How to deal with colds and flu this winter

So winter is here. Yes it's miserable out there right now and motivation can flounder at this time of year much easier. A strong mind and will is one thing, but what if you get a nasty bout of flu putting you out of action. We don't want that.... and neither do you!

  

Most of us will probably have a cold this winter and some of us will have flu. Find out how to look after yourself if these viruses affect you. 

 

Colds and flu are caused by viruses. There are more than 200 common cold viruses, and three types of flu virus with many different strains, so they're hard to avoid. These viruses can be spread through droplets that are coughed and sneezed out by an infected person. The viruses can also be transferred on a person's fingers. For example, if you have a cold and you touch your nose or eyes and then touch someone else, you may pass the virus on to them.

The main symptoms of winter bugs are coughing, sneezing, blocked nose, sore throat, headache and a slight temperature. If these are the only symptoms you have, it’s unlikely that your GP will be able to do anything.
You may want to visit your local pharmacy, where you can get advice on how to manage the symptoms and buy over-the-counter medicine.

Get rest and eat well

Dr Rupal Shah, a GP in south London, has the following advice: “Try to rest, eat well, avoid stress and keep well hydrated. If you have a fever, you may need extra fluids. You could also take paracetamol to treat fever and pain, or inhale steam with a decongestant in it to help clear a blocked nose.”

Pharmacists say cold and flu medicines are among their top sellers in the winter. Some of the remedies combine painkillers with decongestants, which help to manage symptoms.

“Painkillers, such as paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin, can really help if you have a cold,” according to pharmacist Angela Chalmers. But aspirin shouldn't be given to children under 16 years of age. “Decongestants help to reduce the swelling inside your nose so you can breathe more easily.” Find your local pharmacy.

Children can also be treated using over-the-counter painkillers to ease discomfort and help to bring down a fever. Both paracetamol and ibuprofen are available as a liquid for children and can be given from the age of about three months. Always check with your doctor if you aren’t sure which treatments you can give your child.

In most cases, antibiotics (which are used to treat bacterial infections) aren’t necessary. “Colds and flu, and most coughs, are caused by viruses so antibiotics can’t help. Minor bacterial infections will also be fought off by natural immunity,” explains Dr Shah.

Children and colds

There are some benefits, particularly for children, in catching a few coughs and colds. “Children tend to get a lot of colds because the body takes time to build up immunity. Your body learns to fight off a particular kind of virus every time you get an infection, which is why you get fewer colds as you get older," says Angela Chalmers.

While most bugs will run their course without doing any real harm, Dr Shah says there are certain cases when you or your child should see a GP. These include:

• if you or your child has a chronic condition such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease
• if you have a very high temperature and feel ill, for example if you also have an unusually severe headache or abdominal pain
• if your child is vomiting but does not have diarrhoea, or has a rash in addition to the fever
• if your child stops drinking and is unusually lethargic
• if your child’s fever doesn’t respond to paracetamol or ibuprofen 
•  

Babies, and older and frailer people should get help if they're unwell. All babies under three months with a temperature of more than 38°C (100.4°F) should be urgently assessed by a doctor, as should babies aged three to six months with a temperature higher than 39°C (102.2°F).

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Avoid flu this winter - Catch it, Bin it, Kill it

Catch it, Bin it, Kill it

 

Find out how easily flu viruses are passed on and learn the simple measures that will prevent them spreading.

Video courtesy of the UK National Health Service. http://www.nhs.uk

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10 winter health risks

Some health problems, such as asthma, sore throat and cold sores, are triggered or worsened by cold weather. Here's how to help your body deal with cold weather ailments.

Colds

You can help prevent colds by washing your hands regularly. This destroys bugs that you may have picked up from touching surfaces used by other people, such as light switches and door handles. It’s also important to keep the house and any household items, such as cups, glasses and towels, clean, especially if someone in your house is ill.

Top tip: If you get a cold, use disposable tissues instead of cloth handkerchiefs to avoid constantly re-infecting your own hands.

Sore throat

Sore throats are common in winter and are almost always caused by viral infections. There’s some evidence that changes in temperature, such as going from a warm, centrally heated room to the icy outdoors, can also affect the throat.
Top tip: One quick and easy remedy for a sore throat is to gargle with warm salty water. It won’t heal the infection, but it has anti-inflammatory properties and can have a soothing effect. Dissolve one teaspoon of salt in a glass of part-cooled boiled water.

Asthma

Cold air is a major trigger of asthma symptoms, such as wheezing and shortness of breath. People with asthma should be especially careful in winter.
Top tip: Stay indoors on very cold, windy days. If you do go out, wear a scarf over your nose and mouth. Be extra vigilant about taking your regular medications, and keep rescue inhalers close by and in a warm place.

Norovirus

Also known as the winter vomiting bug, norovirus is an extremely infectious stomach bug. It can strike all year round, but is more common in winter and in places such as hotels and schools. The illness is unpleasant but it’s usually over within a couple of days.
Top tip: When people are ill with vomiting and diarrhoea, it’s important to drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Young children and the elderly are especially at risk. By drinking oral rehydration fluids (available from pharmacies), you can reduce the risks of dehydration.

Painful joints

Many people with arthritis say their joints become more painful in winter, though it’s not clear why this is so. Only joint symptoms, such as pain and stiffness, are affected by the weather. There’s no evidence that changes in the weather cause joint damage.
Top tip: Many people get a little depressed during the winter months and this can make them perceive pain more acutely. Everything feels worse, including medical conditions. Daily exercise can boost a person's mental and physical state. Swimming is ideal as it’s easy on the joints.

Cold sores

Most of us recognise that cold sores are a sign that we’re run down or under stress. While there’s no cure for cold sores, you can reduce the chances of getting one by looking after yourself through winter.
Top tip: Every day, do things that make you feel less stressed, such as having a hot bath, going for a walk in the park or watching one of your favourite films.

Heart attacks

Heart attacks are more common in winter. This may be because cold snaps increase blood pressure and put more strain on the heart. Your heart also has to work harder to maintain body heat when it's cold.
Top tip: Stay warm in your home. Keep the main rooms you use at 21C (70F) and use a hot water bottle or electric blanket to keep warm in bed. Wrap up warm when you go out and wear a hat, scarf and gloves.

Cold hands

Raynaud’s phenomenon is a common condition that makes your fingers and toes change colour and become very painful in cold weather. Fingers can go white, then blue, then red and throb and tingle. It’s a sign of poor circulation in the small blood vessels of the hands and feet. In severe cases, medication can help, but most people live with their symptoms.
Top tip: Don't smoke or drink caffeine (they can both worsen symptoms) and always wear warm gloves, socks and shoes when going out in cold weather.

Dry skin

Dry skin is a common condition and is often worse during the winter when environmental humidity is low. Moisturising is essential during winter. Contrary to popular belief, moisturising lotions and creams aren’t absorbed by the skin. Instead, they act as a sealant to stop the skin’s natural moisture from evaporating away. The best time to apply moisturiser is after a bath or shower while your skin is still moist, and again at bedtime.
Top tip: Have warm rather than hot showers. Water that is too hot makes skin feel more dry and itchy. Hot water will also make your hair look dull and dry.

Flu

Flu is a major killer of vulnerable people. People aged 65 and over and people with long-term health conditions including diabetes and kidney disease are particularly at risk. The best way to prevent getting flu is to have the flu jab. It gives good protection against flu and lasts for one year.
Top tip: Find out if you’re at risk of getting flu by asking your GP or read our article on who should have the flu jab. If you're in a high-risk group, see your GP to get the vaccination.

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Whooping cough outbreak: Pregnant women to be vaccinated

Hundreds of thousands of pregnant women across the UK are to be offered a whooping cough vaccine to protect babies from an escalating outbreak of the disease.

Very young babies are at the greatest risk of serious complications. Nine have died in the UK this year.

The injection, available from Monday, should boost a mother's defences, which are then passed onto the baby.

Health officials say there are no safety concerns about the vaccine.

There are surges in whooping cough cases every three to four years and the latest outbreak started at the end of 2011. It is already the worst for more than a decade. 

Unprotected

Babies under six months of age are the most vulnerable. They are too young to be protected by routine vaccination, which starts at two months of age. 

The infection can stop the baby breathing or lead to pneumonia, brain damage, weight loss and death.

Women who are between 28 and 38 weeks pregnant are to be offered a combined whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria and polio vaccine. About 730,000 women a year could be given the vaccine.

Prof David Salisbury, the director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said: "We're boosting the mother to protect the baby. We can't protect babies until they are eight weeks, but their mothers can."

The mother's immune system should respond to the injection by producing whooping cough antibodies, which then cross the placenta into the developing child. 

This should provide enough protection until the baby has its first routine vaccine.

Women are being advised to have the vaccine even if they have been vaccinated before and that they should be vaccinated during all subsequent pregnancies.

Prof Salisbury said the safety of the vaccine was "excellent" and there were "no concerns" about using the vaccine during pregnancy, although some women would develop a fever.

"There is a clear benefit and no evidence of risk," he said.

Outbreak 

Before routine vaccination in 1957, whooping cough outbreaks in the UK were on a huge scale. It could affect up to 150,000 people and kill 300 in a single year.

The latest figures from the Health Protection Agency reported 4,791 cases in 2012 - 1,230 in August alone. There were only 908 cases in the whole of 2008 during the last outbreak.

Scotland has reported 508 cases up to mid-June while Northern Ireland had 139 cases up to mid-July. Both figures are significantly higher than for the previous year.

Whooping cough

• It is also known as pertussis and is caused by a species of bacteria, Bordetella pertussis
• It mostly affects infants, who are at highest risk of complications and even death
• The earliest signs are similar to a common cold, which then develop into a cough and can even result in pneumonia
• Babies may turn blue while coughing due to a lack of oxygen
• The cough tends to come in short bursts followed by desperate gasps for air (the whooping noise)
• Adults can be infected - but the infection often goes unrecognised

The chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, said: "Whooping cough is highly contagious and newborns are particularly vulnerable.

"It's vital that babies are protected from the day they are born - that's why we are offering the vaccine to all pregnant women."

The vaccine will be offered during routine antenatal appointments with a nurse, midwife or GP.

The vaccination programme is only temporary to deal with the heightened risk of whooping cough infection during this outbreak.

A similar programme is already under way for pregnant women in the US, although the evidence for its effectiveness is still unclear.

Dr Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at the Health Protection Agency (HPA), welcomed the measure.

"We have been very concerned about the continuing increase in whooping cough cases and related deaths.

"It's also important we continue to remind all parents to ensure their children are vaccinated against whooping cough to continue their protection through childhood.

"Parents should also be alert to the signs and symptoms - which include severe coughing fits accompanied by the characteristic 'whoop' sound in young children but as a prolonged cough in older children or adults. It is also advisable to keep their babies away from older siblings or adults who have the infection."

Other groups including the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have backed the scheme.

Analysis: What caused the outbreak?

Vaccination for whooping cough is at record levels in the UK, so what is behind the largest outbreak of the disease in recent times?

The experts do not know for certain. One thought is that the bacteria which causes the infection, Bordetella pertussis, may have changed.

Another idea favoured by the HPA is that so many years of really tight control over whooping cough means people's immune systems have not been naturally boosted by repeat infections in adulthood - leaving the population as a whole more vulnerable.

It is also an outbreak which is affecting multiple countries including the US, Norway, the Netherlands and Australia.

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10 Surprising Health Benefits of Sex

The health benefits of sex extend well beyond the bedroom. It turns out sex is good for you in ways you may never have imagined.

 

When you're in the mood, it's a sure bet that the last thing on your mind is boosting your immune system or maintaining a healthy weight. Yet good sex offers those health benefits and more.

That's a surprise to many people, says Joy Davidson, PhD, a psychologist and sex therapist. "Of course, sex is everywhere in the media," she says. "But the idea that we are vital, sexual creatures is still looked at in some cases with disgust or in other cases a bit of embarrassment. So to really take a look at how our sexuality adds to our life and enhances our life and our health, both physical and psychological, is eye-opening for many people."

Sex does the body good in a number of ways, according to Davidson and other experts. The benefits aren't just anecdotal or hearsay - each of these 10 health benefits of sex is backed by scientific scrutiny.

Among the benefits of healthy loving in a relationship:

1. Sex relieves stress

A big health benefit of sex is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Then the researchers subjected them to stressful situations - such as speaking in public and doing verbal arithmetic - and noted their blood pressure response to stress.

Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviours or abstained.

Another study published in the same journal found that frequent intercourse was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in co-habiting participants. Yet other research found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women.

2. Sex boosts immunity

Good sexual health may mean better physical health. Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A, or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections. Scientists took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 university students, who reported the frequency of sex they had.

Those in the "frequent" group - once or twice a week - had higher levels of IgA than those in the other three groups - who reported being abstinent, having sex less than once a week, or having it very often, three or more times weekly.

3. Sex burns calories

Participating in 30 minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.

"Sex is a great mode of exercise," says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.

4. Sex improves cardiovascular health

While some older people may worry that the efforts expended during sex could cause a stroke, that's not so, according to British researchers. In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists found frequency of sex was not associated with stroke in the 914 men they followed for 20 years.

The heart health benefits of sex don't end there. The researchers also found that having sex twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by half for the men, compared with those who had sex less than once a month.

5. Sex boosts self-esteem

Boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex, according to researchers who published the list in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

That finding makes sense to Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex therapist and marriage and family therapist, although she finds that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better. "One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves," she reports. "Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected and what you want, it raises it."

6. Sex improves intimacy

Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps us to bond and build trust. University researchers evaluated 59 premenopausal women before and after warm contact with their husbands and partners ending with hugs. They found that the more contact, the higher the oxytocin levels.

"Oxytocin allows us to feel the urge to nurture and to bond," Britton says.

Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you're feeling suddenly more generous towards your partner than usual, credit the love hormone.

7. Sex reduces pain

As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase and pain declines. So if your headache, arthritis pain or PMS symptoms seem to improve after sex, you can thank those higher oxytocin levels.

In a study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapour and then had their fingers pricked lowered their pain sensitivity by more than half.

8. Sex reduces prostate cancer risk

Frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life, Australian researchers reported in the British Journal of Urology International. When they followed men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those without, they found no association of prostate cancer with the number of sexual partners as the men reached their 30s, 40s and 50s.

However, they found men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later by a third.

Another study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that frequent ejaculations, 21 or more a month, were linked to lower prostate cancer risk in older men as well, compared with less frequent ejaculations of four to seven monthly.

9. Sex strengthens pelvic floor muscles

For women, doing a few pelvic floor muscle exercises during sex offers a couple of benefits. You will enjoy more pleasure, and you'll also strengthen the area and help to minimise the risk of incontinence later in life.

To do a basic pelvic floor exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor, as if you're trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.

10. Sex helps you sleep better

The oxytocin released during orgasm also promotes sleep, according to research.

Getting enough sleep has been linked with a host of other good things, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure. This is something to think about, especially if you've been wondering why your partner can be active one minute and snoring the next.

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Why Is It So Hard to Quit Smoking?

As any former smoker can attest, quitting isn’t easy. The American Cancer Society says about 70 percent of smokers want to quit, and about 40 percent make an attempt to stop smoking each year. However, quitting for good often requires multiple attempts.

Why is it so hard to quit smoking?

The short answer is nicotine. The long answer is more complex. First, nicotine is physically addictive and, second, nicotine addiction also causes psychological changes in smokers because they connect its pleasurable feelings to many different aspects of their lives. Cigarette smoking becomes interwoven with their lives, so that when they try to quit smoking, they not only have to beat back an addiction to smoking, they also have to deal with dozens of triggers that can prompt a desire to smoke.

Nicotine is a drug that naturally occurs in tobacco. When you puff on a cigarette, you inhale nicotine in the smoke and it then spreads through your body. Nicotine interferes with communication between nerve cells. The result is a relaxing, pleasant feeling that makes you want to smoke more.

As you continue to smoke, your body adapts and becomes tolerant to nicotine. You have to smoke more cigarettes in order to achieve the same pleasant feeling. Because your body metabolizes nicotine quickly, the level of nicotine in your blood drops within a couple of hours and you find yourself needing to smoke repeatedly throughout the day to refresh the drug’s effect. At some point, enough nicotine may accumulate in your system that you may need only a certain number of cigarettes each day to keep the level stable.

The Power of Nicotine

You can become physically dependent on nicotine after just a few weeks of regular smoking. When you try to quit smoking, your body goes into nicotine withdrawal. Your system reacts to the absence of nicotine with symptoms including:

•     Irritability and impatience
•     Hostility
•     Anxiety
•     Depression
•     Headaches
•     Fatigue
•     Trouble sleeping
•     Restlessness
•     Difficulty concentrating
•     Increase in appetite
•     Decreased heart rate

Beating the Nicotine Addiction

If physical addiction were the only problem, it might be easier to quit smoking and more people would succeed. But smokers have to deal with the psychological addiction to smoking as well as the physical dependence of nicotine addiction. Even people who use cessation aids to take the edge off the symptoms of physical addiction have trouble feeling “normal” without cigarettes and smoking rituals. This feeling is exacerbated by psychological triggers that build up over time as people use the pleasant feelings prompted by nicotine and their smoking habit to either cope with unpleasant things or enhance their enjoyment of activities.

Activities that trigger the desire to smoke can include:

•     Talking on the phone or even just hearing the phone ring
•     Finishing a meal
•     Drinking a cup of coffee or an alcoholic drink
•     Driving
•     Seeing someone else light up a cigarette
•     Watching television or relaxing around the house

You also might find the desire to smoke triggered by negative emotional states that you previously coped with through nicotine use, including:

•     Sadness or disappointment
•     Anger, frustration, or resentment
•     Anxiety or stress
•     Depression
•     Embarrassment
•     Guilt
•     Fright or fear
•     Boredom or loneliness

Nicotine is addictive, but it can be beaten. You can take comfort in the fact that most people try many times before finally kicking the habit.

There are products you can use to aid you with your battle to quit smoking for good. You will still need will power to stop (regardless of how easy some say it can be) but there are many conventional and less conventional methods used to succeed. Here are some that have great claims and were found while researching this topic. Do your own research however and make sure you choose the kind of help that will work for you. Good luck!!

Quit Joking & Stop Smoking: I've Quit.

The Painless Stop Smoking Cure

Quit Smoking - Stop Smoking With Eft

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Endorphins - A Natural High

Do you ever wonder why you feel better after a long run? That elated feeling, which can last up to 12 hours for some people, has a scientific explanation. It comes from a release of endorphins.

"Endorphins are neurotransmitters produced in the brain that reduce pain," says Alan Hirsch, MD, neurological director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. "They have also been known to induce euphoria." Drugs such as morphine, heroine and cocaine are classic endorphin-releasing entities, according to Dr. Hirsch. But luckily for us, there are less-addictive ways of experiencing such sweet rhapsody.

Eat a chili pepper
Some say eating hot peppers is an addiction. The rush you get after holding one on your tongue is likely due to your body's protective response. "Chewing a hot pepper can release endorphins centrally and on the tongue," says Dr. Hirsch. Why? To reduce pain, of course.
Endorphin factor: 1 to 3, depending on how hot you can stand 'em.

Think positive thoughts
"When people take a placebo and they believe something's helpful, it often works," says Joel Fuhrman, MD, family physician and author of author of books including Eat for Health and Eat to Live. That's a direct result of the power of positive thinking, which can release endorphins that may actually ease pain even if a medication is physically ineffective.Endorphin factor: 2. Hey, that's an instant feel-good moment just by the power of perspective.

Work out
People who jog regularly often talk about a "runner's high," which is a release of endorphins that happens when they hit a certain point in their workout. Dr. Fuhrman notes that the science of endorphins-from-exercise is controversial, and that some medical professionals believe the positive feeling you get when you meet a physical challenge, rather than the exertion itself, is what stimulates the endorphin release. But whatever the cause, exercise has been proven to enhance mood. Dr. Fuhrman recommends prolonged activities such as cross-country skiing, swimming, tennis or a long cardio workout for the best effects. So come on, it's time to try your hand at a new workout routine!
Endorphin factor: 2 to 4. It's all about intensity and duration.

Have an orgasm
"I personally think that having an orgasm is a great way to get a rush of endorphins," says Dr. Fuhrman. "You may have to run for an hour to get a runner's high, depending on your body. Sex is less effort." (And, ahem, much more fun.)Endorphin factor: 5, even if it's a quickie.

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Red Raspberries: An All-Natural Cancer Preventative?

In this week's featured healthy natural ingredient, we'll be taking a closer look at a very common berry, the red raspberry. More specifically, we'll be talking about the value of including berries in your diet because of the benefits of the ellagitannins derived from them. This recommendation was based on work being done at the Hollings Cancer Institute by Dr. Daniel Nixon, who had been studying the benefits of red raspberries for some 6 years at that time. Since then, two things have changed dramatically.

• First, the study results are now becoming, for lack of a better word, remarkable.
• Second, it is now possible to get high quantities of ellagitannins without having to consume a cup of berries every day.

Dr. Nixon's published results show:

• Consuming one cup of red raspberries per day (40 mg of ellagitannins) prevents the development of cancer cells. At low concentrations, it slows the growth of cancer cells; at higher concentrations, it tells cancer cells to kill themselves. For example, cells infected with the human papilloma virus (which is linked to cervical cancer), when exposed to ellagic acid experienced apoptosis, or normal cell death. Note: although ellagic acid alone has been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis in vitro (in a test tube with isolated cancer cells), several studies have reported that the other phenolic compounds in the berries also contribute to the observed inhibitory effect. Those compounds are only present in a complete ellagitannin complex, not in a synthetic ellagic acid isolate. In other words, an ellagitannin complex works better than pure ellagic acid.
   
• Red raspberry ellagitannins slow the growth of abnormal colon cells in humans.
   
• Tests reveal similar results for breast, pancreas, esophageal, skin, and prostate cancer cells. The ellagitannins also produce a breakdown in human leukemia cells.
   
• Another way that ellagitannins protect your body is through G-Arrest. G-Arrest means that the ellagitannins stop cells from mutating in the first place. If cells don't mutate, then we don't get cancer. This is very important when you understand that that every single day of your life you produce anywhere from a few hundred to as many as 10,000 cancerous cells in your body as part of your normal metabolism. In tests conducted by the Hollings Cancer Institute with Ellagic Acid, G-Arrest began in 72 hours in both breast and cervical cancer.
   
• Red raspberry ellagitannins prevent destruction of the P53 gene by cancer cells. P53 prevents mutagenic activity in cervical cells.
   
• Red raspberry ellagitannins protect human cells against cancer-causing agents in tobacco smoke, food additives, and petroleum-based substances. Ellagitannins act as scavengers to "bind" cancer-causing chemicals, making them inactive. The ellagitannins inhibit the ability of other chemicals to cause mutations in bacteria. Red Raspberry ellagitannins also protect DNA by blocking carcinogens from binding to the DNA.
   
• European medical studies also demonstrate that red raspberry ellagitannins lower the incidence of birth defects, promote wound healing, reduce heart disease, and may reduce or reverse chemically induced liver fibrosis. In addition, the ellagic acid produced from the ellagitannins has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.

Which brings us to the question of how to supplement with red raspberries. To be sure, Dr. Nixon used 1 cup of red raspberry puree per day in his studies. However, that is not practical for most people. Fortunately, it turns out the raspberry seeds have a much higher concentration of ellagitannins than the puree.

	Seeds	Pulp	Whole
Meeker	8.40	3.36	4.31
Chilliwack	7.78	2.58	3.39
Willamette	8.13	2.05	2.91
Average	8.10	2.66	3.54

As you can see in the above table from the Washington State Red Raspberry Commission, over 70% of the ellagitannins present in the Meeker red raspberry are found in the seeds.

Bottom Line

One gram of red raspberry seed powder, taken twice a day, provides 40 mg of ellagitannins -- equivalent to the amount of ellagitannins found in one cup of fresh red raspberries.

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The Benefits of a Junk Food Ban

The state of California passed a law in 2007 that placed restrictions on junk foods sold in vending machines and as cafeteria extras in the schools. The intention was to help students cut back on calories consumed from junk foods and possibly get a little healthier. A new study followed up on the outcome so far, and found that these pioneering lawmakers did in fact do the kids of California a positive service.

The research, which took place at the University of Illinois at Chicago, discovered that high school students in California have a lower caloric intake and are eating less fat and sugar -- at least during school hours -- than their counterparts elsewhere in the country. And even if it makes no impact on their food consumption outside of school, it has enough of an influence to reduce their overall daily calorie count.

The scientists analyzed data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the eating habits of 680 high school students in California and 14 states that have no restrictions on the foods sold in school. Of all the states considered, the kids of California have the lowest average daily calorie count, as well as the lowest for consumption of fat and added sugars. It stands to reason that changes in their school day diets made a large part of the difference, since their daily calorie consumption from school food was lower than that of students elsewhere. California high schoolers received approximately 21.5 percent of their daily calories at school, while other states averaged 28.4 percent.

Since their overall caloric intake is almost 160 calories less on average than the typical teenager in another state, it would seem that they are not going hungry or eating more when they go home to make up the difference. And this 160 calories or so every single day adds up. In a five-day school week, that's 800 fewer calories consumed. Considering that every 3500 calories equals a pound of extra body weight, we're talking about almost one pound not gained a month, or 12 pounds a year. And over 3 years of high school, that's a difference of 36 pounds in extra body weight not gained. Over time, it's small changes and cutbacks such as these that may be the key to preventing obesity.

California has been working hard to limit the junk foods its children have access to for years. The state has prohibited soft drinks from being sold, first in elementary schools then later in high schools as well. But even in a forward-thinking, health-minded state such as California, there are plenty of improvements that can still be made. In actuality, the junk food ban is not a true ban. It's not that snacks devoid of nutrition are outlawed; they simply have to come in below a certain threshold in fat and calorie counts. So these kids are eating lighter to be sure, but not necessarily healthier. Instead of a bag of greasy, full-fat potato chips, they are getting baked chips. Much lower in calories, but still 100%, high-glycemic, non-nutritional, empty calories and made with lots of added chemical junk.

But back to the positive side, anything that can make a dent in childhood obesity figures is good news. It's estimated that childhood obesity ultimately costs as much as $100 billion a year in the United States alone. When the effort is made, however, the benefits start to appear, as they have in California. And the California results merely confirm an experiment that took place on the other side of the country, in Somerville, Massachusetts. In 2002, a professor at nearby Tufts University started a program called Shape Up Somerville. The community got on board and started making improvements in various health-related areas. They hired more crossing guards and repainted town crosswalks, which increased the number of children walking to school by five percent. The schools started offering fresh produce every day for breakfast and lunch and removed many high calorie items such as French fries from their menus. Many local restaurants joined in and began providing half-portion options. Five years after it was begun, residents reported that they were very happy with the results. And the research showed that 8-year-olds in Somerville had slowed their weight gains by approximately a pound over each eight months school year.

These are the kinds of changes that add up over time. Plus, it starts teaching our youth at an early age little ways to make their lifestyles more healthy for years to come.

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Obesity Affects Pregnancy Risk

What makes a high risk pregnancy? You might be guessing some pre-existing condition such as high blood pressure or diabetes, or maybe age, as more women are starting families later in life. However, obesity might not immediately spring to mind. After all, who isn't overweight now? Yet new research shows that obesity pregnancy may be among the most important of variables when it comes to complications during delivery.

The study, conducted at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, found that even first time mothers over the age of 40 had fewer pregnancy-related problems if they were at a healthy weight before conceiving than obese women their age. In fact, they were very similar in statistics to younger pregnant women when compared by weight.

The researchers analyzed information on more than 53,000 women who took part in a pregnancy risk assessment and education program between 2006 and 2011 that was sponsored by a health management company. The records were then divided into four groups that included obese women between the ages of 20 and 29 with an average body mass index (BMI) of 35, obese women with an average age of 41 and an average BMI of 35, non-obese women between the ages of 20 and 29 with an average BMI of 23, and non-obese women with an average age of 41 and an average BMI of almost 24. A BMI under 25 is considered healthy weight, 25-29.9 is reckoned as overweight, and a BMI of 30 or more is indicative of obesity.

All of the older women in the study were more likely to have a C-section, perhaps because many obstetricians worry about those malpractice lawsuits. Since age is "considered" a risk factor for complications in delivery, they don't want to take any chances. But although 55 percent of older women gave birth by C-section (and that is undoubtedly a high number), a whopping 69 percent of the obese older women had C-sections. That's more than two-thirds of the women in that age group!

Another major problem for the obese women studied was gestational diabetes. The older women at obese weights were diagnosed with gestational diabetes at a rate three times that of the women in the same age category who were slimmer. More than 21 percent of the older obese women developed this condition as opposed to less than seven percent of their healthy-weight counterparts. While it wasn't as prevalent among younger women, gestational diabetes was still a problem for close to nine percent of the obese women in their 20s, while it affected less than four percent of the normal-BMI younger women.

And no matter their age, obese women were more likely to suffer from preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition in which protein collects in the urine and blood pressure becomes elevated. Obese women were found to have preeclampsia twice as frequently as those at a healthy body weight.

The bad news doesn't end there for pregnant women who are obese, either. A study last year at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta found that stroke rates for women who are pregnant, or have just given birth, increased an immense 54 percent over the course of 13 years between 1994 and 2007. Why? Mainly because there are a lot more women who already have high blood pressure and heart disease before they even conceive a child. Approximately 20 percent of the women in American today are obese when they become pregnant, which is a major factor in both ailments. And now, recent studies indicate that maybe even autism is linked to obesity during pregnancy.

The obvious course of action for any obese woman at any age thinking of trying to become pregnant would seem to be to lose weight. Eating a healthy, nutritious diet and exercising regularly will help to steadily shed those excess pounds and lower the BMI as well as the risk for so many illnesses, during the gestation period and after. Despite recent trends in political correctness, it's essential to take the term obesity to heart as an actual medical definition -- not an insult -- so you can get your health on track for many years ahead with your future family.

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The Health Benefits of Wheatgrass

Our healthy ingredient of the week should be very familiar to smoothie and juice lovers. Wheatgrass is young grass in the wheat family that grows in moderate climates throughout the United States and Europe. It is sold in a variety of forms from fresh grass to dietary supplements. Wheatgrass has been called one of nature's finest medicines. Its benefits are enormous. These include:

• Reduces high blood pressure
• Helps stop tooth decay
• Enhances hemoglobin production
• Neutralizes toxins and carcinogens in the body
• Cleans drug deposits from the body
• Purifies the liver
• Improves blood sugar disorders
• Improves the body's capability to heal wounds
• Helps digestion process
• Helps address the graying process of hair
• Removes heavy metals from the body
• Helps with acne
• Helps eczema
• Soothes sore throats
• Improves strength & endurance
• Purifies the blood
• Rebuilds the blood stream
• Enhances the action of the capillaries

If these benefits weren’t enough, it’s also a good source of some vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, amino acids, chlorophyll, enzymes, phytonutrients, and vitamins A, C and E ¹ – all essential for a healthy body. Its popularity makes it a very common additive to smoothies.

Wheatgrass is available in a variety of forms including tablets, capsules, liquid extracts, and tinctures. And then there’s the old standby – you can buy the wheat berries, grow it yourself in trays, and then run it through a wheatgrass juicer. It’s surprisingly sweet. If you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance, or are allergic to wheat or grass, you should consult your doctor before using wheatgrass.

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Energy Drinks May Be Harmful to Teeth

Those energy drinks that provide a pick-me-up in the afternoon just might be doing serious damage to your teeth. And the sports drinks that quench your thirst after a workout aren't much better. By wearing away your tooth enamel over time (and we're not talking about sugar here), a new study suggests that these drinks may increase your risk of developing cavities and other dental problems.

The research was carried out at the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine in Alton. The scientists included a total of 22 drinks in their testing: 13 different sports drinks and nine different energy drinks. They measured both the potency of their acidity and whether it affects tooth enamel. As it turns out, there is a range in the acidity of the drinks not only by brand but also by flavors within a brand. The worst offenders? Of the sports drinks tested, Gatorade Blue has the highest level of acidity, followed by Hydr8. As for the energy drinks tested, Red Bull Sugar Free is the most acidic, followed by Monster Assault.

The next portion of the experiment dealt with analyzing the effects of these drinks on actual enamel from extracted human teeth. The enamel sections were submerged in containers holding samples of six different drinks to test for enamel loss; three brands of sports drinks and three brands of energy drinks. The sports drinks included were Propel Grape, Gatorade Rain, and Powerade Option, and the energy drinks were 5-Hour Energy, Monster Assault, and Red Bull.

To create the conditions most similar to real-life exposure, the researchers kept the enamel in the drink samples for a 15-minute interval. It was then removed and placed in a container of artificial saliva for two hours. Over the course of five days, this was done four times a day to approximate the experience of people who consume these drinks throughout their day on a regular basis. Despite the beverage industry's claim that no one would keep the drink in their mouth for 15 minutes at a time, in truth, this probably closely represents what our mouths would be subjected to if consuming one of these drinks in a 15-minute time frame. Our teeth might not be immersed for 15 minutes straight, but the residue would certainly linger there and be continually refreshed as we took repeated sips.

By the end of the five-day period, there was erosion to every single enamel sample. The sports drinks, on average, wore away about 1.5 percent of the enamel. The energy drinks averaged more than 3 percent lost enamel. That's after just five days of regular consumption. Imagine what happens when people have these drinks several times a day every day for months…or years. And there is no way to regenerate enamel. This type of damage requires fillings to prevent cavities from forming or, if it's extensive, crowns to restore the tooth.

Energy drinks are also chockfull of caffeine, which is their appeal for most people. The majority of them average 70 to 80 mg of caffeine per eight ounces, which is only a little less than a typical cup of brewed coffee. However, one of the drinks tested, 5-Hour Energy, contains a whopping 207 mg of caffeine in just one little, two-ounce bottle. (No wonder it helps you "find the energy.") So these drinks are not just highly acidic and dentally damaging, but they can easily send your body into caffeine overload -- especially if you are getting caffeine from other sources such as coffee, tea, or soda as well.

And sports drinks, for all their advertising suggesting they provide essential nutrients necessary to replenish your body, really just add plenty of calories and not much else other than a handful of electrolytes that you can get from a number of more healthful sources. Studies have shown that while food calories "register" in the brain, limiting the amount of food you desire, liquid sugar calories somehow don't register. Liquids move more quickly through the digestive system and provide no nutrients and thus fail to trigger the normal satiety signals, causing an increase in overall caloric consumption.

So, with neither energy drinks nor sports drinks providing any particular benefit that you can't get from a better source, it's probably best to skip them in favor of water (or small doses of tea or coffee if it's the caffeine you are seeking). None of these drinks offer anything worth risking your dental health…or your ability to get a good night's sleep.

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Green Tea Reduces Cancer Risk & Burns Fat

The discovery of green tea and its health benefits was made thousands of years ago. In the beginning, it was only cultivated and used in different parts of Asia like China and India but it has recently gained a lot of popularity in the western world as well because of its various health benefits proven by scientific research. Just like black tea, green tea is also prepared from the leaves of tea plant know as Camellia sinensis but green tea does not go through the same oxidation process as black tea and due to this reason, most of its beneficial properties remain intact. Coming towards the question: Does green tea burn fat? We need to find out what does green tea contain and how its ingredients help us lose fat?

Green Tea Ingredients.

Green tea contains some of the most powerful antioxidants known as polyphenols. The polyphenols contained in green tea (also known as catechins) are much stronger antioxidants even when compared with Vitamin C. Green tea contains 6 different types of catechin but the most important of them all is known as Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).  EGCG is mainly responsible for providing various health benefits that are associated with green tea and it also helps us in fighting different diseases. Green tea also contains caffeine which gives it the refreshing effect. Other ingredients of green tea include: theanine, butyric acid, vitamins A, B1, B12, K, P, pectin, fluoride, iron, magnesium, calcium, strontium, copper, nickel, and zinc.

How Does Green Tea Burn Fat?

Scientific research has shown that green tea can help in losing excess fat from the body. That is why it is one of the main ingredients of most of the weight loss pills and supplements available in the market.

The food that we eat is converted by our liver into a gel like substance known as triglycerides. These triglycerides are used as main source of energy by our body to perform various physical activities. The more we eat, the more triglycerides are released in to our blood stream and the excess of them is converted in to body fat which can cause various health problems in the long run.  The polyphenols (especially EGCG) in green tea dissolve the excess triglycerides and prevent us from gaining extra body fat. The antioxidants and caffeine contained in green tea also signal our nervous system to release the already stored body fat in to the blood stream so that it can be used to fuel our body. Thus green tea makes us more energetic and accelerates our metabolism to burn extra calories.

Other Health Benefits.

Green tea provides us countless health benefits and only a few of them are mentioned below:

Prevents us from Cancer.

Clinical studies have shown that polyphenols in green tea can help prevent us from various types of cancer such as lung cancer, stomach cancer and colon cancer. These polyphenols can kill cancerous cells present in the body and also reduce the size of dangerous tumors.

Improves dental health.

Green tea has antibacterial effects and prevents us from the bacterium that causes tooth decay. Different compounds in green tea also help us in fighting bad breath.

Improves skin health.

Many skin care products use antioxidants such as vitamin A, C and E that help in skin care. Green tea has much stronger antioxidants and can help in preventing our skin from sun damage and wrinkles.

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Heat Stroke (Sun Stroke)

 Heat stroke facts

• Heat stroke is a form of hyperthermia in which the body temperature is elevated dramatically.
• Heat stroke is a medical emergency and can be fatal if not promptly and properly treated.
• Cooling the victim is a critical step in the treatment of heat stroke.
• The most important measures to prevent heat strokes are to avoid becoming dehydrated and to avoid vigorous physical activities in hot and humid weather.
• Infants, the elderly, athletes, and outdoor workers are the groups at greatest risk for heat stroke.

What is, and who is at risk for heat stroke?

Heat stroke is a form of hyperthermia, an abnormally elevated body temperature with accompanying physical symptoms including changes in the nervous system function. Unlike heat cramps and heat exhaustion, two other forms of hyperthermia that are less severe, heat stroke is a true medical emergency that is often fatal if not properly and promptly treated. Heat stroke is also sometimes referred to as heatstroke or sun stroke. Severe hyperthermia is defined as a body temperature of 104 F (40 C) or higher.

The body normally generates heat as a result of metabolism, and is usually able to dissipate the heat by radiation of heat through the skin or by evaporation of sweat. However, in extreme heat, high humidity, or vigorous physical exertion under the sun, the body may not be able to dissipate the heat and the body temperature rises, sometimes up to 106 F (41.1 C) or higher. Another cause of heat stroke is dehydration. A dehydrated person may not be able to sweat fast enough to dissipate heat, which causes the body temperature to rise.

Those most susceptible (at risk) individuals to heart strokes include:

• infants,
• the elderly (often with associated heart diseases, lung diseases, kidney diseases, or who are taking medications that make them vulnerable to dehydration and heat strokes),
• athletes, and
• individuals who work outside and physically exert themselves under the sun.

What are heat stroke symptoms and signs?

Symptoms of heat stroke can sometimes mimic those of heart attack or other conditions. Sometimes a person experiences symptoms of heat exhaustion before progressing to heat strokes.

Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include:

• nausea,
• vomiting,
• fatigue,
• weakness,
• headache,
• muscle cramps and aches, and
• dizziness.

However, some individuals can develop symptoms of heat stroke suddenly and rapidly without warning.

Different people may have different symptoms and signs of heatstroke. Common symptoms and signs of heat stroke include:

• high body temperature,
• the absence of sweating, with hot red or flushed dry skin,
• rapid pulse,
• difficulty breathing,
• strange behavior,
• hallucinations,
• confusion,
• agitation,
• disorientation,
• seizure, and/or
• coma.

What about heat stroke in children?

While the elderly are at greatest risk for heat stroke, infants and children are also at risk. In particular, infants or young children who are unattended in locked cars may suffer heat-related illness quickly, since the indoor temperature of a locked care can rise to dangerous levels even in moderate weather. Rarely, infants have died of heat stroke when overly bundled in their cribs. It is critically important that parents understand the medical dangers inherent in leaving children unattended in cars in addition to the obvious safety risks. Further, cars should always be kept locked when not in use so that children may not enter them and become trapped.

Among older children and teens, heat stroke or heat-related illness is a risk for athletes who train in hot environmental conditions. Among reported heat-related illnesses in U.S. high school athletes, the majority of cases occur in football players during the month of August.

How do you treat a heat stroke victim?

Victims of heat stroke must receive immediate treatment to avoid permanent organ damage. First and foremost, cool the victim.

• Get the victim to a shady area, remove clothing, apply cool or tepid water to the skin (for example you may spray the victim with cool water from a garden hose), fan the victim to promote sweating and evaporation, and place ice packs under armpits and groin.
• If the person is able to drink liquids, have them drink cool water or other cool beverages that do not contain alcohol or caffeine.
• Monitor body temperature with a thermometer and continue cooling efforts until the body temperature drops to 101 to 102 F (38.3 to 38.8 C).
• Always notify emergency services (911) immediately. If their arrival is delayed, they can give you further instructions for treatment of the victim.

How can heat stroke be prevented?

• The most important measures to prevent heat strokes are to avoid becoming dehydrated and to avoid vigorous physical activities in hot and humid weather.
• If you have to perform physical activities in hot weather, drink plenty of fluids (such as water and sports drinks), but avoid alcohol, caffeine (including soft drinks), and tea which may lead to dehydration.
• Your body will need replenishment of electrolytes (such as sodium) as well as fluids if you sweat excessively or perform vigorous activity in the sunlight for prolonged periods.
• Take frequent breaks to hydrate yourself. Wear hats and light-colored, lightweight, loose clothes.

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Emergency contraception: coil 99.9% effective

 “The coil is a much more effective form of emergency contraception than the morning-after pill,” the Metro has reported. The coil, medically known as an intrauterine device or IUD, is often used as a form of long-term contraception, but it can also be implanted after sex to provide emergency protection against pregnancy.

IUDs are in the news as researchers have today published findings on how effectively they prevent pregnancy in women who have them implanted after unprotected sex. Drawing on data from 43 previous studies, the review found women who had an IUD fitted after having unprotected sex had a pregnancy rate of 0.09% – the equivalent of less than 1 pregnancy out of every 1,000 IUDs inserted. Another way of saying this is that 99.91% of women who used an IUD as emergency contraception did not become pregnant.

The study was mainly based on findings relating to IUDs containing copper, rather than all-plastic devices, and the data came largely from Chinese studies. As a consequence, the results may not reflect the effectiveness of other types of coil or use of the IUD in the UK. Also, the research did not directly compare the coil to the effectiveness of emergency contraceptive pills, or examine how easily women could obtain an emergency coil following unprotected sex. These will both be important factors for women deciding which option to use.

Where did the story come from?

The study was led by researchers from the University of Princeton USA in collaboration with researchers based in South Africa, China and the UK. It was funded by a grant from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the researchers declared that they had no conflicts of interest.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Human Reproduction.

Some news coverage of this research suggested women should “forget morning-after pills” as a form of emergency contraception, which is somewhat irresponsible as they remain an effective form of emergency contraception for some women. Also, emergency contraceptive pills may be a more practical and accessible option at times.

Women seeking emergency contraception should be informed about the full range of options available to them to help them make a decision about the most appropriate method for them.

What kind of research was this?

This research was a systematic review investigating how effective intrauterine devices are at preventing pregnancy when used for emergency contraception.

An intrauterine device (IUD) or ‘the coil’ is a form of birth control that is placed in the uterus of a woman to prevent pregnancy. An IUD is made of copper and plastic and works by physically preventing sperm from fertilising the egg. They can also prevent any fertilised eggs from implanting in the womb. Some devices, known as intrauterine systems, also release hormones that prevent fertilisation, but these were not included in this review and are not recommended for emergency contraception.

A systematic review seeks to identify and summarise all known literature published on a specific topic. It is an effective way of summarising a large body of research to answer a specific research question.

It should also be noted that the study did not directly compare the use of IUDs with the use of the morning after pill, nor did it compare how easily women could access either option after unprotected sex. This means we cannot tell which is a more viable option for women seeking emergency contraception, or say that one is intrinsically ‘better’ than the other based on the study’s results alone.

What did the research involve?

The researchers performed searches of research databases to gather all relevant published studies on women being given an IUD after seeking emergency contraception.

Studies were only included if clear information was available on whether the emergency contraception was effective and whether or not the women became pregnant. Only studies published in English or Chinese were included. The authors state that research published in Chinese was included because there is a high volume of contraceptive research taking place in China.

Those studies that met the inclusion criteria were analysed in more detail and data were extracted from them by two reviewers working independently of one another, which is intended to reduce errors and bias during data selection. The authors then described the results from the individual studies.

The researchers then used a simple method to pool the results of the different studies. During this process they combined the number of women seeking contraception and the number who became pregnant from across all the studies, which was intended to estimate the overall effectiveness of IUDs at preventing pregnancy.

What were the basic results?

The researchers included 42 studies that provided data on the effectiveness of IUDs in women seeking emergency contraception. These represented studies conducted in six countries between 1979 and 2011, and included 7,034 women using eight different types of IUD. Nearly all the IUDs were devices containing small amounts of copper, and only a small number of plastic-only IUDs were included, in the older pre-1985 studies. Most of the study data came from research based in China.

The main finding was that, out of the total 7,034 IUD insertions after unprotected sex, there were 10 recorded pregnancies. This gave a combined IUD failure rate (failure to prevent pregnancy) of 0.14% (95% CI 0.08 to 0.25%).

The authors commented that a study in Egypt gave a “surprisingly high” failure rate of 2%, which was vastly different from all the other studies. If this single atypical study was excluded the combined failure rate of using an IUD fell to 0.09% (95%CI 0.04 to 0.19%).

This rate means that less than one woman in every 1,000 would fall pregnant using the IUD as an emergency contraceptive. Another way of saying this is that 99.91% of women who used an IUD as emergency contraception did not become pregnant.

The maximum length of time from intercourse to IUD insertion ranged from two days to 10 or more days. Most of the insertions (74% of the studies) occurred within five days of intercourse. However, the studies did not include sufficient detail about the delay between intercourse and insertion of IUD for the researchers to analyse accurately how the effectiveness of the IUD was affected by any delay.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers conclude that “IUDs are a highly effective method of emergency contraception, with a failure rate of less than one per thousand”.

In discussing the different types of IUD they concluded that use of a copper IUD “is by far the most effective emergency contraception option” compared with the non-copper alternatives.

Conclusion

This systematic review of IUD use in emergency contraception provides useful estimates of pregnancy rates following insertion after unprotected sex. To assess the issue it drew upon studies in several different countries, although the studies were primarily carried out in China. The results of the study suggest that IUDs are a highly effective form of emergency contraception, with a very low failure rate of around 0.09%.

It should be noted that the research primarily estimates how likely it is that a woman would become pregnant after having unprotected sex and having an IUD fitted. It does not, however, tell us important related factors such as how available IUDs are after unprotected sex, nor does it confirm that they are necessarily a better option than emergency contraceptive pills. For example, women can obtain emergency contraceptive pills from specially trained pharmacists, whereas an IUD needs to be fitted by a trained clinician. This is not to say that either is better or more practical, rather that there are particular considerations to take into account with each form or contraception beyond overall failure rate.

The research also has some limitations, which should be considered when interpreting the results. For example, most of the results included in the review related to the copper coil and some were older devices, so the overall failure rate of 0.09% may not accurately represent the failure rate of newer IUDs or ones that contain hormones (known as intrauterine systems). More data on these devices are needed to establish whether they have a similar failure rate leading to pregnancy as the copper options included in the review. Similarly, most of the data feeding into the 0.09% figure come from studies based in China. Hence, this overall estimate best reflects copper IUD use in Chinese women. The effectiveness in other countries and for other IUDs is less certain based on this study alone.

Also, the research originally set out to assess the effectiveness of IUDs in detail so the researchers could see how many days had elapsed between unprotected sex and insertion of the IUD. However, the studies they identified did not contain sufficient detail for this to be possible. Hence, the combined IUD failure rate represents all cases together regardless of the time between intercourse and insertion of IUD. It is likely that the time between unprotected sex and insertion of the IUD directly influences the effectiveness of the contraceptive device, but this review was unable to analyse this. The recommended maximum interval after unprotected sex is 120 hours (five days) for most currently marketed devices.

As research was restricted to studies published in English or Chinese, this will exclude potentially informative research in other languages. The results of these excluded studies may have influenced the conclusions of this review had they been included.

When discussing their research the authors highlight recent studies exploring attitudes towards IUDs, which identified several potential barriers to a greater use of IUDs as emergency contraception. These included the waiting time (not being able to get a coil on the day emergency contraception is requested), low levels of awareness and understanding among patients, and a lack of understanding among healthcare providers. The results of this study, which show that IUDs are a highly effective option, may renew efforts to increase awareness of IUDs as an emergency contraceptive option. On this note, a spokeswoman for the Family Planning Association is quoted in the Metro as calling for more women to be offered the IUD routinely as a method of contraception. 

The Metro’s headline suggesting that women should “forget morning-after pills” is somewhat irresponsible, as morning after pills remain an acceptable and effective method of emergency contraception for some women. A previous systematic review carried out by the Cochrane collaboration in 2008 concluded that drugs (such as the morning after pill) and copper IUDs were both effective and safe methods of emergency contraception.

The risks of sexually transmitted diseases associated with unprotected sex are well known and the coil, whether used as a standard contraceptive or an emergency contraceptive, does not reduce these risks.

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