Stand The Mail on Sunday September 1 • 2019THERE’S no point in going for a
stroll after a big meal – it’s no
more beneficial than slumping in
front of the TV. Bonn University
researchers asked 26 men and
women to scoff high-fat pizza and
chips, and either go for a 30-
minute walk or put their feet up.
They then tested their levels of
triglycerides – blood fats that
increase the risk of heart disease- and blood sugar readings.
Surprisingly, the results
showed little or no difference in
blood fat or sugar levels between
the two groups.
Walking off a
heavy meal?
Don’t bother
INNER-CITY air pollution is being tackled with an
unlikely new remedy – moss-covered bus stops. About
50 shelters and walls covered in moss, known as City
Trees, have so far been installed in European cities in an
effort to filter out pollutants linked to potentially deadly
heart and lung problems. Moss is thought to be the
perfect pollution-buster as it absorbs minerals through its
leaves rather than its roots. This means it also traps toxic
particles that might otherwise be inhaled by passers-by.Bus route to clean air
NEARLY one in 20 parents has tried to
banish their children’s head lice by burning
the creatures with hair straighteners.
Others have rubbed mayonnaise or
garlic oil into youngsters’ heads, or else
completely shaved off their hair.
In a poll of 1,000 parents with children
aged between five and 12, more than a third
had kept youngsters off school because of
the embarrassing problem, and most still
wrongly believed that nits could be caught
by sharing combs, hats or bedding.
Dr Ian Burgess, head of the Medical
Entomology Centre in Cambridge, says:
‘Lice have nothing to do with hygiene and
live on all types of hair. Girls get more as
they tend to play more closely together.’How NOT to tackle
nits – fry them with
hair straighteners
A lukewarm blast
of water to ease the
pain of bowel ops
T
HE prospect of having
a camera inserted
into the bowel to check
for a range of condi-
tions including cancer
can make even the
bravest of souls shudder.
Yet thousands of Britons must
face this painful procedure, called
a colonoscopy, every day.
But now patients are being
offered a pain-free alternative
which even allows them to return
to work immediately.
During a colonoscopy, a flexible
tube with a tiny camera attached
is inserted into the back passage
and moved up to the bowel. The pro-
cedure is used to diagnose a range
of conditions from bowel cancer
to coeliac disease and Crohn’s.
Previously, doctors pumped 40
litres of air into the large bowel –
also called the colon – to create
space for the tube and to allow a
better view of the area. But the
air causes the colon to stretch
outwards and double in length,
which can be agonising.
Pockets of air can get trapped
in folds of tissue, putting pressure
on the abdomen. The procedure
can also cause muscle spasms –
and most people feel unsteady for
at least 24 hours afterwards.
Under the new method, doctors
fill the colon with lukewarm water,
which expands it in a more con-
trolled way and at a much gentler
rate. Unlike air, which is hard to
control and fills all parts of the
colon, water widens the space only
slightly, reducing the pressure.
The lukewarm water also relaxes
the muscles, preventing spasms
commonly experienced by patients.
The so-called underwater colonos-
copy is currently being used by
NHS surgeons to detect and remove
abnormal growths in the bowel
known as polyps.
According to a study by the
renowned Mayo Clinic in the United
States, the odds of detecting these
growths are 81 per cent higher
when using water instead of air.
In part this is because water cleans
the surface of the colon and causes
the mushroom-like growths to float,
making them easier to find.
Professor Sauid Ishaq, a gastro-
enterologist at Russells Hall Hos-
pital in Dudley, West Midlands,
has carried out the water-aided pro-
cedure on more than 1,000 NHS
patients over the past five years.
‘A lot of people feel anxious about
having a colonoscopy and some
patients experience severe pain,’
he says. ‘But with the underwater
colonoscopy, they don’t usually
need sedation and can jump out
of bed almost immediately after-wards.’ Bowel polyps will affect
about one in four people at
some point in their lives and are
most common in people over the
age of 60.
Most polyps are harmless, but if
untreated, some can become
cancerous. Doctors believe many
bowel cancers develop from a
certain type of polyps called
adenomas. As a result, it is rec-
ommended that all growths are
removed to reduce the risk of the
disease developing.
The night before an underwater
colonoscopy, patients must take a
laxative to clear their bowel.
In hospital, they lie on their side
on an examination bed, so that the
colonoscope can be inserted.
The tube contains a camera so
that the doctor can navigate the
bowel and check for polyps, as
well as a water jet, which is con-
trolled using a foot pump.
During the procedure, which lastsCOLONOSCOPE INSERTED
A 1cm-wide tube is
inserted into the colon3
4
2
1
Water is pumped into the
colon to gently inflate itUsing the built-in camera,
abnormal growths are locatedA wire loop is passed through
the tube, placed around the
growth and heated up to sever itHEATED WIRE LOOP
CAMERA
COLONOSCOPE
POLYP
WATER
FILLED
COLONWATER JET
(^54) Health
HEAltH notEs
PUTTING off fatherhood could be good for a man’s
health, new research shows. Researchers found
that men who become dads in their late 30s or older
tend to be in better shape in middle age than those who
have children in their teens or 20s.
Experts at the London School of Economics tracked
two groups of fathers to see how parenthood at different
ages affected their long-term health.
Those who became dads before they reached 20 were
the least healthy by their early 40s. The healthiest
were men who had their first child after the age of 35.
By Roger Dobson
and Sally Wardle
about 40 minutes, a constant flow
of water is pumped into the colon.
This allows the scope to be moved
painlessly along its length and
means the doctor can check thor-
oughly for abnormal growths.
If a polyp is spotted, a wire loop
is passed through the scope and out
of the tip of the instrument.
The doctor hovers the tool over
the growth – like a lasso – and
squeezes the handle of the scope to
tighten the loop around the polyp.
An electric current is passed
through the wire to generate heat
and sever the growth. The remains
are then passed back down through
the scope and sucked out or caught
with a net.
The use of water helps them to
float upwards, making them easier
to find and remove.
Dermot Kilmurray, 67, from
Kingswinford in the West Mid-
lands, suffered agonising pain
when he underwent a conventional
colonoscopy using air four years
ago, following an abnormal bowel
screening result.
‘It felt like my insides were going
to explode,’ he said. ‘It was an
intense pain which made me
scream out.’
He has since had two underwater
colonoscopies and says: ‘They
were absolutely trouble-free, pain-
free and comfortable – I had no
issues at all.
‘With the first one I had to rest
at home for several hours after-
wards. But about 15 minutes after
the second procedure, I felt like
my usual self and went straight
back to doing my jobs.’
Dudley Group Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust is believed to be
one of the only places in the UK
routinely offering the treatment.
‘It is a cutting-edge treatment,
available at only a few centres
worldwide,’ Prof Ishaq says. ‘But
interest is growing rapidly.’
HEAltH HACKs
A quick sniff of jasmine air
freshener could help banish
chocolate cravings. A study
at Flinders University in
Adelaide found that the
plant acted as a powerful
deterrent to volunteers
hankering after a treat.
A group of 67 students was
asked to look at pictures of
chocolates or chocolate
cake and rate their desire to
eat them on a scale of one
to ten. But before doing so,
they sniffed either green
apple, jasmine or water.
The results, reported in the
journal Appetite, found the
smell of jasmine significantly
cut cravings but apples and
water had no effect. It is
believed jasmine’s ‘clean’
aroma interrupts the brain’s
desire to eat sweet treats.
wHAt’s tHE
diffEREnCE...
... between tonsils
and adenoids?
Tonsils and adenoids are
both in the throat and are
part of the body’s immune
system. They produce
antibodies that kill bacteria
and viruses entering the
mouth or nose. The tonsils
are the round lumps on each
side of the back of the throat
and are easy to spot. The
adenoids are located where
the throat meets the back of
the nose. As children get
older and rely less on the
adenoids and tonsils to
fight infections, they usually
shrink. If they cause
problems by frequently
becoming enlarged, they
may need to be removed.
Weighted
Blanket
This hypo-
allergenic
weighted
blanket spreads
pressure evenly
over the body
to help you
nod off
peacefully
to sleep. It is
said to give
the sensation
of a warm,
comforting cuddle.
gravityblankets.co.uk, £149
YES
please
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