Health & Wellbeing

Legendary Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne paid a surprise visit to Birmingham Children’s Hospital on Thursday to show his support for the charity’s £3.65 million Star Appeal to build the UK’s first Rare Diseases Centre for children. The famed Prince of Darkness used his return to his home city to revisit the leading paediatric hospital that is close to his heart.

A major charity initiative is urging workers across the West Midlands to ‘down tools’ at lunchtime and get walking to help protect their wellbeing. A UK-wide survey commissioned by the National Charity Partnership, a collaboration between Diabetes UK, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Tesco, found that heavy workloads, stress and workplace culture is stopping nearly half of all office workers in the region (48 per cent) from regularly getting outside for a lunchtime stroll.

A councillor who shed over eight stone in a high profile weight loss challenge will put his experience of battling fitness problems to good use as the City of Wolverhampton Council’s new Public Health champion. Councillor Paul Sweet, who was appointed Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing last week, fought a personal battle against the bulge as part of Wolverhampton's Call to Action to tackle obesity in the city - dropping from 22st 9lbs to 14st 8lbs in just over a year, after previously tipping the scales at 29st 4lbs.

Muslim diabetics in Birmingham have been urged not to put their health at risk by fasting during the forthcoming month of Ramadan. Throughout Ramadan (2016: 7 June to 6 July) most Muslims are required to refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. But diabetics are exempt from this if fasting would put their health at risk. (Speak to your Imam for more information)

WV Active is putting on a jam-packed schedule of activities for children of all ages this half-term. The three City of Wolverhampton Council-run leisure centres, WV Active Aldersley, WV Active Bilston-Bert Williams and WV Active Central, will be holding a variety of sessions to suit children and young people aged from three to 16 from Bank Holiday Monday 30 May to Friday 3 June, 2016.

People in Wolverhampton can now get dementia help and support at the touch of a button thanks to the launch of high tech "smart posters". They feature Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, enabling people with smartphones to either tap the NFC icon or scan a QR code and be instantly linked to websites packed with useful information about dementia.

One brave patient put aside his treatment to get all wrapped up and proudly launch Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s fourth annual summer fundraiser – The Big Bandage. Three-year-old Noah Dixey, from Leicestershire, who has a condition called Alagille Syndrome– a rare genetic disorder that affects his liver, heart, kidneys and skin – went bonkers in bandages to encourage others to join in on Friday 8 July and make a donation, just like him.

The UK’s leading dementia research charity Alzheimer’s Research UK and parkrun UK have just launched an inspiring new challenge called Running Down Dementia. Running Down Dementia challenges participants to run 100km over summer 2016 and raise £100 for Alzheimer’s Research UK. The charity launched the challenge on Saturday 14 May with parkrun, which offers free timed 5km runs across the country, as the organisation’s official charity partner.

A canine-crazy Cannock couple has embarked on a 10-week cycling challenge with their two-year-old pup in a bid to raise £10,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s Star Appeal. Richard Buka and Holly Necchi are setting off on Barney’s Big Bike Ride – a 2,000 mile fundraiser from the Arctic Circle to the Alps with Barney their King Charles Cavalier-Bichon Frise aboard his very own dog trailer.

Over half of people in the West Midlands are putting off seeking a dementia diagnosis for up to a year or more a study carried out by Alzheimer’s Society has found. Dementia is the most feared health condition in the UK, perhaps explaining also why nearly two-thirds of people in the West Midlands surveyed felt a diagnosis would mean their life was over.

Broadcaster Adrian Chiles and former footballer and blood cancer survivor Geoff Thomas joined patients, nurses, clinicians, fundraisers and major local businessmen in celebrating the 10th Anniversary of The Centre for Clinical Haematology (CCH) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.   Blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia helps fund the CCH and has used this milestone as a springboard for its £3million capital fundraising campaign to help establish the Birmingham Institute of Haematology (BIH).

Cafés across Wolverhampton are serving up help, support and of course a cuppa or two for people living with dementia and their carers – including two during this year’s Dementia Awareness Week. The regular cafés enable people to share their experiences of dementia and find out more about the services available to them in the city. They are run by the Alzheimer's Society in partnership with the City of Wolverhampton Council.

Like many of your readers, I’ve had close family and friends affected by breast cancer. That is why I’m encouraging everyone to take a step forward for women with breast cancer this summer and sign up to a Pink Ribbonwalk to raise vital funds for leading charity Breast Cancer Care.

Clarke Willmott LLP, which has offices in Birmingham, has become a formal corporate supporter of the Encephalitis Society, which raises awareness of the condition. Whilst Alzheimer’s and meningitis justifiably receive significant amounts of media attention, encephalitis is an illness much less in the public spot light. With up to 6,000 cases of encephalitis in the UK each year and hundreds of thousands more worldwide, the lack of public awareness of the condition is perhaps surprising.

More than just a fad diet, eating gluten free is in fact vital to individuals suffering from a condition called coeliac disease. A lifelong autoimmune disease in which the small intestine reacts with hypersensitivity to gluten, this reaction leads to difficulty in digesting food. According to Coeliac.org.uk, this disease is affecting approximately 1 in 100 people with over 80% of this number remaining undiagnosed.

People across Wolverhampton are being encouraged to don Denim for Dementia and raise vital funds for the Alzheimer's Society. Schools, workplaces and families are being urged to wear items of denim during this year's Dementia Awareness Week, which runs from 15-21 May, 2016. The City of Wolverhampton Council is among those taking part, and will be asking staff to don denim on Wednesday 18 May in return for a donation to the Wolverhampton branch of the charity.