Health & Wellbeing

Holding on to small moments of joy and positivity is going to be particularly important this winter, with the cost of living and energy crises likely to continue making things difficult for people across the UK.

Psychologists from the British Psychological Society have given their advice and tips for finding the light this winter when things are feeling tough.

A young boy who was recently diagnosed with lifelong leukaemia has been able to return to school thanks to the help of a Tamworth charity.

Lewis Kedwards, aged 12 from Kitts Green, is struggling to walk due to terrible pains in his legs and couldn’t manage the 25-minute walk to school or the trips between lessons during the day.

Healthcare professionals and residents are being urged to make a pledge to become an Antibiotic Guardian – and in doing so help ensure that life-saving medicines can remain effective for longer.

World Antibiotic Awareness Week is underway, highlighting the fact that antibiotics are a precious resource which should only be used when prescribed by a certified health professional.

Olton-born bereavement counsellor Saiqa Phillips, 32, will be jumping on her Peloton bike and riding 100 miles a week for 10 weeks to raise funds to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the Marie Curie hospice in Solihull.

The Marsh Lane hospice has been providing end-of life-care for patients with terminal illness in its purpose-built building since 2013, relocating from the old Warren Pearl site on Warwick Road.

The Antibiotic Amnesty is underway in Birmingham and Solihull, with local healthcare leaders encouraging everyone throughout the region to return their old or unused antibiotics to their nearest pharmacy. Over 300 local pharmacies in the Midlands are supporting the month-long amnesty, which is taking place throughout November to promote the safe disposal of antibiotics, while raising awareness of how the misuse of antibiotics has contributed to medications becoming less effective against harmful bacteria. 

End of life charity Marie Curie is inviting members of the community to join them at their hospice in Marsh Lane on Sunday 4th December at 4pm for their first Lights to Remember Service since coronavirus restrictions were lifted. This special event offers people who have been affected by terminal illness or bereavement the chance to come together at the hospice, joined by staff and supporters.

A trial screening programme for type 1 diabetes that could transform the way the condition is identified and managed in its earliest stages, opens for recruitment today.

The first programme of its kind in the UK will identify children at high risk of type 1 diabetes, laying the groundwork for the development of any potential UK-wide screening programme.

To mark Diabetes Awareness Month 2022 under the theme “Education to Protect Tomorrow” Diabetes UK Midlands and East have distributed over 6500 packs to 330 Community Pharmacies in NHS Birmingham and Solihull this month. The aim is to improve access to diabetes education for people living with diabetes and healthcare professionals.  

Responding to the latest Emergency Department performance figures published by NHS England for October 2022, Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “The crisis in Emergency Care is dire. October saw nearly 44,000 patients face a 12-hour DTA wait – we know 12-hour waits measured from decision-to-admit are just the tip of the iceberg and hides the reality.

Dr. Rose Giammarco, one of Canada’s leading headache experts, says headache disorders continue to be underestimated, underrecognized and undertreated.

The renowned headache specialist, who has been hosting a monthly series of “headache treatment” clinics at Health City Cayman Islands, believes that appropriate recognition, diagnosis and treatment, as well as lifestyle modification and patient education, can improve significant disability and quality of life in affected patients.

Young people in the West Midlands are putting themselves at risk of life-threatening meningitis, as figures show uptake of the MenACWY vaccine has been worryingly low in parts of the region – with Birmingham and the Black Country showing the worst vaccination rates.

Around 1 in 5 students in Birmingham (21.3%), Walsall (18.6%) and Sandwell (17.1%) missed their routine vaccine in secondary school, leaving local teenagers unprotected before arriving at university this academic year.

The rollout of the free flu vaccination for children is continuing in Wolverhampton's schools – with thousands of pupils now fully-fledged Flu Fighters!

Nurses from Vaccination UK are visiting more city schools this week, including Woodfield Primary in Penn where they administered hundreds of vaccinations via a painless nasal spray.

Many of Native Americans‘ innovations in health and medicine have been around for thousands of years, predating — and contributing to — Western medicine.

Native Americans chewed willow bark (shown above) to soothe aches and pains. The active ingredient in the bark is salicin, a chemical that in 1897 formed the basis of the discovery of aspirin, the most commonly used drug in the world.

Public urged not to touch sick or dead wild birds – as avian influenza confirmed by Defra in Wolverhampton

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has now confirmed there is avian influenza A(H5N1) in wild bird populations in Wolverhampton.

Uber Eats has launched a mindfulness audio guide, ‘Mindful Mouthful’, to help people take a moment to reset and reflect before they sit down to eat - as its research finds a staggering 1 in 2 (54%) Brits have reported feeling very stressed or burnt out in the past month. 

Wolverhampton has again been recognised as working towards being a dementia friendly city – demonstrating that organisations are working together to make people living with the condition feel better understood, respected and supported.

The Alzheimer's Society has granted Wolverhampton Dementia Friendly Community Status for the fifth year running after recognising the work taking place to improve services for people living with dementia, and their families and carers.