IOW News

Reliable, relevant, accurate and easy to read information on the internet – is there such a thing? Yes, there is, but it is not always easy to find! Some sources look legitimate, but may not be. The NHS App and website are key sources of information you can trust about health & wellbeing. For locally produced information, try this website which has been developed by NHS Dietitians in Somerset. There are webinars providing information on some health conditions, mainly related to nutrition. Patient Webinars | Access to reliable nutrition information. Also I have recently found this source of reliable information…

Friendship and friendliness It was the International Day of Friendship a short while ago – a day dedicated to promoting friendship and fostering understanding between people, cultures, and countries. It was a reminder that through friendship we can create a more compassionate and united world. At an individual level too, we know that friendship is good for our own health. A recently published study by Pezirkianidis and colleagues, pulling together evidence published in peer reviewed academic journals, confirmed that adult friendship was found to predict, or at least be positively correlated with, wellbeing (link:  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36760434/). In particular, friendship is a crucial…

July is THE month to be ‘aware’! If we were ‘aware’ of all the ‘awareness days’ in July, we would not have time for anything else! They are numerous! Did you know there is a ‘Love all Budgies Day’ on 1st July? What about ‘International Bikini Day’ on the 5th and ‘Don’t Step on a Bee Day’ on the 10th! I particularly like ‘Lipstick Day’ on the 29th! Here is one we all need to be aware of – ‘International Kissing Day’ on the 6th. But I am being frivolous! There are many awareness days which would be good to…

Let’s find out how our bodies work! We are such complicated beings! Our mind, body, emotions are all inextricably linked together to create who we are. We have so much in common, but we are all so different – each of us is unique. For most of us, for most of the time we function well, or well enough! But sometimes things go wrong and this is when we want to be fixed! There are many different ‘fixes’ and each one has been researched, tried and tested. We can help with this research, so we can help more people find…

Wedmore News May 2025 Dementia Action Week: 19th - 25th May You may have noticed that our themes often relate to an ‘action’ week and this month it does too. Knowing a person with dementia or being a person with dementia is familiar to many of us.  Hearing that diagnosis can be very daunting, but the support available has improved so much in recent years – it’s by no means perfect, but it’s improving all the time.  According to the Alzheimer’s Society, 91% of people affected by dementia say there are benefits to getting a diagnosis. Perhaps it’s worth clarifying…

Wedmore News April 2025 Health awareness themes for April ‘They say knowledge is power, so this April we’re asking everyone to share important information about bowel cancer’. This is the introduction to Bowel Cancer UK’s website page. Axbridge & Wedmore Medical Practice have asked me to include this topic in this month’s item on health & wellbeing – to share important information with you.  Bowel Cancer | Bowel Cancer UK  According to Bowel Research UK ‘more than 42,000 people annually are diagnosed with bowel cancer and it is the 2nd most prevalent cancer that affects both men and women’. I expect many of…

Wedmore News March 2025 Giving to others feels good! We all appreciate help from other people when we need it, but also it is well recognised that it is good for our wellbeing to do some giving! In Wedmore we have many opportunities to do some ‘giving’. Take a look in your new Directory, section 4 and you will find lots to choose from. For example, you could help St Mary’s as a ‘community centre’, or support local projects with Cheddar Vale Lions Club, or be a volunteer with Good Neighbours or help make Wedmore look beautiful with Wedmore in…

Winter Warming! Even though we are told the world is warming, I am pretty sure it will be cold in February! If you are like me, you will find being cold an unpleasant sensation and to be avoided as far as possible! It is good to keep warm, not just because it feels nice, but also because it is good for our health. Rupa Joshi, Deputy Medical Director for NHS England – South West and a GP, has written in her blog about the bad effects of cold weather on our health and how to minimise these effects.  Click here…

A New Year boost for our Health & Wellbeing! By the end of this month every household should have received their own copy of the Wedmore Directory of Health & Wellbeing. This is our guide to all the local organisations and people who can help to boost that feel-good factor in our lives. There is good evidence that striving towards these ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ can have definite health benefits too, eg, ‘keeping moving’ can lower the risk of a number of significant diseases, for example, coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression and dementia. Details can be found…