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While almost all the previous Life Esidimeni psychiatric patients have been transferred from the NGOs in Gauteng back into hospital, the psychiatric structure in South Africa is falling apart, a group of doctors are warning.
The South African Society for Psychiatrists (SASOP) says 150 days after the Health Ombudsman released his damning report in February, many hospitals are still understaffed with few resources.
“The SA healthcare system is totally fragmented and broken. Esidimeni was just the tip of the iceberg,” Prof Bernard Janse van Rensburg, president of SASOP told Health24.
Earlier this year, Health ombudsman Prof Malegapuru Makgoba said the death toll of mentally ill patients who were transferred from Life Esidimeni to 27 NGOs will continue to rise, and is now above 100.
“The Health Ombud’s report recommended some action to be completed within 45 days, yet 150 days later, it is glaringly apparent that the general poor access to both physical and mental health care at community level remains unaddressed, and no comprehensive remedial strategy has yet been tabled in Gauteng, or elsewhere. Our own report now serves as a second call for action to be taken.”
Critical findings
Some of the most concerning findings from their report include:
“The health system still does not cater adequately for the thousands of people who continue to live with mental illness within the community,” says Janse van Rensburg.
‘Solution is simple’
According to Prof Janse van Rensburg, SASOP continually engages with government, but there is no will to see the seriousness of the situation.
“Their priorities are wrong and the sector is seriously underfunded. We will never have enough psychiatrists and psychologists, but we need better care at community level.
“We are not asking for high-tech equipment; all we need are well-trained multidisciplinary teams. The solution is quite simple.”
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Many people struggle with the disfiguring effects of eczema, and it has even been linked to heart disease – but there is some good news.
A new study found no association between higher risk of cardiovascular disease and atopic dermatitis.
According to the South African National Eczema Association (SANEA), dermatitis, also called eczema, refers to superficial, itchy skin inflammation. Acute lesions are red and swollen. Blisters may form which, on breakage, leak fluid leading to the formation of crusts.
A previous Health24 article, advises the following steps for the treatment of eczema:
Difference at molecular level
The authors of the new study analysed the medical records of nearly 260 000 Canadians between the ages of 30 and 74.
They found that the 7% with atopic dermatitis “were not at any increased risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart attacks or strokes,” said lead author Dr Aaron Drucker. He’s an assistant professor of dermatology at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
The study could not determine whether there might be a link between eczema severity and heart disease, Drucker said in a university news release. He added that he is now researching that.
The possibility that eczema and heart disease may be connected probably stems from a better-supported link between the skin disease psoraisis and heart disease, Drucker said.
While eczema and psoriasis are similar in some ways, they are different at the molecular level, which may be why only one appears to be linked to heart disease, he added.
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Worldwide, alcohol is the most popular drug, and while it is often associated with partying and having a good time, excessive use can lead to disease and even death.
Alcoholism or alcohol dependence is a disease that involves physical and psychological dependence or addiction to the drug alcohol. It is chronic, progressive and often fatal.
SA above world average
South African adult per capita alcohol consumption (ACP) in 2005 equalled 9.5 litres of pure alcohol. APC in South Africa is well above the world average of 6.13.
The more you booze it up, the more your cells age, increasing your risk for age-related health problems like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia, a new study suggests
Researchers studied 134 alcoholics between the ages of 41 and 85 and a control group of people in the same age group who weren’t alcoholics.
DNA samples revealed that the alcoholics had shortened telomeres.
“Telomeres, the protein caps on the ends of human chromosomes, are markers of ageing and overall health,” said study leader Dr Naruhisa Yamaki, a clinical fellow at the Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan.
Faster biological ageing
Every time a cell replicates, a tiny bit of telomere is lost, so they get shorter with age. As time passes, that leaves chromosomes less protected so cells may be unable to function properly. But some people have shorter telomeres for reasons other than ageing.
“Our study showed that alcoholic patients have a shortened telomere length, which means that heavy drinking causes biological ageing at a cellular level,” Yamaki said.
He added that it’s important for people to understand that heavy drinking causes telomere shortening, because “awareness of this fact provides important information necessary for people to live healthier.”
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Around the age of 30 it is not uncommon for both men and women to experience a strong physical and emotional desire to have a child.
Most couples have no trouble conceiving, but in many countries infertility is on the increase.
Couples struggling to conceive may be pleased to know that, according to a recent finding, certain genes linked to heart disease may also improve your chances of having children.
Australian researchers said the findings seem to offer a potential explanation for why evolution has allowed these genes to persist for centuries.
While lifestyle is clearly important in heart disease risk, scientists have found many genes also influence those odds.
Heart disease in ancient times
“Genes play a very important role in coronary artery disease risk across an individual’s lifetime,” said study author Sean Byars, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne. In fact, it’s estimated that genes account for about 50% of the risk.
Heart disease is a major killer worldwide, and it has long plagued humanity. Scientists have found evidence of clogged arteries in Egyptian mummies, Byars and his colleagues pointed out.
The researchers said that raises a fundamental question: Why haven’t the genes that promote heart disease been weeded out by natural selection?
Natural selection is the process by which organisms – including humans – evolve to have better survival odds.
Heart disease and fertility
The new study suggests one answer: Byars’ team found that a few dozen genes tied to heart disease might also contribute to people’s “reproductive success”.
Since heart disease usually strikes later in life, after people have had their kids, it would be a reasonable trade-off for better fertility – at least in terms of survival of the species.
The findings, published online in the journal PLOS Genetics, do not have any immediate implications for managing heart disease or fertility, Byars said.
Lifestyle changes
Heart disease is, of course, a complex condition that involves many different factors. Even if Mother Nature insists that humans carry heart-disease genes, there is still plenty that people can do about it, according to Dr Robert Rosenson.
Rosenson, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, pointed to the example of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).
FH is an inherited disorder caused by a single genetic defect, and it leads to very high “bad” cholesterol levels and a substantial risk of premature heart disease.
But even with those genetic cards stacked against them, Rosenson said, people with FH can prevent or delay heart complications – by taking cholesterol medication, exercising regularly, not smoking and eating a healthy diet.
Hope for the future
“Even if you have a disease-causing genetic trait, lifestyle absolutely makes a difference,” Rosenson said.
Genes, he explained, may help explain why one person responds well to a cholesterol-lowering statin, while someone else “gains weight and develops diabetes”, for example.
“Someone might develop a drug side effect simply because they’ve inherited a trait that interferes with a drug-elimination pathway,” Rosenson said.
The hope for the future, he said, is to use genetic information to help predict which treatments will likely benefit an individual patient.
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