Health Briefing

A round-up of today's health news in brief

Weight Watchers tie-up with McDonald's panned

ONE OF Ireland’s foremost experts on obesity has dismissed McDonald’s involvement with Weight Watchers as a “marketing ploy”. McDonald’s, which announced a major expansion in Ireland last week, and Weight Watchers have been criticised for the tie-up.

It will see three meals – the fillet-o-fish, the chicken nuggets and the sweet chilli seared chicken wrap meals – being approved by Weight Watchers so long as salad is substituted for chips and the drinks involved are diet drinks. The three meals would account for 6.5 points each on the Weight Watchers points programme. The deal is initially with New Zealand Weight Watchers but has attracted worldwide attention.

Dr Donal O’Shea, a consultant endocrinologist and director of the Weight Management Clinic at St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, said he would be convinced of the sincerity of McDonald’s if they published the calorie counts for all their meals.

“People understand the Weight Watchers system. A Big Mac super-sized meal [not available in Ireland] will give you 10 points in one day. You can have your entire allocation of calories in one sitting at McDonald’s,” he said.

“The fact that they would be displaying their healthy options and not their unhealthier options means it is clearly an advertising hook as opposed to an attempt to make people eat healthier.”

Dr O’Shea said he was fearful in the recession that McDonald’s strategy of making high-fat, high-salt foods available at a cheap price was winning out against more healthy options.

Hundreds gather for bowls contest

MORE THAN 400 older people will compete this week in Ireland’s first national indoor bowls tournament for the active retired in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

All competitors are aged over 55, with most well into their 70s. Competitors will play up to 10 games each in teams of four over the course of the week. The National Bowls Tournament is one of a series of activities planned by Active Retirement Ireland this year as part of a drive to promote healthy living in older age.

Women who enjoy a little tipple more likely to be slim

WOMEN WHO drink in moderation are more likely to stay slim as they age, according to new research.

The study, in the US, looked at 19,000 women from the age of 39 whose body mass index (BMI) was in the “normal” range.

Over an average period of 13 years, the women taking part in the study tended to gain weight progressively.

A total of 41.3 per cent of the women who initially had normal BMIs became overweight or obese. Of these, 3.8 per cent gained BMI readings of 30 or higher, placing them in the obese category.

About 38 per cent of the women reported drinking no alcohol. Almost 33 per cent drank less than 5g, 20 per cent drank 5-15g, 5.9 per cent drank 15-30g and 3 per cent drank 30g or more. One standard-sized five ounce glass of wine typically holds about 13g of alcohol, and each gramme of alcohol contains about seven calories.

The scientists found that women who drank no alcohol at all put on more weight than moderate drinkers.

As alcohol intake increased from zero, weight gain decreased. Women who consumed some but less than 40g of alcohol a day were not as likely to become overweight or obese than those who were teetotal.

Participants filled out a questionnaire detailing how many alcoholic drinks they typically consumed per day.

The best result was seen in women who drank between 15-30g of alcohol a day. Their risk of being overweight was almost 30 per cent lower than that of non-drinkers. The study, led by Dr Lu Wang from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, was reported in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Patient in 3-way kidney transplant meets donor

A KIDNEY patient involved in an “extremely rare” three-way transplant swap in Britain yesterday met his donor for the first time.

Tim Thakrar (32) from St Alban’s, Hertfordshire, said it felt “great” to come off dialysis after receiving a kidney from Lisa Burton, 45, of Hastings, East Sussex.

He and Ms Burton met each other for the first time on a TV programme to talk about their part in the swap involving two married couples and a brother and sister.

Each donor had not been a match for their loved ones but was prepared to offer a kidney to a stranger in return for one for their spouse or relative.

“I feel fantastic after the kidney transplant, it is great that it has finally happened for me,” Mr Thakrar told BBC Breakfast.

Under the arrangement, a kidney from Andrew Mullen (53), from Aberdeen, was flown from Edinburgh to London for transplant into Chris Brent (42), Ms Burton’s brother. Ms Burton in turn donated a kidney to Mr Thakrar, whose wife, Lynsey, then donated a kidney to Mr Mullen’s wife, 54-year-old Andrea.

“I just felt I really had to do something to help him, I really wanted to,” Ms Burton said, speaking about her brother’s condition. She said donating the kidney had been a “real feel-good factor”.

Mr Brent said the operation meant he could now “live life” rather than just “exist”.

All the group underwent the operations in three different hospitals on the same day in December.

Vicki Chapman, of the Human Tissue Authority, said over the past three years it had authorised 22 swaps involving two couples. She said two three-way swaps had now taken place.

Magnetic device may help migraine sufferers

A DEVICE that emits magnetic pulses may reduce pain for some migraine sufferers, according to new research.

Tests conducted found that 40 per cent of patients were pain free two hours after using the hand-held device.

The device works by delivering a pulse to the back of the head. It can work for those who get an early warning of a migraine in the form of an aura.

An aura can include experiencing bright lights, a ringing sound in the ears, numbness or tingling in any part of the body.

However, doctors say more research is needed to work out the timing of the doses.

Previous trials have involved only large, expensive devices which have to be used in a clinic.

The hand-held device emits a single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS), thought to disrupt the electrical events in the brain which cause the preliminary symptoms of migraines with aura.

Doctors now believe that migraine preceded by an aura is caused by electrical charges moving across brain cells.

The charge excites the cells and is followed by a “cortical spreading depression”.

Doctors think this may be what causes the pain of migraine.

They are now testing treatments to disrupt this wave of electrical charges in the hope this may calm or prevent pain.

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York carried out the trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of the device.

The study was published in The Lancet.

Early eye tests key to catch glaucoma

EYE HEALTH groups have predicted an increase in the incidence of the condition glaucoma as the population ages. Studies have shown that glaucoma is becoming more common in older people and, with the number of those aged over 65 in Ireland predicted to increase by almost two-fifths by 2016, these groups say it’s vital the disease is caught early.

World Glaucoma Week runs until March 13th and aims to highlight the importance of regular eye exams and the growing impact of glaucoma on society.