'Sunbed tans are addictive warn researchers'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8625840.stm

The link above refers to a BBC news story about 'Tanorexia' - people who are addicted to sun beds and sun lamps.  The story comes from a study conducted by researchers in the US that have found that 'around a third of people who use sunbeds may become addicted to the tanning effects'.

Valid piece of research or lacking in scientific merit?... you decide...

Recovery and the London Marathon - anything is possible if you get the right help.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/suffolk/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8611000/8611987.stm

Chris Hibble is a 37 year old man in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, after receiving professional support on a rehabilitation programme Chris is now gearing up to run the London Marathon.

"It was a lot harder to battle with drugs than it is to run a marathon," said Chris, who's training for the big event in the capital on 25 April.

"Chris's addiction story started when he was 11 years old and had his first drink. By the age of 16 he'd tried his first drugs.   He took them socially as part of the rave scene and tried everything, including ecstasy and heroin, although he says alcohol was the drug that eventually got him.

"It spiralled out of control. I enjoyed drinking and taking drugs when I first started and before long I didn't have the ability to stop by myself.   I was forever losing jobs, being in A&E and in trouble with the police.  It caused devastation and misery and pain to everyone that I was really close to - my family and friends."

He's now self-employed as a painter and decorator and has a wife and two children.

"It came to a point where I could no longer function with or without them, contemplated taking my life and decided to get some help."

In 2006 Chris did just that and turned his life around to live free from the constraints of his addiction and choose the direction he wants his life to go in....

'Sensible drinking' advice for the injured...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8599878.stm

The above link is to a BBC news story written in regard to hospital staff providing sensible drinking advice to patients coming back for follow up appointments after treatment for an alcohol related injury.  The Royal College of Surgeons of England suggest that outpatient clinic visits offer an opportunity for nurses to motivate people to drink sensibly and to offer advice about alcohol services should their patients require additional support.

"Janet Davies, from the Royal College of Nursing, said that it had recently accredited a training course to help nurses intervene at the right moment.   She said: "The time nurses spend with patients during follow-up appointments provides a valuable window of opportunity to encourage people to think about whether they might be drinking too much and to signpost them to further information and advice."

Do you think that this step will help reduce the number of alcohol related A&E hospital admissions?