A Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis is often a life changing event, with huge worries and concerns being overriding emotions for those who are told they have the condition.
This was exactly the case for 30-year-old Annie, who found out she had MS just weeks before she discovered she was pregnant with her first child.For years she had been suffering with fatigue and tiredness, but despite spending hours doing her own research she could not work out what was causing it.After numerous hospital visits, she was given a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome, although Annie said she ‘never really felt like that was the correct diagnosis’ for her.It would take a strange coincidence for her to eventually discover the problem, after she got a fly stuck in her eye in June 2020.
Typically when someone mentions Parkinson’s Disease the first thing people think of is muscle stiffness, tremors and slowness.
This leads a lot of people to believe that those with the condition cannot partake in any sort of sport, particularly those that are of a high intensity like football.However this has not stopped the creation of one football club in Hertfordshire that is getting those who live with Parkinson’s out on the pitch.Fighting Fit Football has been showing how exercise can alleviate symptoms by bringing people together for fun and engaging sessions each week.
This Sunday, national care and rehabilitation charity British Home is launching its first National Neuro-Disabilities Day to raise awareness of living with such conditions.
For over 150 years the charity has been helping residents at its London-based home and it is now looking to use that experience to get more people talking about this.Keith Crowhurst is the organisation's director of care and he spoke about how the idea for the day came about.“It's something we've been talking about for a while now,” he said. “While reading a lot about neuro disability when we were looking to develop our own services we were quite surprised by the lack of information that was out there.
A former RAF serviceman with motor neurone disease (MND) is ticking one thing off his bucket list to raise money for charity as he completes a skydive.
51-year-old Lez Wainwright was diagnosed with the condition in February and began thinking about all the things he wanted to do in life.One of these is a skydive and even though he had served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) for nine years, it is something he has never done before.“After my diagnosis I decided to do a bucket list,” he said. “A skydive was one of the things I’ve always wanted to do.“Originally I was too scared but I thought now is my chance to get it out the way with and get it done.”
Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland is a charity designed to help victims of these conditions.
It is currently running a campaign called #NoLifeHalfLived, which is particularly applicable to Symposium Coffee founder Paul Haggath.He has been using his love for a brew to help run his Peterhead-based company since 2005.In December 2018 he was hosting some family members for the weekend where they would be visiting one of his stores for breakfast.He had been feeling particularly under the weather in the weeks previous to this, resulting in numerous trips to see his GP.
A charity which supports elderly people is calling for a ‘sustained effort’ to help improve access to mental health services.
This comes after the latest figure from NHSE shows that the number of older adults being referred to talking therapies was down by around 5,000, while cases of those reporting depressive symptoms have doubled since the pandemic began.Independent Age is a charity that offers regular friendly contacts for older people as well as a campaigning voice and free advice for things like money, benefits, care and mobility.Founded more than 150 years ago the organisation is pushing for further action to be taken to allow more older people to get help with their mental health.
There are a number of methods used to treat Parkinson’s, but one emerging solution could also be the simplest.
Getting Parkinson’s patients moving and active is rapidly being recognised as one of the best possible treatments available.A number of studies have shown the benefits it can have for those with the disease, with the Parkinson’s Foundation highlighting exercise as one of the most accessible ways to help.One group putting this research into practice is PD Warrior, a foundation based on offering fitness classes for those at all stages of the condition.
55-year-old Pauline Price was working on the COVID ward at Sunderland Royal Hospital when she noticed she was feeling unwell.
Following the correct protocol, she quickly got tested and found out she had contracted the virus, resulting in her taking three weeks off work and losing her sense of smell and taste.In the midst of the pandemic, Pauline returned to work, stepping up to help her fellow NHS workers who were already stressed and tired because of the huge workload necessitated by the pandemic.
So far the illness has affected at least 47 people and been fatal for six of these, with all cases coming from Acadian Peninsula in northeast New Brunswick, Canada.
Symptoms have been shown to vary in patients but do include hallucinations, muscle deterioration, spasms, teeth chattering as well as rapidly progressing dementia.
The study revealed that children who recorded the highest level of deprivation generally suffered worse cognitive and mental health outcomes.
Through looking at a number of brain scans researchers could see the levels of brain activity in each child and found lower amounts of circuitry in those who scored the worst.Rather than solely looking at income levels, those involved in the study also considered a variety of factors that may be putting a child at disadvantage, such as pollution, crime, and access to lower-quality education and healthcare.After each child was scored on this, the researchers then looked at their MRI scans to measure how well each region of the brain is connected to one another.
