Published2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterTai chi may help slow down the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease for several years, a Chinese study suggests. Those who practised the martial art twice a week had fewer complications and better quality of life than those who didn’t, the researchers say.Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disease which leads to tremors and slow movement, and there is no cure.Experts say the findings back up previous studies on the benefits of exercise for those with Parkinson’s.The study, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, monitored the health of hundreds of Parkinson’s patients for up to five years.One group of 147 people practised regular tai chi while another group of 187 did not.The traditional Chinese exercise combines slow, gentle movements with deep breathing and relaxation.The charity Parkinson’s UK describes tai chi as a low-intensity physical activity that can “help to lift your mood and help you live well”.The researchers found that the disease progressed more slowly in the tai chi group on measurements of symptoms, movement and balance.This group also saw fewer falls, less back pain and dizziness, with memory and concentration problems also lower than in the other group.At the same time, sleep and quality of life continuously improved. Tai chi moves for beginnersDo it yourself – Carrying the moon:Breathe in, turn your body towards the left from the waist Your shoulders are relaxed and your elbows slightly bent Now reach both arms towards the left with your head focusing on your handsBreathe out, bring hands down. Turn to right and repeatDo it yourself – Twisting waist and push palms:Breathe in, draw palms to the waist facing upwards Breathe out, turn your body to the left at the waist. Keep the left elbow and wrist slightly bent and draw the elbow back At the same time, extend the right arm forward and push with the right palm facing forward (as if you are trying to stop traffic)Breathe in, return to the middle and spread your weight evenly before turning to the right, drawing your right arm back and extending your left arm with your palm facing forward.A previous trial of people with Parkinson’s who practised tai chi for six months found greater improvements in walking, posture and balance than those not on the programme.Writing in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, Dr Gen Li and co-authors say their study shows “that tai chi retains the long-term beneficial effect on Parkinson’s disease”.They say tai chi could be used to manage Parkinson’s on a long-term basis and prolong quality of life, while still helping to keep patients active.But they also acknowledge that the study is relatively small and could not prove that tai chi was the reason for the positive outcomes experienced by one group.’Positive effects’Prof K Ray Chaudhuri, professor of movement disorders and neurology at King’s College London, said: “It is too early to claim any neuroprotection based on this study, although the positive effects on aspects of motor and non-motor functions are impressive.”He said ballet had also been found to have similar effects on Parkinson’s.Prof Alastair Noyce, professor in neurology and neuroepidemiology at Queen Mary University of London, called it “an important study” but said there were limitations in its design, and more trials were needed.”We already recommend tai chi, as well as other forms of exercise, but understanding which forms of exercise are most beneficial is an important goal to enhance the long-term management of patients,” he said.Related Internet LinksParkinson’s disease – NHSTai chi and qigong for Parkinson’s – Parkinson’s UKTai chi and Parkinson’s – video from Parkinson’s UKPhysical activity and exercise – Parkinson’s UKThe Tai Chi & Qigong Union for Great BritainThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published35 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterA study of former rugby players’ brains has found that those who played for longer were more likely to develop a degenerative brain disease.Out of 31 donated brains analysed, 21 had evidence of a condition linked to repeated head injuries and concussion.Nearly two-thirds of those affected by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) played at amateur level.The researchers say their findings back up calls to reduce head impacts in all sports. CTE is a brain condition thought to be caused by repeated head injuries and blows to the head. It slowly gets worse over time and leads to dementia.People who regularly play contact sports such as football, boxing, rugby and American football have a higher chance of developing it, post-mortem studies have shown.More than 300 former football, rugby league and rugby union players in the UK are taking legal action over brain injuries they claim they suffered during their careers.Shaking and twistingIn this study, led by the University of Glasgow, scientists analysed the brains of 23 amateur and eight professional rugby players which had been donated for medical research.With an average playing career of 18 years, 68% of the brains had traces of the brain condition CTE.Thirteen of the affected brains belonged to club players, not professionals.And the study calculated that with each extra year of rugby played, there was a 14% increase in the risk of developing CTE.”It’s the shaking and twisting and rotating of the head thousands of times over decades that’s likely to cause deep damage in the brain,” says Prof Willie Stewart, lead study author from the University of Glasgow.He compares a head impact in rugby to “a spinning bowl of porridge” where the brain is the wobbly porridge in the middle.World Rugby recently said that elite women would wear smart mouthguards, which can measure head movements, in an effort to manage concussion from January 2024.Prof Stewart said reducing head impacts in rugby games and in training was what was needed, but the sport was currently not doing enough to address the problem.The ex-players’ brains in the study were donated to three brain banks – in Glasgow, at the Australian Sports Brain Bank in Sydney and at the Boston University School of Medicine.With an average age of 60 when they died, most of the former players in the study played rugby before it became professional in 1995.More on this storyBrain disease found in female athlete for first timePublished4 JulyBrain injury legal claims group grows to 378 ex-playersPublished4 April’I feel like a phoney’ – Thompson on dementiaPublished5 October 2022New research finds link between head impacts & CTEPublished27 July 2022Players suing governing bodies over brain damagePublished25 July 2022Heading ban for under-12s to be trialled by FAPublished18 July 2022

Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterMillions of people wrongly believe they are allergic to penicillin, which could mean they take longer to recover after an infection, pharmacists say.About four million people in the UK have the drug allergy on their medical record – but when tested, 90% of them are not allergic, research suggests.The Royal Pharmaceutical Society says many people confuse antibiotic side-effects with an allergic reaction.Common allergic symptoms include itchy skin, a raised rash and swelling.Nausea, breathlessness, coughing, diarrhoea and a runny nose are some of the others.But antibiotics, which treat bacterial infections, can themselves cause nausea or diarrhoea and the underlying infection can also lead to a rash.And this means people often mistakenly believe they are allergic to penicillin, which is in many good, common antibiotics.These are used to treat chest, skin and urinary tract infections – but if people are labelled allergic, they are given second-choice antibiotics, which can be less effective.’Low risk’Research has previously found there were six extra deaths per 1,000 patients in the year after they received a non-penicillin antibiotic to treat an infection.Tase Oputu, from the RPS, said: “Many individuals are at low or very low risk of having a genuine penicillin allergy and we often find that after careful investigation that they can take penicillin safely.” She urged anyone in that position to ask questions about their allergy label from their pharmacist next time they visited their GP.A childhood allergy or one reported many years ago can also settle down and no longer be an issue.Mild to moderate allergic reactions can usually be treated with antihistamines, but more severe reactions can be life-threatening. Signs of a reaction include:a raised, itchy skin rash (urticaria, or hives)coughingwheezing and tightness of the throat, which can cause breathing difficulties – call 999 if the person is struggling to breatheCommon side-effects of antibiotics can include: nauseabloating and indigestiondiarrhoea Anyone who has had a severe reaction in the past would need allergy testing and may be told never to take penicillin, Ms Oputu added.The charity Allergy UK said many people had a label of penicillin allergy from early childhood that could be carried with them for the rest of their life without ever being investigated.”There is now a national effort to look into this and the best way to approach it,” clinical-services head Amena Warner said.There are long waiting times to see a specialist allergist for a definitive test.But experts say there are other ways to remove a penicillin-allergy label – compiling a detailed history of symptoms is the main method. This can be given to a healthcare specialist as part of a consultation.Related Internet LinksAntibiotics – NHSAllergies – NHSRoyal Pharmaceutical Society – RPSThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published13 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterA new Covid variant is spreading in England and has led to an outbreak at a care home in Norfolk, UK health officials say.There have been 34 confirmed cases of BA.2.86, with 28 of those at the care home. There have been no deaths.It is too early to draw conclusions on whether it is more serious than past variants, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.People eligible for a booster jab this autumn are encouraged to come forward.The government recently announced that the vaccine rollout would be earlier than planned because of the new variant. It will start next week.Who can get another Covid jab this autumn?The UK Health Security Agency’s latest briefing on Covid includes an analysis on BA.2.86, an Omicron spin-off.It says out of the 34 cases confirmed through sequencing in a lab, five people have needed hospital treatment.Norfolk County Council has been offering infection advice and support to the care home where there was an outbreak.Staff and residents were asked to have tests when an unusually high number of people became unwell, health officials say.Lab analysis found that BA.2.86 was confirmed in the majority of samples from those tests, they confirmed.This variant has been detected in a number of countries around the world. Dr Renu Bindra, incident director at UKHSA, said BA.2.86 had a significant number of mutations to the viral genome compared to other Covid variants circulating at the moment.But she added: “The data so far is too limited to draw firm conclusions about the impact this will have on the transmissibility, severity or immune escape properties of the virus.”Dr Bindra said it was likely to be some time before a confident assessment on that could be made.”It is clear that there is some degree of widespread community transmission, both in the UK and globally, and we are working to ascertain the full extent of this,” she said.Changing dates criticisedThe Department of Health and Social Care has been criticised for changing its mind on the start date of the autumn Covid and flu vaccine programme.It usually begins in early September, but was pushed back to October to increase protection in December and January when flu and Covid are more likely to cause problems.The timing has now changed again, to 11 September, because of concerns over the new variant.Pharmacists said last week that they had been left with very little time to prepare for the rollout of Covid and flu vaccines.People who are eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine include:residents in a care home for older adultsall adults aged 65 years and overanyone aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk groupfront-line health and social care workersanyone aged 12 to 64 years who lives in the same house as people with weakened immune systemsMore on this storyWho can get another Covid jab this autumn?Published2 days agoCovid and flu winter jabs to be brought forwardPublished30 AugustWhat did the government do about Covid and care homes?Published1 March

Published1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Deborah ChalkBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterTwo hundred women in the UK who claim they were left in pain after having a permanent contraception device fitted, can now take group legal action through the courts, against its manufacturer.The Essure coil “has caused irreparable damage physically and mentally”, the women’s lawyers say.German maker Bayer says it will defend itself vigorously against the claims.Essure was withdrawn from sale in 2017 but the UK medicines regulator says there is no risk to safety.Lawyers in England began legal action in 2020 and now have permission to bring a group claim on behalf of 200 women.Other women wishing to join the group action have until 2024 to do so.Heavy bleedingThe Essure device is a small metal coil inserted into a woman’s fallopian tubes. Scar tissue forms around the coil, creating a barrier that blocks the tubes and keeps sperm from reaching the eggs.Launched in 2002, the device was marketed as a simpler alternative to sterilisation by surgery.But some women say they suffered constant pain and complications afterwards, including heavy bleeding, with some ending up having hysterectomies or the device removed altogether.’Mood changes’Deborah Chalk, 39, had the device fitted following the birth of her third child, after talking to her GP, but soon started having all kinds of issues.”I began to suffer with headaches, abdominal pain, heavy bleeding, rashes, extreme itching and mood changes, to name a few,” she says.”The Christmas after the device was inserted, I woke up and my face had gone numb, which led to neurologists believing I had multiple sclerosis.”The symptoms began to affect her daily life – but doctors put the symptoms down to her Crohn’s disease. “It was only when I had a CT [computed tomography] scan and the doctor mentioned in passing that the device was in place that it dawned on me that it could also be the root of my issues,” Deborah says.She had it removed privately, as part of a hysterectomy, and felt “immediate relief”.”I was sat up laughing and smiling – something I hadn’t done in a while,” Deborah says. “My mood just shifted and I have had no issues since.”‘Benefit-risk profile’A company official said: “Bayer’s highest priority is the safety profile and effectiveness of our products and we have great sympathy for anyone who has experienced health problems while using any of our products, regardless of cause. “The company stands by the safety profile and efficacy of Essure and will continue to defend itself from these claims vigorously.”Bayer said the device had been tested in 10 clinical trials and more than 70 real-world observational studies involving thousands of women.”While all birth-control products and procedures have risks, the totality of scientific evidence on Essure demonstrates that the benefit-risk profile is positive,” it said. The claimants would still have to prove the merits of their alleged claims, the company added.’Unnecessary pain’Lisa Lunt, who represents the 200 women and is head of medical-product claims at law firm Pogust Goodhead, said: “Thousands of women have been fitted with the Essure device, around the world, and sadly many of them have suffered adverse effects from this product.”And she hoped that “Bayer agrees to compensate our clients for all of their unnecessary pain and suffering”.The pharmaceutical company is facing legal action around the world in relation to the device.It has paid out more than $1.6bn (£1.3bn) in the United States, to resolve claims from nearly 39,000 women, but admits no wrongdoing or liability.The US Food and Drug Administration says women successfully using the device “can and should continue to do so”.If you have you used the Essure coil how have you been affected? Tell us your story by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSayOr fill out the form belowPlease read our terms & conditions and privacy policy

If you are reading this page and can’t see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. More on this storyWomen take sterilising-device legal actionPublished15 November 2020Sterilisation implant withdrawnPublished20 September 2017Essure study finds safety concernsPublished14 October 2015

Published2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Steve FischBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterScientists have developed a device that can translate paralysed people’s brain signals into words at faster speeds than before, it has been reported in two papers in the journal Nature.Pat Bennett, 68, who has motor-neurone disease (MND), tested the technology and said it could help her stay connected to the world.Implants in her brain decode the words she wants to say.The US researchers now want to improve their technology further.Their ultimate aim is for people who can no longer talk, because of strokes, brain diseases or paralysis, to be able to communicate their thoughts in real time.’Good guess’Ms Bennett used to ride horses and jog every day before being diagnosed, in 2012, with a disease that attacks areas of the brain that control movement, causing eventual paralysis. Her speech was the first thing affected.For the Stanford University research, a surgeon implanted four sensors the size of pills into Ms Bennett’s brain, in areas key to producing speech.When she tells her lips, tongue and jaw to make sounds to form words, an algorithm decodes information coming out of her brain.”This system is trained to know what words should come before other ones, and which phonemes make what words,” said Dr Frank Willett, co-study author.”If some were wrongly interpreted, it can still take a good guess.”Image source, Noah BergerAfter four months of training the software to interpret Ms Bennett’s speech, her brain activity was being translated into words on a screen at 62 words per minute, about three times the speed of previous technology.Normal conversations are about 160 words per minute, the researchers say, but they are yet to produce a device people can use in everyday life.One in 10 words was wrong in a vocabulary of 50 words and there were errors in a quarter of Ms Bennett’s 125,000-word vocabulary.”But it’s a big advance toward restoring rapid communication to people with paralysis who can’t speak,” Dr Willett said.And Ms Bennett said it meant “they can perhaps continue to work, maintain friends and family relationships”.’Normal conversations’In another study, from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), Ann, who has severe paralysis following a stroke, was able to speak through a digital avatar, complete with her own facial expressions. Scientists decoded signals from more than 250 paper-thin electrodes implanted on the surface of Ann’s brain and used an algorithm to recreate her voice, based on a recording of her speaking at her wedding.The system reached nearly 80 words per minute and made fewer mistakes than previous methods, with a larger vocabulary.”It’s what gives a user the potential, in time, to communicate almost as fast as we do and to have much more naturalistic and normal conversations,” researcher Sean Metzger, who helped develop the technology, said.Study author Dr Edward Chang was “thrilled” to see the success of the brain interface in real time.Improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) had been “really key”, he said, and there were now plans to look at turning the technology into a medical device.Current technology allows some people with MND to bank their voice before it’s lost, and then use their eyes to select the words or letters they want to say on a screen, but it can be time-consuming.The charity MND Association says it’s “excited” about the potential of the new research, although they caution it’s at a very early stage. Related Internet LinksMND Association – Fighting motor neurone diseaseDedicated to Finding a Cure for ALS – The ALS AssociationAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – Johns Hopkins MedicineThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterA new approach to diagnosing illnesses in children could help doctors choose the right treatment in double-quick time, say the researchers behind it.Working out what is causing a fever – a virus, bacterial infection or something else – is often difficult and tests can take days or weeks to come back.The Imperial College London team says looking at gene patterns in someone’s blood could speed up diagnosis.Development of the test is still at an early stage.But if trials are successful and the approach is approved the blood test could reduce the overuse of antibiotics, which are often prescribed to unwell children even though they only treat bacterial infections, not viruses.This contributes to the problem of antimicrobial resistance, when drugs no longer treat infections they were designed to combat.Finding patternsRecent research on children in hospital with a fever in nine European countries found that 75% did not get a diagnosis.Co-author of the study Dr Myrsini Kaforou, senior lecturer at Imperial College London, said finding out the underlying cause of fever can be the “biggest challenge” even with the best tests available.And they can take anything from several hours to weeks to provide a result.That means there can be delays diagnosing potentially life-threatening infections and diseases, such as sepsis, tuberculosis and pneumonia, and giving patients the right treatment quickly.In this study, published in the journal Cell Press Med, researchers used a different approach to diagnosing illness.Analysing data from thousands of patients, including 1,000 children, with 18 infectious or inflammatory diseases, they were able to identify which key genes were switched on and off in response to a range of illnesses.Some of the diseases analysed included flu, malaria, E.coli, meningitis and arthritis.Because the human body needs the same set of genes to fight off diseases, researchers could use that as a basis to test for them.These “molecular signatures” of disease were then tested in a group of more than 400 child patients, admitted to hospital with sepsis or severe infections, and compared with current gold standard testing methods.’Holy grail’The study suggests the new approach is more than 90% accurate but the research team emphasises there is still much work to be done before a test can be used in practice.”A future diagnostic test based on this approach could help provide the right treatment, to the right patient, at the right time, while optimising antibiotic use and reducing lengthy time to diagnosis for inflammatory diseases,” said Dr Kaforou, senior lecturer at Imperial College London.The new approach “could be transformative for healthcare”, said Prof Michael Levin, study co-author and chair in paediatrics at Imperial.It is now being trialled in thousands of patients in hospitals in Europe, Africa and Asia. The researchers say the trials will help them discover how much it could improve decisions made in clinics.Prof Damian Roland, emergency children’s doctor from University Hospitals of Leicester, said being able to promptly diagnose the underlying reason for a child’s fever or illness was “a holy grail”.He said the research “opens up a gateway to a new model of care” but he cautioned it was still in its early stages. “Further research in avoiding any unintended consequences of early diagnosis will be vital to maximise the impact of this new innovation,” the professor said.

Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterSmall differences in sleeping habits between work and rest days could lead to unhealthy changes to the bacteria in our guts, a study suggests.This may be partly a result of people with “social jetlag” having slightly poorer diets, the researchers found.Heavily-disrupted sleep, particularly shift work, is known to have a negative impact on health.Keeping bed times and wake times consistent and eating healthily may help reduce our risk of disease.The study of nearly 1,000 adults by Kings College London scientists found that even a 90-minute difference in the midpoint of your night’s sleep over the course of a normal week could influence the types of bacteria found in the human gut.Having a wide range of different species of bacteria in your digestive system is really important. Some are better than others, but getting the right mix is key to preventing a number of diseases.Gut instinct: Why I put my poo in the postHow bacteria are changing your mood”[Social jetlag] can encourage microbiota species which have unfavourable associations with your health,” said Kate Bermingham, study author and senior nutrition scientist at health science company Zoe.Going to sleep and waking up at very different times during the week, compared to the weekend, is known as having social jetlag.It is thought to affect more than 40% of the UK population, the study says, and is most common in teenagers and young adults, then tapers off as we age.Participants in this study, in the European Journal of Nutrition, had their sleep and blood analysed, stool samples collected and recorded everything they ate in a food questionnaire. Those who had social jetlag (16%) were more likely to eat a diet laden with potatoes, including crisps and chips, plus sugary drinks, and less fruit and nuts.Previous research showed people with social jetlag ate less fibre than those with more consistent sleeping times. Other studies found social jetlag was linked to weight gain, illness and mental fatigue.”Poor quality sleep impacts choices – and people crave higher carb or sugary foods,” says Dr Bermingham.An unhealthy diet can then affect levels of specific bacteria in the gut. The researchers found that three out of the six microbiota species which were more plentiful in the social jetlag group are linked to poor diet quality, obesity and higher levels of inflammation and stroke risk. The relationship between sleep, diet and gut bacteria is complicated and there is still a lot more to find out.In the meantime, the advice from experts is to keep things consistent, if you can, over the course of a week.”Maintaining regular sleep patterns, so when we go to bed and when we wake each day, is an easily adjustable lifestyle behaviour we can all do, that may impact your health via your gut microbiome for the better,” says Dr Sarah Berry, from King’s College London.What is a healthy diet?The NHS website recommends you try to:eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every daybase meals on higher fibre starchy foods like potatoes, bread, rice or pastahave some dairy or dairy alternatives, and go for lower-fat or lower-sugar where possibleeat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteinchoose unsaturated oils and spreads, and eat them in small amountsdrink plenty of fluids (at least six to eight glasses a day)More on this storyMore than half your body is not humanPublished10 April 2018Gut instinct: Why I put my poo in the postPublished14 April 2018How bacteria are changing your moodPublished24 April 2018Around the BBCHow quickly can you improve your gut bacteria? BBC FoodWhy a workout is good for your gut bacteria – BBC Future

Published12 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterStrength-training exercises such as wall squats or holding the plank position are among the best ways to lower blood pressure, a study suggests.Current guidance focusing mainly on walking, running and cycling should be updated, the UK researchers say.Analysis, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, of trials involving 16,000 people found all exercise lowered high blood pressure.But wall squats and planking led to larger falls than aerobic exercise.These isometric exercises are designed to build strength without moving muscles or joints.The plank position, which resembles a press-up, with elbows directly beneath shoulders, legs stretched out behind, strengthens the abdomen.Wall squats involve positioning the feet 2ft (60cm) from a wall and sliding the back down it until the thighs are parallel to the ground.Isometric exercises place a very different stress on the body to aerobic exercise, says study author Dr Jamie O’Driscoll, from Canterbury Christ Church University.”They increase the tension in the muscles when held for two minutes, then cause a sudden rush of blood when you relax,” he says. “This increases the blood flow, but you must remember to breathe.” Ex-marine, 62, breaks world planking recordDaily walk prevents one in 10 early deaths – studyPumping weights could help you live longerHigh blood pressure puts strain on the blood vessels, heart and other organs, increasing the risk of conditions such as heart attacks and strokes.Treatment often involves medication but patients are also advised to eat healthily, reduce alcohol intake, stop smoking and exercise regularly.Over-40s are advised to have their blood pressure checked every five years. The pressure of blood in the arteries is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). Below 130/85mmHg is healthy while more than 140/90 mmHg is high, according to the study.The higher number equates to pressure of blood in the arteries when the heart beats, known as systolic blood pressure. The lower number is pressure between beats and known as diastolic blood pressure.For their analysis, researchers from Canterbury Christ Church University and Leicester University looked at data from 15,827 people exercising for two weeks or more in 270 clinical trials published between 1990 and 2023.They found resting blood pressure was reduced by: 4.49/2.53mmHg after aerobic-exercise training (such as running or cycling)4.55/3.04mm Hg after dynamic resistance or weight training6.04/2.54mmHg after combined training (aerobic and weights)4.08/2.50mmHg after high-intensity interval training (short bursts of intense exercise with periods of rest in between)8.24/4mmHg after isometric-exercise training (planks and wall squats)These are relatively small drops, Dr O’Driscoll says, but could lower someone’s risk of stroke.Current UK guidelines say adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, plus muscle-strengthening exercise twice a week.In addition, Dr O’Driscoll says they should consider two minutes of wall squats, or holding the plank position four times with two minutes’ rest in between, three times a week. The British Heart Foundation charity said exercise was good for heart health and could reduce the risk of heart and circulatory diseases by up to 35%. “We know that those who take on exercise they enjoy, tend to carry on for longer which is key in maintaining lower blood pressure,” says Joanne Whitmore, senior cardiac nurse at the BHF.She also pointed to other lifestyle changes that could help, such as cutting down on salt, keeping to a healthy weight and continuing to take any prescribed medication.Anyone concerned about their blood pressure is advised to ask their GP to check it and ask about the type of exercise best suited to your condition.Related Internet LinksBritish Journal of Sports MedicineStrength and Flex exercise plan- How-to videos – NHSHigh blood pressure – symptoms and treatment – BHFThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published14 JuneShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterThe pandemic was a “confused period akin to war”, the lawyer for the Department of Health and Social Care has told the Covid inquiry.Fiona Scolding KC said the department had been faced with a series of “hugely unpalatable options” and decisions had been “finely balanced”.With the benefit of hindsight, some of those decisions might have been different, she added.The public inquiry on the UK’s response to Covid has finished its second day.The first part of the inquiry – called Resilience and preparedness – will hear from key politicians, civil servants, scientists, unions, health and care organisations, as well as groups representing victims and their relatives.Over the next six weeks, about 70 people are expected to take the stand on this subject.On Tuesday, the first day, Baroness Hallett, who is chairing the inquiry, said there were three key questions:Was the UK properly prepared?Was the response appropriate?What lessons can be learned for the future?The lead lawyer for the inquiry, Hugo Keith KC, described the “death, misery and incalculable loss” caused by the virus, saying the UK may not have been well prepared “at all”.On Wednesday, in her opening statement, Ms Scolding said the government would not argue it had got everything right in its response to Covid.”Contrary decisions could rationally have been made resulting in a different set of outcomes,” she said.But the pandemic had been the “greatest challenge ever faced by the NHS and care sector”.And it was necessary “to recognise the context of the time was very different to what we know now”.Ms Scolding asked the inquiry “not to impose a retroscope on decision making” but described testing and diagnostics as a “significant weakness” in the early part of the pandemic, compared with that in some other countries.Matthew Hill, from the Government Office for Science, which also represents current and former chief scientific advisers, told the inquiry the UK had had other areas of weakness when the pandemic started, including the:absence of a major diagnostic industryunderlying health inequalities and conditions within the UK population lack of excess capacity in the NHS – even in normal timesHe said there were questions over the investment in public-health infrastructure before Covid and “whether it had responded effectively to previous pandemic threats”.Mr Hill confirmed that the role of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), who met regularly during the pandemic, was to provide independent scientific advice to the UK government, not to decide policy.That was the role of politicians and decision-makers, he said.”It is for them, and not the experts, to weigh the competing factors against one another, make the trade-offs and come to decision on policy,” Mr Hill added.’Impending wave’The first two experts questioned on Wednesday afternoon – both epidemiologists – said a coronavirus had already jumped to humans on a significant scale twice in the 21st Century, in the form of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).And it had been “a reasonable bet”, before 2020, another one might follow, infectious-diseases expert and former professor of international public health Jimmy Whitworth said.By mid-January 2020, people in the international public-health community had been aware the Covid-19 outbreak had been “out of the ordinary”, he said.”It wasn’t going to die away – it was something bigger than that,” Mr Whitworth said.And by end of January, people in public health had been very clear it had been “an impending wave that was coming to UK”.”For those of us who had memories of Sars, the parallels were something that gave us shivers”, Mr Whitworth added.Asked about the dangers of a virus being leaked, deliberately or accidentally, from a laboratory, Cambridge University fellow in emerging infectious diseases Dr Charlotte Hammer said she was aware of four incidents involving the Sars virus. But when it came to controlling an outbreak once it had started to infect thousands of people, the virus’s origins mattered “very little”.What is the UK Covid-19 inquiry?It is about going through what happened and learning lessonsNo-one will be found guilty or innocentAny recommendations made do not have to be adopted by governmentsThe inquiry has no formal deadline but is due to hold public hearings until 2026Scotland is holding a separate inquiry in addition to the wider UK oneThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.How many Covid deaths have there been?The UK saw one of the worst first waves of Covid in Europe, in spring 2020. In April and May that year, about 160,000 deaths were registered – 60,000 more than expected, based on the years just before the pandemic. But by that winter, the UK had been overtaken by many countries in Eastern Europe that had seemed to escape the first wave. The UK’s Office for National Statistics has continued to analyse these figures for Europe and, as of July last year, put the UK in the middle of the pack. According to Department of Health figures, 227,321 people across the UK died with Covid recorded on their death certificate.Covid vaccines have prevented many deaths and serious illness from the virus – more than 151 million doses have been given in the UK. More on this story’Little thought’ about lockdown impact pre-pandemic, inquiry hearsPublished13 JuneThe questions we want the Covid inquiry to answerPublished13 JuneWhat is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work?Published1 hour agoNew judge appointed to lead Scottish Covid inquiryPublished27 October 2022Related Internet LinksUK Covid-19 InquiryThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.