Health & Beauty

Training elderly in social media improves well-being and combats isolation

Training older people in the use of social media improves cognitive capacity, increases a sense of self-competence and could have a beneficial overall impact on mental health and well-being, according to a landmark study carried out in the UK.

A two-year project funded by the European Union and led by the University of Exeter in partnership with Somerset Care Ltd and Torbay &...

New campaign highlights how cigarettes ‘rot’ the body from the inside

New research reveals that poisons in tobacco smoke break down the body’s main systems, damaging bones, muscles, brain, teeth and eyes.

Public Health England (PHE) have launched a powerful new campaign to highlight how smoking damages the body and causes a slow and steady decline in a process similar to rotting.

The campaign starts as a new expert review commissioned by Public...

Plea to think before you dial 999

‘Keep the 999 line free for me’ is the urgent request being made by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) ahead of one of its busiest times of the year.

This awareness raising campaign will run for at least the winter period and encourages people to question whether or not they really need to dial 999. Many of the 999 calls made to the service could actually...

New drug target could reduce risk of heart attacks

Researchers identify a new drug target which could reduce the furring of arteries lowering risk of heart attacks

A new study shows how a small protein called fractalkine may increase the furring of arteries in people. The researchers, from the University of Oxford, say developing drugs to target and reduce the amount of fractalkine could be a new way to slow furring of the arteries,...

Don't face you troubles alone...

Most people feel worried, low, fearful or distressed at some time in their lives and these feelings often appear heightened at during the festive period.

Money or health worries, loneliness, or family tensions, don’t simply disappear just because it’s Christmas. In fact, these stresses can be worse at this time of year.

The hype associated with Christmas and New Year can make...

Local mums praise home births team

More mums are choosing to have their babies at home and they are singing the praises of the maternity team who supported and assisted them.

Last month saw a nearly 7% homebirth rate for the Jubilee Team, a dedicated team of midwives, with a particular interest in supporting women to give birth at home, who provide our home birth service.

Since 2012, the Jubilee Team have...

A year with zero MRSA bacteraemias

Plymouth Hospitals NHS has reached a significant milestone this week – a year without any patient having an MRSA bacteraemia (blood stream infection).

This is a fantastic achievement for staff at the large, specialist Trust and is testament to their hard work and dedication to reduce infections.

Dr Peter Jenks, Director of Infection Prevention and Control, said: “An MRSA blood-...

Plymouth Hospitals launches Mayflower Peer Support Group

The official launch of the Mayflower Peer Support Group took place this week.

The support service involves kidney patients helping other kidney patients who are facing similar situations. It aims to give short term practical, emotional and social support to people with chronic kidney disease, their families or carers, based on common experiences.

Peer supporters are patients...

Healthy people wanted for dementia project

Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust's Neurology Research Team is now recruiting healthy individuals between 65 and 83 years of age to an exciting international dementia clinical research study.

The study, called TOMMORROW, aims to see if it is possible to predict if a person will develop memory problems based on a method that uses a person’s genetic status and age. It will also test the safety...

Event for sarcoma patients a success

A health and wellbeing event for cancer patients, organised by the Sarcoma and Living with and Beyond Cancer Team at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, was deemed a “resounding success”.

The event, which was held in the Mustard Tree Macmillan Support Centre on Saturday 22 November, was attended by 43 patients and their relatives.

Liz Ridgway, the Sarcoma Specialist Nurse, who...

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