Sufferers can usually pinpoint what has caused the problem. It can start at any age and even if the sufferer has been in contact with something many times in previous years, they can suddenly become sensitive to it.

Nickel is often used in silver jewellery – it’s cheaper than pure silver so the finished item can be sold at a lower price, making it affordable and still attractive. Someone who has worn jewellery with nickel for years could develop an allergy to it that produces contact dermatitis. The sufferer will know what has caused the skin rash because it is usually localised so for example if a necklace has produced the reaction, the wearer will have a necklace-shaped rash around their neck!

The good news is that once the culprit-substance has been identified, steps can be taken to avoid it. So if a person is allergic to antibacterial hand wash, they can take their own hand wash with them if they are out and about so that they don’t ever have to use it.

Treatment is normally by steroid cream, avoiding the substance that causes the reaction, and sometimes antihistamines (the ones that cause drowsiness – take one at night to stop your skin from itching when you are asleep and stop the itch-scratch-itch cycle).

However, whilst people who are allergic to nickel might ordinarily just avoid cheap jewellery, plans are afoot by the Royal Mint to make the new 5p and 10p coins using a higher percentage of nickel than is used at present.

The existing 5p and 10p coins are made of 75% copper and 25% nickel (all mixed in together) but the new coins will be a bit thicker and have a nickel coating. It’s the nickel coating that might well cause problems for people since the skin will come into contact with pure nickel every time these coins are handled. That might not be such a problem for people who only need to handle cash every so often, but for people who work in shops the problem could be much more troublesome.

In an effort to change the Royal Mint’s mind (the Royal Mint says they’ll save about £8m with the changes) several dermatologists based at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and St John’s Institute of Dermatology, London have written to the British Medical Council saying that there has been no effort to assess the level of risk posed by the planned coins.

The same plans were put in place in Sweden by their equivalent of the Royal Mint (the Central Bank) but were scrapped when a risk assessment ruled that nickel ‘poses unacceptable risks to health.’

The research looked at around 200 previous studies that had looked at things like positive emotion and optimism and how those things can impact on a person’s health. The review concluded that they can prevent heart disease from occurring and can stop it getting worse if it does start to develop.

It’s long been known that depression, anxiety and stress can lead to ill health (including heart disease) but this review is the first collective research on the effects of positive emotion on our health.

The review was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health. Researcher Dr Julia Boehm said, “The absence of the negative is not the same thing as the presence of the positive. We found that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease regardless of such factors as a person’s age, socioeconomic status, smoking status, or body weight. For example, the most optimistic individuals had an approximately 50 per cent reduced risk of experiencing an initial cardiovascular event compared to their less optimistic peers.”

This could be because optimistic people do more – such as getting out and enjoying walks, swimming or exercising at a gym. They also tend to sleep better than people with depression. But even so, the results show that optimistic people are less likely to develop heart disease.

So if your glass is always half-full, your heart should be in good health. Unless it’s half-full of beer. Red wine might be alright. Okay, so it not only depends on how full your glass is but also what is in it!

IBS can be really rather debilitating. It’s thought to affect a fifth of all people in the UK, who suffer symptoms ranging from bloating, constipation and diarrhoea (often alternating) heartburn, fatigue and pain in the abdomen. In severe cases it can cause people to have to miss work or to avoid food that they might otherwise enjoy – different foods can often affect different sufferers; there is no one food that is known to cause the symptoms in everyone, though gluten and/or lactose are common triggers.

Despite the fact that IBS is widely known about (mainly because people talk about it so much) relatively few people have a formal diagnosis.

Many people self-diagnose on the basis of their symptoms and get to know which foods or situations aggravate those symptoms – and avoid them. This can be a dangerous game, since the symptoms of IBS often closely mirror the symptoms of more serious conditions like bowel cancer, so if you have a change in bowel habit (or changes) that last more than about a month you should see your GP for further investigation. A simple blood test can rule out other causes of the symptoms such as Coeliac disease (an intolerance of gluten).

Even if it turns out that you are ‘just’ suffering from IBS, this can be something that seriously impedes your quality of life. The IBS Awareness Month’s aim is to get people to be knowledgeable about what can be done if their symptoms are identified and treated – and what a massive improvement treatment can make to their life.

There is no ‘cure’ for IBS, merely ways to manage the condition that need to be tailored to suit the individual. Certain foods may trigger an episode, or stress can cause the symptoms. IBS is basically a malfunction in how the bowel works, and whatever triggers this needs to be eliminated, as far as is possible, from the sufferer’s life. Confusingly, in some people adding soluble fibre (by eating more fruit and veg) makes their symptoms improve whilst in others it makes their symptoms worsen. Often a trial-and-error approach needs to be taken under the guidance of your GP or a dietician.

Some people find that eating ‘live’ yoghurts (probiotics) help their symptoms. Also regular exercise can help by relieving stress.

The first step, though, is to go and see your GP.

Now, dentists are also being asked to screen patients through questionnaires to identify those who may be drinking too much. This is, apparently, in line with their overall duty of care to their patients in promoting their general wellbeing and health: “Alcohol misuse can impact on the oral health of patients attending primary care services in numerous ways. Excessive alcohol consumption is not only a risk factor for sustaining orofacial injury (either through falls, road traffic accidents or interpersonal violence) but also implicated in the aetiology of potentially fatal oral disease, including cancers of the mouth, larynx, pharynx and oesophagus. Liaison with the patients’ medical practitioner could also result in referral for specialist care should the patient demonstrate alcohol dependence or depression, for example.”

Or to put it another way, dentists should be alert to patients who may be drinking to excess in case they end up face-planting and ruining their teeth and jaws when drunk, and because alcohol is known to cause certain cancers. If they are very concerned, they should speak to the patient’s GP to advise that they may be suffering from mental health problems related to excessive alcohol consumption.

Peter Ward, Chief Executive of the British Dental Association is supportive of the advice and said, “We agree that the dental examination is an ideal time to promote oral and general health messages. The opportunity for dentists to concentrate more on preventive messages is currently being tested in dental pilots in England.”

The research looked at around a thousand people in America, studying their diet in terms of how many calories they consumed and what their BMI was. America has an even worse obesity problem than does the UK, so research into the causes of (and prevention of) obesity over there is big business, if you’ll pardon the pun.

The researchers found that the people who ate chocolate ‘regularly’ (i.e. a few times a week) had an average weight lower than those who ate chocolate every now and again.

The researchers said that chocolate contains a lot of calories per serving, but its other ingredients might promote weight-loss rather than prompt the body to store the calories as fat. The research controlled for other factors like exercise and socio-economic status of the participants.

It is believed, from the research, that the frequency of consumption of the chocolate is key to the issue. Eating it frequently is different to eating a lot of it all in one go occasionally, and it is the former that is linked to lower weight. The results were statistically-significant, meaning that the results were genuine and not just down to chance.

However, the results are correlational, not causational. That means that although there’s a link (in that the lower weight and chocolate consumption occur together), there is no proof that one causes the other (e.g. that chocolate causes weight loss, or that being thinner makes you eat chocolate more frequently).

Lead researcher Dr Beatrice Golomb, said, “Our findings appear to add to a body of information suggesting that the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining their ultimate impact on weight.”

Remember, though, that being slim does not necessarily equate with being healthy. Chocolate contains fats that can collect on your inside if not on your outside, so keep your heart healthy and eat a sensible, balanced diet. And brush your teeth!

It’s perfectly possible to have ‘good stress’ – indeed many people thrive on the stress of their job, performing best under
pressure. ‘Good stress’ normally stems from things that are within your control. It’s ‘bad stress’ (usually caused by things that you cannot control but wish you could) that does the damage and causes sleepless nights.

There are several symptoms of feeling the effects of ‘bad stress’ that include feelings of anger, depression and anxiety, or changes in your appetite (either binge-eating or eating too little). You may also lose sleep, cry with little reason and find it hard to concentrate. This can escalate into physical symptoms (or sometimes you may only suffer physical symptoms) such as twitchiness, pins and needles, chest pain, muscle cramps, changes to bowel habit (either experiencing diarrhoea or constipation) or to sex drive, and being unable to get a good night’s sleep (either because you wake frequently or can’t get to sleep).

The human body’s response to stress is to release adrenaline – rather like our caveman ancestors would have in response to a stressor such as an attack by an animal. Adrenaline is sometimes known as our ‘fight or flight’ hormone since it gives us the energy and sometimes great strength to either confront our stressor (‘fight’) or run from it (‘flight’). Whilst that response is useful if you are being pursued by a bear, it is not so useful when you are reading your bank statement or dealing with letters from your ex-wife’s solicitors.

With stress and adrenaline comes an increased heart-rate and perhaps palpitations in your chest. An increase in your blood pressure can weaken your immune system, leaving you open to all sorts of bugs, and it also makes your body release fat and sugar into your blood (to give you the energy to fight that bear). In the long term, it increases your likelihood of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

Stress can be managed with anti-depressants (which can also help you to sleep better, which in itself might alleviate much of the problem) but in the long term you need to know how to deal with stress properly so your GP would normally refer you for some form of talking-therapy such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

However, traditionally replacement hips are made from metal, and surgeons are urging regulators to re-think this approach. Parts of the metal hips can rub together, causing wear and tear that can lead to problems after a few years.

Apparently these side-effects have been known about for years, though they have only been brought to light after they were uncovered by reporters for the BBC and researchers for the British Medical Journal.

The regulatory body, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), though, says that metal-on-metal hip replacements are still safe to use and can continue to be used. They do say, though, that patients who have had that type of treatment should be reviewed annually for the rest of their lives, which seems a bit at odds with their insistence that the replacements are safe.

Surgeons from the British Hip Society say that many people should no longer be given metal hip replacements.

The annual reviews that the MHRA has in mind will be blood tests to check for tiny amounts of metal debris in the system (which would have come from the metal joints rubbing together) and, if the patient were displaying symptoms (such as pain) then an MRI could be carried out to see whether the debris were to blame.

The MHRA says that metal-on-metal hip replacements are necessary, though, for some people:

“We recognise that there is emerging evidence of increased revision rates associated with large head metal-on-metal hip replacements. But the clinical evidence is mixed and this does not support their removal from the market. Metal-on-metal resurfacing hip implants enable young patients to lead pain-free, independent lives.”

If you are concerned, you should speak to your GP who can refer you for discussion about the matter to your orthopaedic consultant.

If you get the symptoms at the same time of year each year (usually when the seasons change) then it’s more likely to be an allergy. People tend to associate allergies (in the form of hay fever) with springtime, when the flowers bring on runny noses and streaming eyes, but actually falling leaves in Autumn and freshly-mown grass in Summer are just as likely to get you reaching for the tissues.

There are allergens that can be present all-year round, of course, so if you’re snuffling all the time, you should look closer to home – it could be that you’re allergic to dust mites present in your mattress or soft-furnishings.

If it’s only during the Winter months that you’ve been suffering, it is likely that you’ve had a succession of cold viruses, particularly if they were preceded by a few days or weeks of feeling off-colour and then last for a week or so.

Allergic reactions tend to come on quite suddenly but can last for a long time if the allergen isn’t identified and removed.

Colds may leave you feeling bunged up and give you red, watery eyes, but your eyes won’t normally itch with a cold. On the other hand, allergic reactions can often be most severe when they reach your eyes, leaving you with very itchy, sore and even blistering eyes.

Finally, allergies don’t normally give you a fever or a runny nose that is green/yellow in colour.

If you think you may be suffering from an allergy, the only way you can be sure is to have an allergy test, which is normally done by skin-prick test where suspected allergens are placed on your skin to see if they cause a reaction.

The severity of your symptoms can determine whether you can get one of these on the NHS, but ask your GP for advice.

Well, the government isn’t really interested in saving us from ourselves, it’s more interested in trying to save the NHS some money. After all, you only need to visit an Accident and Emergency department for a short period of time to see how many patients are treated as a result of alcohol consumption – whether that’s through excessive consumption and alcohol poisoning, fighting, domestic abuse, road accidents or trips and slips when inebriated. Visit the other wards in a hospital, and you’ll see even more people who are suffering the long-term effects of alcoholism and excessive alcohol consumption.

But even if you don’t drink to excess, alcohol does have a negative effect on your body. If you’re under 21, your brain is still developing and drinking alcohol (especially to excess) can actually damage your brain.

Lesser, but still significant, are the other effects on your body that you may not associate with alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a stimulant and it dehydrates your body. Doing so can give you wrinkles and fine lines, or it can cause bloating as your body tries to preserve its stores of liquid. Your veins and blood vessels are dilated by alcohol, and can become prominently visible (rosacea, or ‘drinker’s nose’).

Alcohol is calorific. It contains 700 calories per 100g. It also lowers your blood sugars, increasing your appetite (hence the otherwise mysterious allure of the kebab shop).

It’s not all bad, of course – alcohol can reduce the risk of heart disease if drunk in moderation. Whilst the current guidelines say that men should drink no more than 21 units per week and women 14 units, it is hoped that these guidelines will change to reflect the need for those units to be consumed over several days (not in a binge session, and not every day).

At one point, scientists believed that the fact that more men than women suffer from heart disease might have something to do with risk factors associated with the Y chromosome. The Y chromosome is male – men carry XY chromosomes, whereas women carry XX – and so scientists began looking closely at the Y chromosome to see if there was some variation on it that might explain why so many men (compared to women) developed the disease.

The research that led from that supposition looked at over three thousand men and considered links between their genetic type (having one of several possible variations on the Y chromosome, called haplogroup I) and their risk of developing heart disease. The research found that men with one particular variation on their Y chromosome were 56% more likely to develop heart disease than men with other types of variation. This was regardless of other factors like weight, lifestyle and socio-economic factors.

So it seems from the research that Y chromosome genes might significantly increase a man’s risk of developing heart disease. However, lifestyle and socio-economic factors do still play a part – just because a man is genetically predisposed to developing a certain disease it doesn’t mean he will do so, because he can take steps to improve his general health (e.g. stopping smoking, losing weight, taking more exercise) and take steps to avoid this largely preventable disease.

The research has been carried out by the Universities in Leeds, Glasgow, Leicester and Cambridge and at King’s College London, and further universities across the globe. The researchers made it clear that being part of this haplogroup I is not a predictor of developing heart disease on its own – there are many factors that make it more or less likely that a person will develop the disease. The key is to take care of yourself and your heart – eating healthily, stopping smoking, drinking in moderation, taking regular exercise. If you have any concerns, speak to your GP.