newsletter - the hambleton and richmondshire ms · pdf file01609 751276 or email...
TRANSCRIPT
Newsletter
February/March 2011
Registered Charity No. 207495
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Happy New Year
Happy New Year and I hope you all had a good Christmas.
Other than been stuck in the house with all the snow, it was a
relief to be able to get out and start enjoying the festive season.
I had a ride out to light water valley to see Doris and her stall
in the Dickensian Festival and Doris did not let us down.
Because of the bad weather their was not a lot of people, and
some of the stall holders did not turn up which was
understandable.
As I said in my last letter I said I would let you know when I
saw my first Easter egg. We went shopping to Tesco on the 2
Jan and I am pleased to say they did not disappoint, sat on the
shelves was Easter eggs. Has the world gone mad I thought we
might of had Valentines Day first.
Well summer is arriving soon if you have any ideas you wish
for the branch to do, please let us know.
Andy
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Chairperson’s (Andy’s) comments. ....…….…….. 2
Branch Details …………………………….…………. 4
Branch Caravan ……………………………..………. 5
Holiday Accommodation for MS sufferers ….….. 5
Continence Service………………………………..... 6
Have a Laugh with Bogart the Cat .………..…… 9
YUMS (Young United by MS) ……..…………….. 10
News in the Press ……………………….………… 11
MS Exercises ………………………………………. 12
Hospital and Benefit rules ……………………….. 14
Cinema Card ……………………………………….. 15
Lightwater Valley Dickensian Festival ………… 16
Optical Neuritis ……………………………………. 18
Useful Telephone Numbers …………..…………. 19
Physiotherapy ………………………………...…… 19
Branch members contact details ………………. 20
If you have anything that you would like to be included in the next newsletter (Apr/May 2011) send it to me before 20/3/11.
With this electronic (PDF) version of the newsletter you can click on any menu item or a website (or email) address.
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Volunteers Calling all members, we desperately need help
to raise funds for the branch.
You do not need to join a committee, but if you
could spare a few hours we would be delighted
to hear from you.
For example can you spare a few hours to do a
street collection or help out at a Coffee
Morning or assist on the Golf Day.
Please call Andrew on 01677 422336
www.hambletonandrichmondshiremsbranch.co.uk
If you have any ideas for future Newsletters contact Tom
Green by email on [email protected]
If you would like to receive future editions of
this newsletter directly to your email inbox
simply notify Tom Green by emailing him on
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Stay in the Branch’s caravan Mobile holiday home situated near Appleby in Cumbria.
Sleeps six One double room, one twin and a double in the lounge.
Wheelchair adapted, sliding doors, shower. Access via a ramp and veranda.
Award winning site with restaurant, outdoor pool, shop, laundry and lots for children to do.
Stunning views Open Easter to end of October ( Dates still Available )
Contact Andy on 01677 422336 Or E-Mail [email protected]
Book now for 2011...
HOLIDAY’S FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM MS
The Geoff Smith Foundation provides AFFORDABLE Holiday accommodation for MS Sufferers (certain conditions apply) Contact Geoff on [email protected] for details or visit www.thegeoffsmithfoundation.co.uk
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The service The Continence Advisory Service offers a quality service promoting and providing a realistic approach to continence for patients and carers throughout Hambleton and Richmondshire locality.
Anyone who has a continence problem can speak to their GP, Practice Nurse or can contact the service directly for advice. Patients who are housebound can speak to a district nurse by contacting their GP surgery.
How common are bladder problems?
Bladder problems affect many men and women of all ages:-
Women - bladder problems affects up to 1 in 7 women aged 45 - 64 and up to 1 in 5 women aged 65 and over.
Men - bladder problems affects over 1 in 33 men aged 15 - 64 and up to 1 in 10 aged 65 and over.
What are bladder problems?
Bladder problems are conditions that prevent you from being able to control when you pass urine. They are characterised by one or more of the following symptoms:-
Frequency - a frequent need to pass urine (eight times or more during the day and night).
Urgency - a strong, sudden urge to pass urine.
Nocturia - waking up to pass urine (two or more times a night).
Leakage - wetting yourself (either small or large amounts).
Continence Advisory Service
Michelle Pickering Tel: 01609 751276
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Types of bladder problems
There are 5 basic types of bladder problems of urinary incontinence:-
Urge incontinence or 'unstable bladder' leads to sudden urge to pass urine which cannot be controlled.
Stress incontinence - caused by weakness in the muscles around the bladder. Leakage of urine occurs when coughing, sneezing or laughing, exercising or getting up from a chair.
Overflow incontinence - this occurs when there is an obstruction (blockage) when passing urine. This can lead to a poor stream when passing urine and dribbling after urine has been passed.
Underactive bladder - this happens when the muscle surrounding the bladder is underactive and is unable to pass all of the urine at the same time. This means that the bladder does not empty completely.
Mixed incontinence - this may occur when there is a combination of the problems listed above.
Causes of frequency, urgency and leakage
Urinary tract infections may cause frequency and urgency and will be investigated.
Some drinks such as tea, coffee, alcohol and fruit juices can irritate the kidneys making them produce more urine causing frequency.
Not drinking enough fluids can cause infections, make sure you drink about eight cups each day.
The bladder is very sensitive to our emotional state so frequency and urgency can occur when we are anxious or depressed.
Constipation can be a cause of urgency or frequency as a full bowel can press on the bladder and irritate it.
Emptying your bladder too frequently can become a habit. This prevents the bladder from filling completely and may result in a smaller bladder capacity.
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Pregnancy, menstruation or the menopause may cause problems
of frequency, urgency and leakage. How can bladder problems be tackled?
If you are experiencing bladder problems it is necessary to find out the cause.
How can it be treated?
Urinary incontinence can cause distress, embarrassment and inconvenience.
70% of people with bladder problems can be cured or improved. Treatment of urinary incontinence starts with an accurate diagnosis. Treatments that aim to promote or restore continence include education, exercise, medication and as a last resort occasionally surgery.
Appointments
Clinics are held at the following venues:
Stokesley Health Centre, North Road, Stokesley
The Friary Clinic, Queens Road, Richmond
The Friarage Hospital, Northallerton Appointments can also be arranged in patients’ home when
appropriate. For more information or an informal chat contact Michelle Pickering on 01609 751276 or email [email protected].
Home delivery service 01924 328884
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The following Bogart the Cat cartoon strips are displayed with the kind
permission of Bogart the Cat’s creator (Peter Plant) who will carry out
the work highlighted on his website (www.peterplant.com).
To be continued.....
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MS news in the press handle with care
Everyone is looking for the next great breakthrough in managing or reversing MS. A couple of recent stories illustrate why the promise in the headlines should be treated with a degree of caution. The reports of advances in the understanding of the role of stem cells by researchers in Cambridge and Edinburgh created much excitement. However, different groups will see these results in different ways. For researchers, this study, which was laboratory based involving rats and also donated tissue, is a breakthrough, suggesting a mechanism by which cells in the body might be encouraged to replace damaged myelin and repair damage caused by MS. Further work will be required to identify if a drug can be developed to trigger this process. This will then have to be tested to prove it is a safe and effective treatment. The researchers estimate that this might take 15 years. The excitement for researchers is that the study indicates that this is a viable new line of research. For many people with MS headlines such as Stem cell finding could reverse ravages of multiple sclerosis are both exciting and frustrating. The hope of a
new approach is offered, but a great deal can happen to someone with MS in 15 years. Where the researchers see this news as a great step forwards, for someone living with MS the research process can seem glacially slow. The coverage of eating purple berries again shows how it is important to interpret stories in the press with caution. The Daily Telegraph headline Eating purple fruit could fend off Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis seems pretty clear cut. However, as the NHS Choices review of the story
points out, the underlying research is presented as a theory based on the effects of chemicals, some of which can be derived via diet, binding with iron in the blood. NHS Choices criticises the Telegraph story saying, "Unproven theories raised in the review, such as the possibility that toxins, called hydroxyl radicals, cause degenerative diseases of many kinds in different parts of the
body, are presented as definite fact in the newspaper article."
The press needs exciting stories and will often present early or theoretical research, particularly in headlines, as if it presents an immediate breakthrough in treatment. This can often do no benefit to researchers, whose important work can be made to look slow or unproductive. And for people with MS can seem like a succession of raised and dashed hopes.
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MS Exercises
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If you have problems/concerns, talk to a physiotherapist.
Your MS physiotherapist is Sri Katamaneni
01609 763785
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HOSPITAL AND BENEFITS: THE RULES
Disability Living Allowance (mobility and care components) for an adult over 16 and Attendance Allowance will stop being paid after a person has been in hospital for 4 consecutive weeks (28 days). If a person is discharged from hospital but readmitted within 28 days, those separate periods of time are added together. This is the linking rule. Both DLA and AA will stop once the linked period totals 28 days. DLA for a child under 16 will stop after the child has been in hospital for 12 weeks. The 28 day linking rule also applies to a child. However, the onus is on the person in receipt of the allowance, their parent or carer, to inform the Disability Benefit Centre of hospital stays. You do not have to reapply to get the benefit reinstated, but you will have to give dates and place of stay(s). If the person being cared for is in hospital, Carers Allowance will stop when the DLA or AA stops. So 28 days when caring for an adult and 12 weeks for a child. If the carer goes into hospital, Carers Allowance stops after 12 weeks (85th day in hospital). The carer premium with Income Support or the carer addition to Pension Credit also stop then. This might also mean that the carer will need to make a new claim for Housing and Council Tax Benefits.
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CINEMA EXHIBITORS ASSOCIATION CARD &
THE ARTHUR RANK CENTRE Computers for Rural People
CINEMA EXHIBITORS’ ASSOCIATION CARD
This is a national card entitling the holder to one free ticket for a person accompanying them to the cinema. To be eligible for the card, you need to be in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance or to be a registered blind person.
The card is valid for one year from the date of issue and costs £5.50. Application forms are available from cinemas supporting this card, which include Vue, Cineworld and Odeon cinemas. Alternatively, download an application form from www.ceacard.co.uk
THE ARTHUR RANK CENTRE – Computers for Rural People
The Arthur Rank Centre is committed to supporting the rural community and has set up the “Computers for Rural People” scheme to provide computers at very low cost to encourage people to take the first step towards owning one.
You might live on an isolated farm or in a market town; you might be retired or approaching retirement and have seen how having a computer of your own could enrich your life; you could be a really busy person who finds that organising things by telephone and letter is just too slow; or maybe you have children at school and want them to be able to keep up with their homework.
If so, ARC can help you. At a really low price they can provide you with a computer of your own, pre-loaded with Microsoft software and delivered to your door, to get you started.
ARC has an arrangement with the global charity Oasis to supply refurbished computers at charity prices. All they ask is a minimum donation of £12 to ARC to cover their costs and help with charitable work.
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Christmas Fayres
Lightwater Valley
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Optic neuritis is the most common eye problem seen in MS. It
is caused by inflammation or demyelination (damage to the
nerve covering) of the optic nerve, which transmits the image
from the retina to the brain. Optic neuritis is usually transient
and associated with good recovery.
This study investigated the frequency of bilateral (affecting
both eyes) and recurrent optic neuritis in MS and in
Neuromyelitis Optical (NMO) - a rare type of demyelinating
condition that can be difficult to differentiate from MS. The
medical records of 472 people with MS were compared
alongside epidemiological data about NMO.
Of the 472 people with MS, 21% presented with optic neuritis
(affecting one or both eyes) as their first symptom of MS. Of
these, 5.5% went on to experience a further episode of optic
neuritis before developing any other symptoms. 3.8% of study
participants experienced recurrent bilateral optic neuritis as
their initial symptom of MS.
The study authors conclude that as recurrent unilateral and
bilateral optic neuritis is a common presentation of MS - and
MS is a much more common condition than NMO – special
consideration and further diagnostic testing of people
presenting with these symptoms is warranted.
Recurrent and bilateral
optic neuritis in MS
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MS nurse 01642 854426
Physiotherapy 01609 763785
Befriending Service 01748 832271
Friarage Hospital - Northallerton 01609 779911
Memorial Hospital - Darlington 01325 380100
James Cook University Hospital 01642 850850
Urgent Social Service (Dales) 01969 622125
Hambleton District Council 0845 1211555
Richmondshire District Council 01748 829100
North Yorks. County Council 0845 8727374
Domestic Violence Helpline 0808 2000247
Citizens Advice Bureau – Richmond 01748 823978
Citizens Advice Bureau – Northallerton 01609 770354
Useful telephone
numbers
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Who’s Who Chairperson Andrew Mason 01677 422336 Vice Chair Chrissie Grimston 01609 773684 Secretary Ann Whitewick 01609 770209 Treasurer Doris Watson 01677 424455 Support Officer Ann Headland 01609 775043 Support Officer Val Heath 01969 625697 Membership Ann Whitewick 01609 770209 Social Secretary Chrissie Grimston 01609 773684
Newsletter Editor Tom Green [email protected]
Committee
Robert Adamson 01845 501058 Gill Elkins 01969 625202 Margaret Lister 01609 760968 Kate Christopher 01609 776155 Melva Steckles 01748 835510 Barbara Wilmington 01969 623502