Health and Life Style

Certain life style choices can lead to many health issues. Medical Specialists provides treatments for the following health and life style related issues:

• Smoking
• Genital Herpes, Cold Sores and Shingles.
• Influenza or Flu
• Cholesterol

Smoking facts.

About 50% of all smokers die from smoking-related diseases. Long-term smokers, on average are expected to live ten years less than a non smoker. 8 out of 10 non-smokers live past the age of 70, but only 5 out of 10 long term smokers live past 70. The younger you are when you start smoking, the more likely you are to smoke for longer and to die early from smoking.

Anti smoking treatment

Smoking increases the risk of developing a number of other diseases. Many of these may not be fatal, but they can cause years of unpleasant symptoms. Champix is a non-nicotine prescription medicine, which when taken orally once or twice a day can help you stop smoking.

Herpes (cold sores, shingles and genital herpes)

Herpes is a group of viruses that causes cold sores, shingles and genital herpes. Herpes simplex virus or HSV causes both cold sores around the mouth and genital herpes. Herpes zoster causes shingles and chickenpox.

Cold sores are usually caused by HSV-1 and the infection is passed through skin-to-skin contact such as kissing someone who has the virus or by sharing objects which have been in contact with the virus, such as a razor or a lipstick. Blisters on the lips will usually appear. Recurrent outbreaks usually start with a tingling sensation, redness and swelling around the lip. This is followed by small, fluid-filled blisters, which break open and develop a yellow crust. The scab usually falls off around seven days later.

Shingles occur when the virus that causes chickenpox re-activates itself in the body. The first symptom of shingles is often over sensitivity or a painful burning sensation in the affected area, usually the chest. A rash then develops.

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted infection. Genital herpes can be transmitted by skin to skin contact, such as during unprotected sex or passed from an infected mother to her baby during a vaginal birth. Once you have herpes infection, the virus stays in your body forever, but is dormant most of the time. However, the virus can sometimes become active again and cause an outbreak of symptoms. These are called recurrent episodes or outbreaks. Symptoms of genital herpes include small fluid-filled blisters around your genitals, thighs and inside or around your anus, which burst after a day or two and leave painful sores. You may also feel generally unwell with flu like symptoms, redness, discomfort, itching or tingling in the genital or anal area and unusual discharge from your urethra, vagina or anus.

Herpes treatment

Antiviral tablets such as Valtrex (GlaksoSmithKline) are prescribed to be used daily for five days and should be taken within five days of the first episode. These tablets can help the outbreak clear up faster and reduce the severity of the symptoms.

Influenza

Influenza is a viral infection affecting mainly the throat, nose, bronchi and, sometimes lungs too. Influenza is characterized by sudden onset of high fever, aching muscles, headache and severe malaise, non-productive cough, sore throat and rhinitis. Usually, influenza lasts three to five days.

Influenza can be dangerous to the elderly, especially those who live in residential homes where there is more risk of contracting the virus through contact with others. Most infected people recover within one to two weeks without requiring medical treatment. However, in the very young, the elderly, and those with other serious medical conditions, infection can lead to severe complications of the underlying condition, pneumonia and death.

Swine Flu

Swine influenza (also called H1N1 flu) is an infection caused by a strain of the influenza type-A virus known as H1N1. It is a new strain of influenza (flu) that caused a flu pandemic in 2009-2010. It can be spread from person to person by coughing and sneezing. Symptoms of swine flu in humans appear to be similar to those produced by standard, seasonal flu. Fever is the key symptom, combined with cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and aching limbs. Some people with the virus have also reported nausea and diarrhoea.

Lipid (cholesterol) Lowering Agents (Statins) - Lipitor and Crestor

Cholesterol is a fatty substance known as a lipid. It is mostly made by the liver from the fatty foods we eat and is vital for the normal functioning of the body.

Having an excessively high level of lipids in your blood can have a serious effect on your health as it increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

There is now therapy available that can lower your LDL-cholesterol (bad factor) by more than 20% and raise your HDL-cholesterol (protection factor), thereby reducing your coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor greatly.

There are a number of proven therapies available such as Crestor and Lipitor. Overall, this therapy can reduce the risk from dying from CHD by around 25%. For people in their 70s, this therapy is as effective as it is in middle-aged people.

• Est.1994, online since 2001
• UK’s first One Stop Pharmacy with Doctors
• Genuine branded medication
• 100% secure online payment
• FREE UK delivery*
• Completely discrete Service