Donie's Ireland news Blog Thursday

New figures show increased demand for MS Ireland services ‘A reflection of our difficult times’

        

New and recent figures issued from MS Ireland show increased demand for the organisation’s services in the first quarter of this year.

MS Ireland is calling on the  government to improve access to treatments for people with MS such as Tysabri and Gilenya. The organisation says that the drugs are “widely available” to MS sufferers in other EU countries and are used to treat relapsing-remitting MS.

Tarragh Donohoe of MS Ireland said that both drugs are considered ‘second-line’ treatment and that if people with MS are not taking those, then it’s likely they’re not getting any treatment at all.

“Tysabri is currently available on hospital budgets, but most don’t stretch to actually cover it,” Donohoe said. Meanwhile, Gilenya has been on the HSE reimbursement list “for months” but has not yet been approved for the scheme.

Donohoe said that MS Ireland believes “people should have as much choice as possible when it comes to their treatment”, but that people with MS should talk to their neurologist before starting any new treatment as the drugs have side effects.

Support: According to its report for the first quarter of 2012, the organisation provided a home visit service to 1,757 people with MS around Ireland (up from 1,524 in Q1 2011).

Over the first three months of this year, 89 people who were recently diagnosed with MS requested a home visit from MS Ireland – up from 72 for the same period of last year. The organisation also provided 234 individual physiotherapy and exercise classes, and 63 counselling and personal development sessions.

MSI’s chief executive Ava Battles says that the increased demand for services “reflects the difficult times people with MS face”.

“In addition to the nationwide impact of reduced income and cuts, people with MS also have to cope with the added expenses of living with a disability, reduced care packages, cuts in housing grants and denial of vital services, benefits and treatments.”

Battles also appealed to the public to help the organisation fundraise for the continued provision of services: “The extra demand on services means we need to fight harder for appropriate funding from the government and work harder to fundraise.”

New vomiting bug restrictions at Sligo General Hospital

  

Sligo General Hospital is restricting visitors in an attempt to stop the spread of the winter vomiting bug.

The Health Service Executive said more patients than usual were presenting with vomiting and diarrhoea, and this led to increased pressure on beds.

The HSE said visiting was permitted only in exceptional circumstances by immediate relatives and only during designated visiting times.

The vomiting bug, while rarely causing severe problems, can be debilitating to small children or older people who are already ill or infirm.

Those affected should drink plenty of fluids, maintain strict hygiene and avoid visiting hospitals or nursing homes.

If symptoms persist, patients are advised to contact their GP by phone before attending the surgery to limit the spread of the virus.

Rising Irish temperatures and rainfall recorded in the past 30 years

 

Ireland’s average temperatures have risen by 0.75 degrees over the last two decades, according to new Met Éireann figures.

The rise has been described as “significant” and in line with projections of a 3-6 degree increase in world temperatures by the end of the century.

Met Éireann’s head of forecasting, Gerald Fleming, said the increases showed there was “no argument” that the weather was getting warmer, but he cautioned against seeing that as a trend.

He said the dispute was whether this was caused by man-made carbon dioxide emissions or simple variability in climate.

The spring and summer months are significantly warmer. The south Leinster and east Munster areas have recorded the greatest average rise in temperatures.

The Irish climate is also getting wetter. Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry recorded the equivalent of a month’s extra rainfall in the 30-year period between 1981 and 2010 compared to the equivalent period between 1961 and 1990.

The west of Ireland is on average 8 per cent wetter than it was in the previous 30-year period.

It will come as no surprise, given the wet summers of recent years, that the average increase in rainfall in July across the country is 15 per cent, a figure which Met Éireann senior climatologist Séamus Walsh described as the “most surprising” of all to emerge from the new data.

July is the warmest month, followed by August and June. The coldest month is January, followed closely by February and then December.

Autumn is warmer in Ireland than spring.

Met Éireann’s climate averages for Ireland are based on 10 million pieces of data collected over a 50-year period dating back to 1961.

The long-term average temperatures of the period 1981-2010 show a 0.5 degree increase in comparison to 1961-1990, which is the baseline for measuring climate averages.

However, when the overlapping years between 1981-1990 are discounted, the difference in temperatures between the periods 1961-1980 and 1991-2010 is 0.75 degrees.

“When you look at long-term averages, 0.5 of a degree is a lot,” Mr Fleming said.

“If you look at what is being said about a rise in temperature by the end of the century, an increase of 0.5 of a degree in a 20- to 30-year period is actually quite significant.”

Overall the country has had a 5 per cent increase in rainfall between the two 30-year periods.

While the amount of rainfall in Dublin has increased by just 2 per cent, there has been a rise of closer to 8-9 per cent in the west of Ireland, with a clear east-west split in a line stretching from Cavan to Waterford.

Mr Walsh said rainfall patterns were prone to variability.

The increases in rainfall may be the result of the wet summers of 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the flood conditions of 2009 which were a once-in-500-years event for many parts of the west of Ireland.

“There is huge year-to-year variability in rainfall,” he said.

“Where you get very wet summers in the noughties, they contributed to the increases in rainfall.

“There is no evidence that there is a change in the extreme values of rainfall. We have looked at that and there are no definite trends.”

Mr Walsh said temperature was a much more stable indicator of climate change.

He said there was a “definite trend” in a decreasing number of frosty days.

Sunshine levels have showed little variability by comparison, though the sunniest parts of the country, along the east and south coasts, have seen sunshine increases of more than 5 per cent in certain months.

Big Focus on eye dangers within diabetes & the lack of awareness?

       

Over 75% of people with diabetes are unaware of a common condition that causes blindness, diabetic macular edema (DME), according to research.

DME is a form of diabetic retinopathy (DR) that causes blindness in adults with diabetes. In Ireland, one person a week goes blind from DR.

Members of Diabetes Ireland took part in the study, and the results showed that 42% of people with diabetes are most worried about eyesight problems developing, over a quarter are concerned with kidney damage and a further quarter with heart conditions.

However, one in four people with diabetes do not go to their annual eye examination, despite the fact that 42% are worried about the development of eye problems. Dr has no symptoms in its early stages, emphasing the need to attend for eye tests.

A public information evening has been arranged for tonight to raise awareness about eyesight dangers for people with diabetes, available treatment for people with DR and highlighting the importance of full eye examinations today* (May 31).

In Ireland there are over 200,000 people living with diabetes and it is estimated that about 30,000 people are undiagnosed.

To reduce the risk of vision loss diabetes must be managed carefully and people should attend all their healthcare appointments including an annual full eye examination said Kieran O’Leary, CEO of Diabetes Ireland.

A number of organisations including; Diabetes Ireland, the Association of Optometrists Ireland (AOI), the National Council for the Blind in Ireland, Fighting Blindness and the Irish College of Ophthalmologists (ICO) are hosting the information evening.

*Information Evening: VisualEYES the Risks: Managing Your Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy at 6.30pm, May 31 at the O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel, Dublin 2.

Chlamydia screening campaign not cost effective in Ireland ‘academics claim’

  

A National screening campaign for a common sexually transmitted infection that can cause infertility is not cost effective, academics found.

More than 6,000 men and women last year were diagnosed with chlamydia a silent infection with no symptoms that can remain undetected, untreated, and lead to complications like ectopic pregnancies.

But Ireland’s small population and the strain already on the health service means a screening programme would not be cost effective, researchers said.

Dr Emer O’Connell, consultant in public health medicine, said screening for chlamydia is available in many countries.

“However, some countries such as Australia are reviewing the effectiveness of this measure,” she said.

“In Ireland, due to our small population and the strain already on our health service, a screening programme for chlamydia would not be cost effective because it would be difficult to achieve the necessary coverage levels to reduce the level of infection.”

Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial STI in Ireland, with highest numbers reported in patients in their 20s.

The number of cases has soared from 1,000 in 1997, to 3,353 in 2005, 5,781 in 2009 and 6,008 by 2011 – accounting for more than half of all STIs reported.

As it remains undetected it can spread easily and causes pelvic inflammatory disease in up to 30pc of infected women who are not treated, leading to ectopic pregnancy and infertility.

The chlamydia screening pilot study in Ireland found stigma was often a barrier that stopped young people seeking or accepting an STI test.

However, 95pc of professionals and 75pc of students would take a test if offered.

Eight out of 10 could inform their current partner if they tested positive for chlamydia, but this rate fell to 55-60pc in the case of telling previous partners.

More than 6,000 people took part in the study, funded by the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre and supported by the Health Research Board.

Dr Diarmuid O’Donovan, of NUI Galway, said the study shows how to protect the sexual health of young Irish people.

“Given these findings, a national sexual health plan should include primary prevention activities such as sex education, condom distribution and the provision of information on how to seek care for STIs,” he added.

“Therefore, we recommend the inclusion of primary care-delivered chlamydia detection and case management services as part of a national action plan to promote sexual health.”