Senin, 30 April 2012

Overweight women 'lose out in the hunt for jobs' and once employed are lower paid

Overweight women 'lose out in the hunt for jobs' and once employed are lower paid

  • Researchers say 'fat discrimination' is widespread in the workplace
  • Many bosses assume overweight staff are lazy of gluttons

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 19:22 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 19:22 EST, 30 April 2012


Fat discrimination: Many bosses assuming overweight staff are lazy

Fat discrimination: Many bosses assuming overweight staff are lazy

Overweight women are far less likely to be selected for jobs than slimmer rivals, claim scientists.

And, once employed, they tend to be lower paid and given more menial tasks.

The researchers say ‘fat discrimination’ is widespread in the workplace, with many bosses assuming overweight staff are lazy or gluttons.

Scientists at the University of Manchester and Australia’s Monash University asked 102 students to look at the CVs and photos of what they thought were 12 different women.

In fact, it was six women with the photos taken before and after weight-loss surgery.

The students were asked to rate the candidates on their leadership potential, whether they would be likely to select them for a job and what sort of starting salary they would offer.

They were also asked to rank them in terms of how successful they thought they would be.

The findings, published in the International Journal of Obesity, show that the overweight candidates were overall rated far lower than those who were slimmer.

Missing out: Job opportunities are more likely to go to slimmer rivals

Missing out: Job opportunities are more likely to go to slimmer rivals

The students awarded them lower salaries and predicted that they would be far less successful within the company.

Lead researcher Kerry O’Brien, from Monash University, said: ‘Our findings show that there is a clear need to address obesity discrimination, particularly against females who tend to bear the brunt of anti-fat prejudice.’

Dr O’Brien said the prejudices were in part a reflection of how people felt about themselves.

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

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In the workplace, the advantage of being goodlooking will always place you above a non-goodlooking candidate with equal qualifications and experience. That goes for men and women. Employers are responding in exactly the same way the rest of us do when we interest ourselves in useless celebrities whose good looks are the only thing that raises them above the level of a bath sponge with legs. It's not fair, but is what it is. So fat people had better just get to grips with it and do something about themselves.

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As someone who would have to pay for that person's healthcare (via insurance premiums etc) I would hire the person who was A) qualified and B) didn't look like a walking heart attck.

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I've been fat, skinny, in between. I'm currently thin. but I never say never anymore. I feel better about myself thin...BUT i was always a good employee, no matter where I worked. I used to and still do, run rings around others in my field earning the same, etc. BUT I am also judgemental. MY mom is in ICU and has been for a while now. I see the Nurse changes, I watch..because I'm there every waking moment I can be, and some sleeping ones. I myself used the term FatA$$ to mention certain RN's. But tonight, the RN is overwt, but she's spot on, wonderful, funny and everything I want for my mom. Earlier I had skinny minny who was an uncaring imbecile. SO i'm guilty of same. Fatti-ness, does not mean slow or lazy. It simply means they are ugly/unattractive and perhaps not very healthy. I have learned something, I will try very hard not to judge.

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And who wants Cheeto stains on the TPS reports. NO ONE!

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Well, DUH! Here is an idea, diet and exercise!

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Well the fat employees sure can't keep up when walking in a group. And Heaven forbid should they drop anything because they can't bend down to pick it up.

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The before-and-after photos were not of exactly the same women. The women in the "after" photos had taken ontrol of their lives. The women in the "before" pictures were out of control.

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Stress levels and smoking: Why your dad's bad habits may have wrecked your genes

Stress levels and smoking: Why your dad's bad habits may have wrecked your genes

By John Naish

PUBLISHED: 20:40 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 20:40 EST, 30 April 2012


For years, scientists and doctors have blamed illnesses on our parents, showing how conditions such as blindness and deafness can be passed down genetically, and bad lifestyle habits can put babies at risk of heart defects.

But medicine is increasingly pointing the finger specifically at fathers, with studies showing how male genes and even men’s diets and stress levels can create serious health problems for their offspring, including diabetes, depression and obesity.

This latest finding is part of a larger picture where scientists are starting to discover diseases passed from man to boy through the Y chromosome

This latest finding is part of a larger picture where scientists are starting to discover diseases passed from man to boy through the Y chromosome

It seems that the Bible warning holds true for health: the sins of the fathers really do plague their children â€" and this effect may pass on to their grandchildren, too.

The latest evidence in this newly emerging jigsaw comes from research that shows a common genetic flaw may increase a son’s risk of heart disease by 50 per cent.

Scientists at Leicester University who analysed samples from more than 3,000 men found that those with a common group of genetic traits (called haplogroup I) had a 50 per cent higher risk of coronary artery disease than men in other genetic groups.

This genetic flaw is at the centre of male genetic identity; it’s carried in the Y chromosome, responsible for determining that babies are born as boys (chromosomes are found in all cells and carry our genetic blueprint) â€" so it’s passed only from fathers to sons.

It is thought that as yet unidentified genetic flaws in men’s immune systems may cause chronic inflammation in their arteries, which can lead to heart disease.

The British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said the findings could lead to new tests and treatments for coronary problems.

And while men can’t change their genes, they could benefit from learning if they have inherited this danger, says research scientist Lisa Bloomer, one of the study’s authors.

Indeed, while there are no tests for this haplogroup yet, if your father and uncles have had heart troubles, it is sensible to assume there is a strong chance you may be affected.

‘You can reduce your risk if you mitigate the effects of other dangers, such as your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels,’ says Ms Bloomer.

This latest finding is part of a larger picture where scientists are starting to discover diseases passed from man to boy through the Y chromosome.

‘It has already been found genes on this chromosome can increase people’s risk of being born with autism and for contracting HIV,’ says Ms Bloomer.

‘We need to do more work to understand how these problems occur.’

Men can pass on addictive behaviours and stress-related depression

Men can pass on addictive behaviours and stress-related depression

Scientists are also learning how the bad effects of men’s lifestyle habits, such as their diet, stress levels, weight and smoking, can be transmitted through the genes in their sperm.

Just as disturbingly, it seems that men can pass on addictive behaviours and stress-related depression.

Here, it is not only sons who are affected but daughters, too, because these problems are passed on through genes that are not on the Y sex chromosome.

Early clues to this have been found by Washington University researchers who studied the sperm of a group of male heroin addicts.

The men’s sperm contained genes that had been changed from normal and would affect the development of any children they had.

These changes are called ‘epigenetic’ â€" alterations to a person’s genes that are caused by their lifestyle habits.

Significantly, the researchers found epigenetic changes that boosted the activity of OPRM1, a g ene that controls how the body responds to its own  heroin-like feel-good hormones.

This change is believed to be a factor in making people more liable to develop addictions.

In a similar fashion, men may transmit stress-related diseases across generations.

Scientists at New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine say lab experiments on rats have found epigenetic changes in the semen of males who show signs of stress and anxiety after being isolated or threatened.

Their studies show that baby rats sired by these fathers show an increased vulnerability to stress, and become anxious and depressed more quickly than normal. They also have higher levels of stress hormones.

This is despite the fact that their mothers showed no such problems, according to the study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

This may offer one explanation as to why depression can run in families.

Even smok ing when very young can affect men’s sperm â€" and surprisingly, this may make their sons prone to becoming overweight.

The discovery was made using survey results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children â€" an investigation into the health of 14,000 mothers and their children in the Bristol area.

It began in 1991 and is the most comprehensive study of its kind.

Professor Marcus Pembrey, a clinical geneticist at the Institute of Child Health in London, found men who smoked before puberty had sons who were fatter by the age of nine, even when other lifestyle factors were taken into account. There was no similar effect among women.

‘It seems that before puberty, our genes are tuned to suit the environment we are living in. It is these genetic changes that are passed down the male line,’ says Professor Pembrey.

Perhaps the most important factor in determining a man’s legacy to his children c omes from his dietary habits.

This takes us into a newly emerging field of science called nutri- epigenomics â€" the study of how food can alter our genes.

‘Rather than “you are what  you eat”, this science shows “you are what your dad ate”,’ says Anne  Ferguson-Smith, professor of developmental genetics at Cambridge University.

She points to research that showed fathers who eat high-fat diets and are obese tend to have daughters with a high risk of developing diabetes.

These girls are born with low insulin levels and glucose intolerance â€" classic signs of the disease.

The research, published in the journal Nature, concluded that the problems seem to be transmitted through the father’s sperm.

Professor Ferguson-Smith warns in the journal Cell Metabolism that these studies show the problem of ill-health being passed from parents to children ‘is not only just maternal territory.
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The father’s nutritional and metabolic status merits attention, too, if we are to optimise the health of his children and grandchildren’.

Parents must understand that having healthy offspring is a joint enterprise if their babies are to inherit healthy genes.

This is most starkly illustrated by a study that found obese mothers produced sons at risk of being morbidly overweight.

These boys grew up to father daughters who, in turn, had an inherited tendency to be perilously overweight.

The Biblical prediction turns out to be more complex than anyone thought: the lifestyle sins of both parents can be visited on their children and are passed on in ways we are only beginning to understand.

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Beast cancer sufferer Gemma Levine: A tot of brandy and a belly laugh

Beast cancer sufferer Gemma Levine: A tot of brandy and a belly laugh

By Charlotte Dovey

PUBLISHED: 19:26 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 19:26 EST, 30 April 2012


There are three short words that can transform your world for ever: ‘You have cancer.’

And when renowned portrait photographer Gemma Levine heard them, she felt poleaxed.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2010, Gemma, 73, who has photographed the likes of Sir John Gielgud and Princess Diana and has more than 20 books to her credit, felt as if she’d been thrown into an unknown and frightening new world.

Gemma Levine has put together a book, Go With The Flow, of her experience with cancer, including advice from experts who have treated her

Gemma Levine has put together a book, Go With The Flow, of her experience with cancer, including advice from experts who have treated her

In particular, she worried about what would happen once her oncologist had done what he could.

As Gemma, who underwent a mastectomy of her right breast, explains: ‘Cancer is so much more than chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

'You are faced with unlimited questions such as what are the side effects? Will I have trained people to turn to and discuss things with at each stage?’

In fact, Gemma encountered an extraordinary legion of specialists en route â€" from the dentist who gave advice on coping with a dry mouth after chemotherapy to the podiatrist who had invaluable advice for sore, cracked feet.

The worry is, of course, that not everyone has access to such experts.

While charities can help â€" Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, for instance â€" NHS help can be patchy. It really depends on your oncologist and your local health trust.

That’s why Gemma has put together a book, Go With The Flow, of her experience, including advice from experts who have treated her.

‘I’ve been very lucky,’ she says. ‘The trauma of cancer is nasty enough, without the additional shock of all the other unknown elements along the way.’

Here, some of those experts share their  advice on how to survive the cancer journey â€" physically and emotionally. All profits from the book’s sale go to Maggie’s Cancer Centres.

BRANDY CAN BOOST YOUR APPETITE

Jane Clarke, dietitian

If you don't feel sick, but just don't want to eat, bizarrely a glass of sherry or brandy can stimulate your appetite

If you don't feel sick, but just don't want to eat, bizarrely a glass of sherry or brandy can stimulate your appetite

There are times when the last thing people can deal with is eating, particularly during chemotherapy, which can cause nausea.

So it’s a good idea to have a small meal a few hours before treatment, if you can.

If you are feeling sick, tell your doctor, as there are anti-sickness pills that might help â€" sipping a fizzy drink (mineral water or lemonade) through a straw can reduce nausea, too.

If you don’t feel sick, but just don’t want to eat, bizarrely a glass of sherry or brandy can stimulate your appetite, as long as your medical team okays it.

On the days you’re feeling well, try to cook ahead for the off days and freeze foods you can easily stomach, such as a light spinach or chicken soup â€" these only require reheating once defrosted. If you’re not a cook, get friends or family to help.

One of the side-effects of chemo is a sore, ulcerated mouth. Choose soft foods such as sorbet or creme carame l, soup or food with sauces or gravy.

Dryness can also occur, so keep food moist and try to drink at least two litres of fluid a day. But most importantly, don’t beat yourself up about food.

Hormone treatment such as steroids can lead to weight gain, but don’t let food and eating become medicinal and worrisome. And if you feel like a glass of wine?

Have one as long as your medical team are happy with this.

Now is not the time to do without.

CLAIM VAT BACK ON YOUR WIG

Glenn Lyons, trichologist at the Philip Kingsley clinic, London

Always take someone with you when choosing a wig

Always take someone with you when choosing a wig

Not everyone loses their hair through chemotherapy.

However, if you do, it can occur very quickly (within a couple of days of treatment).

Women often use cold caps, which are said to reduce blood flow to the area and hence the concentration of toxic drugs reaching the hair follicles, but there’s no guarantee they will do their job.

Remind yourself hair loss is only temporary â€" full regrowth eventually returns in 99 per cent of patients, usually within three to six months of finishing treatment.

But this doesn’t take away from the huge psychological impact of hair loss on morale.

If it is likely (your oncologist will know as some chemo drugs don’t affect hair), I advise patients with long hair to get it cut short before treatment.

This ensures the loss will not only look less, but emotionally it may be easier if it occurs in stages.

In some cases women are entitled to a free wig (see the Department of Health’s leaflet Are You Entitled To Help With Health Costs? â€" ask hospital staff or download from dh.gov.uk). If not, you can get one from the NHS at a subsidised price.

The good news is that there’s no VAT on wigs when hair loss occurs as a result of cancer treatment, but you need to fill in a VAT form, which most shops will have.

Always take someone with you when choosing a wig.

Buy one slightly longer than the style you ultimately want and get your hairdresser to cut it to fit your face and head shape.

Wearing wigs does not inhibit hair growth, but leave them off whenever possible to minimise  any damaging traction on new  hair growth.

SUCK AN ICE CUBE DURING CHEMO

Dr Philip Freiberger, dentist

Sucking ice cubes before and after certain drugs are given can help

Sucking ice cubes before and after certain drugs are given can help

Because chemotherapy targets cells that reproduce quickly, this includes not just cancer cells, but also those in the lining of the mouth.

This can cause soreness and ulcers, and can affect the salivary glands, giving you a dry mouth.

Make sure you see your dentist as soon as possible (at least a couple of weeks before starting chemo), and they’ll get your teeth and gums as healthy as possible.

Keep hydrated by drinking still water; if appropriate, your dentist can prescribe saliva-replacement supplements to help.

Sucking ice cubes before and after certain drugs are given can also help.

If soreness does occur and you can still use a toothbrush, use a soft bristled or child’s one; toothbrushes can also be softened in hot water.

Acidic drinks such as orange and grapefruit juice and spicy foods are also worth avoiding â€" try warm herbal teas instead as they may be more soothing.

You can co ntinue to use dental tape or floss every day (to prevent plaque build-up and gum disease), but you need to floss gently because chemotherapy can cause gums to bleed more than usual.

DELAY BREAST RECONSTRUCTION

June Kenton, owner of fashion and lingerie firm Rigby Peller

I advise women to wait a good six months, even a year, for reconstruction as in my experience the normal breast increases in size slightly when everything settles down (this doesn’t apply if you’re having a double mastectomy) and the implant tends to be too small in comparison.

In the meantime, and I can’t stress it enough, go and see someone for a properly fitted bra â€" ideally before you have the mastectomy. Some  85 per cent of women are wearing the wrong size and, as your prosthesis will be based on this, you’re starting off on the wrong foot.

While you’ll be given a prosthesis very soon after the op, I ’d wait three months before using it â€" definitely until you’ve finished radiotherapy, giving scarring time to heal.

In the meantime, wear a ‘softie’ â€"machine-washable padding inside the bra, available from any lingerie shop for less than £10.

Don’t wear an under-wired bra during this time either as this can aggravate scarring or sore areas. When you start with the prosthesis, don’t waste timing putting it in the pocket of special mastectomy bras as these often fall away from the chest wall leaving an unsightly gap.

Putting the prosthesis directly inside the bra makes it touch the chest wall and in ten to 20 minutes the warmth of your skin means the bra and prosthesis will act as one.

A BIG LAUGH HELPS PAINFUL SWELLING

Bernie Martin, remedial masseur for cancer  and lymphoedema

Laughing: This deep lung action is thought to help promote the flow of the fluid, in the same way moderate exercise can

Laughing: This deep lung action is thought to help promote the flow of the fluid, in the same way moderate exercise can

Painful swelling in the arm and hand, called lymphoedema, affects up to 40 per cent of women after breast cancer surgery.

It is a plumbing problem: lymph nodes help keep fluid moving throughout the body â€" but when they’re affected by radiotherapy or chemotherapy or removed, there may not be enough functional pipes and drains to handle all the fluid.

Moderate exercise â€" such as swimming or stretching â€" can encourage the fluid to flow freely around the body. Don’t go crazy with exercise, though, as that can make things worse.

Compression garments (prescribed by the lymphoedema clinic or ‘surgical appliances department’ of the hospital) are a lifesaver.

Get at least two (to buy they’ll cost about £10) â€" that way one can always be in the wash. Also replace after four to six months because they lose their tension.

Sometime these roll down â€" particularly if you’re a little overweight, but skin glue c an help (ask your lymphoedema specialist).

You can even sew the tops of them on to the arm of a vest.

And don’t be shy of a good old belly laugh: this deep lung action is thought to help promote the flow of the fluid, in the same way moderate exercise can.

YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE POSITIVE

Dr Sue Gessler, clinical psychologist, University  College Hospital,  Macmillan Cancer Centre

My patients are often terribly hard on themselves.

Not only do they often blame themselves for getting cancer (perhaps for taking on too much, pushing themselves too hard), but they can impose an enormous burden on themselves to ‘be positive’.

Often friends and relatives will demand this, too. Even after the most difficult consultation they will emerge cheerfully focusing on only the good, or less bad, elements of what has been said.

This may seem helpful; however, the person with the cancer is then doubly trapped: they have their own fears and anxieties and they have nowhere to discuss them.

Don’t be afraid to tell friends and family you have down days â€" and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Seeing a psychologist or counsellor can make a huge difference (if your doctor can’t refer you, go through a local charity group such as Macmillan or Maggie’s Centres).

This may be for as little as one session, but it allows people the freedom to talk and not attack themselves for feeling low or worried.

Minimise your use of the internet to research your condition. If you must look, make sure the sites are reputable â€" ask your medical team.

Also try to minimise your response to calls and questions from friends at this time â€" don’t feel you have to tell everyone all the details just because they asked.

Find your own way of avoiding the question, by saying, for instance: â €˜Let’s talk about anything other than my illness.’

People will understand. If you want to keep people in the loop, try writing a blog or a group email to family and friends.

Go With The Flow by Gemma Levine (Quartet, £15).

 

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Stroke patients ¿are being abandoned when they leave hospital with 40% never assessed for their needs¿

Stroke patients ¿are being abandoned when they leave hospital with 40% never assessed for their needs¿

By Jenny Hope

PUBLISHED: 19:53 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 19:53 EST, 30 April 2012

Many stroke survivors feel abandoned when they get home from hospital, and are missing out on vital services such as physiotherapy

Many stroke survivors feel abandoned when they get home from hospital, and are missing out on vital services such as physiotherapy

Two out of five stroke survivors are abandoned after they leave hospital and never get an assessment for their health and social care needs, warns a new report.

Hundreds of thousands of stroke patients are missing out on services such as physiotherapy, speech therapy, and help with washing and dressing that could allow them maintain their independence at home, it says.

Guidelines say stroke survivors should get their needs assessed three times in the first year.

But 39 per cent never get a review, and of those who do, half get their needs assessed just once, according to a major new survey by the Stroke Association.

Nearly half of those missing out on assessment were unaware they had a right to one.

Around 150,000 Britons have a stroke each year and about 53,000 die from the disease - it is the UK’s third biggest killer after heart disease and cancer.

Half of all stroke survivors are left with a long -term disability and more than a million Britons are living with the effects.

Improvements in survival rates in hospitals have been fuelled by the use of clotbusting treatments, although there are wide variations nationwide.

But campaigners say it is a ‘bleak picture’ once survivors leave hospital, with many not getting the support they need from the NHS and social care to make a better recovery.

The Stroke Association questioned 2,200 stroke survivors and their carers about whether they had ever had an assessment for their health and social needs beyond hospital.

Without an assessment, many stroke survivors miss out on services such as physiotherapy, speech therapy, or help with washing and dressing, and are left to fend for themselves.

The report found in England, 39 per cent had not been offered an assessment, with around 45 per cent of stroke survivors in Wales and Scotland missing out. Of those who received an assessment, two-thirds had not received a care plan.

Best practice guidelines state that a stroke survivor should get their needs regularly reviewed at six weeks after leaving hospital, six months and then annually.

In England 47 per cent of stroke patients who had had a review only ever got one, with the figures being 39 per cent in Scotland and 54 per cent in Wales.

Around 150,000 Britons have a stroke each year, and half of all stroke survivors are left with a long-term disability

Around 150,000 Britons have a stroke each year, and half of all stroke survivors are left with a long-term disability

Altogether 40 per cent of carers said they had not had an assessment of their needs because they were unaware it was their right.

Overall, 43 per cent said they wanted more support from the NHS, with physiotherapy cited as the biggest priority.

Nearly half of survivors said they had problems caused by poor or non-existent co-working between health and social care providers.

Worryingly, almost one in five survivors in England and Wales said services they relied on had been reduced or withdrawn in the previous year.

Jon Barrick, chief executive at the Stroke Association said ‘More people than ever are surviving a stroke and that’s a welcome improvement.

‘But many stroke survivors tell us that after all the effort to save their lives they then feel abandoned when they return home.

‘The NHS and local authorities are failing in their responsibilities to provide appropriate and timely support to stro ke survivors and their families; and the growing evidence of cuts for people currently getting services is very worrying.’

Mr Barrick said ‘hugely complex’ systems made it difficult for carers to get help delivered even when they tried to contact health and social care workers.

He said cutting services was a false economy because quality of life was only one of the benefits from providing better support.

‘It also saves the tax payer money, as people are less likely to require acute or crisis interventions.

‘Stroke survivors and their families must be properly supported immediately after leaving hospital and in the long term, so they can make better recoveries and get on with their lives’ he added.

Phil Gray, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said ‘We are really concerned about what happens to stroke survivors after they leave hospital.

‘There is clear evidence th at a significant lack of investment has led to a complete, or at least substantial, absence of services in many parts of the country.

‘NHS and social care commissioners must take on board the messages from this important report and ensure stroke survivors get the care from expert physiotherapists that they need to get on with their lives.’

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