Health & Wellbeing

This September the Ramblers is getting the West Midlands on its feet with Walk About - its biggest ever free nationwide walking event, offering a walk to suit everyone. But people don’t have to wait to get started. This month (August) the Ramblers has launched a free online tracker that allows people to log their walking activity and make the most of everything the festival has to offer.

Synexus, the world's largest multinational company dedicated to the successful recruitment and running of clinical studies, is currently recruiting patients in the Midlands to assess a treatment that could help manage one of the UK’s most common respiratory diseases - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

The Be Clear on Cancer roadshow, part of a new Public Health England campaign, will be visiting the Bullring in Birmingham on Wednesday 17 August and Thursday 18 August to raise awareness that a persistent cough, or getting out of breath doing everyday things, such as vacuuming or walking up a short flight of stairs, could be a sign of lung cancer or other lung disease. Breathlessness can also be a sign of heart disease.

BERKSWELL father of three Mark Fischer-Beards is taking on The Equinox 24 hour endurance race in a bid to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity following the death of his wife Laura Fischer-Beards. Laura was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in October 2012 after suffering from persistent neck pain. Mark said: “We were shocked and found it difficult to come to terms with, our lives had changed immeasurably in that instant.”

The Jolly Joggers are making their way back to West Park for another 12-week programme designed to improve people's mental health and wellbeing through exercise. The group met for its inaugural sessions for the first time earlier this year - and they have proved so successful that they are coming back for a third time next month. Participants are encouraged to set their own goals to walk, jog or run around the picturesque city centre park, while having fun at the same time.

The award-winning ESPA Life at Corinthia is the first UK spa to launch a suite of six unique mindfulness therapies, all under one roof. The six mindfulness therapies comprise: ESPA Mindful Massage, ESPA Mindful Facial, Mindful Breathing & Meditation, Mindful Sleep, and two Mindful Fitness sessions. Mindfulness is at the core of wellness.

The ancient Trelowarren Estate on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsula has added yoga to its mix of delights aimed at making people happy during their precious holidays. Weather permitting, Tree poses and Downward Dogs can be found in the realm of the olive trees, ozone pool and Organic Spa in Trelowarren's peaceful Walled Garden. Green credentials across the Estate have long instilled a feeling of environmental wellbeing for guests enjoying the luxury self-catering cottages and facilities in and around Trelowarren's 1000 acres.

Families with young children who want to lead healthier lifestyles are being encouraged to find out more about an eight-week support programme. The ONE Family programme, run by Wolverhampton's Hearty Lives team, helps families with children aged between two and four to improve their health and wellbeing. It focuses on the importance of eating a balanced diet and having appropriate portion sizes, on active play and oral health. It also offers positive parenting advice and includes physical activity sessions and practical cookery demonstrations.

Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice has recently expanded its patient services including opening two Satellite Clinics across the city. The Satellite Clinics will be based in Sparkbrook Community and Health Centre, Sparkbrook and Jiggins Lane Medical Centre, Bartley Green, with more clinics planned to open across the city over the next three years. The clinics are being funded by voluntary donations.

People with dementia at Alzheimer’s Society’s Activity Group in Yardley were joined by a pair of Miniature Shetland ponies named Angel and Lollipop. Alzheimer’s Society regularly hosts an Activity Group at Yardley’s Digbeth in the Field United Reformed Church and this caters for people with more advanced dementia who want to keep active and socialise with others. The groups are run by facilitators who provide a structured programme of activities.

Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice’s ‘Chocolate 5K’ series will be coming to an end for 2016 with a final run in Solihull. Starting from Dorridge Village Hall on Saturday 10^th September, the ‘Chocolate 5K’ gives chocolate lovers the opportunity to burn off the calories whilst collecting sweet treats along the route. Runners will also receive a chocolate medal and Chocolate 5k goody bag as well as gain free entry into the post-run chocolate buffet.

Public Health England has launched a new ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaign with the aim of raising awareness of the symptoms of lung cancer, lung disease and heart disease – all leading causes of death in England. Latest figures show that in the West Midland region, around 3,860 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year. Around 108,367 people have been diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – a common form of lung disease that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis) and around 199,913 with coronary heart disease.

Coeliac UK, the national charity for people with coeliac disease, hopes to reach people living with undiagnosed coeliac disease in the region with its weeklong pop up event taking place in Birmingham next week. One in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease, but the autoimmune condition is greatly undiagnosed, meaning there are around half a million people in the UK who are currently without a diagnosis. The charity is bringing its ‘Is it coeliac disease?’ campaign roadshow to cities across the UK in a bid to increase diagnosis rates and this will be the first time it will be in the Midlands.

The UK’s largest hearing loss charity Action on Hearing Loss is urging the 433,500 residents in West Midlands who are deaf or have hearing loss to tell their GP what support they need to help them communicate. The call to the public comes as the charity launches its new campaign, ‘On the Record’, just under three weeks before the NHS England’s mandatory Accessible Information Standard comes into full force.

Walkers who between them have clocked up more than 20,000 walks in one year were invited to the Mayor's Parlour to celebrate their achievements. Some 190 walkers from the popular Walking for Health in Wolverhampton each completed more 120 health walks in just one year, and joined Mayor Councillor Barry Findlay to mark the achievement. The Walking for Health programme was launched in 2001 to encourage people to take more exercise.

Health chiefs are reminding eligible older people to make sure they get their shingles vaccine. Vaccination is the most effective way to protect against the debilitating illness, and from September 2013, the vaccine has been offered routinely free to people aged 70. There is also an ongoing catch-up programme to ensure everyone is offered the vaccine before their 80th birthday. It means the vaccine is also currently available to people who are now aged 79 or who turned 71, 72, 73 or 78 on or after 1 September 2015.