Health Board: Upcoming conferences, talks, campaigns and events

1. About 11,000 children are expected to visit Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Dublin over the Christmas period and Susan O'Sullivan from Cork has made a public call for donations to CMRF Crumlin, which raises funds for Our Lady's and the National Children's Research Centre .

Susan has two daughters – Aoife was born with a serious heart condition and Ciara Jane was born with Down syndrome. Two weeks before Aoife turned one, Susan’s husband passed away.

"When I was pregnant with Aoife we found out she had Shone's Complex, a serious heart condition," says Susan. "To be honest, the journey with my two little angels hasn't been easy. Aoife is so great with her little sister, Ciara Jane, who was born three weeks early with Down syndrome. They're such a team and they really look out for each other. Aoife and Ciara-Jane are my world, they're everything to me. Everything." Donate at cmrf.org/donate.

2. A Dublin dentist has been named 'Colgate Caring Dentist of the Year 2018' for his treatment of a patient who was suffering from depression a lack of self-confidence, due to his appearance after surviving stage 4 advanced cancer.
The judging panel praised Dr Ó'Seachnasaí for his caring, hands-on approach to the treatment, especially "his ability to see the need to care for the patient's entire mental, physical and dental health".

Five tips for people travelling with a food allergy

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More doctors seeking help for mental-health problems

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‘I’m disappointed my daughter didn’t tell me sooner she is gay’

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People who know and love me have never seen me like this before

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In the nomination, the patient recounted how he spent seven months in hospital after his last operation and had said his goodbyes to his wife and four sons, all under the age of 14. “That was the darkest day of my life . . . but by some kind of miracle, my prayers were answered and I started to put on pounds and my body started to heal.” While he was delighted to eventually get home he faced other serious challenges. At this stage his teeth had nearly all fallen out and as a result he didn’t want to talk to people and began to isolate himself.

“Throughout my treatment Sean reassured me and gave me a wonderful feeling of self-confidence that I had lost long ago . . . by talking, treating and understanding I gradually started to feel really good in myself and stand tall. There was not one time throughout my treatment I came home depressed, in pain or lacking confidence. I had a good smile, a new life and outlook thanks to Sean. Sometimes in life you do get a second chance.”

Winners
Overall and Dublin Regional Winner - Dr Seán Ó'Seachnasaí, SOS Dental, Raheny, Dublin 5. Rest of Leinster Regional Winner – Dr Lisa Lucey, Lucey Dental Services, Greystones, Co Wicklow. Munster Winner – Dr Cristina Barba Rabadan, Smiles Dental, Limerick. Ulster Winner – Dr Joanne McGarrity, McGarrity Dental Practice, Cavan. Connacht Winner – Dr James Flood, Eyre Square Dental Clinic, Galway. Dental Team of the Year Winner – Ballyjamesduff Dental, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.

3. The co-author of new research into alcohol consumption in cold weather has called for a reduction of advertisement for alcohol over the Christmas period. The study, published in the Hepatology journal, found that as temperature and sunlight hours dropped, alcohol consumption increased. Climate factors also were linked to binge drinking and the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease which is one of the main causes of mortality in patients with prolonged excessive alcohol use. Study co-author Dr Peter McCann says, "We now have new evidence that the weather, and in particular the temperature and amount of sunlight that we are exposed to, has a strong influence on how much alcohol we consume. Alcohol is a vasodilator – it increases the flow of warm blood to the skin, which is full of temperature sensors – so drinking can increase feelings of warmth."

3. Journalist Laura Kennedy – whose mother died three years ago – is urging people to support those facing bereavement across Ireland this Christmas by donating to the Irish Hospice Foundation's (IHF) Never Forgotten Appeal. "After my mother died in November 2015, I hardly knew who I was. As I began the process of grieving, the shape of my life without her would come to me in realisations that felt like an angry punch to the gut. Those punches still come, three years later. For me, my mother is still Christmas – I make the food she made, I tell stories about her, I remember her. I adapt, because I must. She is gone, but not completely, because my brother and I are still here."

The IHF provides education and advocacy programmes and campaigns for the best end-of-life and bereavement care for all. Each donation allows people to compose a personal message in memory of those they love who have died which is then handwritten into the 2019 Book of Remembrance. See also neverforgotten.ie

4. Members of the public are being invited to attend a free information seminar focusing on clinical trials and the participation process. The AWARE for All event, which is being organised by the Centre for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP), will take place in the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute at St James's Hospital on Wednesday, December 5th, from 5pm to 8pm.

5. The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) joins other regulators around the world to highlight the importance of patients reporting suspected side-effects. This year, they are placing particular emphasis on the safe use of medicines for babies and children, and those taken during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Potential side-effects range from a headache or stomach ache, to flu-like symptoms or just "feeling a bit off", and reporting these can help medicines regulators monitor the safe use medicines on the market and help researchers to identify safety signals and take action as appropriate to prevent future harm. Patients can report side-effects on the HPRA's online form. See hpra.ie