health

Shapewear: is it worth it?

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Recently, my Facebook feed has been full of adverts for male shapewear – essentially vests which push your tummy in. The idea being that you can hide a beer belly and look more confident. Of course, the adverts have lots of before and after videos of men who have squeezed themselves into one of these vests.

Of course, when it came to writing this, none of the adverts showed up for me to take a screenshot.

Whilst I rarely drink beer nowadays, it’s fair to say I’m more portly than I used to be. Between the start of the Covid lockdown five years ago, and the summer of 2021 when things started re-opening again, my waist size increased by a couple of inches. It used to be that I did around 30 minutes of brisk walking every weekday, but despite my efforts to get out during lockdown, I don’t do as much exercise now as I used to.

Therefore, on the face of it, shapewear offers an easy solution – squish your belly into a tight-fitting vest to look better. But besides the price of these vests, I’ve been hesitant to try them, for a couple of reasons.

Shapewear health risks

A quick search with a well-known search engine brought up this article from BBC Science Focus about the ‘hidden health risks of shapewear’. Feel free to read it, but the summary is that shapewear may not be suitable for people who experience issues with breathing, digestion, skin irritation or who have nerve or circulatory issues. And I tick two of those boxes: I’m asthmatic, and, without wanting to go into TMI, I have some digestive issues. Wearing shapewear regularly could exacerbate both of those.

Health risks aside, forcing your body to look a certain way, or only feeling confident if you’re wearing shapewear, isn’t a healthy relationship with your body. I’m reading (well, listening to the audiobook of) You Are Not A Before Picture by Alex Light (sponsored link), which is a really good book about the history of the diet industry, and how to have a good relationship with your body regardless of its size. It also dispels the myth that fat = unhealthy and thin = healthy. For more, see HAES – Health At Every Size, which offers advice for healthcare professionals who work with differently-sized people in a way that is affirming and supportive.

So, no – as much as I’m not a big fan of my sticky-out-tummy, I won’t be trying to force it into a restrictive vest.

Fully-vaccinated and ready for winter

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A screenshot of the NHS winter vaccinations page

We’re halfway through October, the weather is getting colder and the nights are getting longer. So, it’s also time to get your winter vaccinations.

I’m asthmatic, and so I qualify for a free flu vaccine each year. I’m also eligible for a free Covid-19 booster; my last one was two years ago, but it looks like the eligibility rules have changed in my favour.

I had both vaccines last week. Apart from some tenderness in my arms where I had the vaccines injected, no side effects for me thankfully. Back in 2021, my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine (AstraZeneca) gave me a fever for a few days, but subsequent vaccinations (Pfizer and Moderna) have been much milder.

You’ll probably find that, if you’re eligible for a free flu vaccine on the NHS, your GP surgery will contact you to ask you to make an appointment. For the Covid-19 vaccine, I was able to book this myself on the NHS app.

Getting vaccinated privately

If you don’t qualify for a free vaccine, but still want to get protected, you can pay for one privately. Boots will charge you £22, and Superdrug £20 (or £10 if you have their loyalty card). Alternatively, check with your workplace; my employer offers vouchers for a free flu vaccination with Boots to all employees who aren’t otherwise eligible for one on the NHS.

The Covid-19 vaccines are rather more expensive – about £100 at Boots, although some may sell them for less, with the cheapest Novavax vaccine costing £45.

If I didn’t get them for free on the NHS then I would probably pay for the flu vaccine. The last time I had flu was in October 2003. The fact that I can remember the rough date 21 years later shows how much I’m happy to have the vaccine to avoid going that again. I was eligible for a flu vaccine back then too, but managed to get flu before I could get vaccinated.

As for Covid-19 – I’ve definitely had it at least once since March 2020, an almost certainly twice. In both cases, it was just like a bad cold (but over more quickly). But I also lost two friends to that virus in 2020, and so I know how serious it could be.

RSV and pneumococcal vaccines

If you’re 65+ or pregnant, then you may also be eligible for one or two other winter vaccines: RSV, against the respiratory syncytial virus, and pneumococcal, against some forms of pneumonia and meningitis. If your GP surgery hasn’t already been in touch, have a chat with them if you meet the eligible criteria.

And remember, vaccination isn’t just about protecting yourself. Not everyone can have vaccines, but if you’re vaccinated, you’ll help to prevent the spread of diseases which continue to kill thousands of people in the UK each year.

Neil’s guide to surviving a cold

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Giant porcupines

I’ve been feeling pretty rotten this week, having caught a particularly nasty cold. Presumably from Lizzie; she’s had a cold for a few days now and so her face has been constantly covered in snot. And she likes giving us kisses now, which is cute, but also a sure-fire way to pick up her germs.

I have still gone to work as normal, and I thought I’d write about what I do to get through a rough patch.

Please be aware that I’m not a medical professional, and none of this should be considered medical advice. If a medical professional advises you to do something else, follow their advice, not mine. This is just what works for me.

Get up and get clean

When you’re feeling rough, either because you’re ill or experiencing a decline in mental health, there’s a temptation just to stay in bed. And, if you’re so ill that you really cannot get yourself out of bed, it may be best to stay there – if you have ‘flu for example. But maybe call NHS 111 if this happens, just in case it’s something more serious.

If you can get yourself out of bed, then do. Have a shower, and put on clean clothes. Brush your teeth. Shave, if you have facial hair. You probably do these things anyway, but make a special effort to do so. If you’re feverish, then you may have shed a lot of sweat, so getting yourself clean and fresh should help.

Get some fresh air

Go outside, even if it’s just for a few minutes. If you can’t, at least try to get a window open. I felt noticeably better as soon as I got out of the house.

Go to work, if you can

This is a subjective point. I have a desk job, so work isn’t too strenuous; plus, this week a lot of people were off so the office was quiet. Also, I take the train to work, so there was no need to drive; I would have been less likely to go in otherwise. Being at work, seeing other people and being productive actually made me feel better.

Drink plenty of fluids

I mentioned fever sweats – you’re more likely to get dehydrated when you’re ill, so drink plenty of water. Avoid alcohol; the odd hot toddy is probably okay but too much alcohol can leave you dehydrated and feeling even worse. Stick to no more than one average-strength alcoholic drink a day.

Take paracetamol

Paracetamol (acetaminophen to Americans) is cheap, and can help ease your symptoms. Adults can usually take two tablets no less than four hours apart (but always read the label).

Get plenty of rest and avoid stress

Finally, whilst I do advise getting out during the day, rest is also really important when you’re ill. Go to bed early, and avoid doing too many strenuous or stressful activities so that your body has time to recover.

Fitbit Alta HR review

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I’ve recently upgraded my fitness tracker, and now own a Fitbit Alta HR (sponsored link). I’ve previously owned a Charge, and a Charge HR, and this review will mostly focus on the differences between the Alta and the Charge. I reviewed the Fitbit Charge in October 2015.

Improvements

Compared with the Charge, the Alta HR is narrower, and the metal bands either side of the display make it feel more solid. I find that it fits my wrist better and it’s lighter, so it feels more comfortable. I feel happier wearing it when asleep than I did with the Charge models.

Battery life is much improved over the Charge HR, with the Alta HR typically lasting a full week on a full charge. You can also view the current battery status on the device itself, as it’s one of the screens that displays along with your step count, calories burnt, distance travelled etc.

Notifications are expanded beyond phone calls; the Alta HR will also notify you of text messages (and show the sender and first few words), and calendar events if you wish. If you’ve turned on Fitbit’s hourly movement tracking, then if you haven’t done 250 steps in the last hour, you’ll get a nudge at around 10 minutes to the hour to get up and move around.

In my experience, the Alta HR was better at synchronising throughout the day with my phone than the Charge models, which would sometimes go a few hours at a time without a proper synchronisation. This may be a quirk with my phone though.

Disadvantages

If you’re switching from a Charge to an Alta HR, you’ll need to turn off the floor climbing tracking. There’s no altimeter in the Alta HR and so you won’t be able to track how many floors you’ve climbed.

There’s no button on the Alta HR, so you have to wake the display either by raising your arm or double-tapping the screen. Also, the screen doesn’t automatically illuminate when you receive a notification. This probably improves the battery life but makes it a little harder to check your status quickly.

The screen is much bigger, and has a higher pixel density than the Charge. But it’s orientated lengthways, so when reading a message you’ll need to twist your arm. It also means that it’s not wide enough to display more than three digits of your step count, so once you hit 1000 steps, it’ll display ‘1.0k’ and then ’10k’ once you hit 10,000 steps. However, below this, a series of five dots shows whether you’re at 20, 40, 60, 80 or 100% of your daily goal.

Finally, your existing Charge or Charge HR charging cable won’t work with the Alta HR. It has a much improved cable that clips on to the device, but it’s incompatible with other models. You may want to order a spare cable.

Verdict

On the whole, I agree with this Gizmodo review – this is probably the best fitness tracker for most people. £10 more will get you the Charge 2, which overcomes some of the limitations of the Alta HR, but is bigger and probably less comfortable. If you’re the sort of person who wants to record their floor climbs, easily view GPS data, or practice relaxing breathing, go for the Charge 2. If not, then the Alta HR is a very good, comfortable fitness tracker.

30 days of Fitbit

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Back in February I was lamenting my lack of exercise whilst on paternity leave. And following an Easter weekend where I had some particular sedentary days, I decided to set myself a challenge: meet my 10,000 step goal on my FitBit, every day, for 30 days. Day 1 was the 30th March.

I didn’t blog about it at the time as I decided that it would be better just to do it on the quiet, without public pressure. Not meeting my target would let me down, but I’d have also let other people down if they knew. Christine knew – she deserved to know why I’d disappear downstairs from an hour and do housework on an evening – but I didn’t make a big public declaration.

The good news? I managed it. Day 30 was Thursday, and I even managed to make it to 32 days so as to encompass every day in April. Today would be day 33, but it’s nearly 5pm and I’ve barely managed 3000 steps; I think I deserve a rest day.

Hitting my target every day varied in difficulty. On some days, I could reach 10,000 steps with ease. At work, I could reach 8,000 without much extra effort, but found that walking to a toilet further away from my desk, and taking regular breaks to stretch my legs, helped to push things on a bit. This was helped by a recent new feature added to the FitBit app, which encourages you to take at least 250 steps each hour through a series of red dots. So far, my best is being active 13 of the 14 hours that fall between 6am and 8pm – I’ve yet to get all 14, but it’s a good motivator.

I was hoping for some kind of FitBit badge to appear to reward me for doing this, but sadly there isn’t one. Which is a shame. And whilst I don’t plan to challenge myself again any time soon, I hope that this will ensure that I keep up with some good habits to keep my step count up.

Vaccinations

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Our baby is now 12 weeks old, and has had their first round of vaccinations. These should have been given at 8 weeks, but our town was flooded out at the time of birth, and this included our GP surgery.

The first round is four individual vaccines. One of these, the rotavirus vaccination, is given orally as drops, but the rest are needles. These are the 5-in-1 vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib), Pneumococcal, and the brand new Meningitis B vaccine. Sadly some older children aren’t and there is pressure for it to be made more widely available.

As you’d perhaps expect, our little cherub wasn’t very happy about the needles, although it can’t have been worse than the various blood tests in their first week of life. This was as a result of developing jaundice, which required regular blood tests to monitor. Some pre-emptive Calpol (or rather generic-brand Paracetamol Suspension for Infants – it’s the same thing) hopefully helped. Later on, our baby was a little feverish, but more Calpol helped and has been fine since.

Whilst we didn’t really ‘choose’ to vaccinate our baby, there is no way that we would have opted out of the vaccinations. Christine and I are both in favour of vaccinations and the protections it gives people. I always have the ‘flu jab every year, which I get free because I’m asthmatic, but also because ‘flu is horrendous. Christine gets it free as well, as she is professional healthcare worker.

By ensuring that our baby is vaccinated, we’re not just protecting them, but others as well; not everyone can receive vaccinations, either because they’re too young or have compromised immune systems. Herd immunity is important.

The next round of vaccinations will be in a few weeks, for the 5-in-1 and rotavirus vaccines again, along with Meningitis C. Whilst it won’t be a pleasant experience at the time, it’ll be far better than for them to contract those diseases.

Unfitbit

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A photo of a Fitbit Charge. It's on my wrist and shows the time as 19:16

One side effect of being on paternity leave is the lack of exercise. At the back end of September, I bought myself a Fitbit Charge, as a way of motivating myself to do just a little bit more exercise, and whilst at work I’ve been able to hit my 10,000 steps target most of the time. This is because I commute to work by train, and so that involves walking to and from the railway stations at each end of the journey. More than half of the total steps I take each weekday are through commuting.

So, take away the commute, and my step count plummeted. My daily average halved – whilst some days I could manage 6000-7000 steps, there were others when I wouldn’t need to leave the house. In fact, over the five and a half weeks that I was off work, I beat my step goal only four times. These were:

  • Boxing Day – I took myself off to a local supermarket to get some lunch
  • 22nd January – a trip in to work and an evening out
  • 27th January – travelling down to London
  • 28th January – travelling back from London

As it happens, between those last two days, I clocked up 35,000 steps, and the 27th was actually my most active day since September with over 20,000 steps. This was partly deliberate, as I had some time to kill in Leeds and so went for a walk.

Apart from my trip to London, I didn’t use public transport at all whilst off. Getting a baby in and out of a car is far easier than trying to manhandle a pram onto a bus or train, even if that would make me the ‘family man, manhandling the pram, with paternal pride‘ as per the Divine Comedy song. I’ve even driven to Leeds city centre a few times, which would probably shock the me of a year ago who wanted to drive but would still insist on using public transport where possible. It’s just easier when you have such a small person and all of their paraphernalia.

Now that I’m back at work, my step counts are returning to respectable levels. Since last Monday, I’ve only missed my target twice in eight days, and Saturday (where I had to work for a few hours) saw me overachieve by a few thousand steps. I’m hoping I can carry on meeting my targets from now on.

Preventing Tetanus

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Screenshot of the NHS information page about tetanus

When was the last time you had a tetanus vaccine? If the answer is ‘I don’t know’ or ‘more than ten years ago’, then you may wish to contact your GP to make an appointment to get vaccinated.

After a recent incident involving a colleague’s hand, a door, and their subsequent trip to the local accident and emergency department, I realised that the answer to that question was the latter in my case. I’m pretty sure that I’d not had a booster vaccination for tetanus since before leaving York to go to university in 2002, so I was overdue.

Thankfully, the vaccine is free to everyone in the UK (thank you, NHS). As I already had an appointment with the practice nurse for an asthma checkup yesterday, I just asked in advance if I could be given the vaccination at the same time. It’s mostly like any other vaccine but can make your arm hurt for up to 48 hours afterwards apparently.

Tetanus is actually pretty rare in the UK, with only three people contracting the disease in England and Wales in the whole of 2011. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have the vaccine, as though it is rare, it can be fatal. The symptoms can include lockjaw, followed by muscle spasms and stiffness, a fever, high blood pressure and an increased heartbeat. If left untreated, it can result in heart failure, and indeed 11% of those who contract the disease die. The disease is usually contracted through wounds on the skin, which is why you may be asked if you have had the vaccine recently if you present at casualty with an injury.

Some younger people may have lifelong immunity to tetanus, thanks to changes in the vaccination programme, but if you’re approaching middle age like me then you will probably need a booster vaccine every ten years. Either way, speak to your GP or practice nurse, as he/she will be able to advise you whether you need the vaccine.

Reluctantly opting out of care.data

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A screenshot of the faxyourgp.com web site

I wrote this article before the six month delay was announced yesterday. However, most of it still applies, so read on.

Yesterday, I reluctantly opted out of having my medical records shared with third parties. I’ll explain why, and how to do this yourself.

NHS England are compiling a new database called ‘care.data’, which will be available for health professionals, universities, drug companies and insurers to use. The main aim is for medical research, which could be ethnographic, or to look at individual cases for the advancement of healthcare and treatments. The NHS, being a mostly-integrated system which is used by a vast majority of the population, means that it is almost unique amongst healthcare systems in the world in providing cradle-to-grave care. The data produced by the NHS could be really valuable and lead to better health and wellbeing for everyone. Further information is on the NHS Choices web site, and this article in Nature explains why it is a good idea.

On this basis, it seems like a good idea. But whilst the idea is good, the execution isn’t.

The major issue is privacy. To compile this database, the full medical records of everybody who is registered with a GP in England will be imported into this database. You would expect, therefore, for this data to be anonymised; it is, but only slightly. Your name will be removed, but your date of birth, full postcode, NHS number and gender will still be included. That will still make just about everyone in the database uniquely identifiable.

For example, I work at a university – indeed, one where the data from such a database could be really useful, as we do medical research. In fact, I’ll make a shameless plug for our Crocus Cancer Appeal whilst I’m here. Anyway, we have a student database, and, given someone’s’ postcode and date of birth from their pseudo-anonymised medical record, I reckon we could match 99% of those records with our student records. So it’s not at all anonymous. And there’s a particular worry that insurance companies will be able to access records, which could make it very difficult for some people to obtain life insurance.

To make matters worse, this is an ‘opt-out’ scheme rather than opt-in. If you do nothing, then in just a few weeks your data will be irrevocably added to this database, at which point, you will not be able to opt out if you change your mind.

Unsurprisingly opposition to this has been growing. A petition on SumOfUs.org has over 250,000 signatures, and there are concerns from the British Medical Association and the Royal College of GPs. In particular, there are concerns that only around a third of adults recall receiving a leaflet about the changes (I certainly don’t remember receiving one) and that there is no form to opt out. Others are worried about the potential for accidental data leaks, or for information to end up in the hands of organisations like GCHQ or the NSA.

So, although I’m in favour of the general idea, and agree with the spirit behind the database, I have contacted my GP surgery asking for my medical records to not be included in the care.data database. Because I’m worried that my medical records could be abused or used in a way that would not be in my best interests, and because this is my only chance to opt out. I can’t just wait and see what happens, and try to opt out later, as it’ll be too late.

I hope that changes will be made, which will maintain the usefulness of the data whilst respecting the privacy of the people whose data is being used. In particular, a greater level of anonymity, perhaps with more vague dates of birth (month and year only) and less accurate postcodes (sub-districts rather than exact areas). And people should be able to opt out at any time, not just at the start of the project. If these changes are made, then I may consider opting back in.

So, if having read this, you also want to opt out, then the easiest way is using FaxYourGP, which will send a template fax to your GP. Alternatively, medConfidential has a form and covering letter which you can use. Whilst you can write your own letter, there are certain codes that you will need to include in your letter which is why I’d suggest using one of the two methods.

It’s sad that I feel like I need to opt out from what could be a great resource, and I’m angry that it has been managed so poorly.

The blood donation interval study

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A screenshot of the web site for the Blood Donation INTERVAL study

I’ve recently volunteered to part of the INTERVAL study, which will look into how frequently blood donors can give blood.

At present, the guidelines are very rigid: men can give every twelve weeks and women can give every sixteen weeks. What the interval study aims to do is allow some people to donate more frequently, whilst monitoring samples of blood taken at the donation. The hope is that, in future, regular donors will be able to give blood more often than at present, boosting blood stocks.

The NHS Blood Service is already facing challenges. The recent heatwave in the UK has led to fewer people giving blood and current stocks of O- and B- blood groups are critically low (less than four days’ worth). The UK also has an ageing population with people living longer, and more blood will be needed to support the very young and very old who can’t donate themselves. And despite recent drives to recruit more donors, only around 4% of people give blood.

Some other EU countries already allow people to donate more frequently. In Austria, it’s eight for men and ten for women. However, there may be factors that affect how regularly individual people can donate, which is why samples will be taken at each donation. This may mean that, following the outcomes of the study, some people will be able to donate more frequently than others. What is most interesting about the study is its size: in total, 50,000 regular donors are needed – 25,000 men and 25,000 women.

I’ll admit that it took me until last year to give my first pint of blood, but I’ve donated twice since then, and agreed to be part of the interval study. Of course, with my luck being as it is, I’m in the control group and can therefore still only give blood every twelve weeks. But some men will be selected to give every ten weeks or even every eight weeks. Women will be able to donate every sixteen weeks (the control group), fourteen or twelve weeks.

There are a few caveats with the interval study. Firstly, you will have to, as far as possible, keep to the regular donation cycle that you have been placed onto with minimal variations. Secondly, the study is for two years, so you will need to sustain the regular donations for this period. Finally, the donations you make will need to be at one of the 24 dedicated blood centres in England; thankfully there’s one in Bradford which is within walking distance from work. But my friends in York would have to go to Leeds, for example.

Hopefully the results of the interval study will confirm that it is safe for people to donate more frequently. Until such a time comes when we can safely and efficiently manufacture replacement blood, our hospitals are reliant on a regular supply of blood from donors. Being able to make optimal use of the small minority who do give blood regularly will benefit so many more patients in urgent need of a transfusion.

If you don’t already give blood, you can find more details on blood.co.uk.