Aurora top 20 – June 2010 « Aurora Comms Blog

Aurora top 20 – June 2010

Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by phaedrus in Health, Industry, News, Top 20

What great weather we’ve been having! Even Glastonbury got showered in sun at the weekend, which is almost unheard of. The Aurora office has been hot stuff in June too, both with the heat and with buzzy activity all round. We’ve launched our summer campaign, a YouTube channel called We Hate Social Media, with some Aurorians discussing how the pharma industry can find the love for social media. We have also been blogging furiously throughout the month here on our blog.

So, as the weather hots up, what’s red hot in the health news this month? Cancer and nutrition continue to commandeer the two top spots, swapping places from last month yet again. The next four positions go to obesity, heart disease, smoking and alcohol – the usual suspects that all relate closely to each other and frequently get reported on in combination, along with exercise, weight loss and heart attack, which were also placed lower down the order. One story reported in the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Star, regarding this theme of health reporting was the shocking news, derived from the Scottish Health Survey, that 97.5 per cent of Scottish people are likely to be either cigarette smokers, heavy drinkers, fat, have a bad diet or never do any exercise. The articles were rather obviously supported with a picture of Rab C Nesbitt! This poses a serious public health issue that needs to be addressed.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Exercise was high in the running this month. Keeping fit was advised for post-treatment breast cancer patients to reduce the risk of the disease returning. Both men and women were separately identified by the media in relation to exercise. The former have increased fitness levels as they reach middle age, a phenomenon that apparently coincided with the introduction of erectile dysfunction tablets. The latter are prescribed a healthy dose of energetic activity when pregnant to ease childbirth and subsequent recovery.

More broadly, a lack of exercise, it was reported in The Daily Telegraph, is more harmful than obesity. It is a more prominent root cause of illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, mental health problems and high blood pressure (all of which feature in the Aurora chart this month). This calls for a swing away from public health information focusing on treating obesity and towards preventing ill health with regular exercise to keep fit. With the glorious weather we are having, its a perfect time to take up an outdoor activity and get your heart beating and your muscles moving!

Heart disease took fourth place this month, with the health pages pumping out stories linking heart disease to several other conditions. As well as the story mentioned above, watching TV, rather than exercising, was reported as a major risk factor for heart disease. While eating chocolate (in moderation), cod, and drinking three cups of tea a day can reportedly reduce heart attack risk considerably, it was the variety of heart disease risk factors reported this month that stuck out in the news.

Firstly, gaining weight when pregnant can pass on heart risks to babies. Secondly, working too many hours overtime or working through lunch is bad for the heart, as is ignoring an erection problem and not treating it. (If you are worried about the latter, then go to 40over40, our client Lilly’s website about erectile dysfunction). While these facts gleaned from June’s health news seem logical, the following two require a little more research beyond the story on the page to fully understand. The Daily Express reported that, believe it or not, being short makes you more likely to develop heart disease. Equally bemusing on first glance was the news reported in the Daily Express and The Sunday Times that failing to brush your teeth and maintain high levels of dental hygiene puts you at risk of heart trouble, apparently all true and well researched science.

Dental health took a sizable bite of the health news in June, re-entering the chart for its first appearance in 2010. In addition to the well reported link between poor dental hygiene and heart disease, some other negative tooth-related stories were forthcoming this month. Midnight feasts are no longer approved of, as those who indulge late at night put themselves at risk of tooth decay. Some dental patients have experienced problems after receiving illegal fake gold implants that dentists use to increase profits, and dental x-rays have been associated with thyroid cancer as a risk factor. On a positive note though, yoghurt has been identified as a tooth decay deterrent, especially in young children.

And finally, what is in a name? We couldn’t help but share this Pythonesque claim that surely makes a farcical mockery of clinical research. According to the Daily Mail, and the Daily Mirror, men named Colin are more likely to have high blood pressure and therefore a whole host of other health issues, whilst men named Daniel have the least chance of developing high blood pressure. Whatever next!? The only explanations we could come up with were a link names and socio-economic class that may increase high blood pressure risk, or maybe it is due to stress as a result of certain names being made fun of. What are your theories? Let us know…