Ireland’s first unlucky 7 counties to be hit by septic tank inspections are…
Are you one of the estimated 35,000 home or business owners who will be hit with septic tank charges this year?
Reports that counties Monaghan, Louth, Donegal, Galway, Cork, Laois and Wexford will be the first to have their septic tanks inspected starting early next year.
The reason? Well, many septic tanks in these areas are located beside popular bathing spots. Septic tanks can pose a major risk to water sources, so local authorities are anxious to make sure that the tanks in these areas are up to code. It is estimated that 165,000 dodgy septic tank systems across the country will be targeted to ensure that they meet the standards set in place by the European Union.
What about the charges? Well homeowners will have no choice but to carry out repairs on their septic tanks and replace them if necessary. This could see homeowners forking out upwards of €5,000 for a basic system. It’s not exactly great news when households are already struggling to cope with the current austerity measures already in put in place by the Government.
And what is the Government doing to help? So far Enda and co have suggested a possible grant scheme to help meet the costs, but officials have said that the scheme might be too expensive, as it is estimated that a lot of septic tanks across the country will need work. Therefore it could end up costing the Government millions – never mind the taxpayers.
Homeowners and businesses that have a septic tank on their property will have to register their tank with their local authority later this year. The registration fee will cost €5 during the first three months to ensure that people declare their septic tanks, but then the charge will rise to €50.
Once registered, the tanks will then be subject to random inspections from trained inspectors.
According to estimates, there are at least 637,650 septic tanks located in “unsewered properties” and of this number, 165,000 pose a risk of contamination. The Irish Independentreports that up to half of all tanks located near the River Shannon pose a major pollution risk.
The septic tank charges will place even more burdens on struggling househoulds. Even with financial assistance from the Government, we imagine that many families will feel a major pinch from this one.
How & Why exercise could affect your DNA?
‘A new study highlights the reasons’
We know that exercise can change how our bodies look, but a new study highlights that the effects run far deeper than that: acute exercise can alter DNA.
The effects are seen not in the genetic code or sequence itself, but in a natural process in the body called DNA methylation, which places chemical entities called methyl groups onto DNA to control how genes are turned on and off.
If you think of the DNA molecule as a train track where genes get turned on when the train runs along it, then methyl groups attached to DNA are like rocks on the track that block the train: they stop that particular gene being turned on.
The new study, just published in Cell Metabolism , took biopsies of skeletal muscle from human volunteers before and three hours after exercise. And what the researchers found was that acute exercise leads to transient changes in DNA methylation.
The findings reinforce the importance of exercise as a means of maintaining or increasing the expression of metabolic genes that help control the health of cells, according to Dr Donal O’Gorman, director of the Centre for Preventive Medicine at Dublin City University, who was involved in the study.
“The changes in methylation and [gene] expression for the genes studied are important for mitochondrial function, glucose transport as well as fat transport and oxidation,” he says.
“The findings support the view that regular activity is necessary for metabolic health and the prevention of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.”
Galway City campaign & efforts to end
‘drink-fuelled mess’ on Paddy’s day
A Galway city councillor says he has won support for efforts to avoid the “drink-fuelled mess” that the city has become on St Patrick’s Day in recent years.
Councillor Niall McNelis (Labour) has sought a voluntary later opening for off-licence outlets next Saturday to curtail the level of alcohol consumption.
The fact that the parade is taking place an hour earlier than normal, at 11.30am, to facilitate city shopping should ensure that families can enjoy the event, Mr McNelis says.
The councillor says he is “not anti-drink” but is concerned about the level of illegal drinking in public places, leading to dozens of arrests on public order offences in Galway.
“There are over 17 off-licence outlets in the city alone, and it’s daft that you can buy a naggin of whiskey in a petrol station,” he says. “I think we need to start a healthy debate about drink consumption here.”
Mr McNelis says four off-licences have agreed to defer opening until 2pm on Saturday and he is hoping more will follow.
“We’re looking to follow the strategy which gardaí in Dublin initiated a few years ago, whereby off-licences co-operated with the Garda Síochána’s request to restrict their opening hours on St Patrick’s Day.”
He said gardaí had welcomed the idea at a recent Galway city business-watch meeting, but had also pointed out that the multiples were unlikely to co-operate.
The Garda policing plan will involve deploying uniformed gardaí at “hotspots” as the parade passes, including the Spanish Arch, South Park and Eyre Square, to deter a crowd building up and drinking alcohol.
There has been growing concern about drink-fuelled public order issues in Galway, with the university recently promising to object to future applications sought by certain pubs and clubs over what it believes was an effort to “target” students this year to engage in an unofficial rag week.
There were 30 public order arrests, and gardaí had to be called to help clear Supermac’s fast food outlet in Eyre Square on February 22nd, when up to 1,000 young people gathered there, lit a flare outside and were filmed dancing, chanting and singing on table tops.
Metal-on-metal hip replacements have a ‘high failure rate’ research reveals
Analysis showed that overall 6.2% of metal-on-metal hips had failed within five years
Metal-on-metal hip replacements have a much higher failure rate than other options and “should not be implanted”, say researchers. They said data from the world’s largest register of hip implants provided “unequivocal evidence” of the failure rate.
The risk was greatest for women, the young and for large implants.
The UK health regulator has already advised annual checks for people with large head metal-on-metal implants.
Hip replacements are one of the great successes of modern medicine, restoring movement and cutting pain. Yet, all replacements have a risk of failure, such as the new joint coming loose, dislocating or through wear and tear. This study, published in The Lancet, showed some fail far more than others.
Hip replacements come in different varieties such as all metal, all ceramic or metal-on-plastic.
Researchers at the University of Bristol analysed information from 402,051 hip replacements recorded in the National Joint Registry of England and Wales.
It showed that, overall, 6.2% of metal-on-metal hips had failed within five years. At the same point only 1.7% of metal-on-plastic – and 2.3% of ceramic-on-ceramic – had failed.
The risks were greater in women. The report said: “Revision rates for stemmed metal-on-metal implants in women were up to four-times higher.” Men were three-times more likely to need a replacement.
Larger implants were also linked to an increased risk of problems with metal-on-metal with “each 1mm increase in head size being associated with a 2% increase” in the risk of revision. Ceramic implants performed better as the head size increased.
Risks were also higher for younger patients.
Dangers: Concerns about metal-on-metal implants were also raised two weeks ago when the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said some patients would need annual blood tests.
Friction from the metal rubbing on metal can cause debris to break off
It is thought tiny pieces of metal break off the implants and leak into the blood. This might cause muscle and bone damage as well as neurological issues.
It said 49,000 patients with large-head hip implants were affected.
After the latest data, the clinical director of the MHRA, Dr Susanne Ludgate, said: “We recognise that there is emerging evidence of increased revision rates associated with large head metal on metal hip replacements. But the clinical evidence is mixed and this does not support their removal from the market.
“We will take quick action if we need to and, if patients have any questions, they should speak to their orthopaedic surgeon or doctor.”
The number of patients being fitted with metal-on-metal implants has fallen rapidly in recent years in the UK. There were 8,072 fitted in 2008, in 2011 that number fitted was 673.
In the US, however, about a third of implants are metal-on-metal.
Dr Art Sedrakyan, from the Weill Cornell Medical College, said: “When failures take a long time to develop, many faulty products can enter the market.
“We are left with more than 500,000 patients with metal-on-metal prostheses in the USA and more than 40,000 in the UK who are elevate risk of device failure, which will inevitably result in the burden of further surgical treatment.”
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