feelgood 06-11-2009

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STORY TIMEDecoding your children’sdreams and nightmares: 4,5

TESTING TIMESFertility specialists debate newgenetic screening test: 11

MY STORYYoung woman on livingwith mental illness: 7

Amy O’Sullivan and others now enjoy full health thanks tofamily members who generously made a living organ donation: 8,9

Gift of Life

FeelgoodFriday, November 6, 2009

Feelgood

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009

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Feelgood

EDITORIAL: Irene Feighan 021-4802292 Niamh Kelly 021-4802215ADVERTISING:

HEALTH NOTES

[email protected]

Kate O’Reilly

WHAT’S ON

FRESH AIR: In asurvey of air qualityin 10 problem offices,eight had inadequateventilation systems.Picture:iStock

A DOCTOR-led allergy consulting organisa-tion is urging employers to ensure properventilation of workspaces following a surveyof air quality in 10 offices in Ireland, whereoccupants were complaining of ill-health.The survey found eight out of 10 of thepremises had inadequate ventilation levels,leading to a rise in carbon dioxide and symp-toms of ill-health including headaches, nauseaand fatigue. In some cases, the primarysource of indoor air contamination was dueto biological contamination (with bacteria,moulds and dust mites) of the heating, venti-lation and air conditioning system. Somebuildings had fresh air intakes located besideexhaust outlets and smoking areas. For moreinfo, visit www.healthfriendlyair.com.

A NEW training tool has been launched byBarnardos, designed to support childrenand young people who are dealing withdomestic abuse or bullying. ‘SupportingChildren: Domestic Abuse and Bullying’ isan interactive pack that identifies the issuesand symptoms of domestic abuse/bullying.It provides practical materials on how toapproach and support children dealing withthese issues. Two further packs —‘Supporting Children’s Positive Behaviour’and ‘Childcare Practice for VoluntaryManagement Committees’ are alsoavailable to buy online for 50 plus 7.50package and posting, or the packs can bebought separately for 20 plus 3 p&p.Visit www.barnardos.ie/training-resources

COFFEE-lovers get a chance to do a gooddeed courtesy of a new partnership betweenStarbucks Coffee Company Ireland andRED. Each time a customer pays with theirStarbucks-Red card at participating coffee-houses in Ireland, Starbucks will make a 5ccontribution to the Global Fund to helpsupport AIDS programs in Africa.

FISH oils may protect against stroke,according to a study of 41 patients, whounderwent surgery to remove plaquebuild-up — deposits of fatty materials — intheir carotid artery, a major neck arterysupplying blood to the brain. Researchersfound patients with “unstable” plaques(those in danger of rupturing and resultingin stroke) had less omega 3 fatty acids —found in fish oils — than healthier patients.

HIP fracture rates could be reduced if pa-tients at risk of osteoporosis take calcium andvitamin D and get their bone mineral densi-ty tested. This is according to a US study ofpeople aged over 50 who underwent anosteoporosis management programme. Theirhip fractures dropped by 38%.

ITV sport presenter Craig Doyle launchedIreland’s search to discover what homemeans to us. If you want to share whathome means to you, visit www.homeis.ie.Denny will donate 1 to the SimonCommunity on behalf of everyone whoshares their thoughts. Denny’s also lookingto film people to feature in their TV advertsin 2010 and will donate 10,000 to Simonon behalf of each person involved.

Helen O’Callaghan

UCC TALK: At a Public Forum in UCCthis Thursday, — “Microbes andMankind — how bacteria and virusesshape humanity“ — speakers will dis-cuss how microbes affect our lives. ProfColin Hill, will use examples such asplague, smallpox and AIDS to illustratesome of the epidemics and pandemicsthat have shaped our political and socialevolution. Prof Fergus Shanahan,consultant gastroenterologist, CUH willspeak on “Hygiene, Modern Lifestyleand Disease” and Dr Mary Horgan, con-sultant physician in infectious diseasesat CUH, will discuss the swine flu. ProfPaul Ross, head of food research at Tea-gasc, will describe how bacteria can beused to benefit human health. The fo-rum will take place from 7.30pm to 9pmin Brookfield Health Science Building.All are welcome and admission is free.

BABYCARE EVENT: Mallow LateNight Pharmacy, Bellevue, will be host-ing a babycare and healthy living eventthis Wednesday from 10am to 4pm.Advice available from an instore mid-

wife, dietician, and healthcare represen-tatives. For information call 022-44576.

AWARE GROUP: The new MallowAware support group is now meetingon Thursdays at 8pm in the Le CheileFamily Resource Centre, Fair Street,Mallow. All those who feel depressed oranxious are invited to attend. Meetingslast 90 minutes and are facilitated bytrained volunteers. Further informationis available at 066-7194713;www.aware.ie. Helpline: 1890 303 302.

BENEFIT CONCERT: Proceeds fromthe After The Rain concert at axisBallymun, Dublin on November 17 willgo to The Irish Hospice Foundation fortwo programmes. The concert willfeature the premiere performance ofAfter The Rain by Irish composer BrianKeegan. Tickets are 20 from01-8832100; www.axis-ballymun.ie, orwww.aftertherainconcert.com

BLOOD PRESSURE CLINIC: There willbe an Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) BloodPressure Clinic this Wednesday atBallinlough Community Centre, Cork,from 10.30am to 12pm. For informationcall on 021-4505822. If you havequestions about stroke or heart diseaseyou can talk to an IHF nurse Locall 1890432 787.

DIABETES DAY: World Diabetes Dayis on November 14. The DiabetesFederation of Ireland’s southern officewill hold a free screening andinformation event in Merchant’s QuayShopping Centre, Cork this Friday from10am to 4pm. For more details contact021-4274229 or email [email protected]

Items for inclusion in this columncan be sent to [email protected]

Take care with hair dye products, warns Arlene Harris, afterone woman was left scarred by a colour from Boots

BURNS VICTIM: ZoëVernon before (below)and after (left) she suf-fered a severe reaction toBoots Permanent HairColour.Picture:MEN Syndication

A DIY DISASTERFOR many women the economic

downturn means greying rootsare now more of a challenge. The

monthly trip to the salon has had to becurtailed and a growing number are turn-ing to DIY.

But while most home dye jobs are fairlysuccessful, recently one English woman wasleft with horrific burns after attempting tocolour her own hair.

Zoë Vernon, a call centre worker fromManchester, suffered a severe reaction toBoots Permanent Hair Colour in EbonyBlack. She spent three days in a special unitand doctors say it’s one of the worst reac-tions to a hair product they’ve encountered.

The 22-year-old, who may be left withpermanent scarring on her face and neck,says she followed the instructions on thepacket and completed a patch test beforeusing the dye, which is currently on sale inIreland.

She urged people to think twice beforeattempting to use hair colourants. In astatement to the Daily Mail she said: “Peo-ple need to be aware of how strong thechemicals in these dyes are. I will not beusing a home dye kit again, I’d be toofrightened.”

A spokesperson for Boots says the inci-dent is isolated and currently under investi-gation. “The health and wellbeing of ourcustomers is of paramount importance tous and we are concerned to hear that MsVernon has had such an experience. We arenow undertaking an immediate and full in-

vestigation to help ascertain the cause ofthis reaction.

“We would also like to remind customersof the importance of following the instruc-tions on hair colourants packs carefully be-fore use, and to ensure that a skin sensitivi-ty test is carried out 48 hours before use.”

Consultant dermatologist, Dr Cal Con-don of the Blackrock Clinic echoes this ad-vice. “Instructions are vital and should bevery clearly available to customers — ifnot, the product should be avoided,” hesays.

“Regular users often stop reading in-structions after a while, but it is best to getinto the habit of re-reading before every

use — just in case something has changed.”The doctor says while it’s impossible to

tell what exactly caused this severe reac-tion, it could be down to an allergic reac-tion.

“For some people the chemicals in theseproducts may be an irritant,” he explains.“And others may become sensitised afterusing them for a long period of time, so itis possible to become allergic to somethingafter years of use.

“The best advice is to always do a patchtest before every application of hair dyeand if you become irritated in any way,seek medical advice as early interventioncould prevent a serious reaction.”

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009Feelgood

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THE SHAPE I'M IN Finbar Furey

IN CHARGE: Finbar Furey,has a healthy attitude tolife, takes plenty of codliver oil along with ahealthy dose of walkingand music. Picture:Des Barry

Key to a fit Furey

My father taught methat if you can do

something about anissue, do it. If you

can’t, let it go

LEGENDARY folk musician Finbar Furey achieved fame aslead singer of The Furey Brothers and Davy Arthur. Thesedays, the 63-year-old — who had the hit song New YorkGirls in Martin Scorsese film Gangs Of New York — isworking with Terry Wogan for a Children In Need CD.“It’s for underprivileged children. Every country has

them. It’s the adults who create the problems in the world,not the children,” says Finbar, who fundraises for childrenwith Down’s syndrome each year.A father of five, his children range in age from 40 to 17

— the youngest, who came after a gap of 11 years, he de-scribes as ‘plan B’.“I was abroad making an album a nd Sheila, my wife,

wasn’t feeling well . We didn’t know what was wrong andI was phoning every night.When I got back, she was waiting in the airport with the

champagne and two glasses. I said ‘you’re joking!’ Shesaid this’ll keep us quiet for the next 20 years. That young-ster is the best thing that ever happened to us — he’s afabulous football player and hurler.”

What shape are you in?I put on a lot of weight around 1996. Then one day Itook a look in the mirror and realised I was looking like alittle bonham. So I went back training and lost weight veryslowly over a period of 18 months. I ate a lot less — just aboiled egg for breakfast and my main meal at 5pm.

How do you keep in shape now?I walk a lot and I don’t slouch along — I go at a goodpace.

Do you have any health concerns?Nothing at all — the whole family’s as clean as a whis-tle.

What are your healthiest eating habits?I take a lot of cod liver oil. If I’m on the road, I eat verylittle. I’d have two nice handy meals a day. I eat before5pm to give myself time to digest.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?I’m an absolute martyr for Indian food and love curry.For my birthday at the end of September we booked anIndian restaurant. I’ll binge like that for one night andthen I’ll get back to square one again.

What would keep you awake at night?Not much, unless I’ve got a very heavy tourcoming up or an early flight in the morning. Myfather taught me that if you can do somethingabout an issue, do it. If you can’t, let it go.

How do you relax?Music helps me relax. I love writing too — I’vebeen writing poetry since I was 10. I love invent-ing music. I’m not a great golfer but I play to relax.I remember once coming back from Australia after anine-week tour and I was jet-lagged. Hitting a fewgolf balls in Tramore was like heaven.

Who would you invite to your dream dinnerparty?Just one — my wife, Sheila. I think three’s a crowd.

When did you last cry?On my brother, Paul’s anniversary this year. My oldfellow used to call us four brothers ‘the four winds’,and Paul was definitely the east wind. We all misshim.

What would you change about yourappearance?Nothing — I have a good solid face thatmy parents gave me. I still have all my ownteeth.

What’s your favourite smell?Lavender — I absolutely love it. I love topick a few sprigs and put it under myhat.

What trait do you least like in others?I don’t like smart-arses. I can tell from a person’seyes whether that’s what they are. I don’t like peoplewho take a lot and give nothing back.

What trait do you least like in yourself?Impatience — I’d be terrible as a music teacher. I ex-pect other musicians to play like I do. When they say:‘Oh, I can’t play that’, I keep at them. I say to them:‘God gave you two hands and 10 fingers — for God’ssake, play!’

Do you pray?I used to enjoy going to Mass. My father used to saythere’s a force, and we’re not strong enough to under-stand it. I’d go to Mass now if I wanted to ask for helpfor someone.

What would cheer up your day?Seeing my kids in good form, walking down thestreet and having one of the neighbours ask: ‘How areyou?’Every morning, I go out to the garden, smoke acigarette, read the paper and give thanks for anotherday — I think: isn’t it brilliant, I’m part of this.

Helen O’Callaghan

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Feelgood

PsychologistDr PamSpurr’s ownchildren showedher theimportance ofpaying attentionto their dreams

ICLEARLY recall the moment I re-alised how important my children’sdreams were in understanding their

emotional and developmental state. Itwas one ordinary morning over a bowlof cereal when my son aged four ex-claimed: “Mum, I had the most excitingdream last night about a friendly di-nosaur!” I asked him to describe hisdream, admittedly paying only casual at-tention with the busy day ahead at theforefront of my mind.

My son described riding across anopen plain on the back of a babydiplodocus. There was such exuberancein his tone and detail in his descriptionthat I was caught up in the excitementand touched by the expression on his lit-tle face. I’d recently done some dreaminterpretation seminars, albeit aimed atadults’ dreams, but until that moment Ihadn’t really thought about the potentialsignificance of my children’s dreams. Itdawned on me that merely flickingthrough a dinosaur book from the libraryhad touched my son’s inner creativity,sparking his dream.

“Why don’t we go to the museum onSaturday?” I suggested, picking up on hisenthusiasm. The idea thrilled him and hecouldn’t wait to see the “friendly” di-nosaurs as well as some scary ones. Afterthat morning, his dreams of adventuresand exploration fuelled many outings,drawings and projects. And it was thesame when my daughter was old enoughto recount her dreams — they stimulatedall sorts of dressing-up costumes, art-work, and little productions in which sheroped-in friends to play various roles.

As time went on and I went through adifficult divorce from their father I be-came sensitive to any nightmarish imagesin their dreams. There were times whensuch images said more about how theyfelt than what they actually said duringthe day. These raised my awareness tobeing particularly responsive to theiremotional needs.

This is a key point I’d like to sharewith other parents: your children’sdreams speak volumes about their innerlife, not only about happy and confidentfeelings. Their dreamscapes, as I callthem, abound with information about

how they feel in the face of challenges, say, atschool and with their peers, as well as anxi-eties they might harbour over events in thefamily and other issues.

Adults’ dreams are bursting with symbolismtoo. Some of the examples of common sym-bols in the dreams of children aged four to11 (see panel) are common to adults’ dreams.

I believe your child’s dreamscapes are sorich that I recommend listening to, and talk-ing about, their dreams and nightmares as acreative parenting technique that providesyou with unique information about yourchild’s innermost thoughts and feelings.

As with the adult mind, when your child

dreams, the limbic system — the primitivebrain system involved in our most powerfulemotions — goes into overdrive. It throws upall sorts of images and feelings that havemeaning deeply rooted in the psyche. Ex-ploring your child’s dreamscapes revealsthings percolating deep in their mind. Veryoften a child absorbs things occurring aroundthem, processes them at this unconscious lev-el, only for them to be revealed in dream im-ages. It’s helpful to think of their sleepingmind as actually “awake” but at another level— the unconscious mind is willing to revealthings that in waking life your child maykeep to themselves.

A perfect example can be found in Mark’snightmare. Mark was eight when he had aterrifying nightmare of being on a ship thatresembled his home but felt “wrong”. Wavesstarted to envelop the ship and him. Everytime he moved the waves came closer tocompletely swamping him. He felt helpless inthe face of these waves despite the ship look-ing like his home. Mark had woken up andgone into his parents’ room for comfort.

A little probing found that his parents ar-gued frequently and believed he wasn’t oldenough to understand these rows or be af-fected by them. However, these did over-whelm Mark and the crashing waves were a

SLEEPING■ FROM FANCIFUL FANTASY TO HORRIBLE HORROR KNOW YOUR

AS your child’s dreamscapes can be very complicated,images within dreams can serve as a starting point forunderstanding their meaning. It’s important to bear in mindthat your child’s dream may be influenced by a specific context(whether that’s bed-wetting, bullying, problems with siblingsetc). Therefore the symbols overleaf are only a guide.Positive dream images give your child a sense of happiness

but they can also indicate levels of confidence and well-being.They can give you insight into what your child is feeling goodabout as well as being a springboard for creative play.

GENTLE probing of bad dreams will give you important detailsabout your child’s coping strategies — does your child freeze inthe face of these threatening images, run from them or facethem down? These, in turn, indicate how overwhelmed yourchild feels, or how prepared they feel to face things that worrythem. Always use worrying dream symbolism or nightmarishimages that your child reports as one piece in the puzzle oftrying to work out what may be troubling them. It can be astarting point for open-ended questions about the subjectmatter of the symbols.

■ nightmare scenarios■ sweet dreams


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■ Wild animals on the looseLions, tigers, wolves and so on thatroam around unfettered usually signify aspecific anxiety-provoking situation. It

may be thefear of ateacher or abully and thisfear takes theform of awild animal.

■ Raging fire orvolcanoThese may signify anexplosive sense of fearand represent a new andfrightening situation achild has been put into.

■ Meeting their favourite sports or popstarDream images where the child gets tomeet someone famous symbolises wishfulfilment. It’s a very straightforwardemotional state: something they’d love tohappen simply occurs in their dream.

■ Talking animals orfamily pets that actlike companionsThis demonstratesthat your child feelsvery attached to, andgets comfort from, ahousehold pet. Or if it’snot a pet, but is still ahappy experience witha talking animal, it cansymbolise a positiveconnection to nature.

■ Flying or having otherextraordinary powersImages around these themes can sym-bolise your child going through a positiveperiod of personal and emotional growth.

■ Discovering something such asburied treasure, special implement,or exotic itemSymbols such as these show that yourchild has just learnt something new thathe or she is pleased about whether that’sa particular skill or a new project.

DUTY

■ Falling off a high wall, from abuilding or a cliffThis can imply that your child feelsunsupported at home over somethinghe or she feels anxious about.

■ Doing something in front of aclassroom or peer groupDream images whereyour child sings, speaks,or shows something totheir class or peergroup, accompanied byhappy feelings, reveals avery positive, confidentadjustment to thatparticular group.

■ Being taunted by other childrenSuch images can symbolise actualbullying that your child is experienc-ing or a sense that they don’t fit in.

■ Scaling a mountain or a big wall witha positive and happy feelingYour child is excelling at something,perhaps at school. He or she is rising to thechallenge and gaining confidence.

■ Monsters, ghosts and ghoulsUnlike nightmares of wild animalssymbolising specific worries, images ofmonsters and ghosts tend to representgeneralised anxieties. These anxieties cantake the form of shyness, timidity andclinginess.Like thesenightmareimages,theirfeelings ofanxiety arehard for achild todescribe.

dream symbol of how “enveloped” Markfelt about life at home. This came as a reve-lation to Mark’s parents who acted to reas-sure him and resolved their discord.Not only can you learn much about their

emotional state, but your child’s dreams andnightmares often tie in with their develop-mental stage and how they’re coping withdemands at school. Take Fiona, 10, whohad a nightmare about her science teacher.She found herself in the science classroomwithout her school jumper and tie. Sudden-ly the science teacher yelled at her to:“Come here!” He demanded to knowwhere her school uniform was but she had

no idea what to tell him. He chastised herrepeatedly in front of the class, as all theclass stared, and no one attempted to stophim.When, over breakfast, Fiona mentioned

her horrible nightmare, her mother natural-ly started questioning her about it. Sheknew Fiona always went to school with heruniform and wondered what was really atthe bottom of this. She then discovered thescience teacher had sometimes embarrassedand undermined Fiona in class by singlingher out when she didn’t fully understandsomething. Her mother had been surprisedby Fiona’s declining science marks that year.

Now she had an explanation and could ad-dress this appropriately with her daughter.She also planned a meeting with the scienceteacher.Of course, it is not always possible to un-

derstand the symbols in your child’s dreams.And certainly dream symbolism at times canbe absurd, having been strung together by achild’s sleeping mind from unrelated inci-dents. In such cases the symbols don’t haveany real meaning. However, the simple actof paying that special bit of attention towhat your child says about their dreams isenormously beneficial to your relationship.When a child feels you’re interested in

something generated from within them —not just when they bring home somethingfrom school that’s been marked, or theyachieve a certain level some skill — theyimmediately begin to feel more secure.Such external things show progress,skill-development and achievement are im-portant but shouldn’t take precedence overyour child and their inner emotional life.Their dreams give you the chance to con-nect with them in a way that’s rare and spe-cial, strengthening your parent-child bond.■ Your Child’s Dreams: A Parent and ChildWorkbook by Pam Spurr is published byConnections at £ 7.99 ( 8.90)

CHILDREN’S HIDDEN WORLD ■ Some common themes fromslumberland are snooze news

■ Getting lost in ajungle, wilderness,or other unknownterritoryWhen a child hasa nightmarecontaining such anunknown image itoften symbolises thesense that he or sheis completely lostwith a situation.Often suchnightmare imagesaren’t as frighteningas others but are stillunpleasant, oftenrelating to thingssuch as developingskills and academicachievement.


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Feelgood

Tony Humphreys

Government and banking betrayal of the trust placedin them stems essentially from a betrayal of self

Trust in yourself

ALL FORONE, ONEFOR ALL:As long aswe betrayour ownintegrity, wewill continueto betrayothers.Picture: iStock

TRUST is essential in a mature rela-tionship, be it between a parent anda child, husband and wife, lover and

lover, friend and friend, citizen and politi-cian, client and banker, employee and manag-er, church-goer and priest, teacher and stu-dent.

It is difficult to ignore the great betrayal oftrust within government, church, banks, oth-er financial institutions, health boards andmany workplaces.

It is going to take considerable personal re-flection and mature action on the part of in-dividual politicians, clergy, bankers, fi-nanciers, managers, health-care personnel andemployers to regain the trust of their clients.What is often not appreciated is that the be-trayal of trust that has been part and parcel ofthe economic recession belies a deeper be-trayal of one’s own integrity. Unless the innerbetrayal is resolved, then the betrayal of oth-ers is likely to continue.

The source of the inner letting down ofself can be traced back to one’s earlier years,and the key relationship between each parentand the child. An infant emerges from thewomb fully confident of being loved andcared for, and does all in its power to attractthe parent to his or her unique and individualpresence.

When the child experiences unconditionalholding for his presence — physical, sexual,emotional, intellectual, behavioural, social,creative and spiritual — he becomes secureand trusts that it is safe for him to fully revealand inhabit his own individuality. As a result,he learns to trust self and significant others.This experience will be repeated with othersignificant people in the neighbourhood, playschool, primary school, church, and so on.

However, when a child experiences a lackof unconditional love, or has little sense ofbelonging, then the darkness of this betrayalleads to the powerful protective response ofrepression of his true self and the creation ofa false/shadow self.

It is in the fashioning of this false persona,that the child learns to not trust his ownpower — being real and authentic. If thechild were to show trust in self in the face ofbetrayal of trust by the significant others(mother, father, teachers, aunts, uncles, doc-tors, nurses) in his life, he would be in evengreater peril. It is in this way that an innerand outer world of untrustworthiness isformed. The greater the betrayal of trusts, thegreater the inner protective betrayal has to be.

As adults, we need to examine the whole

issue of trust and to determine whether ornot we are continuing to depend on othersfor our security rather than learning to de-pend on ourselves. In redeeming our trust inour own unique nature, we will encounterconsiderable risks — the enemies are still outthere — but while there is a comfort in be-ing hidden, it is an utter disaster for ourselvesand, indeed, for all others — especially sig-nificant others — when we do not find andexpress the fullness, breadth and depth of ourindividuality.

Such an inner examination needs to be in-tegral to the training and preparation of allprofessionals, especially as they occupy posi-tions of power over others, and because theirown, unresolved inner betrayal of self canlead to havoc in their personal, interpersonaland professional lives. It is in this way thatpersonal effectiveness lies at the heart of pro-fessional effectiveness, that an inner trustwor-thiness determines an integrity and trustwor-thiness in personal, interpersonal, and profes-sional relationships.

It is worrying that those professionals who

betrayed the trust clients had in their care arenot even remotely examining their actions.There is a frenetic scramble going on to getthings back to the way they were, with littleor no consciousness that this return to defen-sive ways, in time, will only lead to anotherrecession.

The word recession is better understood asa break to review how the present economiccrisis has come about, and to examine the in-ner dark ‘recesses’ of the mind that led to thegrossly neglectful actions that are apparent tomany of us, but not to those who perpetratedthem.

Lessons from history are not learned whenindividuals fail to examine their greed,avarice, arrogance, denial, egocentricity, de-personalisation and target-fixated mentality.

The only hope is that clients and voterswill put a lot more trust in themselves andmonitor, closely, the actions of those profes-sionals to whom they entrust their health,wealth, and overall well-being. It is best neverto entrust yourself totally to anybody — pro-fessional or otherwise. Trust and take respon-sibility for your self and keep a keen weathereye on the professional practice of serviceproviders and those who govern.

■ Dr Tony Humphreys is a clinical psycholo-gist and is author of several books onpractical psychology including The Power of‘Negative’ Thinking

Angel Healing WorkshopExperience MagnificentLight Work with Angels

Learn healing techniques and light channellingSunday, November 15th from 10am to 3.30pm

MIDLETON PARK HOTELOld Cork Road, Midleton, Cork

Cost €65 including refreshmentsFor bookings call

Farita Tyrrell on 087 6761236*(subject to minimum bookings)

Chi Kung, Tai Chi and Meditation:Clonakilty GAA Complex - New courses beginning Friday 13th Nov.

7.00 - 8:30 PM, Sat 14th Nov. 9.00 - 10:30 AMKinsale Yoga Centre - New course beginning Sat 14th Nov. 11:30 - 1PMLing Chi Healing Art, Past Life Regression, Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and

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Aoife KearneyB.Sc. Hons. (Chemistry)

Congratulations on yourGraduation Day

from

Anne & Kevin

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7


XH - V1

A new website finds ways to boost mental health, Colette Sheridan reports

But I stopped when I started studying at theCork College of Commerce.”Lalor is studying applied psychology and

social care and hopes, with further study, tobecome a counsellor. As well as attendingGrow meetings, she uses the website,spunout.ie, which provides support andadvocacy opportunities to young peoplethroughout the country.“I’m in touch with people who under-

Road to recovery

stand. They all suffer from mental health is-sues and it’s great to be able to talk to them.It’s therapeutic to be able to write how youfeel on a computer. Nobody is sitting therejudging you. You can help others because ofyour experience. It takes you away fromyourself. The first thing I try to do if I’mfeeling very bad is to call somebody. Youmight feel that you’re a burden on them, butyou’re not. You’re probably helping them.”

Lalor says she is not out of the woods yet.“I still have a tendency to get panicky andanxious. What makes me anxious is being bymyself a lot or just not thinking right. I findit hard to pinpoint but I’m getting better atmanaging it. When you’re going throughmental health issues, it’s like being pushedinto a rose bush. It really hurts. When you’recoming out of it, you still feel some pain butat least, you’re on the way out.”

REACH OUT was started inAustralia in 1998 by Jack Heathwhose cousin committed sui-cide. It has just been launchedin Ireland as reachout.com runby the Inspire Ireland Founda-tion (inspireireland.ie) withsupport from Headstrong.

One of its main funding bod-ies is the Irish philanthropic or-ganisation, The One Founda-tion.

It aims to improve youngpeople’s health and wellbeing

by building skills and providinginformation, support and refer-rals. It has a privacy policy thatsafeguards information fromsite users.

■ Reach Out helps young peo-ple by improving their under-standing of mental health is-sues and providing informa-tion to improve understandingof other people’s experiences.

■ It increases people’s ability

to bounce back from a toughtime by building communica-tion, problem solving and cop-ing skills and thinking styles.

■ It breaks down the stigmaattached to seeking help and itconnects young people to eachother so that stories can beshared and support can befound in a safe and positiveenvironment.■ For more information logonto reachout.com

A helping hand for young people

Picture: iStock

PROPER SUPPORT:While Amy Lalor nowhas expertsupport, she felt veryalone when her mentalhealth was in a badstate.Picture: Denis Minihane.

I SOLATION was one of the biggestproblems 24-year-old Amy Lalorexperienced during the worst periods

of her mental health issues. The Dubliner,who lives in Cork, has been diagnosed withborderline personality disorder and is a recov-ering substance abuser having been addictedto aerosol sprays, alcohol, cocaine and ecstasy.She welcomes the launch yesterday of

reachout.com, a web-based service that helpsyoung people to help themselves throughtough times and find ways to boost theirmental health and well-being.While Lalor is now getting expert help, she

felt very alone during the bad times. “Thereis a big stigma attached to mental healthproblems in Ireland. When people havesomething wrong with them, they tendnot to talk about it. The fear of people’sreaction is debilitating. I’m now comfortabletalking about how I feel because I have anunderstanding of myself. Three years ago, Iwouldn’t have opened my mouth to myfriends or anyone. I didn’t know what to saybecause my head was so messed up”.Lalor attends Grow, a support group for

people with mental health problems and alsosees a psychiatrist. She has spent time at theRutland Centre in Dublin as well as Renew,a centre for addiction recovery in Cork.“A lot of people think addiction is just self-

indulgence and that depression is just beinglazy. There are very closed minds when itcomes to these issues and it’s hard to dealwith that.”Lalor says her problems started when she

was 13 when her mother’s partner movedinto the family home. Her parents had splitup when Lalor was eight years of age. “I wasunder a lot of stress and my school worksuffered. I had no motivation or concentra-tion. I started taking anti-depressants when Iwas 17. My mother had caught me inhalingaerosols and took me to the doctor. I stoppedtaking the anti-depressants after six months asI didn’t feel they were helping. I had beensaving them up and was thinking of taking anoverdose. But my mother found the tablets.”At 18, Lalor had to leave the family home

as she wasn’t getting on with her mother. Shemoved in with her father and later, stayedwith her older sister. Three years later, Lalorstarted treatment at the Rutland Centre.She says her substance abuse was “a way of

escaping reality”. The Rutland Centre “wastough and I don’t think I was ready for it butit set me on the path I’m on today. I had tobring my family into the centre and talkabout what I was like to be an addict.”Lalor’s difficulty with relationships,

problems regulating emotions and dealingwith certain situations was diagnosed asborderline personality disorder.“When I got this diagnosis, it was as if

someone had gone into my head and writteneverything down. The symptoms describedme down to a tee. I was so relieved that Iwasn’t going crazy and that there wassomething I could do.”Currently on medication, Lalor says her

psychiatrist is careful not to prescribe her anydrugs that are addictive. “My psychiatrist saysthat I won’t be on tablets forever. She’s verygood and I’m able to talk to her. I attendedan addiction counsellor during the summer.


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Feelgood

When you seethe person youlove suffering

on a dailybasis, you

know you haveto do it

— Deirdre Crowe

GIVING OF ONESELF

125 deceased kidneytransplants take place eachyear

Waiting list for deceasedkidney is approximatelythree to four years

1,700 people on dialysis inIreland. Over 550 on waitinglist. A further 300 awaiting

Surgery usually takes placeon emergency basis as soonas organ becomes available

Keeping a patient on dialysiscosts around 1m perannum

A kidney from a deceaseddonor lasts on average 15years

Arlene Harris says waiting lists for people on dialysis could be drastically reduced if living donations were embraced

NO HESITATION: RTÉ journalist Vivienne Traynor in her kitchen. Insert, her nephew, Martin,who received one of her kidneys. Picture: Maxwells

SPECIAL BOND: Amy O’Sullivan, who received part of her aunt Ann Marie’s liver, shows a pictureof herself as a baby. Insert, Ann Marie who is now very close to her niece. Picture: Dan Linehan

SPOUSAL SUPPORT: Deirdre Crowe and her husband, Ned. Deirdre nominated herself as adonor for her husband, despite the rarity of such a procedure here. Picture: Patrick Browne

A LMOST 1,700 people are ondialysis in Ireland and 850 ofthose are awaiting a kidney do-

nation. With the majority hoping to be therecipient of a deceased donor’s organ, theycould be waiting for four years.If these patients received a kidney from a

living relative, the waiting time for surgerywould be drastically cut, their prognosiswould be significantly greater and theirlongevity greatly extended.Living donors are commonplace in many

countries, but due to the death of a donor25 years ago, the once-thriving practice isonly making a slow return. Mark Murphy,chairperson of the Irish Kidney Association(IKA), is campaigning for the resurgence ofa living-donor programme, supported andfunded by the government.“As with any major operation, there is a

slight risk of death,” he says. “The systemwas traumatised when a donor died, but itis now back and is currently operating onup to 20 living donors a year,” he says.

“This is within expectations, but if we couldincrease numbers, then, obviously, there wouldbe fewer people on waiting lists.”Murphy says organ donation needs to be

made more accessible and patients’ rights le-galised. “We have sent a proposal to the HealthMinister, outlining the need for legislation thatwould offer a social welfare payment, similar tomaternity pay, to donors who are off workwhile recuperating,” he says. “There are also anumber of other issues, which, when dealtwith, will make it easier for Irish people todonate an organ to their loved ones.”When RTÉ journalist, Vivienne Traynor, 38,

donated a kidney to her nephew, last July, shehighlighted the extraordinary lengths somepeople will go to save another life.Mum to Holly, 12, Joe, 10, and Alison, 2,

and married to Justin Treacy, also an RTÉjournalist, she decided, along with several ofher family members, to undergo tests to see ifshe was a suitable donor for her nephew, Mar-tin. Results showed she was the closest matchand she immediately offered to donate one of

her kidneys to the 29-year-old, who was suf-fering from kidney failure.“Both my sister and I were deemed a good

match for Martin, but my kidneys were slightlylarger, so were thought to be the better op-tion,” she says.“Once I had decided to go through with the

operation, I went on line and tried to find outas much as I could. Unfortunately, there isvery little information available in Ireland, butI did find some American sites that were in-valuable,” she says.Things progressed rapidly from there, and,

on July 17, Vivienne and her nephew under-went surgery in Coventry University Hospital,in Britain (patients with underlying complica-tions are not transplanted in Ireland).Now fully recovered and just recently back

at work, the journalist is positive about the ex-perience.“Having read everything about organ dona-

tion, I knew that the difference my kidneywould make to Martin’s life would be fargreater than anything that would happen tome,” she says.“The operation was a total success, my

nephew has his life back, and mine is un-changed, apart from a few abdominal scars —everything worked out fantastically,” she says.The same is true for Deirdre and Ned

Crowe, from Waterford. A 53-year-old storeworker, Ned had been suffering from polycys-tic kidney disease and was on the waiting listfor a transplant from a deceased donor.But weakening health and daily dialysis

meant he had no quality of life, and his threesons — Sean, six, Niall, seven and David 13— were missing out on time with their father.So, student nurse Deirdre decided to takethings into her own hands and put herself for-ward as a potential donor.“Organ donation between spouses was un-

heard of in this country,” says the 40 year old.“But I knew it was done routinely in America,so I approached Ned’s doctors here and askedif they would look into it for me.”Surgical and medical advances means it’s

now possible to perform successful transplantoperations between people who are not relat-ed. So, after a series of physical and psycholog-ical assessments, Deirdre was pronounced apositive candidate for kidney donation.That was almost three years ago, and now

the Crowe family is proof of the success of aliving donor transplant. Both parents are intheir full health and, apart from a few physicalscars, the stress of the surgery is just a distantmemory.“When I decided to donate an organ to

Ned, everyone was worried,” Deirdre says.“My parents didn’t think I was strong enough.Ned didn’t want me to go through it and theboys were obviously anxious about both of ushaving surgery. But I wasn’t afraid — I knew itwould all be okay. When you see the personyou love suffering on a daily basis, you knowyou have to do it,” she says.

And despite his reservations, husband Ned’squality of life and life expectancy wouldn’t bethe same today if it wasn’t for his wife’s dona-tion.“I was practically dead before the operation,”

he says. “I had no energy and wasn’t able to doanything — the surgery has totally transformedmy life.“I was so nervous for Deirdre, but we had to

do something, as my sons needed their fatherback and my wife wanted her husband. My lifehas begun again and I am now fitter than ev-er,” he says.Kidneys are the most common organs donat-

ed by living donors, but Dublin woman, An-nemarie O’Sullivan, gave part of her liver toher niece in a pioneering operation three yearsago.Diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer at

just four months old, Amy O’Sullivan was avery sick little girl. After numerous bouts ofchemotherapy, it was decided she needed a liv-er transplant.Various members of the family volunteered

to be tested, but it was her aunt who was theclosest match.“Amy was just nine months old when we

were scheduled for surgery,” says Annemarie.“It was an extremely tense time, there weretwo lives at risk, but I never had secondthoughts — without my liver donation, Amy’s

chance of survival was very slim.”So, in 2005, the 34-year-old singleton un-

derwent surgery to remove 20% of her liver,while, simultaneously, her young niece had herentire liver removed to make way for trans-plantation.The operation was a success. Amy bounced

back to perfect health and, after a couple ofweeks, scientist Annemarie was back at work.“Although I had major surgery, I was out of

hospital after a week and entirely back to nor-mal after six weeks,” she says. “And, sincethen, the operation had absolutely no impacton my life — there is nothing I cannot do andthe only reminder is a scar.“But, as far as my niece is concerned, it has

turned her world around completely — she isa happy, healthy little girl now and we have themost amazing bond together — it was reallyworth it,” she says.“I would encourage other people to think

seriously about donation — and if they can’tface being a living donor, they should at leastcarry donor cards,” she says.Amy’s mother, Mary, says they will never be

able to thank Annemarie enough for her ex-traordinary gift. “Annemarie did something soamazing — we will always be indebted to herfor what she has done — she is an absolute an-gel who has given our daughter the chance oflife,” she says.

Ireland has an impressive record for deceasedorgan donation: a 50% higher rate per capitathan Britain. When the late Frank Deasy wentpublic about his need for a liver transplant onthe Joe Duffy Show recently, over 10,500 re-quests were generated for donor cards.But the living donor programme is still at

the fledgling stage. Professor Peter Conlon is aconsultant nephrologist and renal transplantphysician at Beaumont Hospital. He says weneed to establish a larger pool of living donors,in order to reduce waiting lists and save moneyfor the HSE.“As with everything in this financial climate,

there is not enough funding to promote athriving living donor programme in Ireland,”he says. “We can’t actively look for people todonate their organs to loved ones, but we candiscuss the matter with recipients and let themknow the benefits.“Kidneys from a living donor tend to last

longer than those from a cadaver — in somecases, up to 10 years,” he says. “Also, every liv-ing donor will save 1m for the health system,

as that is what it costs to keep a patient ondialysis while they wait for a kidney to becomeavailable.”In Britain, there is a handful of anonymous

donors where the living donor programme iswell established. But the IKA and Beaumontwould be quite cautious about accepting ananonymous donor.Professor Conlon says the shortfall in dona-

tions would improve if more living donorscame forward.“We have a very good record for organ

transplants in this country,” he says. “We arecurrently 10th in the world for deceaseddonors and have a 97% success rate for trans-plants.“We performed 10 operations on living

donors last year, and, this year, that figure hasdoubled, but waiting lists would be cut if morepeople were aware of the possibility of donat-ing an organ.”

■ For more information, visit www.ika.ie orcall 1890-543639.

Living donorprogramme■ There are currently around 25living donors being processed.■ 16 transplants from livingdonors have taken place this year.■ Waiting time from consent totransplant is about three months.

Benefits of transplants fromliving donors:■ Surgery is elective so is lessstressful for everyone involved.■ In some cases, the operationcan be planned before the needfor dialysis.■ Recipients who are transplantedprior to dialysis have betterlong-term transplant survival.■ A transplanted kidney from aliving donor lasts on average be-tween 18-28 years.

Risks involved intransplantation:■ It’s a major operation — compli-cations may occur.■ There is a one in 3,000 chanceof death.■ Patients will need to take timeoff work before and after surgery.


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Feelgood

CatherineShanahan

MUM’S WORLD

CatherineShanahan

MUM’S WORLD

NOTE: The information contained in Dr Houston’s column is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a doctor first

Dr Niamh Houston is aGP with a specialinterest in integrativemedicine. If you have aquestion about your child’shealth email it [email protected] send a letter toFeelgoodIrish ExaminerCity QuarterLapps QuayCork

Dr NiamhHouston

FAMILY

FLU FEARS: While swine flu is a mild illness for most people, it can be severe for youngerchildren and pregnant women. Picture: iStock

QCAN you tell me about theswine flu vaccine, Is it safe togive to children? Whatshould you do if your childgets swine flu?

A. The swine flu (H1N1 flu) pandemichas, at breath-taking speed, reached globalproportions since it was first identified inMexico last April. The number of peopleattending their GP with flu-like illness hasincreased and the figures are expected torise as winter arrives. For most people,swine flu is a mild illness from which theyrecover at home without any special treat-ment. However, the swine flu seems tocause a more severe illness in younger chil-dren and pregnant women, as well as thosewith pre-existing health problems such asasthma, diabetes or heart disease.The HSE swine flu vaccination pro-

gramme is started on Monday. Before a na-tional roll out, the vaccination is being of-fered first to people believed to be at highrisk.■ Pregnant women from 14 weeks to sixweeks after giving birth■ Anyone aged over six months and under65 years who has heart or kidney or lungdisease or diabetes, or who are immunosup-pressed.People aged 65 and over seem to have

some immunity to swine flu so they are notin the most at-risk group and will be vacci-nated at a later stage.At the moment, clinical tests on the vac-

cines are being done in various countries,so more information is becoming availableof the safety profile and the effectiveness ofit. Like all other vaccines, swine flu vaccineshas to be put through a rigorous testingprocess before being licensed by the EMEA(European Medicines Agency). Young chil-dren (under 10) need two doses of the fluvaccine because their immune system is lesswell developed. Protection begins two tofour weeks after vaccination.If your child has something that looks

like the flu, with fever and chills, headache,body ache, coughing, sore throat, theyshould be kept at home until at least 24hours after their symptoms go away. Makesure your child drinks enough fluids andgets a lot of rest. If your child has asthma,diabetes heart disease, a neurological prob-lem, or a weakened immune system gethim seen by his doctor. Any child underthree months with a temperature should al-ways be checked out.Parents should watch their child for signs

that he or she is getting worse and get ur-gent medical care if your child develops anyof the following: flu-like symptoms whichimprove but then return with fever or aworse cough, not drinking enough fluids,has severe or persistent vomiting, not uri-nating well, irritable, drowsy or not inter-acting well. Talk to your GP and be aware

of what is going on in your area.

Q. My 10 year old has been diagnosedwith migraine. I thought only adults suf-fered with this. What can I do to helpreduce the frequency of attacks?A. Unfortunately, migraines are commonin children. A typical migraine attack canlast from one to 72 hours and cause an in-tense and pounding headache, sometimeswith nausea. Light and noise can make thepain of migraine worse and often the childwill look pale and not want to eat anythingand withdraw to a quiet, cool, dark placeto rest.It’s not something that should be self-di-

agnosed, so I am glad to hear that yourchild has had an accurate diagnosis by yourdoctor. Other causes of recurrent, frequentheadaches would need to ruled out first.Headaches due to a brain tumour are rare,and can be discovered by a physical exami-nation and tests such as MRI or CT scan.Start keeping a headache diary. Write the

date and time of day of the headache, theseverity of headache (on a scale of one to10), the location of the headache, howlong it lasts and any activity, food, stressthat you think may be related. Simplelifestyle changes can make a difference suchas making sure meals are not skipped, not

spending too long at the computer, gettingenough sleep and regular exercise. Mostchildren will have only one or two mi-graine attacks per month, andover-the-counter medication such asibuprofen or paracetemol taken within 30minutes of onset of the pain is the mainstayof treatment.For children and adolescents who average

one or more migraine headaches per week,there are preventative medications that areavailable. Experts believe that the likelihoodof getting migraines is inherited. If there isa family history of migraine, there is agreater chance of children having thesetypes of headaches.Some doctors teach a technique called

Biofeedback to patients with migraine. Ithelps a person learn to relax and use thebrain to gain control over certain bodyfunctions (heart rate and muscle stress) thatcan cause tension and pain. If a migrainebegins slowly, many people can usebiofeedback to stop the attack.Acupuncture has also been shown to help

reduce the frequency of migraine attacks.Both these treatments are suitable for olderchildren and teenagers.Certain herbal remedies have been shown

to help some people, but their safety andeffectiveness is children is not fully known.

FRAGILE as glass from a gastro bug’s ef-forts to wreak havoc, I considered the les-son life had taught me with my head downthe loo.

It is while death is doubtless the greatleveller, a spot of spewing can knock us flattoo.

A woman with her head in the can hasless airs than a g string and does not wantan audience to witness her hacking andhawking.

The bathroom is her sanctuary, the toiletbowl her repository and she clings to thistrunkless leg of porcelain.

It offers cold comfort to each vile vomitand reminds her of her mortal soul. Sat byits side, she suffers in silence, the nauseataking its toll.

The next time she hurls, her young sonoverhears and decides to investigate thesound. He enters the bathroom and espies

some poor creature sitting, dejected, onthe ground. Her hair is disheveled, herface pale and gaunt and she can’t keepanything down.

He sees that it’s his mother and rushesto her side, begging her to tell him what’swrong. His tenderness is touching, she’sclose to tears, but for his sake, she wantsto be strong.

“It’s nothing Lughaidh, Mammy’s a bitsick,” she says, urging him to scarper tothe playroom. Her words are scarcely ut-tered when she feels her stomach heaveand resumes her place beside the toiletbowl. Another wet retch leaves her shud-dering as her son looks on in admiration.

“Do it again Mammy,” he says gleeful-ly, playfully, clearly quite thrilled by whathe’s seen. He approaches the loo, peersover the rim and into a sea of biliousgreen. “Do it again Mammy,” he pleads,

“I want to see you do it, OH PLEASE.”She does because she has to and not

because he asked and he is pleased aspunch with this new trick. He decides totry it out, leans over the bowl, and beforeshe can stop him, he spits. “Look Mam-my,” he cries, “I can do it too,” and hespits. And spits. And spits.

This duet of hawking is not to her likingso Mammy tries to bring it to a halt. Sheexplains to her son that puking’s not agame and she’d rather he went playingball. But spitting’s more fun so he sticksto his guns and together they burp andgawk. He finally gives up when he runsout of burps and when Mammy slides tothe floor. Besides he hears his favouritetheme tune playing downstairs and wantsto see what’s in store. Mammy is fine forpassing the time but Balamory is less of abore.


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One step closerA new test offers hope for couples trying to conceive, says Ailin Quinlan

ANEW genetic-screening test, which morethan doubles the success of IVF (in vitro fer-tilisation) could be available in Irish clinics

within two years.It would be “cruel” and“unethical” not to provideit, once the testing proce-dure has been proven be-yond reasonable doubt,says Dr David Walsh,medical director of theSims International Fertil-ity Clinic in Dublin, oneof the country’s biggestIVF clinics.He described the proce-

dure as “one step closer tothe Holy Grail” of the fertil-ity profession.According to British scien-

tists, the screening technique,called Comparative GenomicHybridisation (CGH), detectsabnormalities in the number ofchromosomes in an egg or em-bryo.By using CGH, the best em-

bryos can be selected and trans-planted into the mother’s womb.While the findings are extremely exciting, experts here

emphasise that CGH is still primarily “unproven” tech-nology, and would have to undergo rigorous testing pro-cedures before being released onto the Irish market.Seven out of eight top Irish fertility clinics surveyed

said they did not yet offer the test and one clinic failed torespond to the query.“We’re very interested in it but the Irish Medicines

Board has a very high regulatory standard — between300 and 500 of the 4,000 cost of an IVF cycle isspent on costs incurred as the result of regulation,” saysDr Walsh, adding that as far as he was concerned, oncethe technology was proven beyond a reasonable doubt itwould be “unethical” not to introduce the test.

“The idea is that you could choose one embryo thatcould become a baby,” he explains.

It’s very early days for the test, agrees Dr JohnWaterstone, medical director of the Cork Fer-tility Centre — but, he says, if it is proven re-liable, the Cork Centre will consider using it:“It’s a very preliminary test. It’s a brand-newtechnique and we’ll have to wait and see if it

is as promising at it might be, and wait for the costs tocome down — it’s about £2,000 ( 2,232) at the mo-ment.“Obviously if it bears fruit and continues to look as

promising, we would considerusing it.“Most clinics who do IVF

do not do any genetic tests onthe embryo. This is a Britishtechnology applied to an IVFunit in the United States — it’sbeen more common in theUSA to do these genetic testson embryos before they’re putback into the womb, but mostclinics here don’t test em-bryos.”Although testing is not rou-

tinely carried out on embryosin this country, Dr Walsh indi-cates he is optimistic about thefuture of the test: “I think thetechnology would be provenultimately — you have to be asclose to 100% sure as possibleabout this and once the tech-nology reaches that, certainlynearly every clinic in the

world, including Ireland will offer it — but until then anyclinic will hold back.”It’s crucial to first carry out comprehensive testing, he

says, pointing to the area of pre-implantation geneticscreening (PGS). “There were more babies born in thegroup of patients who did not get the screening as part oftheir IVF treatment, than to those who did get the screen-ing. PGS can help a certain section of the population butis not for universal use. So we need to be sure this latesttest will help people — beyond a reasonable doubt.“With CGH, what they’re doing is taking cells from a

blastocyst embryo on day five. This test is essentially a stepcloser to the holy grail of our profession in that it tells uswith more accuracy which embryo is most likely to devel-op into a baby.“It is also the case that, where there is little hope, you

can more quickly tell patients that a particular fertility cy-cle is not likely to work. I think it’s going to be very use-ful.“If we know that it is robust and can be used for this

purpose it could be in operation in Irish clinics by 2011— within a year or two of it being confirmed as a validand reliable technology.”

FERTILITY BREAKTHROUGH: It would be ‘cruel’not to provide CGH if its success is proven, says DrDavid Walsh. Picture: Maura Hickey

Picture: iStock THE

FAC

TS

WHAT is Comparative Genomic Hybridi-sation (CGH)?■ CGH is a screening process that ap-pears to more than double the chancesof having a healthy baby through IVF —and remove the risk of Down’s syn-drome.

■ It screens embryos for genetic abnor-malities by detecting abnormalities inthe number of chromosomes in an eggor embryo.

■ By using CGH, the best embryos canbe selected and transplanted into themother's womb. So far, more than 20babies have been born as a result of thescreening.

■ According to a study by British scien-tists, 66% of women became pregnantafter screening, which was more thandouble the amount of women who be-came pregnant without the screening(28%).

■ This makes it significantly more effec-tive than normal IVF, where between aquarter and a third of pregnancies usu-ally end up as live births.

■ Many of the 115 women in the studywere on their “last chance” of IVF —aged 39 and having already undergonetwo failed IVF cycles — so the test isbelieved to double the rate of concep-tion, even for patients in their late 30s.


12


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Feelgood

Roz Crowley

Delicious Gluten-Free Scones, 2.70each

Single-packed to avoid contamination atall stages of storage for cafes, these canbe warmed up in the packet. The sconeswill suit those will multiple intolerances ofgluten, dairy and yeast, and have no saltor hydrogenated fats. All the products inthe Delicious range are worth trying, espe-cially the chocolate brownies, alreadymentioned on thispage. The compa-ny also makes piz-za bases and takesorders forgluten-free wed-ding cakes.www.delicious.ie.

Score: 8

Livewell Hot Cross Buns, 3.99,Dunnes Stores

Four separately wrapped, hot cross bunsare free of gluten, wheat and milk, so couldsuit those with dairy as well as gluten intol-erance. The ingredients include stabilisersand additives. Gluten-free, baked productsare difficult to store, so we can expect addi-tives in exchange for a reasonable shelf life.This package will last until December 30.Toasting is recommended for these hotcross buns, and is goodfor lightening thedough, which is heavywhen cold. They tastelike regular hot crossbuns. And at 1 each,fair value.

Score: 6.25

Bombay Pantry Gluten-Free MildChicken Tikka Masala, 330g 4.49

For me, Bombay Pantry was alwaysDublin’s best take-away outlet and nowthey are supplying their excellent dishes,pre-packed and cooked, to supermarkets.Gluten-free, this Chicken Masala has nocolourings or preservatives, with creamand yoghurt providing the thickening forthe sauce. Plenty of flavour, with 35%chicken piecesin mild spices.We licked ourplates.

Score: 9

Gan Gluten Sausage Rolls. 3 each inDouglas East Village market and cafés,Cork (Farm Gate Cork and Midleton,Fellini Cork)

Coeliac and non-coeliac tasters lovedthese sausage rolls and gave them topmarks. The sausage meat is 100% organic,with low fat and very low salt.The shortcrust pastry is not

greasy and notcrumbly, and theroll is at its bestwarmed slightly.The sausagemeat has a cleantaste with no grease. Gan Gluten will makeChristmas puddings and cakes to order.

Score: 8

Dee’s Organic Spicy Bean Burger, 2 x115g burgers, 3.99, from healthfood shops, butchers and food stores

Free from gluten, dairy, meat, additives,soy, cholesterol, added salt and sugar,you could expect these burgers to be toowholesome to be tasty, but they are quitethe opposite. Made in Ballincollig, Cork,and certified organic, these are tasty,have a texture of well-minced beef andare quite spicy. Tasters, not all of themvegetarian orcoeliac, likedthem.

Score: 8.25

Pádraigín’s Gourmet Gluten-FreePizza, 400g 4.80

This Bandon-based restaurant producespizzas for dining in and takeaway, for spe-ciality shops and supermarkets. The basewas crisp and light and had good flavour,while the topping was generous, with apredominant taste of peppers and just theright amount of mozzarella and cheddar.Tasters werehappy. Pack-aging needswork.

Score: 7

Sowan Bread Mixes 4.50

This gluten-free Real Bread Mix,gluten-free Real Wholegrain Bread, andgluten-free Brownie Mix are all organicand have a wholesome, fresh taste. Excel-lent products and easy to store until need-ed. In the oven within minutes, they’re aterrific standby.

Score: 8.75

Marks & Spencer Gluten-Free 2Chicken & Mushroom Crispbakes,227g 1.50

The golden crumb on the outside ofthese patties is made from rice flour,cornflour and salt. The batter coating con-tains maize flour, cornflour, potato starch.Inside, 87% chicken thigh meat is mincedfinely andmixed withwater, rape-seed oil,cornflour, saltand lemonjuice. Cooksin 15 minutesfor a nice, crisp outside with a creamyinside, but bland taste. Not bad value.

Score: 6

COELIACS spend a lot oftime reading food labels.Avoiding foods with gluten

is no fun, and means regular flour andproducts with porridge oats are off themenu. No oatie biscuits, no light fairycakes, no light pastry, no tossing fish inflour before frying. Many sauces, in-cluding gravies, tomato sauces andmayonnaise, are thickened with flour.“It’s embarrassing going into restau-

rants,” says Claire O’Brien, a coeliacwho wants to enjoy eating out, butfinds the trouble of explaining that shecannot eat flour-thickened sauces andgravies, foods made with batter and ahuge range of desserts, tiresome. She isthe latest to add to a growing band ofexcellent suppliers of gluten-free foods,who understand that coeliacs are enti-tled to tasty food as much as the rest of

us. Her new company, Gan Gluten, issupplying cafes in Cork, such as Fellini,on Carey’s Lane, where I tasted hersausage rolls, listed below. News of thisnew company is hot off the presses,and, following years as a chef in her sis-ters’ Farm Gate restaurants in Cork andMidleton, she plans a wider range ofsavoury and sweet treats, and alreadybakes cakes flavoured with orange andchocolate, lemon, orange and coffee,selling at 7.50 and 8.95 for 500gsizes.Well-established is the dynamic

Denise O’Callaghan, whose company,Delicious Gluten-Free, is now produc-ing single-packed scones and bread rollsfor restaurants, which saves them thetrouble of cooking gluten-free foodsseparate from others that could con-taminate them. Details of both below.Because flour is so often added to

convenience foods and restaurant food,gluten-free food is a problem, but withdemand increasing, due, in part, to bet-ter diagnosis, there are deliciousgluten-free foods to be enjoyed. This isthe best we could find.

Let them eat cake

Picture: iStock


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Deirdre O'Flynn

MOSTLY MEN

DId you know...

What’s New ForWinterTAKE4

Man aboutthe house

I T’S a difficult time for men as manyfind themselves home alone for the firsttime in their working lives. Partners

may have returned to work, or taken on extrahours to make up for the loss of income, asthe man of the house has been made redun-dant.“When men lose the traditional breadwin-

ner role, there can be huge emotional tur-moil. Men can feel lost and undermined, be-cause they feel they don’t contribute to thehousehold in the same way,” says GwenSteward, a couples counsellor who runs TheWellness Centre, in Wexford town.Nowadays, men can find themselves star-

ing, literally, at the four walls, wondering

how to kill the time until either a child orpartner comes home at the end of their day.“It makes it difficult from a couple point of

view, if the man becomes low in himself andsits around all day, while his partner feels likeshe has to do the housework when she comeshome from work,” says Steward.“A lot of men have had no idea how to

run the family home, because they never hadto. I recommend that couples plan out thejobs that need to be done. Listing all the jobson a chart and deciding who should do themis almost a business-like approach and helpsto de-personalise the work.”This time at home is also an opportunity

for men to develop their own style — andpartners need to allow this, even if dinnerisn’t cooked the way they cook it, or thehouse isn’t as clean as they’d like.This time at home is also an opportunity to

be part of the engine that keeps the familylife ticking over.“It gives men an insight into how the fam-

ily works. A lot of men don’t know theirteenagers, in particular, but now they have anopportunity to spend time with them in thecar when collecting them from school, for

instance,” says Steward.“There’s no doubt that a lot of men are

finding that they love having extra time athome with their partner and children, sothat, apart from the financial stress, the cur-rent climate has been a positive thing forfamilies.”

Prisons are ‘no place forpeople with mental illness’

Eggs importantto balanced dietEATING eggs as part of a healthy balanced dietdoes not significantly raise blood cholesterol levels.That’s according to recent report commissioned byBord Bia, which showed that eggs are a very valu-able, nutrient dense and low-cost food.“The importance of including

eggs as part of a healthy bal-anced diet is something every-one should be aware of,” saysDr Aine Hearty from the UCDFood and Drink Institute.“Based on recent scientific re-

search it has become evident that the link betweenegg intake and blood cholesterol levels is weak,thus strengthening the value that eggs can offer inthe modern Irish diet.” However, just over a third ofIrish households buy eggs once a week, while 75%buy eggs once a month.

Irish menspend 30minutes longergroomingweekly thanIrish women

■ Souce: 4men.ie

NEW TONIC: According to Dublin GP, Dr PaulHeslin, more people are finding it difficult to re-cover from illness as quickly as they wouldwish. “While it is important to allow the bodyto heal at its own pace — difficult at our everincreasing pace of life — what we digest has acrucial role in recovery,” says Dr Heslin.Metatone Tonic provides a combi-

nation of vitamin B1 andfour essential minerals inan easy-to-take liquid for-mula.It provides a gentle

boost after illness suchas colds and flu, whenyou’re feeling tired andrun down or with a lossof appetite. It costs8.35 and is available inpharmacies nationwide.

BANISH BUGS: Exclusive toBoots, the new ResponsebetaAnti-viral Hand Sanitiser killsviruses and harmful bacteria,providing residual protection forup to two hours. Alcohol andodour free, it is suitable for allthe family — simplyspray it twice in thepalm of the hand andrub until dry.Responsebeta Anti-vi-

ral Hand Sanitisercomes in two sizes:50ml ( 3.79), for hy-giene on the go, and200ml ( 7.49), ideal foraround the home oroffice.

HEALTHY GUT: OptiBac is a new rangeof seven probiotic products all targetingspecific areas of the digestive system.OptiBac Probiotics for Daily Wellbeing,13.43, for example combines six probi-otic strains with prebiotics to boost diges-tion, immunity and energy levels. Thereis also a specific product to take after An-tibiotics, 7.23, which contains Lacto-bacillus. A special blend of pre and probi-otics is tailored for children’s needs whichcosts 8.50 for a box of 10 sachets andthere are also probiotics for bowel calmcontaining Saccharomycesboulardii. This productis suitable for childrenaged 3+ and costs4.33 for eight sa-chets.

PEOPLE with mental illness areover-represented in Irish courts andprisons. They tend to accumulate inprison partly because they can’t getbail due to their underlying illness.Obstacles to bail may include being unable

to provide an address because theyare homeless, unableto pay even smallsums of money, oran inability to pro-vide a person tovouch for them.“Prisons are toxic

and inappropriateplaces to managepeople with major

mental illnesses, who are vulnerablein such settings and it is not the roleof the criminal justice system to ar-range mental healthcare,” said DrConor O’Neill, consultant forensic psy-chiatrist, Central Mental Hospital, Dun-drum. He was speaking after thePrison Inreach and Court Liaison Ser-

vice (PICLS), won a re-cent Irish HealthcareAward. The PICLSwas developed by theCentral Mental Hospi-tal at Cloverhill and itsmain objectives are toidentify and assess allnew remands withmajor mental illness.

Worried about thewinter blues, colds

and other bugs? Somenew products aimed atoptimal winter healthare:

SUN VITAMINS:Brighten up winter withSolgar’s limited editionSunshine in a box kit.According to SADA, thecharity for SAD (Sea-sonal Affective Disor-der), the symptoms ofwinter blues include:low mood, increasedmental and physical fa-tigue, stress, lack ofconcentration, and

weight-gain.The new Solgar kit

provides nutrition es-sentials including:■ Vitamin D3 — “thesunshine vitamin”which strengthens im-mune health.■ Megasorb B complex— to stabilise moodand hormonal changes.■ Rhodiola — herbalremedy enhances men-tal and physical energyand supports the im-mune system.Solgar’s Sunshine in a

box kit costs 35 fromhealth food stores andselected pharmacies.

HOME ALONE:Nowadays, mencan find them-selves staring,literally, at thefour walls,wondering how tokill the time untileither a child orpartner comeshome at the endof their day. Picture:iStock

DIFFERENT VIEW:Couples counsellorGwen Steward, says menforced to stay at homecan get an insight intohow the family works.Picture: Patrick Browne


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Feelgood

The news on ...

STUFF WE LIKE

TAKE THREEEmily O’Sullivan

BALMSBALMS are wonderful in winter. Each year,we invest in one and leave it in our bath-room cabinet to cover all manner ofcold-weather woes. One of our new discov-eries is Trilogy’s Everything Balm, 16.95. Ithas a thick, almost wavy texture, whichlooks a bit unsettling when you open thepot, but it melts on touch and has a divinescent.Use it for soothing dry skin (especially

skin that has been exposed to extreme tem-perature — when skiing, for example), forrepairing rough skin, for softening cuticles,as a massage oil, on lips as a lip balm, andeven on babies. The delightful scent comesfrom a combination of organic marula oil,organic rosehip oil, jojoba, olive, avocado,honey and vitamin E.

ORGANIC MOISTURISERSGive your skin a little treat this winter andgo for a light, but nourishing, organic mois-turiser — they smell heavenly, feel great onthe skin, and contain no chemicals, whatso-ever. And you can’t really argue with that.

Voya Me Time, 55. Housed in an ele-gant, tall, slim bottle, this lovely moisturiseris made by an Irish company using sea-weed extracts to nourish the skin. It’s agreat daytime moisturiser — it’s light, deli-cately fragranced and feels silky to thetouch. Best of all, it kept our dry skinwell-hydrated.Score: 8

Origin Organics NourishingFace Lotion, 48. A verypleasant lotion that sinks intothe skin beautifully and keeps itwell-hydrated. It’s quite light,however, so if you have dry skin,something more substantialmay be needed. And while thesmell is pleasant, it is quitestrong, so not good for anyonewho prefers their creams to bescent free.Score: 6

Neal’s Yard Frankincense HydratingCream, £20 ( 22.17). If high-tech, an-ti-ageing creams leave you cold, then optfor this organic moisturiser from Neal’s YardRemedies. Frankincense and myrrh are in-cluded to keep skin looking fresh and radi-ant. The texture is satin-soft and it keepsskin well-hydrated throughout the day, with-out too much of a heavy fragrance.Score: 6

No 7 Stay Perfect Lipstick in TangerineTouch, 13.50. Orange lipsticks are theultimate in ‘80s retro, and they look greatagainst a pale, porcelain winter complex-

ion. This one from No7 has a nicetexture, which lasts the pace withoutdrying out the lips. If you’ve particu-larly dry lips, then use it over a lipbalm.

Mac Tinted Lip ConditionerSPF 15 in Fuchsia Fix, 17. Thisseason, it’s all about matte lipsticks,but if strong matte shadesare too much of a leapfor you then try thissuper-cool lip condi-

tioner from DSquared, at MAC. It gives aflush of strong fuchsia with a glossytexture.

L’Oreal Paris Shadow Minerals inGold, 12.04. Go ‘80s fabulous withthis gold shadow, which can be blend-ed with soft, matte tones of pink for asoft, romantic, day-time look, or can bebigged up come night-time for a touchdisco-diva excess.

Elnett hairspray, 6.95. The ulti-mate ‘80s hairspray is still going

strong. It’s great for settingstyles and styling — simple,but effective.

ELF Duo Eyeshadow Cream inBlueberry, 1.70. Unsure youwant to go for the look? Well, don’tspend a fortune on an eyeshadowyou may regret. This little numberfrom eyeslipsface.co.uk has a love-ly, creamy texture, which makes iteasy to blend, and costs less thantwo euro. Need we say more?

Too Faced Metal Eyed Liner inTwilight, 19. Jumping into blueafter years of taking a more sophis-ticated route can be a dauntingprospect, but this navy, sparkly eye-liner makes it all a cinch. Team itwith a bold, orange lip and a pale

complexion.

Yves Saint Laurent Cream BlushNo 2, 42. This looks like a verystrong, coral pink in thepot, but it works a treat onthe skin. It has a verylight, almost whipped tex-ture that melts on applica-tion and blends in beauti-fully. The pink shade isgreat for warming up acold complexion and a lit-tle goes a very long way.

From bigger hairto wild colour —the ’80s are backwith a bang

A INYONE old enough to haveexperimented with make-up 20to 30 years ago may be having a

little difficulty with this season’s obsessionwith all things ’80s. It feels like we’ve come along way since the days of perms, matte blueeyeshadow, chalky pink lipstick, bright or-ange blush and caked-on foundation. And wehave.While the styles this season are influenced

strongly by the decade of Bananarama-chic,the textures and formulations owe nothing tothe originals. But mark our words, ’80s looksare super-hot right now and they are goingto rise to scorching over the next 12 monthsor so. Admittedly, some of the styles beingtouted by top beauty brands are seriously un-wearable — especially for anyone over 35 —but beauty’s rediscovery of colour comes as awelcome change from the omnipresentsmokey-eye. And while ’80s is a young look,it doesn’t have to be exclusively so.At the Basso & Brook spring/summer cat-

walk shows, L’Oreal Paris Internationalmake-up artist James Kaliardos created a lookcalled Techno Baroque, which sets the tonefor a wearable modern version of the origi-nal.Influenced by the work of ’80s make-up

artist Tyen (with pale, powdered faces), Jamesmixed this with references to the 17th centu-ry for a versatile look that is bang up to date.The base foundation should be lighter thanin the ’80s, but it does need to be uniform,while shine should be minimised with L’Ore-al Paris Mattifying Minerals, 21.08. Go fora soft flush of light pink innocent blush onthe cheeks, and strike out with a mix of gold

and soft pink on the eye, finished with lash-ings of black mascara.Blue eyeshadow is an increasingly hot look,

on the catwalk and on the street, but the softsheer textures are what set it apart from thegarish ’80s looks. From deep sophisticatednavy right through to paler shades of blue (abig look for next spring/summer), blue iswhere it’s at this season. Use the colour rightacross the eye or go for a flash of bright blueeyeliner against a pale background — tryMAC’s Greaspaint Stick in Bright Blue Vio-let, 19 for a real flash of brilliance.For those who find blue eyeshadow is a bit

too Cindi Lauper, then shimmy down thecolour spectrum towards violet and the palepurples, which are one of the biggest trendsfor autumn/winter. You can give it a discofactor by mixing purples and violets withshimmering silver metallics by night, or elseopt for a translucent wash of colour duringthe day.The big difference between the retro ’80s

look and the real ’80s look is we’ve learnedto tone it down. So keep the complexionmatte, keep blusher subtle and underplayed,and focus on a flash of bright colour eitheron the eyes or the lips.Strong fuchsias, hot oranges and pillar-box

reds really stand on the lips when set against aneutral background or teamed with a sweepof navy liquid eyeliner. While eye-poppingshadows look a lot more knock-out with aneutral lip.Don’t forget about your hair: crimping is a

massive look this season and according to topPeter Mark stylist Helen Reacy, the ’80s arehot across the board in hair.“The 1980s were all about experimentation

with cuts, colour and styling,” says Reavey.“More and more people are now asking forbigger hair, plaits and volume. Curls are back,but instead of the fuzzy perms of the ’80s, weare seeing sophisticated shape and colour.”Look to Madonna’s Express Yourself video

for blonde bouncy curls full of attitude.

Picture: PETER MARKS

REAL RETRO


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Megan Sheppard

Do you have a questionfor Megan Sheppard?Email it [email protected] send a letter toFeelgoodIrish ExaminerCity QuarterLapps QuayCork

Megan puts the spotlight on : Taking daily Aspirin

Consider painas a useful

signal withinthe body toalert you to

the fact thatsomething is

not right

MANY people take a daily aspirin tothin the blood and help prevent heartattack and stroke.Aspirin works as a pain reliever by

dulling the nerves and thereforereducing the perception of pain — itdoes not rid the body of pain. It issuspected that long-term use ofaspirin actually causes damage to thenerve cells. We already know it causesintestinal ulceration.For headaches, try the herbal op-

tions of willow bark (white, red, orblack), meadowsweet, wintergreen,and balm of Gilead — all of whichcontain an alkaloid which is convertedto salicylic acid (the active ingredientin aspirin) within the body.Combine any of the herbs with

peppermint or spearmint for apleasant tea which can be sippedthroughout the day when you areexperiencing headache or pain.

With any pain, it is crucial to get tothe root cause — consider pain as auseful signal within the body to alertyou to the fact that something is notright. If we dull this signal then weoverride the built-in alarm system andignoring the problem.The aspirin typically prescribed by

doctors is only 81mg and entericallycoated — this is much safer on yournervous and intestinal systems thanthe standard 325mg store-bought as-pirin. Even so, most doctors are still

reluctant to prescribe aspirin unlessthe risk of heart attack or stroke isgreater than the risk of internal bleed-ing.

ACTIVATED CHARCOAL: Last week Imentioned the use of activatedcharcoal as an ideal supplement forthose of us concerned aboutamalgams in our teeth.Unfortunately, activated charcoal is

no longer widely available in powderform, however the capsules can easilybe bought from most health stores.To purchase activated charcoal pow-

der contact the British branch of JLBragg’s either online atwww.charcoal.uk.com or by phoning00-44-1473-748 345.A 50g pot of the powder costs £3.86

( 4.30), or you can buy a kilo for just£11.63 ( 12.95) and divide it amongfamily and friends.

CLEANSING TOOL: Psyllium is not only good for constipation, it is also useful in treatingdiarrhoea and can help to detoxify the intestines and colon by carrying out toxins and wasteproducts from the body. Picture: iStock

Q I SUFFER from chronic con-stipation. You recently recom-mended psyllium husks to areader. I’ve tried this myself,taking two teaspoons in a big

glass of water first thing in the morning.While I had a wonderful result the firstmorning, there has been little or no im-provement since. Should I be taking more?A. In my experience, people have greatvariations in result with the psyllium and sothe dose needs to be tinkered with until youfind what works for you. I have known peo-ple who find that as little as one teaspoon ofpsyllium husks is enough to alleviate consti-pation, while others require up to two table-spoons per large glass of water.

You can also experiment with the frequen-cy of dosage — I always recommend to takethe psyllium first thing in the morning andlast thing at night. But some need to take itonce a day only and others need to take itthree times daily. You have already notedthat the psyllium worked well for you, so itis just a case of finding out the dose youneed to maintain this, and adjust as necessaryas time goes on.

It is worth noting that psyllium is not onlygood for constipation, it is also useful intreating diarrhoea and can help to detoxifythe intestines and colon — gently carryingout toxins and waste products from the body.This is why it is useful for a number of gas-trointestinal disorders, and can help easebowel movements for those who have inter-nal or external haemorrhoids.

Q. I am over 70 and have to go to thetoilet at least four or five times everynight. I usually pass about two litres. If Iam going shopping I can’t afford to drinkwater in the morning — just a cup of tea,porridge and brown bread. My last meal isat 6pm — a cup of tea, salad and brownbread. I usually have a Petits Filous at9pm. I tried tablets prescribed by the doc-tor. They didn’t work. I went for an oper-ation in 2006 — a stitch at the mouth ofthe bladder — but it didn’t work either. Isthere anything I can do?A. Because your situation is likely a com-bination of physiology and loss of elasticityin the internal tissues, the best I can do is tomake some suggestions for you to try, at leastfor a fortnight each, and see if any of themhave an impact.

My first suggestion is to cut out tea. It’s adiuretic, meaning that it increases urination.You would actually be better off drinkingwater since it will hydrate the tissues, whichhelps to increase the elasticity of internal tis-sues and general organ health and function-ing.

Your cut off point of 6pm for your lastmeal is a great idea, and no doubt this will

be helping since this enables the body toprepare for sleep (and the myriad of pro-cesses which take place during our restphase) without the added burden of diges-tion. You may want to eat the Petits Filousearlier than 9pm since this will need to bedigested. If, however, you are eating it be-cause it helps you to sleep (as dairy prod-ucts can do for many people), then by allmeans continue with it since you have cho-sen a food which is easy to digest and onlya small amount at that.

There are some herbs which have anaffinity with the urinary system, in particu-lar cornsilk. butcher’s broom, and juniper.It would be worth asking a local herbalist ifthey could put together a formulation con-taining these herbs so you can take them asa tincture.

Avoid uva ursi, although it is great forbladder infections (including E. coli infec-tion) and strengthening the urinary tract, itis a strong diuretic and so will not helpyour situation at all.

Pelvic floor exercises would also be ofbenefit to you. You can identify your pelvicfloor by stopping the flow while passingurine. This is will help find the muscle, notto exercise it. Squeeze and lift the pelvicfloor, holding for one to 10 seconds thenrelease and relax for 10-20 seconds. Workup to 12 repetitions — although quality ismore important than quantity.

Q. I am on a cocktail of drugs. I now be-lieve I have reflux disease and afraid I mayneed to take more medication. Is there anyway I can cut down on what I am taking? Iwould appreciate your advice.A. This is a difficult question to answer sinceI am unsure of your current condition andmedications. But I can tell you it is commonfor reflux to appear as a side effect of being onmultiple drugs so what you are experiencingmay be a result of the prescriptions rather thanan unrelated condition.

Reflux is a widely misunderstood condition,often treated using the very remedy whichcauses the acid imbalance in the first place. In-dividuals who suffer from reflux conditionsgenerally have a shortage of stomach acidrather than an excess. What happens when youare low in stomach acid, is that food is retainedand churned in the stomach for longer so thatit can be passed through into the small intes-tine, which often results in some of this foodand acid mixture being regurgitated into theoesophagus.

Many people find relief when they supple-ment with a digestive aid containing BetaineHCl and Pepsin alongside a digestive enzymeblend and probiotic supplement. Viridian’sHigh Potency Digestive Aid capsules combineBetaine HCl and digestive enzymes — alongwith peppermint and ginger. The Health Store(www.thehealthstore.ie) sells this product at

9.95 for 30 capsules.


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Feelgood

Crowley’s Opticians & Hearing Aid Clinic26 GRAND PARADE, CORK 021 4271351

GRAHAM M. QUIN BE MSc (Audiology) Dip SHWW Dip Env Eng CEng MIEI MIOSH Consulting Audiological Scientist

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DON’T SUFFER IN SILENCE“If you think you have a hearing problem...the time to act is NOW. Living life to its fullest meanshearing all the sounds around you. The important sounds of conversation, telephone and TV. Tohelp ensure that you receive the highest quality hearing care, we utilise the most sophisticated diagnosticand evaluation service available. You have my personal assurance of satisfaction in all your dealings with us.”- GRAHAM M. QUIN

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This is a wonderful opportunity to have your hearing evaluated by the top people in their fieldGovernment grant of up to €1,520 for P.R.S.I. contributors and their spouses

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feelgood 06-11-2009

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