Health & Wellbeing

A Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) cancer patient is urging people to sign up for the pioneering 100,000 Genomes Project. Toby Knight had surgery for colorectal cancer at QEHB in January 2014, followed by chemotherapy, and is now all clear of the disease. But before his operation he gave permission for a tumour sample to be kept for research – which has now led to him signing up to the ground-breaking NHS England initiative, the first of its kind in the world.

46-year-old Jason Green will ride the 75mile ‘Sunrise Express’ later this month to raise funds in support of his relative, 12-year-old Harry Price. Football mad Harry was diagnosed with Philadelphia positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in October 2016 and is currently undergoing intensive and gruelling chemotherapy treatment for a condition that is more common in adults than children. Jason, an I.T. Infrastructure Engineer from Longbridge aims to raise £4,000 for blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia to support the charity’s £1m Centre Appeal in 2017.

A leading Birmingham scientist has been awarded a grant worth almost £240,000 by research charity Breast Cancer Now to conduct pioneering research into a potential new role of BRCA1 mutations in the development of breast cancer. Faults in the ‘breast cancer gene’ BRCA1 – which provides instructions for cells to make the BRCA1 protein – can dramatically increase a person’s risk of developing breast cancer. Around 1 in 20 breast cancers develop as a result of a mutation in BRCA1 or its sister gene BRCA2, accounting for around 2,500 new cases of breast cancer each year in the UK.

An Aircraft Engineer who served in the Royal Airforce during the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts will join over one thousand others and cycle 100 miles in one day at Velo Birmingham, in aid of patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Jonathan Perks, a 42 year-old father of four, spent eight years as a Royal Airforce Engineer, where he was involved in preparing C130 Hercules – the workhorse of the RAF’s Air Transport, responsible for carrying troops, including flying those injured in conflict to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine is based – for medical evacuations during the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Birmingham-based researchers have enlisted the expertise of a Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC) HEMS paramedic to help carry out a ground breaking study. Jim Hancox has been drafted into a NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre (SRMRC) team which is investigating the effectiveness of giving patients blood products after a major injury before reaching hospital.

Sandwell’s social care boss has praised the round-the-clock efforts of health and council staff working hard to keep hospital beds available during the busy winter period. Councillor Ann Shackleton visited Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich to see first-hand how older people are cared for, assessed and discharged. She toured the Older Persons’ Assessment Unit and also met the Joint Discharge Team, speaking to health and social care workers as well as a consultant and a patient.

Birmingham mother Jackie Watkins lived the first 25 years of her life not knowing why she was constantly ill. As a child and young woman she was repeatedly in and out of hospital with a variety of serious ailments which took their toll on both her and her family – but no-one could tell them why. Jackie, of Great Barr, was finally diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis - but not before her mother had a breakdown brought on by all the worry.

A Wednesbury dad whose daughter received major spinal surgery at Birmingham Children’s Hospital will be taking to the saddle this September for the hospital charity’s first-ever London to Paris cycling challenge. Matthew Vipond, father to 10-year-old Libby, is among 30 others who have already set the wheels in motion and registered to take part in this iconic 300-mile event taking place from Wednesday 6 to Sunday 10 September.

Work is well underway on a £2m state-of-the-art gym development on Newtown Middleway, off the Aston Expressway close to the Matalan / Dartmouth Circle roundabout. JD Gyms, part of JD Sports Fashion group, is transforming the 26,000sq ft. Alcora Building into a three floor fitness facility, due to open this March. Originally destined to be an office complex, JD Gyms obtained planning permission to give the building a new lease of life as a gym last Autumn.

A recruitment consultant from Birmingham is taking on the ultimate cycling challenge to raise money for patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) after her friend, Leanne Maxwell, died in 2015 following treatment for an aggressive brain tumour. Sarah Pugh, 26, has signed up to take on Velo Birmingham, a 100-mile, closed-road bike ride coming to the second city for the first time in September 2017.

Public Health chiefs in Wolverhampton are reminding unvaccinated first year university students to make sure they get immunised against meningococcal disease. The appeal comes as Public Health England (PHE) issues updated advice to universities on reducing the spread of this deadly infection, which causes meningitis and septicaemia, and comes after figures show that less than a third of all young people leaving school or college last summer had been immunised with the Men ACWY vaccine by the end of October.

University of Wolverhampton students and staff have signed up to a city-wide campaign to raise awareness of the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Public Health England (PHE) leads the co-ordination of Antibiotic Awareness activities in England in collaboration with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Health.

According to vet and author of the book ‘Medical Marijuana & Your Pet,’ Doctor Robert Silver believes that hemp extracts could play a huge role in animal health and cost effective treatments of the future. Following months of consumer demand from pet owners, UK company LoveHemp has introduced a new pet variant of its popular hemp extract.  The key ingredient is Cannabidiol (also known as CBD), a naturally occurring extract produced from the cannabis plant.

More than 30 people a week are signing up for a service which helps them remain independent for longer. The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Telecare service supports people to live in their own homes by providing a range of assistive technology, from emergency alarms and fall detectors to smoke and flood sensors and automated pill dispensers. Last year, the council announced plans to give 3,000 additional customers the chance to use Telecare by 2019 – and already over 800 more packages have been installed in residents’ homes since April 2016.

With nearly two thirds of people making it their New Year’s resolution to get fit, residents in Wolverhampton are being offered a helping hand to improve their health and wellbeing in 2017. The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Healthy Lifestyles Team provides free support to people who want to become fitter and more active, lose weight, eat more healthily, stop smoking or drink less alcohol.