Donie's Ireland news BLOG Wednesday

One in nine (11%) of Irish men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer

     

Over 2,800 of Irish men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in Ireland in 2010. After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men with one in nine Irish men being diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Prosta-Check is a new simple, one step home test that can help men to monitor their prostate health.

  Prosta-Check tests for elevated levels of a protein called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) which can be an early indication of prostate cancer. Early cancer detection is critical to successful cancer therapy treatments and it is quite common for men with prostate cancer to have no symptoms at all.

Cancer treatment typically becomes less effective once the disease has progressed and new research just published in the US Journal of The National Cancer Institute highlights the need for more targeted screening amongst young and healthy men and particularly those at high risk of prostate cancer.

Prosta-Check does not diagnose prostate cancer, instead it detects high levels of the PSA protein. PSA is produced by normal prostate cells and then released in small amounts into a man’s bloodstream by the prostate gland. While a high level of PSA can be associated with prostate cancer, it may also indicate that there is a benign prostate condition e.g. a urinary infection or even inflammation. A GP visit for further investigation is strongly recommended.

Prosta-Check in an important home prostate health check kit as it can provide reassurance, particularly if there is any personal or family history of prostate cancer. If prostate cancer has been diagnosed, Prosta-Check may also be used as a monitoring tool after treatment, to monitor PSA levels.

As PSA increases with age, there is growing consensus that men should test themselves aged 40+ when PSA levels are lower, as PSA levels increase with age. In a US study, Dr Hans Lilja from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York found that PSA testing of men in their 40s was predictive of developing prostate cancer later.

The study found that the higher the initial PSA, the greater the probability that the cancer would be aggressive.
While there are no agreed public screening protocols in Ireland, screening earlier at the age 40, and repeating every five years thereafter would recognise those with a high likelihood of developing prostate cancer, but also those who will not need further screening because their chance of ever developing prostate cancer is not significant.

Prosta-Check is available from pharmacies RRP €15.00.
How to Use Prosta-Check:
1) Wash hands; 2) Open protective pouch and take out device and pipette; 3) Push small orange rod into body of lancet, until a click is heard (device activated); 4) Remove orange rod by turning left or right; 5) Press lancet onto finger and press trigger; 6) Massage finger that was pricked to obtain blood; 7) Put pipette into contact with blood; 8) Pipette blood into device; 9) Wait for blood to totally enter well; 10) Add 4-5 drops of diluent; 11) Read results after 10 minutes.

We in Ireland are throwing out some €1,000 worth of food each year

  

Households are throwing away up to €1,000 a year of wasted food.

Even though one in every 10 families is unable to afford nutritious meals, official figures reveal that consumers here are also tossing away a million tonnes of food a year.

That equates to €700 worth of food per household on average, with many families wasting around €1,000 a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In a bid to cut down on the unnecessary waste, Safefood will launch a campaign in the coming weeks aimed at educating consumers on what’s safe to eat.

“Many of us are throwing away perfectly nutritious foodstuffs because we misinterpret labels such as ‘Best Before’ and ‘Display Until’ and assume items are no longer safe to eat,” a spokesperson for the food safety body said.

The EPA said that we throw away up to a third of the food we buy, with each household generating around 100kg a year of food waste that we pay for twice — at the time of purchase and for waste collection.

That includes half the salad, a third of the bread and a quarter of all the fruit we buy.

As well as the costs for households, institutions and businesses face high bills through food waste — both in unnecessary purchases and high disposal costs.

One hospital found wasted food was costing it around €230,000 a year as a third of the food on patients’ trays was coming back untouched, an EPA report found.

Significant savings could be made by introducing more precise ordering by patients and controlling portion sizes.

Irish restaurants are also throwing away €125m a year of food, mainly because of overly generous portions, Unilever Food Solution Ireland said at a recent Resource Ireland conference.

But while all this food is being thrown away, charities report a surge in demand for basic food from many hardpressed families.

The St Vincent de Paul has seen a 50% surge in the demand for food in the past few years and is now spending close to €10m a year on supermarket vouchers to help families, up from €6.1m in 2008.

A number of food banks are also working with food suppliers and wholesalers to recover unwanted food that can be accessed by charities, homeless groups and community services such as meals on wheels.

“This can range from damaged pallets of food or dented cans that don’t meet supermarket standards but are perfectly safe, to wonky carrots that are nutritious but don’t look the best,” said Sinead Keenan of Healthy Food For All, which works to improve nutrition for impoverished families.

Offers

The EPA said that while some food waste, such as vegetable peelings, teabags and meat bones, were unavoidable, much of the rest was down to bulk buying and not planning our meals properly.

The agency urged consumers to resist special offers that encouraged shoppers to buy too much as these were “good for toilet rolls but bad for fruit, vegetables and salad”.

It also urged people not to be unrealistic about buying lots of healthy products that they never actually eat.

Ireland’s first-ever Feed the 5,000 event will be held in Dublin on November 24, with 5,000 consumers treated to a meal made entirely of misshapen vegetables that would otherwise go to waste.

The event was inspired by international campaigner Tristram Stuart and highlights the amount of food needlessly thrown away.

Tesco and Lidl to test Irish market with traffic type warning labels on foods

      

It will be green for go when a new system of ‘traffic light labels’ hits our grocery shelves.

Plans are in place for supermarkets to adopt a new system to make it easier for customers to know which foods are healthiest before they buy.

The project, which was agreed by all major UK supermarkets in recent days, will be tried here by Tesco and Lidl.

It will involve the stores placing red, amber and green labels for packaged foods to indicate if they are high in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt.

obesity

In the simplest terms, red means that the food should be avoided, amber stock should be eaten in moderation while items with a green symbol can be freely consumed.

The idea is that consumers will be able to understand the make-up of food they are buying without having to read the full label. It is hoped that the move will help the fight against our growing obesity problem.

Tesco Ireland said it intends to roll out traffic light labelling here, but the details have not yet been worked out.

It is expected to be next year when the new labels are introduced here and in the UK.

Lidl said it will also roll out the new traffic light labels at its Irish outlets.

“Lidl Ireland can confirm that it will be adopting a hybrid labelling system that will incorporate the existing Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) with the ‘traffic light’ colour coding system,” a spokesperson said.

Aldi Ireland could not say if it will use the system here .

The Consumers Association of Ireland welcomed the move, even if it was “by the back door” via the UK.

Safefood, which promotes healthy eating in Ireland, said it welcomed anything which made it easier for consumers.

“We welcome anything that makes nutritional information easy to understand” a spokesperson said.

Ash tree disease threatens 400 Irish Hurley jobs

  

The fungus, Chalara fraxinea, which has spread across 21 countries in Europe has now reached Ireland. It kills ash trees by stripping their leaves from the top down.

The Irish Guild of Ash Hurley makers has expressed its concern that the disease could devastate their industry.

Damian Larkin, of TJ Larkin Hurleys, said that they were on high alert for the disease.

“It’s a real concern for the industry and we’re watching this very closely,” he said

The spread of the disease to Ireland is being blamed on a batch of infected ash trees, imported from Europe.

produced

It will pose a particular threat to the hurley making industry, with hurley manufacturing responsible for supplying at least 400 full-time jobs.

Around 350,000 hurleys are produced annually in Ireland, though more than 70pc of the ash wood used to make them is now imported.

The new disease could pose further threat to the Irish-made hurley manufacturers, most of whom are members of the Irish Guild of Ash Hurley makers, set up in 1998 to preserve the industry and battle against foreign-imported hurleys.

An outbreak of the fungus has been detected in Co Leitrim.

Minister of State for Food, Horticulture and Food Safety Shane McEntee met with groups from the ash hurley-makers and forestry organisations to discuss the detection of ash dieback disease and the measures being taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

The Department for Food, Agriculture and the Marine (DAFM) has introduced emergency measures under the Plant Health Directive which requires that any ash plants imported into the country must come from an area known to be free of the disease.

Members of the Department have also met with officials in Northern Ireland in order to organise an All-Ireland approach to tackling the disease.

Department officials have said that they are also working closely with the relevant authorities in Britain, where the disease is rampant.

ravaged

The highly destructive fungus was discovered in fully-grown trees in the British countryside for the first time this week and the Forestry Commission in Britain have reported that almost all woodland in Britain is at risk of being ravaged by the disease.

Comreg warns & signals its intention to control postal costs with An Post

  

The states communications watchdog/regulator signalled yesterday that it intends controlling postal costs to ensure their affordability.

The Commission for Communications Regulation (Comreg) yesterday published a statement outlining its strategy for overseeing the postal service between now and 2014.

The statement warns that all postal prices must be affordable in order to ensure that all customers can use the service.

It also says that charges have to reflect the actual cost of providing the service and have to be transparent.

State-owned An Post recently asked Comreg to allow it increase the cost of stamps.

The company did not specify an amount, but reports indicate that the standard cost may rise to 65 cent from 55 cent.

Comreg has yet to rule one way or the other on the State company’s request.

An Post’s response to Comreg’s strategy document, which is separate from its request for a price rise, calls for “appropriate” increases.

The company published details earlier this year of plans to cut 1,500 jobs between now and the year 2016.

Its response, made to Comreg last October, says it will cut 1,500 “full-time equivalents”.

That terms indicates that it may not necessarily reduce numbers by 1,500, but could make savings through other means, including over time cuts or reducing part-time hours.

However, a company spokesman said yesterday that “1,500 full-time equivalents will still be very close to 1,500 jobs”.

The spokesman pointed out that An Post has cut 1,100 jobs since 2008. The plan to increase this to 2,600 by 2016 is part of an overall strategy.

That also involves increasing charges for providing the Republic’s universal postal services. Comreg regulates charges such as the price of stamps.

An Post argues that the importance of maintaining the universal postal service overrides Comreg’s other aims.

It also points out that the programme for government recognises the importance of its services.

Recent litigation has soured relations between the regulator and An Post.

Comreg intends appealing a recent High Court decision in An Post’s favour in a case dealing with disputed addresses.

A row over the regulator’s decision to fine An Post €12 million for failing to maintain quality standards in some of its services, also looks destined for courts, as the company wants to challenge the ruling.

Celebrations for Ireland’s oldest worker a 90 year old Donegal  woman

     

Mary blows out the candles on her cake and Mary with her friends.

Ireland’s oldest working woman was celebrated on Friday when Mary Lafferty’s colleagues at Killybegs Community Hospital marked her birthday.

Mary had been selected Ireland’s oldest working woman last year in a national competition organised by TV3, and received her prize on the television programme, “Ireland AM”.

Mary helps to teach computers at the hospital, where she also leads other clients in a keep-fit class.

Mary celebrated nine decades on Friday with hospital staff and clients, enjoying a cake staff members organised. She was set for another celebration with family yesterday, the date of her actual birthday.