Warning against Sports and Energy Drinks for Teenagers

Paediatricians warn against Sports and Energy Drinks for Teenagers, TIME reports.

Ketamine craze among teenagers is causing serious health problems

The Guardian reported that teenagers are risking kidney failure when they use ketamine.

Extract: “Ketamine, a powerful tranquilliser used on horses, is being taken in growing number by young people in the UK, causing crippling health problems.

Some addicts have needed to have their bladders removed and must now wear catheters. Other users have suffered serious kidney problems, breathing difficulties, addiction, bouts of unconsciousness and trouble with urinating. The drug also involves a heightened risk of heart attack.“

Apparently they turn to this drug mainly because it is cheaper than cocaine. – Well, however cheap it is, cash-wise, it’s shockingly expensive in terms of health.

I urge everyone to avoid all unnecessary pharmaceuticals, whether legal prescribed drugs or illegal street drugs. – Most drugs have adverse side-effects and these can often be serious and permanent.

Good nutrition is the safest medicine and the best life-enhancer.

Cutting down on salt and salty food and avoiding dieting lifts feelings of depression and lowers excess weight.

Guard your health! – It is your most precious possession.

Low vitamin D levels associated with metabolic syndrome in teenagers

Low levels of vitamin D are associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and metabolic syndrome in teenagers, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
Read article at physorg.com

Family doctors will be paid bonuses for persuading teenage girls to have contraceptive implants and injections.

Doctors paid to give contraceptive injection to teenage girls
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"From 2010, GPs will receive the payments for encouraging their young female patients to use long-lasting methods rather than taking the pill every day.

They will be advised to tell teenagers already on oral contraceptives that the coil or implant are better at preventing pregnancies.

Ministers believe the move is necessary to help prevent unwanted teen pregnancies, as many young girls forget to take the pill.

However, the plan, announced on Thursday by Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Schools Secretary Ed Balls, has been criticised by campaigners.

They warned that the measures would lead to thousands of underage girls being given contraception without the knowledge of their parents.

Jackie Fletcher, of anti-vaccine group Jabs, said: "Giving a doctor a monetary gain to promote a product is abhorrent."

From next April, GPs will be paid for giving teenagers advice on sexual health, particularly on long-acting contraception."

A "forgotten generation" of teenagers is suffering the catastrophic health effects of obesity, drugs, drink and casual sex, according to research.

Teenage health 'timebomb' threatens NHS
Article in the Telegraph:

Extract:

"Too much food, too much alcohol, too many drugs and too much sex has created a "timebomb" of health problems that will do lasting harm to a generation and place mounting pressure on the National Health Service, the Conservatives say.

They accused the Government of "neglect" over the issue and said Britain's "broken society" was to blame. Using official NHS and Department of Health figures, party researchers detailed the growing toll on teenage health of unhealthy and illegal behaviour including:

• The number of teenagers admitted to hospital for alcohol-related treatment in 2006-07 was 12,682 – up 51 per cent since 2000-01;

• Admissions relating to smoking tobacco rose 41 per cent;

• From 2003 to 2007, the number of teenagers treated for sexual infections rose 21 per cent;

• The number of teenage girls having abortions rose 15 per cent from 2003;

• In 2006-07, a third of children turning 13 were obese or overweight. The data suggest that some social and health problems are growing fastest among younger teenagers.

Drug-related hospital admissions among 11-15 year olds rose 33 per cent from 2000. Smoking-related admissions were up 63 per cent.

The nationwide figures for England mask sharp regional disparities, with the North reporting worse figures on almost every front.

Sexual infections rose by 58 per cent among teenagers in the North East, for example, compared with three per cent in the West Midlands.

Teenage abortions were up 30 per cent in the North West, but down two per cent in London. The capital has the fattest children, with 36 per cent recorded as obese or overweight on entering Year Six at school. The English average was 31 per cent."

Well I can help with the obesity problems. - Teenagers (and other people) need to be told the truth about what causes obesity, namely salt sensitivity/fluid retention, and the best ways to prevent/reduce obesity, namely avoid eating salt and salty food. - And manufacturers of processed foods and ready meals need to be curbed BY LAW from adding salt to their products unless there is a genuine need for it - and I don't mean the need to flavour it!

And everyone should be told the truth about dieting, namely that dieting does NOT reduce obesity and that dieting is harmful and usually causes weight GAIN, because it increases fluid retention, and weakens bones, etc. leading to greater risk of fractures later in life.

Britain is in the grip of a binge drinking epidemic...

Epidemic of drunk teenagers in hospital - Telegraph

Extracts:

"Britain is in the grip of a binge drinking epidemic, according to two official studies yesterday that showed alcohol-related hospital admissions have doubled in a decade while a third of teenagers regularly drink to excess.

The number of drunk teenagers admitted to hospital in England increased by more than a third in the past 10 years, from 3,870 in 1995/96 to 5,280 in 2005/06.

In the same period, the number of adults admitted to hospital after drinking excessively more than doubled -from 89,280 to 187,640.

The statistics, from the Information Centre for Health and Social Care, which collates data for the Department of Health, also showed that alcohol consumption among children aged between 11 and 13 has reached a record high."

"The figures came as doctors called for action on binge drinking. Delegates at the British Medical Association's conference in Torquay, voted for a ban on consuming alcohol in the street.

They also backed a call for a reduction in the drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Alcohol abuse is estimated to cost the country £20 billion a year through crime and damage to health.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the head of ethics at the BMA, said that too many children did not understand that alcohol was "an acute poison" when consumed excessively.

"We are not just talking about liver disease," she said. "People become violent, fall unconscious and become seriously dehydrated.

"We are seeing dehydrated people in their twenties who have had major strokes because they have drunk too much."

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, accused the Government of ignoring the dangers of binge drinking."


Lose weight, lower your risk of stroke, lower your high cholesterol level, reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attack, and benefit your health in countless other ways by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! -
How to Lose weight!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Abortion rate on the rise because of teenage terminations.

Teenage terminations raise abortion rate - Guardian

Extract:

"The number of abortions in England and Wales rose 3.9% to 193,700 in 2006, the department of health reported today.

The previous year had seen just a 0.4% increase .

The figure for teenagers - among the highest in Europe - was also up last year. The abortion rate per 1,000 women was 3.9 among under 16s and 18.2 among under 18s. The rate was highest at 35 per 1,000 for women aged 19.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which provides contraception and abortion services, said the increase came as no surprise.

"A rise in numbers of this scale does not surprise us, as BPAS' doctors saw around 55,000 women for abortion care in 2006," said Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS. "We also know that conceptions are up overall in England and Wales.

"A rise in the number of abortions is not the problem in itself - the real problem is the number of women experiencing unintended pregnancy. For some of these, abortion will be the solution to the very serious problem of being faced with an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy."

The health minister, Caroline Flint, welcomed the fact that a higher percentage of abortions were taking place at an early stage, with almost two-thirds occurring before 10 weeks' gestation and most under 13 weeks.

"It is important that women have early access to abortion services as the earlier the abortion, the lower the risk of complications," she said.

"We have invested £8m to improve early access and set a standard of a maximum waiting time of three weeks. However, the NHS needs to work harder to reduce the demand for abortions by improving access to contraception.""


Lose weight by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Teenagers are in the grip of a sexual health crisis fuelled by a "celebrity culture" that condones alcohol abuse, drug addiction and promiscuity...

Teenage sex crisis 'due to drink and drugs' - Telegraph

Extract:

"Teenagers are in the grip of a sexual health crisis fuelled by a "celebrity culture" that condones alcohol abuse, drug addiction and promiscuity, Government-funded advisers warn today.

A daily diet of celebrities in sexualised poses, taking drugs and getting drunk has led to increasing numbers of children "defining their lifestyle" around drugs, alcohol and sex in their early teens, with Britain now having the highest rate of teenage pregnancies and sexual infections in Europe, they say.

Despite this, Government campaigns have failed to make the link between drugs, alcohol and sexual health - even though many drugs increase sexual desire, leading to more sex and more drinking, the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on Sexual Health and HIV reports.

At the same time, "distorted messages" mean young boys wear football shirts emblazoned with alcohol brands while girls read magazines portraying them as sex objects, or purchase "sexualised" dolls.

The strongly-worded report concludes that there is "no national and joined up Government approach" to deal with the problems."

"In a single act of unprotected sex with an infected partner, adolescent girls have a one per cent chance of acquiring HIV, a 30 per cent chance of getting genital herpes, and a 50 per cent chance of contracting gonorrhoea.

Caroline Flint, the health minister, said the Government would examine the report."