Health & Wellbeing

"The horse has bolted now, they are addicted," says Chris, a high school teacher in New South Wales. He's talking about students in his class, teenagers, who can't stop vaping.

He sees the effect of the candy-flavoured, nicotine-packed e-cigarettes on young minds every day, with children even vaping in class. "The ones who are deepest into it will just get up out of their seat, or they'll be fidgeting or nervous.

People are being invited to raise vital funds for Diabetes UK this summer by joining a walking challenge taking place in Birmingham for the first time. The Birmingham Wellness Walk 2023 will take place on Sunday, 2 July, and is a perfect opportunity to improve your fitness while enjoying a scenic walk, meet people and raise funds for Diabetes UK along the way.

Staff at Jubilee House, a new £9m luxury all-inclusive care home in Leamington Spa, welcomed their first residents with an official red ribbon cutting event to mark its official opening. The new home is forecast to bring an estimated 150 jobs to the region once at full capacity.

Cutting the ribbon were Alison Partridge and John Ackerman, the first residents to move into the home. The ceremony was met with cheers and applause.

With Memorial Day fast approaching, Americans are starting to think about their much-needed summer vacations, and hotels are gearing up for what could be a very busy travel season. But more guests mean greater interaction between people and surfaces, which can elevate the risk of germs spreading throughout the hotel.

People in the West Midlands are invited to join Parkinson’s UK at Sutton Park, Birmingham on Saturday 22 July 2023 for a fundraising walk to help fund vital research to find better treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s. 

Walk for Parkinson's is the charity's national community fundraising series, and everyone is encouraged to get involved to get active, meet new people, and help fund life-changing research.

The first five cancer patients received life-saving radiation treatment at Health City’s Centre for Radiation Oncology in Camana Bay last week as Wednesday, May 17 became a historic day, not just for the institution but for the Cayman Islands, as for the first time, residents could access state-of-the-art cancer services without having to travel overseas.

TVM Capital Healthcare, a global specialist healthcare private equity firm headquartered in Dubai and Singapore, is pleased to announce an investment, from its TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund, of EUR 10 million into DEBx Medical, an Amsterdam-based medical devices company.

DEBx Medical, founded in 2019, has developed a groundbreaking product, DEBRICHEM®, which offers a superior alternative to existing treatments for non-healing chronic wounds. This innovative product is easy to use and highly effective in removing biofilm and curing hard-to-heal wounds. With CE and ISO approvals obtained in February 2021, DEBx Medical has already successfully treated over 5,000 patients, and is about to introduce its product to the market.

Croydon’s Men’s Shed is providing a safe space for people to come together and take care of their mental health while learning new skills, such as gardening, food growing and woodwork.

Men’s Shed is a community project based at Good Food Matters in Mickleham Way, New Addington. The Shed is an opportunity for (mainly) men aged over 18 to join weekly activities and eat together every Friday from 11am to 3pm.

The statistics are stark. Every three minutes someone will develop dementia. But currently only 63 percent of people with dementia in England have received a diagnosis – almost four points below the national ambition of 66.7 percent. 

An early and accurate diagnosis not only helps prepare families for the future, but opens the door to vital treatment, care and support and, crucially, avoids people ending up in crisis. At Alzheimer's Society, they are buoyed by seeing the number of GP assessments return to pre-pandemic levels, but it’s concerning that overall, diagnosis rates are still stagnating since reaching a five year low during the pandemic.

The statistics are stark. Every three minutes someone will develop dementia. But currently only 63 percent of people with dementia in England have received a diagnosis – almost four points below the national ambition of 66.7 percent. 

An early and accurate diagnosis not only helps prepare families for the future, but opens the door to vital treatment, care and support and, crucially, avoids people ending up in crisis. 

The sleep experts at sleepjunkie.com can reveal that a common botanical fruit many of us enjoy at any hour of the day, could be contributing to dreams or nightmares. 

A spokesperson at sleepjunkie.com says: “Bananas are a superfood that can be enjoyed pretty much any time of the day. However, eating them too close to bedtime can contribute to a restless night's sleep and stimulate vivid dreams or nightmares. 

TVM Capital Healthcare, a global specialist healthcare private equity firm operating in emerging markets, announced today the opening of a new office in the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of the new office is to advise the group and its portfolio companies as they grow their operational footprint in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the largest market in the region. Establishing this local office comes after TVM Capital Healthcare successfully expanded its portfolio company Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Centre from the UAE to KSA in the year 2019.

A 13-year-old Aston Villa fan who survived a life-threatening immune disorder met midfielder Jacob Ramsey for a new plasma donation NHS campaign video release. Season ticket holder Luca Bradley met Jacob, one of his heroes, at Birmingham plasma donor centre, and even had a kickaround in the street.

Luca, from Sutton Coldfield, had myasthenia gravis, which can stop people being able to swallow or breathe and recovered partly thanks to medicine made from plasma. NHS Blood and Transplant filmed the meeting for a drive to recruit more than 1,000 new donors to the plasma donor centre in Birmingham’s New Street.

Today (May 15) marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, the UK’s national week to raise awareness of mental health – and Wolverhampton residents are being encouraged to get involved. A host of events are taking place across the city over the next few days, with people invited to find out about the support available locally for those who are experiencing anxiety – the theme for this year's campaign – or who have any other concerns about their mental health and wellbeing. 

Dream Challenges has launched its 2024 Ride the Night event – the UK's biggest all-women cycling event – following the wildly successful 2023 iteration that took place recently on 29th April. Next year's Ride the Night in London will be the company's 10th and it will be held on Saturday 4th May, during which over one thousand women will unite and cycle 50km or 100km through London overnight for people facing cancer.

Sports presenter and Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete, Dame Denise Lewis DBE, attended Dream Challenges' 2023 Ride the Night and described it as an “inspiring” event to be part of. She said: “Ride the Night is such a fabulous event. I had the pleasure of taking part this year, and the atmosphere was incredible!

Volunteers Nick and Phillip were on hand to support Health and Wellbeing Champion Lead, Kimberley Linyard-Tough, when she needed help running a busy stall at a conference attended by over 400 staff. Kimberley reached out to the Volunteering Team as she needed help in providing an expansive range of information on improving and maintaining staff wellbeing.