The issue of screening professional and amateur athletes for heart defects that could lead to sudden cardiac arrest and result in the death of the athlete was highlighted in 2012 by the horrifying and quite frankly frightening live television coverage of the Fabrice Muamba incident in March of 2012. Whilst playing in a football match live on national TV, Muamba collapsed and his heart stopped beating for a reported two hours. Screening procedures in the UK are completed voluntarily with the governing bodies and player unions of sports organising and funding screening procedures, unlike other European countries such as Italy... Continue reading

Now that winter has well and truly arrived - and the shops are full of warm clothes as well as all manner of Christmas goodies, we thought we'd point you in the direction of some of the better guides to winter health that are available online. For up to date news on winter health issues such as flu and virus outbreaks the gov.uk site has a page called Winter Health Watch - which collects all of Public Health England's health bulletins in the one place. The Gurdian's Life section has a very good winter health guide (click here to visit)... Continue reading

Interesting story today on the BBC website about American versus British teeth. It's a little dental/ cultural difference that is touched upon quite a lot in the media. And for my part I've always believed that it's down to a couple of factors. The first of these is that in the UK there hasn't been the same focus on orthodontics over the past however many decades it's been since the technology was in place to file and straighten the average person's set of chompers. In the UK, misaligned teeth aren't generally even noticed - and in a lot of cases... Continue reading

This year we've been lucky(ish) with the summer weather, and with the amount of rain significantly less than the washout summers we've experienced from time to time over the past few years, it's been much more fun for all the family. When we're out and about during the summer months there's loads of great healthy food to be had - check out this BBC Good Food healthy summer recipes page for inspiration. However it's also good to keep an eye on all the stuff that we consume on holidays and summer weekends since there are always ways to keep it... Continue reading

When we think of our health and fitness it's often about the things we do - actively - that help us feel better and also live better. All the usual stuff like getting exercise and eating well and so on. But the things we do to stay healthy often have numerous benefits - for instance healthy eating and keeping within the recommended limit for saturated fat means that we're likely to avoid being overweight or obese. Healthy eating also means getting a wide range of fruit and vegetables which helps us ensure we're consuming plenty of vitamins and minerals -... Continue reading

One of the biggest benefits of staying active is - perhaps paradoxically - not physical at all but entirely psychological. Getting up and going for that running half hour or gym workout or swim may sometimes require a bit of effort. In fact on days of low motivation it can be quite tough to get out there and exercise. But once we're doing our physical activity stuff and the endorphins are flowing, all feels better again. But even the healthiest living among us are likely at some point to experience stress or just have days when we are feeling the... Continue reading

When the summer really takes hold and the weather starts to get properly warm - well, hopefully anyway - it's good to incorporate some healthy habits into summer living. So here are a few of my summer health ideas: Summer hydration - we're more likely to lose body fluid through perspiration during the hotter days, so why not stay cool as well as hydrated by taking a flask of iced water or fruit juice to work? That way you can cool down and hydrate at the same time! Summer exercise - if it's really hot, then going for your usual... Continue reading

It was reported recently that small to medium sized enterprises - according to one of the people high up in the PMI (private medical insurance) industry - are an area that is providing a challenge for group health and protection firms. Dame Carol Black - who was one of the co-authors of the government-commissioned independent review of sickness absence, said that these industries are struggling to persuade SMEs to invest in staff health and wellbeing. However, as has been highlighted elsewhere a major part of the challenge is the distribution structure for products within this area, and one further challenge... Continue reading

There seems to be a quite prevalent idea that some foods are 'good' for us, while others are 'bad' for us. But the truth is slightly more nuanced than that, and here's why: Yes, it's true that, say, protein is good for us. But the human body is very cleverly designed. What it needs is enough protein. So protein's essential, never mind just good for us, but only up to a certain point, since the body can only store a certain amount of it. This is why there are daily recommended amounts for things like vitamins, minerals, calories and so... Continue reading

Knowing dental health and maintaining a great smile The basics of dental health are very well promoted and pretty much anyone with an interest in the health sphere will know the steps to keeping up good oral hygiene as well as what dental cover such as this example here) can offer. Regular brushing, check ups and so on. But as with all things health related, there’s always more that we can do in order to ensure that we keep our smiles in tip top condition, so we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 don’ts to watch out for in... Continue reading

Here at Livign Life we're always on the lookout for health and wellbeing websites. In the old days before the internet was quite as big as it is now, we had to look for our health news and information from a variety of souces like the broadsheets' health pages and the various health magazines. But these days it's possible to find out loads just by picking up the tablet computer (or laptop or smartphone) and seeing what's out there. One of my personal favourites healthwise is the Huffington Post UK's health section. There's always stuff on there to read, and... Continue reading

Interesting video on the health concern that is obesity and ways that it's being tackled. Well worth a look: Continue reading

The writer for today's post is Jen Jones, a health blogger who specialises in wellbeing topics incuding dental plans, nutrition and stress management. Pretty much all of us who have an avid interest in fitness and wellbeing also try to eat as healthily as possible too. But one of the the things about healthy eating is that it's about balance. So even the mega-healthy living among us will from time to time have a little snacky treat. Nothing wrong with that at all. The thing with snacks though is that some of them can pose more of a risk to... Continue reading

There's something addictive about running. Yes, it's pretty hard work to run long distances, and often, before going out training, it can feel a bit daunting. But most times once you're out there you start to feel good. Running, after all, is one of those things that the human body is designed for - right back to when we emerged, newly evolved and with opposable thumbs, speech and all the rest of it - from, well, wherever it was we emerged from. A cave, maybe. And it doesn't much of a stretch of the imagination to conclude that - if... Continue reading

The new 'fit note' - which was potentially going to herald big changes in workplace absence - was introduced just under 3 years ago. Essentially it means that a doctor can assess someone who is unwell as being well enough for a return to work. But has it made any difference? Well, according to the business wellbeing news pages recently, the much heralded fit note has had little practical effect on the day to day sickness absence management dealt with by employers. And in a recent Personnel Today article, it's reported that fewer than 10% of GPs in the country... Continue reading

Even if you're just a very occasional traveller, it's impossible to escape the happy fact that different countries are very different from each other. And if you're looking at buying international health insurance plans, providers such as AXA PPP International health insurance have country guides on their websites that give a brief summary of the health systems in various popular expatriate locations. Over at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website there's a very comprehensive set of information for people travelling abroad - and one of the things that is most interesting is the extent to which things vary - and... Continue reading

When the seasons change, so do we. Not in any physical sense, you understand. We don't turn into butterflies or anything like that - no, it's more of a subtle thing - to do with our habits. The winter darkness does seem to last an awfully long time, and it's only really in February that the light starts to creep back in and the days start to get tolerably warm. As a result of this, for many of us it's like a new lease of life - and suddenly we find ourselves eating lighter meals, getting out and exercising more,... Continue reading

It's no surprise that more of us go travelling than ever before, really. If you think back to the 20th century, that's when modern travel really began. In the 18th century things were opened up enormously by the building of the railway infrastructure, but it's only when cars go into mass production and aeroplanes become a form of mass transport that we really start seeing large numbers of people going abroad. In fact, I'd love to know the percentage of UK nationals in 1913 who'd been abroad as compared to the number now. And pretty much all down to technology.... Continue reading

It's an exercise/ fitness activity that's been growing in popularity for the last couple of years. I didn't actually know what it involved so I cehcked it out on the trusty YouTube and now I know! Continue reading

One of the things that can stop us living life to the full is when we're frightened to do somthing - so today I want to talk about dental phobia and ways to overcome it. because if you have a problem with teeth, it's really not something that you should suffer in silence. There must very be few among us who enjoy a trip to the dentist. Maybe those lucky types who are well into adulthood and still filling-free, whose only trips to the dentist involve a quick check up followed by an all-clear. Lucky them! I don't know how... Continue reading

Just a quick update on my January health kick. This will be the first January in two years that I've decided to really make a big effort and 'do health'. Okay, so we're only a third of the way through the month, but so far, it's all been good. I've been going out running quite a lot. Not for any great length of time or distance - but I fugure that getting out there and exerting myself for an hour and a half over the course of each week should be good for my fitness levels - not to mention... Continue reading

Are you an adventurous type? If so, you may have thought at some point about going to live abroad. It's certainly a way to gain a whole load of experience and to see some stuff that you'd never see at home. Think of India for instance - famed for being one of the most diverse countries on the entire planet. No visit there could possibly leave the traveller anything less than fascinated by the world's second most populous country. Of course if you're going to India then there are a number of health precautions that are strongly advisable to take.... Continue reading

Have you made your new year's resolutions? And did you manage to stick to them? There was a thing in the paper yesterday saying how January isn't a good time to keep to a healthy diet, since we're more apt to be guzzling comfort food at this time of year. Well, personally this has never been the case for me. In fact - the opposite. After all those rich Christmas meals - roasts for main course and Christmas cake for afters - I actually find the post-festive health diet a very good place to be indeed. So far this year... Continue reading

About the author: Jen Jones writes on international medical insurance and nutrition for a number of UK and overseas blogs and websites. Hmm. The festive season doesn't seem like the healthiest time of the year, on the face of it. We're bombarded with images on groaning tables, christmas puds, bottles of fizzy pop and a general atmosphere of tucking in and indulging. But while that may be what we see in terms of Christmas portrayals, this can actually be a very healthy time of year if we know how to navigate our way through the hazards and seek out the... Continue reading

I'm not quite sure which was the more crazy challenge between Eddie Izzard's 43 marathons in 2009 and David Walliams Thames swimming a couple of years later. Neither of these are things that most of us could ever even imagine doing! This documentary gives some insight into just how tough Izzard's challenge was. Continue reading