Cigarette vending machines could soon be removed from pubs and clubs across the country after MPs agreed to ban them.

An amendment to the health bill, proposed by Labour’s Ian McCartney, was passed by the Commons last night (October 12th) and could soon become law if approved in the House of Lords.

The move is designed to make it harder for children to get hold of cigarettes and was welcomed by anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).

Chief executive Deborah Arnott commented: ‘Stopping tobacco sales from vending machines has made a strong bill even stronger.

‘We wouldn’t tolerate other age-restricted products such as alcohol or knives being sold in this way.’

The British Heart Foundation’s chief executive, Peter Hollins, also welcomed the news, describing it as a ‘victory’ for the charity’s campaigners.

‘We look forward to all parties backing a new tobacco control strategy to help keep the government’s foot on the pedal on this crucial agenda,’ he added.

Allright, in London it’s getting cold and it’s only October !

I thought i’d write about all the natural remedies i have seen on the web to deal with a sore throat. Please contribute, add your comments and give me your recipes.

Cure number 1 : Drinking tea with ginger powder or fresh ginger.

Cure number 2 : One way to help is to gargle salt water. However salt water gargling is only good for miner sore throats some people say.

Cure number 3: Throat Home Remedy. Mix Together in a mug: Hot water + Juice from 1/4 of Lemon, 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of cayen pepper. Adding honey also soothes and sweetens!

Cure number 4: Sore throat can also be cure by adding hony in black pepper powder. Another version of this is Hot Lemon with ginger honey and black pepper.

Cure number 5: For painful throat with tonsils gargle by mixing 1 ts of salt, a pinch of turmeric and 1 disprene in one glass hot water juice of half lemon can be added

Cure number 6: Try getting a big bowl of hot, steaming water then cover your head with a towel to keep the steam in. Just relax and breathe in the steam to help soothe a sore throat.

Cure number 7 : Put about 6 teaspoons of runny honey into a mug, and add the juice of half a lemon. Then mix whilst adding about the same volume again of hot water. Drink it slowly in small sips – you will feel the honey ’sticking’ to the sore bits of your throat. Honey is a natural antibiotic (it is the only foodstuff known to man, that does not go off with age – it has been found in Egyptian tombs – still fit to eat !) and the lemon juice helps with vitamin C.

Cure number 8 : Gargle with a soluble aspirin then spit it out. Note that not everyone can take aspirin, for example people with stomach complaints or people who take warfarin medication.

Cure number 9: Hot Slippery Elm tea (coats the throat, instantly soothing) with lots of fresh squeezed organic lemon juice (antiseptic) and raw local honey (antibiotic).

Cure number 10:  What I’ve done in the past is suck on a lemon or a lime with a little bit of salt, it sounds gross and its an acquired taste, but it definitely makes my throat more tolerable

Please contribute, add your comments and give me your recipes.

Our own behaviours will influence the quality of our sleep, review this if you can’t find sleep !

Work stress
Work stress comes in many forms – an unfinished report or wanted promotion – and it can leave your mind racing well into the night. ‘Works stress taps into a primitive survival pressure. It tends to boost levels of adrenaline that puts the body in a hyper-alert state,’ says life coach Jason Henry.
Turn things around
Take long deep breaths into your belly to switch on the part of your nervous system that lowers adrenalin and aids relaxation. Do a body scan: pass over your body, starting with your toes. Ask each part to ‘melt to let go of any tension.

Unsolved problem in the day
Negative thoughts before bed are a recipe for tossing and turning all night. It’s near-impossible to sleep if you’re thinking negatively or haven’t reached any kind of resolution. Holding onto strong emotions could prevent your body relaxing for hours.
Turn things around
Don’t dwell on it – solve your issues before you get into bed, even if it is to make plans of actions for tomorrow.

Not enough time
You have too much to do, too little time to do it. The feeling of tiredness can comes from rushing around or feeling you’ve lost control. If you feel life is rushing you it is very likely that your body will feel exhausted.
Turn things around
Make a to-do list before bed because this will give you a feeling of some control. Prioritise half the list for tomorrow, or whatever seems manageable, and make a note to plan for the rest tomorrow. You’ll then feel you’ve done enough so you can switch off. Make sure you keep an hour for relaxation before your usual bedtime.

Doing too much and still feeling disappointed
You’re up past midnight again – having said yes to too many people, you have no idea how you’ll complete all those commitments.
Turn things around
Put a stop to late nights. Even if you’re overstretched, resolve to have your head on the pillow by 11pm. Sleep is essential for emotional health and resilience. It’s better to take on less and do it well than running yourself ragged and doing things badly.

Body temperature
You may want to be warm and cosy, but a room that’s too hot will leave you restless. Snuggle up but make sure the air is cool because heat actually causes the body to wake up.
Turn things around
Open the window for a while before you sleep. If you can, leave it open a little during the night. Choose cotton bedding that allows skin to breathe. Make sure you wash your bed sheet every week.

Sugar and caffeine
Coffee or a sweet treat up to three hours before bed will disrupt your sleep. The caffeine from a single coffee will be swishing around your system for a good four hours, while sugar may keep you energised and awake for up to two hours afterwards.
Turn things around
Skip coffee and sweet treats late in the evening. If you fancy a warming hot drink, opt for herbal tea instead. Avoid eating sugary foods on an empty stomach when they will have a more pronounced effect.

Alcohol
Alcohol has a depressing effect on the nervous system, but when it comes to sleep it acts as a stimulant, boosting blood sugar levels. Once you nod off, you’ll probably be woken in the early hours by the opposite problem: low blood sugar.
Turn things around
Reduce the amount of alcohol you drink if you lie awake after a drinking session. After drinking more than a glass of wine or beer, eat some food to stabilise your blood sugar levels. Alternate soft drinks or water with the glasses of booze. Just before bed, drink plenty of water and eat again, this time choosing a fatty protein food such as cheese.

Irregular sleep hours
Perhaps you’re working shifts or something wakes you up at night. Whatever the case, regular sleep patterns are something that’s out of reach for you.
Turn things around
Grab as much sleep as you can before 11pm. Research indicates that falling asleep before midnight really does lead to deeper, more restorative sleep. If you’re woken during deep REM sleep, you’re likely to feel exhausted the next day. Grab a power nap for at least 30 minutes when you can – it’ll make all the difference.

Energy drinks
These energy bombs do more than work against sleep; they can cause you to feel anxious, jittery, and wired and tired at the same time. If you’re addicted to them, now may be the time to cut back.
Turn things around
Instead of having an energy drink, try a glass of unsweetened iced tea or other tea of your choice – Green thea is fantastic.

Earlier this year, new official guidance said that patients with persistent lower back pain should be offered acupuncture on the NHS. The recommendation, from the NHS rationing body NICE, said that the scientific evidence now showed that acupuncture was not only effective at treating back pain, but also cost effective when other treatments, such as painkillers, were found not to be working.

Up to now, the scientific rationalists among us would have had grounds for pooh-poohing all this as unproved, pricey pampering. But that’s all changed. Science has suddenly — and very publicly — taken a turn in favour of the needle.

The new guidance came from a report from the influential medical research review body ‘the Cochrane Collaboration’, saying that headache and migraine sufferers clearly fared better with acupuncture than painkillers. In addition, a large scientific review found that women undergoing fertility treatment were more likely to give birth successfully if they had acupuncture.

Not everyone believes it works

The short answer is that Acupuncture does work — for head and back pain. But for everything else, it depends on whom you talk to. And many Doctors are still sceptic.

Professor Edzard Ernst, chair of complementary therapy at Exeter and Plymouth universities, is doubtful. He says that you need to study the effects on thousands of people before you can say “this works” or recommend that people should pay for a treatment. In addition, he doesn’t buy the supposed evidence on fertility.

One of his worries is whether acupuncture actually has any effect on the body, or whether it’s simply a glorified “placebo” — a treatment that makes us feel better simply because we expect to be made better. If it is just a trick of the light, should the NHS — or anyone — be paying for it?

The evidence that it works is there but sham acupuncture works as well
In fact, pretty strong evidence that acupuncture kills pain and helps nausea sufferers.

At the same time , administering “sham” acupuncture — where needles are inserted into the wrong place, or aren’t pushed in properly, or toothpicks are applied to the skin instead — often seem to have the same effect. To the sceptics, this suggests that acupuncture doesn’t actually have a curative effect: it just cons people into feeling well.

The concept behind the needles
Acupuncture brings a real neurophysiological response, which is more than placebo. Touching, pressure, pointing to where the pain is all have an effect, and you can measure their effects in the nervous system.

The idea of energy in acupuncture is a huge concept. But basically inserting a needle provokes an electrical and biochemical response which promotes communication between cells. It’s been shown that it ignites the brain with electrical lights.

It’s all about costs
So why did the NHS introduce Acunpucture ? Better it’s cost effective. First, not everyone will be able to get treatment. Second the costs to the NHS would be minimal – in the order of £77,000 – because they are offset by the savings in terms of reducing future disability and healthcare needs and moving away from treatments with little supportive evidence.

The guidelines, which apply to England and Wales, say doctors should no longer offer spinal x-rays or MRI scans or injections of therapeutic substances into the back for non-specific low back pain.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy welcomed the guidelines, as did Dr Dries Hettinga of the charity BackCare. He said: “This offers a real choice for patients.
“This guideline will help patients understand what treatment and care can help them with their back pain and shows that there can be a positive outlook for treating this condition.”

Conclusion
Proof is a hard thing to come by for any treatment, and acupuncture is going to take longer than most to crack. In the meantime, spending your painkiller cash on a relaxing acupuncture session doesn’t seem such a stupid move. Try it !