How loneliness can impact your physical health

The UK is in the midst of a loneliness epidemic.

Recent research from the Office for National Statistics has revealed a staggering 10 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds regularly feel lonely – three times the amount of Brits over 64.

Health professionals have even called for loneliness to be deemed a public health hazard as further studies have deemed it more dangerous than smoking and obesity on your health.

New research from Kings College London has looked at the detrimental effects of loneliness in young people and has found that not only can it impact your mental wellbeing, but your physical wellbeing too.

Published in Psychological Medicine, the paper “Lonely young adults in modern Britain: findings from an epidemiological cohort study” asked over 2,000 18 year olds about how lonely they feel and the impact this has on their lives.

The researchers found links between the loneliest respondents and physical health, with these participants less likely to be physically active, more likely to smoke and more likely to use technology compulsively – even favouring technology over other activities and obligations.

These respondents were also twice as likely to have anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.

Studies like these are just touching the surface on the enormity of the UK’s loneliness epidemic. There’s a high chance people you know might be feeling this way, so make sure you check in with your loved ones, especially the young people in your life, to see if they need someone to talk to

What to do after a dementia diagnosis

Free guide to download – what to do after a dementia diagnosis helps you to understand clearly how to move on with life after this news…

There is no right or wrong reaction to a diagnosis of dementia. Your loved one is likely to experience a wide range of emotions.

This may vary from relief that there’s an explanation for what is happening to them to shock, fear, shame, despair, guilt, denial and anger. This will differ from one person to another. One individual may feel overwhelmed by their emotions; another face them calmly and as confirmation of what they already suspected. Still, others may undergo a crisis.
All these reactions are normal and part of the process of coming to terms with the situation and learning to cope. The diagnosis will also affect you, other family members, friends and any employer.

Free guide: What to do after a dementia diagnosis
Robin Dynes, an expert dementia author has written a guide on ‘What to do after a dementia diagnosis’. The guide includes:

– Immediately after diagnosis
– Learn about the condition
– Planning ahead
– Supporting your partner/parent/friend
– Dealing with your own emotions
– Tips to help improve communication
– Practical day-to-day tips
– Organisations and sources of useful information

We hope that you find this guide of help during this time Click here to download your FREE guide: What to do after a dementia diagnosis – https://www.carewatch.co.uk/media/10953234/carewatch-dementia-guide-what-to-do-after-a-dementia-diagnosis.pdf

Leymar Healthcare provide Homecare Services in Ashfield and 24 Hour Live in Care in the UK to vulnerable adults in their community. Please contact our office on 01623 360 193 or email us at info@leymarltd.co.uk.

Care for Carers

Being a carer requires a lot of physical and emotional energy. Here we have put together some coping techniques…

Working in care requires a lot of physical and emotional energy, not to mention unwavering patience and compassion. As rewarding as it is, care work can be incredibly draining and at times quite stressful. Like anyone else, carers need enough rest and recovery to be able to do their job well – physically, mentally and emotionally. Here are a few simple tools to aid carers in maintaining their own health and wellbeing, both at home and on the job.

Deep Breathing
Controlled breathing has been used to relieve stress and anxiety, and to encourage relaxation and clarity, for thousands of years. Just the simple act of bringing awareness to your breath can instantly calm and reassure. There are many different breathing techniques but generally speaking, the deeper and slower the breath, the more relaxed you will feel. Try counting in and out, gradually increasing the length of breath. This can prove particularly useful in stressful situations, or before going to bed.

Eating Properly
In order to function properly, our bodies and minds need to be fed, watered and rested. This can sometimes be a struggle for shift workers whose routines are inconsistent, and mealtimes and sleep disrupted. But neglecting our most basic needs can result in stress, exhaustion and poor health.

Drinking plenty of water and eating the right foods will go a long way to giving the body what it needs to keep going. Slow release energy foods are ideal for physically demanding jobs with infrequent breaks. Try to stay away from refined sugar hits and too much caffeine. As tempting as they are, their ups are short-lived and not good for your body, and you find yourself needing more and more.

Sleeping Properly
While many of us are not able to get a solid 8 hours of sleep each night, there are plenty of ways to improve the quality of the sleep you do get. If you are feeling at all stressed or anxious then sleep may not come too easily. Try to wind down before going to bed so you are not lying awake with a busy mind.

Warm baths are a great means of relaxation, as is listening to music and deep breathing. If you are working night shifts then use blackouts or an eye mask to allow you to sleep in darkness during the day.

Exercise
Exercising your body, outside of work, has many benefits. Exercise is a proven stress reliever and will improve all aspects of the body’s functioning – including sleep and vitality. It also comes in many forms, be it group classes or solo workouts, indoors or outdoors. Whatever you choose to do, make sure it is something you enjoy and not just an extra stress. Swimming and yoga are ideal for the evening so you can stretch your muscles and calm your nervous system.

Leisure Time
We all deserve some time out from our work and carers often end up neglecting themselves in favour of others. When your shift is over, try not to take all the stresses and worries of work home with you. This is your time now, so use it wisely. You will no doubt have your own list of jobs to do, but make sure that you are able to take a moment for yourself – even just sitting with a cup of tea for 10 minutes, before doing any chores. Get changed out of your uniform as soon as you are home too. This will help to separate work from leisure.

Support
When it all gets too much, it is important that you seek help and advice instead of going it alone. There are many support systems available to all carers, both professional and voluntary. If your health and wellbeing is suffering, talk to your GP. Friends and family may not always be able to understand your work, which is why there are various groups that enable carers to get together.

Breakthrough; A Migraine Drug that works – Trial Finds

A new migraine treatment, the first for 20 years, could halve the number of debilitating attacks suffered by patients who have exhausted all other treatments.

Last year a major clinical trial showed weekly injections of the drug, Erenumab, resulted in sufferers having three to four fewer “migraine days” per month.

The latest study looked at patients who were the most difficult to treat and have tried as many as four different types of preventative treatments to control their attacks.

Participants had nine migraines a month, on average, but after receiving the drug more than a third saw this number fall by half.

The drug works by targeting and blocking a pain-signalling molecule in the brain called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).

The success of Erenumab, one of the first therapies designed to tackle migraines rather than being repurposed from an existing treatment, could be a lifeline for the 8.5 million migraine sufferers in the UK in future.

An estimated 200,000 people a day experience the neurological attacks, which can cause blinding headaches, nausea and even visual hallucinations, and cost the UK economy £2bn a year through absences.

“The people we included in our study were considered more difficult to treat, meaning that up to four other preventative treatments hadn’t worked for them,” said the trial leader Dr Uwe Reuter, from Charite-University Medicine Berlin in Germany.

“Our study found that erenumab reduced the average number of monthly migraine headaches by more than 50 per cent for nearly a third of study participants.

“That reduction in migraine headache frequency can greatly improve a person’s quality of life.”

Episodic migraine sufferers can experience as many as 14 attacks a month lasting from four hours to three days.

For the Phase III trial, 246 migraine sufferers were given injections of Erenumab or a dummy placebo drug once a month for three months.

Of the participants, 39 per cent had been treated unsuccessfully with two other medications, 38 per cent with three medications and 23 per cent with four medications.

The findings, presented on Tuesday at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting 2018, were only from a three month trial but add to evidence that the drug can help patients without other options.

This could help make the case for it one day being funded on the NHS, however erenumab, marketed by the global drug company Novartis under the brand name Aimovig, is not yet licensed for use in the UK.

Dr Mark Toms, chief scientific officer at Novartis UK, said: “There has been no real advancement in migraine treatment for the past 20 years and we’re proud to be breaking new ground in neurology for the millions of people in the UK living with the painful and disruptive symptoms of migraine.

“Whilst these data further reinforce Erenumab’s efficacy and safety profile it also highlights the clear unmet need that exists for targeted migraine prophylactic treatment and we are committed to working closely with the relevant regulatory bodies to make Erenumab available to those that need it as soon as possible.”