WE are pulled in lots of directions at this time of year and our health typically takes a back seat, which is understandable.
But there are things you can do to offset all those indulgences and ease any last-minute panics.
Pick a couple of habits you can stick to, without negotiation, for the next few weeks that will help to counteract the late-night socials and stress from gift shopping.
Depending on your own health requirements, you could aim for 10,000 steps every day, even if it means wrapping up for a walk after dinner.
Why not attend a fitness class every Saturday morning, or get alcohol-free “mocktails” during weeknight events?
Eat dinner at the table so you have a chance to talk about any stress and worries you have with family.
If sleep is suffering, write these worries down on paper first, so they aren’t whizzing around your brain.
Keep a notepad by your bed as a reminder. Little habits can make a big difference when everything else feels off-routine.
Meanwhile, here’s a selection of what readers have asked me this week…
Q) MY legs ache, and have done for months. It’s affecting my walking. Is it just my age?
I’m 81 years old, but am quite fit. I take bendroflumethiazide, lisinopril and mirtazapine.
A) While age is certainly a risk factor for many conditions, we can’t assume it’s the only cause. There’s no reason why an otherwise healthy person should experience leg pain, regardless of their age.
With the symptoms you describe, it’s important to consider the possibility of poor blood supply, called peripheral arterial disease.
It’s a chronic, progressive condition, which may explain why you’ve had symptoms for a while, and typically causes pain or aching in the legs, especially when walking uphill or up steps, because the muscles are not getting enough oxygen (due to weak blood flow).
This symptom is called intermittent claudication.
It’s caused by atherosclerosis – a build-up of fatty inflammatory material inside the artery wall, which gradually narrows or blocks the arteries taking blood to your legs and feet.
You say the ache is affecting your walking – is this because the pain is brought on by walking? Does it ease with rest? You may need tests to confirm PAD and medicine to help treat it .
It is largely helped by lifestyle changes, too. Exercising regularly and not smoking are the best changes, but eating a healthy diet, losing weight and reducing alcohol consumption are key, too.
It is sometimes treated by a vascular surgeon. Other symptoms of PAD include numbness or weakness, paler and shiny skin with loss of hair, muscle wasting of the legs and skin ulcers that are not healing.
In more severe PAD, symptoms may be present at rest.
Laying in bed may cause pain or tingling in your feet or toes that wakes you up, which may be alleviated by standing up or hanging your legs over the side of your bed.
The risk factors are the same as those for heart disease and stroke, such as being over the age of 50, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
While it’s good that you are on medication for blood pressure, it indicates to me that you may be someone at increased risk of PAD.
NO FUSS OVER FLUSHES
I AM an 82-year-old female in reasonably good health and have been taking amlodipine tablets for years.
I have regular dental health checks and still have my own teeth.
However, over the last couple of months, I have been experiencing hot flushes, even when I am not moving around.
Also, my mouth has been filling with saliva when I am speaking (which I do quite a lot of) and this can be embarrassing.
I am a carer for my husband, 83, who has been diagnosed with Charles Bonnet syndrome and is now also registered as having impaired vision, which I must admit is causing both of us a lot of anxiety.
I am loath to see our doctor for myself as we have had so many visits recently.
Many carers feel this way, and there can be a tendency to prioritise appointments and tests for the person being cared for.
This is something that concerns me as I have personally experienced the tragedies that can happen when carers do not prioritise their own health.
There is one person who always sticks in my mind who was a carer for their mother, whom I regularly visited. I got to know the carer well.
It still breaks my heart to this day that I didn’t make more of an effort to check in on the carer’s health.
They were ignoring symptoms of their own, as they had not wanted to worry anyone, and subsequently got so unwell that they could not be treated.
So my message to you and all carers out there who read this is to please, please, prioritise your own health.
In fact, this is so important that it should be documented on your medical record that you are a carer.
Sometimes, carers need additional support or consideration with things like appointment times, so knowing that you’re a carer helps GP surgeries and hospitals be sensitive to this.
The symptoms that you mention could have several causes.
These include benign causes and the possibility of more serious things, too, so please make that GP appointment straight away.
And make sure it is documented on your medical record that you are a carer.
NHS CAN’T OFFER NIGHT SWEAT MEDS
I LOVE your column and was very interested to read your response to the person whose sleep is disrupted by sweat. My night sweats were affecting my sleep and my marriage because my husband could not get near me.
I went to see a private menopause nurse as my GP would only prescribe antidepressants, which did nothing.
I have now been taking fezolinetant (Veoza) for 18 months and it has changed my life. I have to get my prescription privately, though. Is fezolinetant now available on the NHS?
Previously, I answered a reader whose night sweats were waking her up to four times a night. She cannot use HRT due to having previously had hormone- dependent breast cancer.
GPs can prescribe antidepressants for vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and sweats), which can be helpful for some women, but I am sorry to hear this was not the case for you.
It’s great to hear fezolinetant has been so life-changing, though. Currently, it remains a private prescription-only medicine in the UK for the vast majority of users.
It has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, but in March the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issued a draft recommendation that Veoza should not be used routinely on the NHS due to its lack of “value for money”.
As a result, I’d advise that a private prescription remains the best route for you.
Please also note that because of some risk of liver problems, patients on fezolinetant need liver-function monitoring before they start to take it – monthly for the first three months, and periodically afterwards.
Lifestyle tweaks can also help. Avoid big meals and alcohol near bedtime, keep your bedroom cool, and use a fan and breath- able bedding (cotton, linen or bamboo).
Gentle exercise in the day can also boost your sleep and, if appropriate, magnesium glycinate as a supplement can help, too.
FAT JABS FOR THE MIND
WEIGHT-LOSS jabs could slow down Alzheimer’s by slashing brain shrinkage, according to a small British study.
Saxenda, a GLP-1 drug already used to manage type 2 diabetes, was shown to slow decline in memory and thinking.
Researchers followed 204 patients in the UK for 12 months, half of whom received daily Saxenda injections, which contain the active drug liraglutide, and the other half were given a placebo.
The study did not meet its main goal, of seeing if the drug improved the brain’s glucose metabolism – a key marker of healthy brain function.
But it did appear to reduce shrinking in parts of the brain that control memory, learning, language and decision-making, by 50 per cent compared with the placebo, analysis suggests.
Tests also revealed an 18 per cent slowing in cognitive decline, including memory, comprehension and spatial awareness.
Lead author, Prof Paul Edison, from Imperial College London, said: “Our findings provide some of the strongest evidence yet that GLP-1 treatments could modify the disease process in Alzheimer’s disease.
“Because this drug is already approved for diabetes, advancing it for Alzheimer’s disease could be significantly faster than developing a new therapy from scratch.”
The study from Nature Medicine follows studies showing GLP-1 medicines may lower the risk of heart disease, bowel cancer and fertility issues.
NEW BEER BELLY DANGER
A BEER belly is more dangerous for your heart than just being overweight, a study suggests – especially in men.
Researchers studied cardiovascular MRI images of 2,244 German men and women, aged 46 to 78, without known heart disease. General obesity was linked to enlarged heart chambers.
But abdominal obesity was associated with thickening of the heart muscle and smaller heart chamber volumes.
“These changes were more prominent in men, particularly in the right ventricle, which pumps blood to the lungs,” says lead author Dr Erley, radiology resident at University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf.
“In fact, the inner chambers become smaller, so the heart holds and pumps less blood.
“This pattern impairs the heart’s ability to relax properly, which eventually can lead to heart failure.”
She added: “Rather than focusing on reducing overall weight, middle-aged adults should focus on preventing abdominal fat accumulation through regular exercise, a balanced diet and timely medical intervention, if necessary.”
Abdominal obesity, which is often referred to as a “beer belly”, is a marker of visceral fat, which is stored deep around internal organs (unlike subcutaneous fat, which is that under the skin).
It is measured by dividing the waist circumference by the hip circumference, giving a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Over 0.9 for men, and 0.85 for women, is considered a risk for health conditions by the World Health Organization.
Experts say WHR may be a better indication of predicting chronic health problems than BMI alone.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Using weight loss jabs? Be aware that alcohol might make side effects worse, as it affects appetite, hydration and blood sugar levels.
Make sure to eat something beforehand. Alcohol may also stay in your system longer, as these medicines slow digestion.
