Leamington and Warwick Living Jan - Feb 2021
Our first issue of 2021 - we are celebrating the good things COVID has brought - an appreciation of local businesses, a better sense of community, and more time to work on our homes. We have a real-life room transformation, plus the usual dose of recipes and interviews.
Our first issue of 2021 - we are celebrating the good things COVID has brought - an appreciation of local businesses, a better sense of community, and more time to work on our homes. We have a real-life room transformation, plus the usual dose of recipes and interviews.
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we have to be patient. We are in a society<br />
that is used to having instant gratification<br />
<strong>and</strong> if we want something, we want it now,<br />
unfortunately we can’t do that. The National<br />
Health Service is distracted by the worst<br />
global p<strong>and</strong>emic for over 100 years with<br />
very serious repercussions <strong>and</strong> we have to<br />
be grateful for what we have, make some<br />
adjustments, be patient <strong>and</strong> get through<br />
this by helping each other out as much as<br />
possible as well as looking after ourselves.<br />
It is quite scary <strong>and</strong> most of us are on<br />
tenterhooks with what’s going on <strong>and</strong><br />
naturally if you go back to April when<br />
the weather was lovely <strong>and</strong> warm, but<br />
now rain, cold snap, bit of wind <strong>and</strong><br />
the dark days it’s rather gloomy so is<br />
this a concern with you in the medical<br />
profession?<br />
Of course, <strong>and</strong> people are feeling down<br />
<strong>and</strong> tend to, get Seasonal Affective<br />
Disorder in the Winter anyway with the dark<br />
days <strong>and</strong> not much daylight “What is there<br />
to look forward to?” people might say.<br />
Mental Health Charities are being kept very<br />
busy, much more so though than in the last<br />
few years. It’s always been a challenge, but<br />
I think a lot of people are feeling particularly<br />
anxious even if they weren’t before or more<br />
anxious if they were before <strong>and</strong> feeling<br />
depressed, not sleeping very well. I think<br />
we have to be able to manage we have<br />
to be able to give people the support so<br />
they can reach out to mental health apps,<br />
counsellors, doctors <strong>and</strong> just talking to<br />
friends <strong>and</strong> family about our concerns<br />
as I think everybody has this degree of<br />
apprehension at the moment but that’s<br />
normal it’s a sort of protective mechanism<br />
but if we can share our fears <strong>and</strong> concerns<br />
that really helps.<br />
It’s worrying on so many levels for<br />
instance whether you are an employee<br />
<strong>and</strong> people you have worked around for<br />
years are being made redundant or the<br />
business you are working in is at threat,<br />
it’s going to make people very jittery<br />
<strong>and</strong> it really brings it home <strong>and</strong> makes it<br />
difficult for most of us <strong>and</strong> knowing how<br />
to keep above it?<br />
I think it’s choosing the things we can do<br />
despite it being Winter, we can still exercise<br />
as much as possible in daylight hours, we<br />
can cheer ourselves up with a good book,<br />
a good film or some uplifting music. We<br />
can talk to the people that we trust <strong>and</strong> we<br />
love, so there are many things that we can<br />
still do, there are some things we can’t do<br />
but there are still plenty that we can do <strong>and</strong><br />
we need to hang onto those <strong>and</strong> spend as<br />
much time enjoying life as we possibly can.<br />
What’s concerning, <strong>and</strong> I have heard<br />
this from a lot of people is that they are<br />
worried about Christmas, worried about<br />
their families <strong>and</strong> the whole thing moving<br />
forward is unsettling. Christmas time<br />
is usually when we can see <strong>and</strong> spend<br />
time with our elderly relatives, <strong>and</strong> you<br />
would maybe notice any problems or if<br />
something is developing that you could<br />
help with?<br />
I suppose it’s the time of the year that<br />
26 | www.leamingtonspaliving.co.uk<br />
families get together after a long busy<br />
year so the thought of having to forego<br />
that is distressing for a lot of people but<br />
at the same time we don’t know where<br />
we are going to be in a couple of months’<br />
time. I think for me as a doctor health<br />
is paramount <strong>and</strong> we need to protect<br />
our elderly <strong>and</strong> people with pre-existing<br />
conditions but there are ways of connecting<br />
<strong>and</strong> communicating which are safer than<br />
others. If we care for our parents, then we<br />
are already caring for them however if we<br />
are in different households <strong>and</strong> there’s any<br />
risk of transmitting the virus then talk on<br />
the phone or online. It may be that we just<br />
have to wait a little longer <strong>and</strong> have what we<br />
would normally have at Christmas a couple<br />
of months later.<br />
Do you have faith in a vaccine being<br />
beneficial?<br />
Yes I think it’s likely that amongst all the<br />
hundreds of vaccines that are being worked<br />
on at the moment that we will have several<br />
that have a good protective effect it may be<br />
that we have to use a combination or use<br />
a combination several times a year. There<br />
are some very clever people working on this<br />
<strong>and</strong> we have created vaccines against all<br />
sorts of diseases that we couldn’t master<br />
before like meningococcal meningitis C <strong>and</strong><br />
A <strong>and</strong> respiratory in situ virus in children. We<br />
are developing vaccines all the time which<br />
are effective <strong>and</strong> safe, <strong>and</strong> I do have faith<br />
that a vaccine would be the answer.<br />
With the measles jab, people stopped<br />
having it done <strong>and</strong> am I right in saying<br />
that rose again <strong>and</strong> more children were<br />
getting measles <strong>and</strong> it’s a very serious<br />
illness in children?<br />
Yes, before we had a measles vaccination<br />
hundreds of children died of complications<br />
of measles <strong>and</strong> of rubella <strong>and</strong> occasionally<br />
mumps so MMR has saved thous<strong>and</strong>s of<br />
lives <strong>and</strong> whilst people were worried by a<br />
study from one just man that was dismissed<br />
the coverage for a vaccine is back up to<br />
where it was before, thank goodness.<br />
People have forgotten that a hundred years<br />
ago 1 in 4 children died before their 5th<br />
birthday of disease.<br />
We mentioned the care for our elderly<br />
relatives <strong>and</strong> I think it’s an opportunity<br />
when we don’t see them from year to year<br />
to see how they are getting on <strong>and</strong> we<br />
might as the middle aged children of elderly<br />
parents recognise changes in them that<br />
have been gradual that nobody else has<br />
noticed. We might find for example that<br />
their cognitive function is a bit slower, that<br />
their concentration is less, <strong>and</strong> they can’t<br />
find the words that they were looking for.<br />
They might be forgetful or hard of hearing. If<br />
they can’t hear you on the phone or online,<br />
then they are going to miss out on activity.<br />
We know that loss of hearing is the leading<br />
preventative cause of dementia. If we can<br />
correct peoples hearing, then they are less<br />
likely to develop dementia.<br />
34% of people aren’t aware that there are<br />
things that you can do to prevent or delay<br />
the onset of Dementia <strong>and</strong> top of the list is<br />
making sure that people can hear well. If<br />
people have a mild hearing loss it doubles<br />
their Dementia risk but if they have a severe<br />
hearing impairment the risk is 5 times that of<br />
someone that can hear normally. Checking<br />
on the elderly checking their hearing making<br />
sure their vision is good, making sure they<br />
are not too isolated, eating & drinking<br />
properly <strong>and</strong> keeping their mind busy<br />
with crosswords, books that sort of thing<br />
physical activity all of these things help.<br />
These are things you can discuss on the<br />
phone <strong>and</strong> you can encourage people to<br />
get their hearing checked for example.<br />
So if somebody does have bad hearing can<br />
a specialist visit them at home or do, we<br />
have to take them to a specialist?<br />
There are NHS services but they are very<br />
much under strain at the moment but there<br />
are some good high street outlets such<br />
as Hidden Hearing where you can go <strong>and</strong><br />
have a free hearing test. You will be given<br />
advice about what level of hearing loss if<br />
any you have <strong>and</strong> what could be done. It<br />
may just be something simple such as wax<br />
removal is needed but it could be a degree<br />
of hearing loss caused by increasing age<br />
that could be corrected with a hearing<br />
aid. This can change people’s lives almost<br />
overnight <strong>and</strong> can have a dramatic effect.<br />
It reconnects them with the world, they can<br />
underst<strong>and</strong> conversation, share jokes, they<br />
can socialise. It makes a huge difference<br />
<strong>and</strong> that means no more isolation or<br />
depression <strong>and</strong> happiness again.<br />
Finally, everybody has different things<br />
that they have missed since this has all<br />
happened. What have you missed most<br />
during this difficult year?<br />
I’ve got 5 children, 3 gr<strong>and</strong>children <strong>and</strong> an<br />
elderly mother whom I look after. I would<br />
love to invite my children round or go to<br />
stay with them, but I haven’t been able to as<br />
it’s just too risky, I don’t want to put them at<br />
risk <strong>and</strong> vice versa. We speak on the phone<br />
a lot <strong>and</strong> I miss them terribly, but I look<br />
forward to the time when we can all meet<br />
up again.<br />
The interview took place before we<br />
had the news that a vaccine had been<br />
approved, <strong>and</strong> until fully implemented<br />
everyone should continue following the<br />
Government’s advice. Go to www.gov.uk<br />
for more information.