A new report about the burden of obesity in the UK, has delivered shocking predictions about future cancer rates. Based on today’s trends the report predicts that nearly 3 in 4 adults will be overweight or obese by 2035 and this would lead to an additional 670,000 cases of cancer.

Rising obesity may lead to increased cancer rates for several reasons. High amounts of fat in the body change the levels of hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone which may raise the risk of cancer. Raised levels of fat can also alter the quantities of chemical messengers in the body and possibly have cancer related effects.

 Black people are at already very high risk for particular forms of cancer.  Black men have the highest risk of developing prostate cancer amongst all other ethnicities. Young Black women have worse breast cancer outcomes compared with white women.

The report (co-authored by Cancer Research UK and the UK Health forum) also suggests a variety of strategies which may help reduce obesity rates and consequently cancer rates. These recommendations appear to be sensible and practical but may not be sufficient for members of the UK population at high risk of obesity e.g. Black men and women. According to a 2014 report, Black men and women have the highest rates of obesity in England. Furthermore, it has been reported that Black and other ethnic minority children have higher rates of obesity when compared to White children in the UK. Further investigation into the obesity challenges faced by the Black community is needed.

You can find more information about the studies here, here, and here.

A recently published study has thrown new light on the links between dietary sugar and breast cancer. The study authors investigated the effect of different types of diets on the development of tumours in mice. The authors found that just 30% of mice on a starch-based diet had measurable tumours, whereas 50 to 58 percent of the mice on sucrose-enriched diets had developed mammary or breast tumours. The study also showed that numbers of lung metastases (secondary cancer growths) were significantly higher in mice on sucrose- or a fructose-enriched diet, when compared with mice on a starch -based diet.  This implies that sucrose and fructose have the ability to promote tumour growth through specific pathways.

 Although it’s difficult to compare mice with humans,  the mice in this study received amounts of sugar (relative to their size) that were similar to amounts found in western diets. This raises questions about the presence of sugar in the western diet and its influence on breast cancer. The diets of people of African and African-Caribbean descent are often high in sugar. It is also the case that young UK based Black women (under the age of 40) have poorer outcomes in relation to breast cancer when compared with their non-black counterparts.  Further research into the effects of dietary sugar on breast cancer in humans (particularly young Black women) is certainly warranted.

You can find more information about the studies here , here and here.

A new study published this week suggests that women with high levels of both oestrogen and testosterone at midlife are at a higher risk of developing fibroids than women with low levels of hormones. This finding is important because this is the first time that testosterone has been linked to fibroids.

In this study 1412 women aged 45 -52 were monitored over 13 years with each woman having an annual check-up where their hormone levels were measured. It was found that women with high levels of testosterone in their blood were 1.33 times more likely to develop fibroids than women with low levels of testosterone, and women with high levels of both oestrogen and testosterone had an even greater risk , they were 1.5 times more likely to develop fibroids.

Dr Jennifer Lee, one of the researchers explained the importance of these findings by stating that:

“The research opens up new lines of inquiry regarding how fibroids develop and how they are treated. Given that managing uterine fibroids costs an estimated $34.4 billion in annual medical expenditures nationwide, it is important to identify new ways to better treat this common condition.”

You can read more about this research here

This week the UK’s Chief Medical Officer Prof Dame Sally Davies published her annual health report which focused on women’s health. We were very happy that the report had this focus as many of the health issues that affect women can often be ignored,  not talked about or are felt to be too trivial to be of any importance to society. The report communicates this sentiment by stating that:

“Problems ‘below the waist’ are not generally seen as attractive topics for public or political discourse. Women are often reluctant to seek help for conditions that are common, disabling and taboo…”

The report covers a number of women’s health issues including gender-based violence, FGM, eating disorders, pre-conception health, prenatal screening, perinatal mental health, post-pregnancy care, menopause, incontinence, prolapse and women’s cancers. They make 18 recommendations on how to address the challenges associated with these issues and you can read about these here

We were disappointed to see that fibroids weren’t mentioned in this report despite fibroids being very common and having a significant effect on quality of life. It would have been very relevant for fibroids to be have been explored in a report on women’s health and we feel that this was a missed opportunity to explore the impact of fibroids and begin to develop a national strategy to support women.

The authors highlighted the fact that obesity tended to be a common theme in all of the health issues they explored and stressed that action is needed to prevent obesity. Therefore the report made the recommendation that the Government should include obesity in its national risk planning.  This led to the many media headlines this week stating that “Obesity is the biggest threat to women’s health” and that “obesity is as dangerous as our terror threat”.

We were very happy that the Chief Medical Officer’s report focused on women’s health, a very important area and hope that her recommendations are taken forward to ensure that we improve the health and wellbeing of all women. We were disappointed that key issues such as fibroids were excluded from this report and we’ll continue our work in this area.

You can download her full report below.

This week the UK’s Health Committee published their report on childhood obesity setting out what action needs to be taken to tackle this ever increasing problem.  The report states that the scale of the problem requires “bold and urgent action from the Government.”

From the report we learn that a fifth of children in the UK are overweight or obese when they begin school and by the time they leave primary school a third will be overweight or obese. They also noted that deprived children are twice as likely to be obese than the least deprived children and therefore obesity is a significant contributor to health inequality.

The report also highlights the cost of obesity. Treating obesity and its consequences costs the NHS £5.1bn every year. Obesity is the main risk factor for a number of disease including diabetes and the cost of diabetes to the NHS is  £8.8bn a year.

Through their research into this area, the committee found that there are very few interventions aimed at overweight or obese children. They state that the evidence shows that healthy living campaigns tend to help those who are already making healthy choices and are not reaching those that need them.

The health committee have made a number of recommendations that focus on changing our food environment because evidence suggests this is where the most attention is needed. Their nine recommendations include:
–  Strong controls on price promotions of unhealthy food and drink
–  Tougher controls on marketing and advertising of unhealthy food and drink
–  A centrally led reformulation programme to reduce sugar in food and drink
–  A sugary drinks tax on full sugar soft drinks, in order to help change behaviour, with all proceeds targeted to help those children at greatest risk of obesity
–  Labelling of single portions of products with added sugar to show sugar content in teaspoons
–  Improved education and information about diet
–  Universal school food standards
–  Greater powers for local authorities to tackle the environment leading to obesity
–   Early intervention to offer help to families of children affected by obesity and further research into the most effective interventions

We are in support of the above recommendations as obesity is a significant problem in the black community and by taking these actions we can begin to change our community’s behaviour and improve our health.

You can download the full report below.

From 7^th November 2015 a new fun, holistic fitness classes will be held at the Salvation Army every Saturday morning at 7:15am and 9am.

During each session not only will you take part in a group fitness session but you’ll be given nutritional advice, a health assessment and 1 on 1 personal training.
All fitness levels and age groups are welcome.

For more information and to book your place please contact Eunice Adu Appiah (euniceaduappiah@yahoo.co.uk, 07943 460 522)

All details can be found on the flyer which you can download below.

Croydon CCG is currently reviewing Urgent Care services across the borough and developing proposals to improve these services which include the Walk In Centre, two Minor Injury Units and the Urgent Care Centre at Croydon University Hospital.   Urgent Care services cover burns, cuts, common fractures, sprains and minor trauma.

The CCG is keen to hear and include the voices of local residents to ensure their views, experiences and priorities shape how urgent healthcare is organised and delivered in Croydon in the future.

Croydon Counctil would like to talk to Croydon residents about the ideas that Croydon CCG have for Urgent Care services and how it may affect them. In particular they keen to understand if there are any elements that they have not put into the plan which may impact more upon some groups of people than others.

If you’re interested in taking in taking part in a information session with Croydon CCG please contact The Lake Foundation on info@thelakefoundation.com to register your interest.

Last year, Cynthia Bailey from the popular American reality TV show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, announced that she had fibroids.

Cynthia revealed that her fibroids caused chronic weight gain,  chronic fatigue and loss of sex drive. She stated that she didn’t understand why she was gaining weight and felt so unwell and visited her doctor who found that she had fibroids. She later had surgery to have them removed and said:

“I’m feeling much better! The surgery was the best thing I ever did! My only regret was I didn’t do it sooner.”

Cynthia also described the negative impact her symptoms had on her marriage but said that her experience with fibroids motivated her to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

We applaud Cynthia Bailey for speaking out about her fibroids and raising awareness of the impact fibroids can have not just with respect to the physical symptoms but its wide reaching effect on daily life.

This week, an article in the Daily Record encourages everyone to take a look at the Japanese diet and lifestyle if we are serious about improving the health and wellbeing of our families. They stated that The Lancet has found that Japanese children are the healthiest in the world and this is down to their lifestyle.

The article highlights a new book by husband and wife team William Doyle and Naomi Moriyama, Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Children. This book is based on Doyle and Moriyama’s research into why Japan is the world leader when it comes to health. The key reasons why this is so include:

–          The Japanese eat foods high in nutrients, including fruit, vegetables and whole grains.
–          They don’t rely on processed foods
–           The Japanese only consume sugar or salt in small quantities
–          Meat is usually treated as a garnish or side dish rather than the main part of any meal
–          The Japanese eat moderately, they serve only moderate sized portions of food
–          The Japanese are physically active

Let’s follow Japan’s example and adopt some of their habits to ensure that we too can enjoy good health.

This week  WHO published its European Health Report 2015. The report shows that whilst many European countries are making great progress in improving the health of their nations there is still much work to do. Great improvements were noted  in tackling premature mortality and therefore improving life expectancy but high levels of tobacco and alcohol consumption coupled with the rise in obesity  could mean that life expectancy for future generations may fall.  Furthermore inequalities do exist with the gap in life expectancy at birth between the highest and lowest countries being 10 years.

This report is an interesting look at the health of Europe and shows, to a certain extent, that the health challenges are lifestyle related. Therefore by more  people making different personal choices Europe can significantly improve its health.

The Lake Foundation specifically encourages the black community to make these changes as we are more likely to develop conditions like high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes which can be prevented by being more active and eating a healthy diet.

For more information you can read WHO’s report here