Healthcare Blog

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  Vaccinations: Protecting your health on your travels

  Looking forward to a holiday? Remember, there’s another important consideration other than sun, sea and sand, and that’s travel vaccinations. In the UK, the childhood vaccination programme protects you against a number of diseases, but it doesn’t protect you against travel-related infections such as yellow fever, typhoid and hepatitis A. So if you are travelling […]

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  Confidential Smear Test Edinburgh

  The Facts of Cervical Cancer Every day in the UK, 9 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer 3 women lose their lives to the disease every day Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women aged 35 75% of cervical cancers are prevented by cervical screening (aka, smear tests) Approximately 25% of women do […]

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  Diabetes is on the rise: How do you know if you have it?

  The number of people living with diabetes in the UK is now estimated to be more than 4 million and it’s thought that almost 600,000 people have the condition but don’t know it. So how would you know if you have diabetes? And if you do have it, how do you treat it? Before we […]

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  Quit smoking on World No Tobacco Day

  31 May is World No Tobacco Day – an initiative hosted by the World Health Organisation that encourages people to stop smoking. Tobacco kills up to half of its users – worldwide, smoking is responsible for around 6 million deaths each year and has been linked to cancer, lung disease, coronary heart disease, heart attack, […]

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  Be sun safe this summer

  Summer is here and many of us can’t wait to spend time relaxing in the sun.  However, while we all crave the healthy looking glow (and recommended intake of Vitamin D!) that comes with enjoying the sunshine, sunburn increases the risk of skin cancer at every age, so it’s important to stay safe. Common sense sun […]

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  Mental Health Awareness Week

  May 14 – 20 is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK – a national campaign that aims to raise awareness and break down stigmas associated with mental health.  Since the first awareness week was held in 2000, the Mental Health Foundation has helped raise awareness and generate debate about a range of issues, encouraging […]

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  Vaccinations take the stress out of travel

  There’s few more rewarding experiences than exploring the world and going travelling, whether for a few weeks or a few months. But preparing to visit the four corners of the earth is about so much more than packing the right flip flops; if you’re planning for serious travel you need to ensure you’re protected from […]

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  Malaria – know the risks before you travel

  Malaria is a serious tropical disease spread mostly by mosquitoes. If it isn’t diagnosed and treated quickly it can be fatal. A single mosquito bite is all it takes for someone to become infected, which is why it’s important to be aware of the symptoms of malaria if you’re travelling to areas where there’s any risk of the disease. The […]

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  Tackling stubborn cold sores

  Cold sores are the painful and annoying blisters caused by the herpes simplex virus that form on and around the lips and mouth.  If you suffer from cold sores you’re not alone – around six in ten people carry the virus, many without knowing they have it.   There’s no singular known trigger, however common […]

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  Protection from the pain of shingles

  If, like 90% of adults, you had chickenpox as a child, you are at risk of developing shingles, an infection of a nerve and the skin around it, most simply described as the reactivation of the chickenpox virus. The virus, herpes varicella-zoster, remains dormant in the body after you’ve recovered from chicken pox and can reactivate. […]