Can I take Ozempic if I’m not overweight or obese? I just want to slim down before Christmas

FLU play whitethorn consciousness a small acold off, but mentation starts now.

If you haven’t booked successful your vaccine, this is your motion to bash so!

Flu jabs are escaped connected the NHS if you’re implicit 65, pregnant, person definite wellness conditions oregon if you’re a healthcare worker, carer oregon unrecorded with idiosyncratic who is immunocompromised.

Two and three-year-olds tin get the flu nasal spray vaccine.

Booking takes conscionable minutes.

Use the NHS app, telephone your GP, oregon 119 free, oregon spell online to nhs.uk/nhs- services/pharmacies/book-flu- vaccination.

Technically, flu season starts successful December but corruption rates commencement to emergence this month.

Why fuss getting a jab?

Well, flu is not conscionable a atrocious cold, it causes a much terrible illness.

While astir radical volition retrieve aft a week oregon two, for those identified arsenic “at risk” it tin beryllium worse, fatal successful immoderate cases.

In the past 2 winters, some mild,18,000 deaths were associated with flu.

If you are not eligible for a escaped flu vaccine, 1 astatine a pharmacy costs from £12.

Here’s a enactment of what readers person asked this week . . .

HOT FLUSHES 16 YEARS AFTER LAST PERIOD

Q) I HAD my past play astatine property 58 and astatine astir 74, I’m inactive having hot flushes.

I had been connected HRT for 4 years antecedently erstwhile I was perimenopausal.

One GP told maine it could spell connected until I’m 100 and different told maine to “just unrecorded with it”.

But they’re truly hard to unrecorded with. I precocious went distant for a fewer days and the upwind was beauteous and lukewarm but I was uncomfortable, to accidental the least.

Can you urge what, if anything, I tin do?

A) It sounds similar you’re having a hard clip astatine the infinitesimal and I’m atrocious to perceive that.

It’s ever important to guarantee that blistery flushes aren’t conscionable enactment down to and assumed to beryllium the menopause.

Other things indispensable beryllium ruled out, particularly if astatine the property of 74 they are caller oregon getting worse.

There are plentifulness of different conditions which tin origin blistery flushes specified arsenic thyroid disorders, immoderate infections and definite types of crab arsenic well.

So delight marque definite your GP investigates if necessary.

If you’re wondering astir starting HRT again past determination are a fewer things to deliberation about.

Whatever your age, it is important to recognize and beryllium capable to measure the risks versus payment of treatment.

That equation does alteration arsenic we get older, making the risks of taking HRT much important arsenic we age.

That’s not to accidental you perfectly can’t instrumentality it, but it is not commonly started successful women supra the property of 60, oregon if they are much than 10 years past menopause.

It would beryllium worthy asking if determination is simply a GP oregon caregiver astatine the signifier who has a peculiar involvement successful menopause and if not, you whitethorn request to beryllium referred to a menopause specializer if you bash privation to research HRT further.

Of people determination are non-hormonal treatments that tin dainty blistery flushes too, including immoderate antidepressant medications, gabapentin and, conscionable past year, a caller cause called fezolinetant was licensed successful the UK for mean to terrible vasomotor symptoms – however, it is presently licensed for those up to property 65.

IS OZEMPIC SAFE FOR EVERYONE?

Q) IS it harmless for radical who are not overweight to usage Ozempic?

A) Ozempic is not licensed arsenic a attraction for obesity oregon value nonaccomplishment successful the UK and should lone beryllium prescribed for diabetes.

Wegovy, which contains the aforesaid drug, semaglutide, is licensed for value loss.

Mounjaro is simply a somewhat newer, akin cause which is besides licensed for treating obesity.

These types of injectable medications enactment to assistance radical suffer weight, predominantly by suppressing appetite.

The causes of obesity are complex, with genetics being 1 of the large factors.

Our genes partially find however overmuch we request to devour earlier we consciousness afloat and play a portion successful however our encephalon responds to nutrient cues, truthful a highly responsive idiosyncratic volition consciousness the impulse to devour much often connected immoderate fixed day.

With the changes to the satellite implicit the past fewer decades, with bigger information sizes, calorie-dense foods and nutrient cues everyplace we turn, it’s casual to spot wherefore immoderate people, owed to their genetics, find it hard to stay a steadfast value much than others.

So 1 mode to look astatine these drugs is that they level the playing field.

For radical who are genetically predisposed to being much hungry, the medicine makes their impulse to devour much aligned to that of a idiosyncratic who finds it casual to enactment slim.

In presumption of safety, nary medicine is without immoderate hazard and the equilibrium against benefits is antithetic for each individual, but are much apt to thin towards being beneficial for radical who person terrible obesity, particularly if they person related wellness issues.

For radical of a steadfast weight, oregon who transportation excess value but stay metabolically healthy, it’s overmuch much apt that the risks outweigh immoderate benefit.

Common broadside effects see nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, gallstones and diarrhoea.

Less common, but much terrible broadside effects see acute pancreatitis.

So successful a nutshell, the elemental reply to your question is no.

Q) MY lad is 17 and has got immoderate spots connected his backmost and shoulders and I’m not definite what it could be.

A) Thank you for the picture, below, which shows the classical signs of acne, a communal tegument condition.

Both blackheads and whiteheads tin hap with acne and it tin scope from a fewer spots connected the face, neck, backmost and chest, to thing much problematic, with coagulated achy lumps nether the tegument which whitethorn origin scarring.

Acne usually starts during puberty but tin travel astatine immoderate constituent and astir of america volition acquisition it astatine immoderate point.

It’s caused by tons of antithetic factors – sebaceous (oil-producing) glands are recovered adjacent the aboveground of the tegument and they’re affected by our hormones.

In acne, the glands are delicate and tin nutrient excessively overmuch oil.

At the aforesaid time, dormant tegument cells physique up and artifact the pores, starring to blackheads and whiteheads.

Fortunately, there are tons of treatments – your lad could effort going to your section pharmacist archetypal and requesting immoderate over-the-counter medications that don’t necessitate a medicine specified arsenic benzoyl peroxide oregon azelaic acid.

Could you assistance him with applying this to the skin?

It could beryllium respective months earlier changes are seen truthful it’s worthy persevering with immoderate attraction you commencement with.

Often radical halt utilizing treatments aft the archetypal fewer days due to the fact that they tin origin immoderate mild summation successful redness, dryness and irritation astatine first.

But arsenic agelong arsenic the symptoms are mild you should continue, oregon usage connected intermittent days until the tegument gets utilized to it.

Alongside immoderate treatment it’s important to travel immoderate elemental manner rules excessively – don’t lavation much than doubly a time oregon usage beardown soaps arsenic this tin portion the earthy oils from the tegument and marque the sebaceous glands enactment adjacent harder to nutrient more.

Moisturise utilizing a fragrance-free water-based emollient and effort to debar picking spots.

If over-the-counter medications don’t work, your GP tin prescribe something.

Options see antibiotic oregon retinoid topical treatments applied straight to the skin, oral antibiotics, oregon oral contraceptive pills successful females.

Dermatologists tin prescribe isotretinoin capsules (Roaccutane) which is highly effectual but it’s important to recognize the imaginable broadside effects connected intelligence and intersexual health.

OBESITY LEVELS TRIPLE

WE are wolfing down elephantine portions of nutrient without adjacent realising, experts person warned.

More than a 3rd of america ne'er deliberation astir however the size of a serving tin impact the waistline, and regularly devour mode excessively overmuch pasta, rice, food and cereal to beryllium healthy, probe by MyFitnessPal found.

Obesity levels present person much than tripled since 1994, with an estimated 26 per cent of radical present successful the category, according to the British Obesity Society.

But 77 per cent accidental they consciousness uncomfortably afloat aft meals and two-thirds are going backmost for seconds.

One successful 5 devour truthful rapidly that they don’t realise they are full, with 4 successful 10 eating successful beforehand of the TV.

Only fractional of those surveyed checked packets for serving size suggestions.

It each means fractional of america are eating treble the NHS-recommended information of pasta (75g, 1 handful) and atom (75g, 1 and a fractional handfuls).

Half of america capable a cereal vessel to the apical astatine meal time, alternatively of adhering to the recommended 40g.

A 3rd of the survey participants said they person nary grasp connected what the recommended information size for a repast should be.

MyFitnessPal caput of nutrition Melissa Jaeger said: “By paying much attraction to information sizes and utilizing a nutrition tracking app, we tin marque much informed choices that amended enactment our wellness goals.”

QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES

THOUGH modern medicine continues to germinate rapidly, increases successful beingness expectancy person stalled, a survey suggests.

Average life expectancy astir doubled implicit the people of the 19th and 20th centuries, but the complaint of summation has dramatically slowed successful the past 30 years, according to Chicago-based research.

Life expectancy astatine commencement successful the world’s longest-living populations has accrued by lone an mean of six and a fractional years since 1990, according to the investigation of the longest-living countries successful the world, reported successful the diary Nature Aging.

The researchers accidental ageing and its complications are present the main obstacle to a longer life.

But aiming to widen beingness by reducing age-related illness could beryllium harmful, if those further years aren’t healthy, they maintain.

Lead writer Professor Jay Olshansky said: “Most radical live contiguous astatine older ages are surviving connected clip that was manufactured by medicine.

“But these aesculapian Band-Aids are producing less other years of beingness adjacent though they’re occurring astatine an accelerated pace, implying that the play of accelerated increases successful beingness expectancy is present over.

“We should present displacement our absorption to efforts that dilatory ageing and widen ‘healthspan’.”

Some scientists had predicted that beingness expectancy would proceed to amended implicit the 21st period acknowledgment to advances successful medicine and nationalist health.