place. Luckily, they were… again, just.

Source: Medical News Today

Why self-love is important and how to cultivate it

 For many people, the concept of self-love might conjure images of tree-hugging hippies or cheesy self-help books. But, as many psychology studies attest, self-love and -compassion are key for mental health and well-being, keeping depression and anxiety at bay. Below, we take a look at some of the things that you can do to nurture this core feeling.

 “Why is self-love important?” you might ask. For many of us, self-love might sound like a luxury rather than a necessity — or a new-age fad for those with too much time on their hands.

Ironically, however, self-care and -compassion might actually be needed most by those of us who work too hard and who are constantly striving to surpass ourselves and grasp the shape-shifting phantasm of perfection.

Most of the time, when we’re being too hard on ourselves, we do it because we’re driven by a desire to excel and do everything right, all the time. This entails a lot of self-criticism, and that persecutory inner voice that constantly tells us how we could’ve done things better is a hallmark of perfectionism.

Studies have shown that perfectionists are at a higher risk of several illnesses, both physical and mental, and that self-compassion might free us from its grip. Therefore, perfectionism and self-compassion are inextricably linked.

This article will look at ways to dial down the former and boost the latter, with the conviction that doing so will help you to lead a happier, more fulfilled life.

The ills of perfectionism

Most of us in the Western world have been raised to believe that perfectionism is a great quality to have. After all, being obsessed with perfect details leads to perfect work, and this personality trait gives us the opportunity to humblebrag during job interviews.

In reality, however, perfectionism is bad for you. Not just “not ideal” or “harmful when excessive,” but actively bad. Like cigarettes or obesity.

A shorter lifespan, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, eating disorders, depression, and suicidal tendencies are only a few of the adverse health effects that have been linked with perfectionism.

Recovering from heart disease or cancer is also harder for perfectionists, with this trait making survivors — as well as the general population — more prone to anxiety and depression.

 Source: Medical News Today