Latest news with #ZoeWilliams
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Health
- Scottish Sun
I get a burning sensation around my right breast when I go for a walk – should I be worried?
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AROUND 1.2billion prescriptions are dispensed here yearly. Almost half of the calls to pharmacies are from patients asking if their medicine is ready. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Dr Zoe Williams helps Sun readers with their health concerns Credit: Olivia West But it has just got a lot easier to find this information via the NHS app. Millions can now track if their prescription is ready to collect or has been dispatched. It is a new feature that NHS England says nearly 1,500 high street chemists are offering. The NHS app, which now has 37.4million users has made ordering prescriptions streamlined. About 5.5million repeat prescriptions are ordered through the app each month. These are sent electronically to your nominated pharmacy. Digital prescription barcodes are created for those who do not have a nominated pharmacy. Scotland is developing its own app, Digital Front Door, which is expected by the end of this year. These apps help free up time for both GPs and pharmacists so they can see more patients. Here's a selection of what readers asked me this week. Cardiologist explains when chest pains aren't a heart attack FEAR OVER IRON LEVEL Q: FOR the past two and a half years, my nine-year-old daughter has struggled with increasing her iron levels. She has been on iron supplements, increased vitamin C and iron-rich foods. Although her iron levels have gone from eight to 33, at the highest, it has recently taken another dip. She is often tired but has ten hours of sleep each night and she has very little stamina for any physical activity. She is not overweight or inactive, though. We are frustrated at getting no real answers or solutions. What more can we do? A: It sounds as though you are taking some sensible steps to try to help your daughter overcome her iron deficiency, but the problem keeps coming back. My assumption is that the numbers you have shown are a measurement of her ferritin levels, an indication of iron stores and the most reliable initial blood test for iron deficiency. In general, a ferritin level of less than 15 micrograms/L indicates there is very little iron available for use in the body, while levels of less than 30 micrograms/L means there is less iron available for various functions, including red blood cell production. If left untreated, this can lead to iron deficiency anaemia, so it is important to get to the bottom of this. An inadequate diet is the commonest cause of iron deficiency, but it sounds as though your daughter is eating plenty of iron-rich foods and taking vitamin C, which helps the body to absorb iron. Some conditions of the gut lead to poor absorption of nutrients, for example, coeliac disease. Has she been tested for this? Also conditions which cause the body to lose small amounts of blood can cause iron deficiency. Periods are an obvious cause, but your daughter is too young (but this could exacerbate the problem in the future). Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's and colitis) and even taking anti-inflammatory medicines (ibuprofen) frequently can cause small but persistent blood loss. It sounds as though your daughter will need to restart some oral iron medication again while these are investigated. When the blood level is back to normal, the iron treatment should continue for at least three months to build up iron in the body. If the problem persists with no clear answers, then she may need to be referred to a paediatrician for further investigations. WALKING IS SO PAINFUL, BUT WHY? Q: I AM a male, 73, and I get a burning sensation around my right breast to my right shoulder blade when I go for a walk. This can stay a few minutes, then go. It doesn't normally return until the next time I go for a walk. 3 Dr Zoe helps a reader who gets a burning sensation in his right breast while walking Credit: Getty I have had scans and tests, which found nothing. It's been like this for a few years and is very uncomfortable. A: Any pain in the chest area or back which is brought on by physical exertion and alleviated by rest should be considered to be angina until proven otherwise. Angina is a symptom of heart disease. Because the arteries are narrowed by plaque build-up, not enough oxygen-rich blood can get to the heart muscle when it is working hard. Angina can feel like pain, pressure, squeezing, or tightness in the chest, and it may also radiate to the arms, back, neck, or jaw. It is triggered by activities that increase the workload of the heart, such as walking, climbing stairs, or even emotional stress. You mention having had tests, but were you referred to a specialist chest pain service? In a patient with suspected angina, you would typically have blood tests and an ECG and usually a coronary angiogram or a myocardial perfusion scan. Sometimes a GP can rule out angina based on their thorough history-taking and examination, for example, they can tell that the pain is musculoskeletal in origin. Other times it is very clear that angina is the diagnosis and medication can be started immediately. Other potential causes include pain originating from muscles and joints or compression of nerves. Tip of the week CANCER Research UK says most men get skin cancer on their torso, while women get it on their legs. Last week, they urged caution over baring skin in sunny weather. This means in this hot spell, you should at least generously apply SPF 30+ throughout the day. Q: I HAVE had pain in my lower abdomen for approximately two months. I have very little pain, if any, when lying down or slouching. 3 Dr Zoe helps a reader who pain in my lower abdomen for approximately two months Credit: Getty The pain starts almost immediately when I am sitting upright or standing. It can be severe. I am 72 and otherwise reasonably healthy. When I walk, I feel that I have to press/hold my abdomen in. A CT scan and blood/poo tests have come back clear. I have asked my GP if there is any referral he could make, and he says no. I am desperate and willing to pay privately if absolutely necessary, but don't know which type of specialist I should see. Could the problem be muscular somehow? I do also get lower back pain sometimes when bending. A: It sounds as though you definitely need some help from somewhere. As your abdominal pain is made worse by standing or sitting upright and alleviated by lying down or slouching, it suggests that either posture or the pressure within the abdominal cavity plays a role in causing the pain. It's worth checking that your GP is confident that they have ruled out any serious disease with the CT scan and other tests, including hernias, inflammatory bowel disease, ovarian or bowel cancer. If you have an inkling that the pain might be muscular, it might be worth seeing a physiotherapist who would be able to assess this issue. It is possible to have abdominal pain from a herniated disc or nerves being trapped around the spine, too, which a physio can also assess for. If the physio does not believe this to be the cause of the pain, then a gastroenterologist or general surgeon might be the next best step. It is also possible for nerves in the abdominal wall to become entrapped and this can be made worse by certain movements or postures. Finally, if you have had abdominal surgery in the past, then it is possible to have developed adhesions from scar tissue that causes pain Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Health
- The Irish Sun
I'm suffering from neuralgia in my head after having shingles for seven or eight weeks – help!
Q) I AM suffering from neuralgia in my head after having shingles for seven or eight weeks. Do you have a cure for the pain, which is now in the left hand side of my face, affecting my eye and my tongue? My head is sore from the nape of my neck to the top of my head. Advertisement 1 Dr Zoe Williams helps Sun readers with their health concerns Credit: Olivia West A) Postherpetic neuralgia is the most common complication of shingles. It's a long-lasting pain that affects areas where shingles rashes were present, including the eye and potentially the tongue. It usually gets better eventually, but can vary from a few months to over a year. Different types of Advertisement Medicines to treat nerve pain would usually be tried next , such as amitriptyline, duloxetine, gabapentin or pregabalin. These may not work straight away – the dose is usually increased gradually over weeks until it becomes effective. It's important to be aware of the potential side-effects before starting them. Plasters containing lidocaine (a local anaesthetic) can help some people manage pain of the skin, but not the eye or tongue. Advertisement Most read in Health Others benefit more from Andi Peters says he's in 'worst pain ever' as he calls into Lorraine from shingles sick bed Live fat jab Q&A DO you have a question about weight-loss jabs such as Ozempic? Are you curious about side- effects, whether they could be right for you, or how to best eat while on them? Send me your questions for a Live Q&A on the hot topic. No question is too big, small or silly. Send your questions to the address below. Advertisement Send your questions for Dr Zoe to: health@
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Dr Zoe Williams on how to prepare for menopause in your 30s and 40s
Zoe Williams, the resident TV doctor on ITV's This Morning, is proactively preparing for menopause at 45, despite not experiencing symptoms yet. "As a woman in my mid-40s myself, the time to start preparing for menopause is before it happens," Dr Williams says. Her oestrogen levels are lower than before, she says, and she is likely in perimenopause. To mitigate potential symptoms, the NHS physician and former Gladiator is focusing on building muscle and adjusting her diet. Menopause, which marks the end of a woman's periods, can bring about various unpleasant symptoms, including mood changes, hot flushes, sleep disturbance, hair loss, vaginal dryness, and joint pain. However, Dr Williams says that "menopause isn't all doom and gloom". She advises women to start preparing from their 30s onwards to offset some of the negative consequences. 'I've already started to make some lifestyle changes, and actually, it's given me some motivation to stick with certain lifestyle changes that I know are going to help me when I do reach menopause,' she says. Her focus now is 'definitely on building strength and maintaining flexibility', whereas before, 'I used to really love to go spinning and get those endorphins hits, but now I've shifted because I know what's better for me. 'I know as a 45-year-old, gaining muscle in the gym will never be easier than it is right now. I'm lifting weights because I know that if I can lay down muscle now, that's going to help me when it becomes more difficult to lay down muscle later on.' Oestrogen plays an important role in maintaining strength and one of the effects of menopause is a loss of muscle mass and bone density, due to the drop in oestrogen levels during this time – 'unless we do something about it', Dr Williams notes. As they age, women need muscle strength and bone strength to stabilise joints and prevent injury, helping to stay mobile and independent for years to come. There is a lot of research that links higher muscle mass to disease prevention and longer living, too. Dr Williams, an ambassador for menopause brand Issviva, still does cardio though. 'I love walking up a hill and getting a bit sweaty, I do a dance class once a week, I will occasionally do a spin class if I feel that's what I need but if I'm limited on time and I've only got 45 minutes, then I'll prioritise what my body needs – and that's building muscle. 'I've already started to lose muscle, partly because I've had a back injury and there was a period of time that I couldn't work out. And I can see my muscles are not as strong as they used to be. So I'm working really hard to regain whatever strength I can, because I know that it's only going to get harder as I get older.' Muscle loss and bone loss often go hand in hand during menopause and strength training can help bone health too. Protein has been key for Dr Williams. 'Because I'm trying to regain muscle, I started having protein shakes, which was something I very much did around the Gladiator times. I just find it a really accessible way of getting a good bit of protein into my body – I have a shake immediately after I've done my workout in the morning so I know that's taken care of.' And for the rest of her diet, 'I've shifted from trying to eat healthily and trying to minimise foods that are not so good for me to focusing on nutrient-dense foods that I really love.' She's also 'switched from habitual drinking to mindful drinking'. 'As we're approaching menopause, it's really important to make sure we're getting enough calcium,' she adds. 'I try and eat fish more often, I usually have a salad during the week for lunch and chuck mixed seeds and mixed sprouts and a few nuts. It doesn't cost a lot of money but all the stuff I chuck in there, there's probably about 20 different plants. 'If you're entering your 40s and you find that you do have a bit more expendable cash than you had before, consider spending that on nourishing your body with good quality food, before anything else.' A nutritious diet, that helps to curb blood sugar fluctuation, is understood to help manage common menopause symptoms, like hot flashes and weight gain, while also protecting your heart health. 'The number one killer of women is heart disease,' notes Dr Williams. 'It's really important that women understand the link between menopause and heart health as women. Women tend to get heart attacks about 10 years later than men, and one of the reasons for that is that the oestrogen that we have in our bodies prior to menopause actually protects the heart. Once we lose that at menopause, our heart starts to become susceptible.' For women who don't take HRT (hormone replacement therapy), there will be an 'uptick' in the inflammatory state of the body – 'Which we know is not good for our health, it increases heart disease and type 2 diabetes,' Williams says. 'We can think of oestrogen as an anti-inflammatory chemical. Oestrogen is in every cell of our body, it's in every system of our body and whilst we have oestrogen circulating, it's providing an anti-inflammatory effect. So therefore, once we lose that oestrogen, the inflammatory state of our body is likely to turn in the direction of a pro-inflammatory, especially if we have lives where we're really under stress. One of the other major things that increases the inflammatory state of our body is chronic stress, poor diets, physical inactivity, too much alcohol and smoking. Although, she says, if women do take HRT there's still an added benefit to lifestyle changes. 'Oestrogen is also really important to maintain the health of the tissues in the urogenital tract – the vagina, the urethra and the vulva – so it's very common that women experience vaginal dryness [during menopause]…. as well as losing laxity and sexual pleasure. 'I've gone through a stage of, even as a doctor, not having enough knowledge, being a bit oblivious, being like 'I'll deal with that when I get to it', to almost dreading it and having too much knowledge and [hearing] all the horror stories, to now very much in a place of acceptance that this is going to happen and it's not all doom and gloom. 'I think approaching menopause has definitely given me motivation. I feel informed, I feel empowered. But I do also feel that women, many women, are more fearful than they need to be.'
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Led By Donkeys in conversation with Zoe Williams
Led By Donkeys was founded in early 2019 when four friends, Ben Stewart, James Sadri, Oliver Knowles and Will Rose – motivated by the chaos Britain had been pitched into – started going out at night to paste guerrilla billboards of the leading Brexiters' historic tweets. Soon after, the group was reaching millions of people with every intervention and have continued their work mixing art and activism to create some of the most memorable images of our political age. Projecting public sentiment on to the palace of Westminster, lowering a remote-controlled banner featuring a lettuce and the words 'I crashed the economy.' behind Liz Truss, and laying out 11,000 children's outfits along Bournemouth beach to represent the children killed in Gaza: these are just three of the group's numerous artistic acts of resistance against the ineptitudes and corruption committed by those in power. What keeps the group going? And has their campaigning changed anything. Join them on Tuesday 30 September with Guardian columnist Zoe Willliams, for what promises to be an unforgettable evening. They'll be live in London and online, as they reveal the true stories behind the activism that has shaken and stirred UK politics since 2019. And as we face a new political landscape, this is also your opportunity to ask them your own questions on what we can expect next from them. You can join this event in-person at Soho Theatre Walthamstow, London, E17 4QH, or via the livestream. Tickets start from £39 to attend the event in person, or £15 to watch the livestream. All event ticket sales go towards supporting the Guardian's open, crucial journalism. Book tickets – in person or livestream Date: Tuesday 30 September 2025Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm (BST), this includes a 30 minute interval Or see this time zone converter to check your local live streaming Soho Theatre Walthamstow, London, E17 4QH, or join via the livestreamAccessibility: Soho Theatre Walthamstow is wheelchair accessible. For detailed access information for the venue, please see their website here. If you have any access requirements you are eligible for 1 x free companion ticket, however access tickets must be booked via the venue directly here. If you miss this live event, a recording will be sent to you. It will be available for two weeks so you can catch-up or revisit the event in your own time. What are the terms and conditions? By proceeding, you agree to the Guardian Live events Terms and Conditions. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy. How do I access a livestream event? This event will be hosted on a third-party live streaming platform Vimeo, please refer to their privacy policy and terms and conditions before purchasing a ticket to the event. After registering, please refer to your confirmation email for access to the event. Will there be closed captions available? Yes closed captions will be available for this event. Guardian Live brings you closer to the big stories, award-winning journalists, and leading thinkers in livestreamed and interactive events that you can access from wherever you are in the world. To stay informed, sign up to our newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram.
Scottish Sun
24-05-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
I get up to pee almost every hour every night – help! It can't be normal
Scroll down to see Dr Zoe's advice to the reader from pelvic-floor training to medication ASK DR ZOE I get up to pee almost every hour every night – help! It can't be normal Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) OUR resident specialist and NHS GP, Dr Zoe Williams, shares her expert advice. Today, Dr Zoe helps a reader who gets up to pee almost every hour every night. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Email your health queries to Dr Zoe Williams at health@ Credit: Olivia West 2 A reader, who needs to pee almost every hour every night, writes in to Dr Zoe Q) I've had a lot of trouble down below, with a prolapse, overactive bladder and bleeding. I go for a wee hourly at night. Can you advise? A) Many people suffer in silence with these types of urogynaecological issues, so thank you for writing in to me. It's very important that women feel they can be open and speak up about issues like this, so often seen as taboo and brushed under the carpet. It really frustrates me when I hear terms such as, 'It's part of being a woman' or even, 'Women's problems . . . ', because it's not normal and there are treatments. There are lifestyle measures that can be advised, such as pelvic-floor training and avoiding things that irritate your bladder – think caffeine, alcohol and fizzy drinks, for example. In addition, there are several medications that can treat an overactive bladder – and alternative treatments, such as pessaries to help support the pelvic organs. In some cases, surgery is deemed the best treatment strategy but of course this is only if it fits with the patient's own wishes. Sometimes it is a case of trying several things to see what works. The 4 best moves to beat incontinence, boost your sex life & flatten your tummy The main message is, please do not suffer in silence or believe this is a normal part of being a woman. Please seek support, advice and treatment from your GP so that you can live with the best quality of life. TIP: Do you have a question about weight-loss jabs such as Ozempic? Are you curious about side effects, whether they could be right for you, or how to best eat while on them? Send me your questions for a Live Q&A on the hot topic. No question is too big, small or silly. Send your questions to health@
