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** 21 February 2022
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** UK
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** University Hospitals Dorset introduces new stop-smoking team (#1)
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** NHS severs links with GambleAware over industry connection concerns (#2)
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** International
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** Study: Information on cardiovascular disease risk motivates lifestyle changes (#3)
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** UK
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** A new team has been introduced at University Hospitals Dorset to support inpatients and staff to stop smoking. The team consists of a specialist acute nurse, advisor, and mental health nurse, supported by three healthcare assistants.
Their role is to identify patients who might benefit from professional support beyond that which ward staff may be able to offer. This includes everything from prescribing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for free while in hospital, to offering behavioural support, information and guidance on ways to quit and lead healthier lives after leaving hospital.
In support of this new initiative, Alex Szymanska, a tobacco dependency nurse specialist from Royal Bournemouth hospitals said, “Smoking costs the NHS billions, through treating the health conditions caused by smoking, the complications that arise and longer hospital stays.”
“People who smoke also tend to need higher levels of medication and take longer to recover post-surgery. Our goal is for patients to be supported and abstinent while in hospital, and to take this new, much healthier lifestyle with them when they leave.”
Source: Bournemouth Echo, 19 February 2022
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The NHS has severed its links with the charity GambleAware due to concerns over its connections to the gambling industry. Announcing two new clinics to deal with record demand for gambling addiction services in England, the mental health director of the NHS, Claire Murdoch, decried the “predatory tactics” of gambling companies.
The decision comes as the health service begins to distance itself from an industry that officials believe is causing serious damage to the nation’s mental health.
According to NHS England figures, 668 people suffering with severe addiction issues were referred to gambling clinics between April and December last year, a 16.2% increase on the 575 referrals made during the same period in 2020.
“Gambling addiction is a cruel mental health condition that can devastate people’s lives,” Murdoch said. “It is also absolutely right that the NHS now funds these clinics independently, recognising the harmful effects this addiction can have, and that predatory tactics from gambling companies are part of the problem, not the solution.”
GambleAware, which describes itself as “an independent, grant-making charity commissioning prevention and treatment services” is funded almost entirely by donations from the gambling industry.
Source: The Guardian, 19 Feb 2022
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** International
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** A new study conducted by the University of Helsinki has revealed that information on genetic risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) can motivate individuals to improve their overall health. Approximately 5000 Finnish adults completed the GeneRISK study which used an interactive web-based platform called, ‘KardioKompassi’, to calculate each user’s personal 10-year risk of developing CVD and explore how lifestyle changes, such as smoking cessation and weight loss, may reduce their overall risk level.
9 out of 10 participants said that the information they received motivated them to improve their overall health for up to 18 months following the study. A significant proportion of the participants with high CVD risk took action to reduce their risk during the follow-up. This included losing weight, giving up smoking, visiting a doctor or participating in online health couching.
Source: Medical Xpress, 18 February 2022
Widén E et al. How Communicating Polygenic and Clinical Risk for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Impacts Health Behavior: an Observational Follow-up Study ([link removed]) . Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine. 2021 Apr 30:CIRCGEN-121.
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