The months come round really fast at uktherapists, and so much is happening regarding the site, it’s all very exciting!

We have completed the “Re-Brand” of our site, with new images, and an exciting new front page. I love the new look, and I hope you will to.

We have also been cleansing our database, and all the duplicates have now been removed!

Also, at the same time some of the troublesome problems from the old site have been tackled as well.

Our stats have gone up, and more people are visiting uktherapists than ever before, so much that I have decided to do some sponsored link advertising with the google search engine.

We have had good reviews concerning the new site, and I hope you like the new look.

With Best Wishes uktherapists.com

Smoking ban could halve number of heart attacks

CAMPAIGNERS STEPPED up demands for a national smoking ban in public yesterday after research suggested that such a measure could almost halve the number of heart attacks.

The call came in response to a study conducted in a town that outlawed smoking in enclosed public places. It showed that hospital admissions for heart attacks fell by 40 per cent in the six months covered by the ban.

It is the first time that a smoking ban has been shown to cut heart attacks and the British Medical Association (BMA) has renewed its demand for the Government to implement a ban in the UK.

Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics, said: "This research confirms that passive smoking is a very real risk. It also shows how smoke-free public places protect health."

The study was conducted in the American town of Helena, Montana, which has a population of 68,000. Helena imposed a ban on smoking in public in June 2002 but the ban was reversed six months later by opponents of the law.

During the ban, smoking was outlawed in offices, factories, restaurants, bars and all public enclosed spaces. The effect on the town's heart attack rate was immediate with a fall in hospital admissions. The number rose after the ban was lifted.

The number of heart attack admissions to the town's only hospital, St Peter's, fell from an average of 40 for a half-year period to 24, a 40 per cent drop. After the ban was lifted, heart attack admissions rose again to their previous level. There was no significant drop in admissions for people living outside Helena.

Passive smoking is known to have long-term effects, increasing the risk of lung cancer and heart disease, but it also has short-term effects on the stickiness of the blood and the elasticity of the arteries, both of which increase the risk of a heart attack.

Professor Stanton Glantz and colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco, whose research is published in the online version of the British Medical Journal (www.bmj.com) today, say the effects of second- hand smoke on the blood and arteries "occur rapidly and are nearly as large in passive as in active smokers." They add: "The effect associated with the smoke-free law may seem large but is consistent with the observed effects of second-hand smoke on cardiac disease. Second-hand smoke increases risk of a myocardial infarction by about 30 per cent."

This is the first study to report such an association and the researchers warn that, like any initial report, further research is need to confirm the finding.

A second study in the online BMJ found that non-smokers who live with smokers on average have a 15 per cent increased risk of premature death compared with those who live in a smoke-free environment. The study, in New Zealand, was based on adult non-smokers aged 45 to 74 and is one of the largest carried out.

A third study, published in the journal Cell Biology, found that people who suffered injury were slower to heal their wounds if they had been exposed to second-hand smoke.

Deborah Arnott, director of the anti-smoking pressure group Ash, said the studies were "vital pieces of evidence" on the need for tougher action against second-hand smoke: "The case for a new law to end smoking in the workplace and in enclosed public places is now overwhelming."

Fears grow for schoolchildren using supplements to beat bullies

From:The Irish Independent
Sunday, 4th April, 2004
EOGHAN WILLIAMS and JEROME REILLY

A SIGNIFICANT number of second level students are using potentially dangerous growth supplements and even steroids in a desperate attempt to build themselves up so that they can overcomebullying.

The claim that it is not only elite athletes who are abusing banned substances or grossly exceeding the recommended dosages of legal supplements comes as a top lawyer issued a strong warning to teachers and coaches.

Sports lawyer Neville Cox of Trinity College Dublin says teachers and coaches could find themselves charged with assault if they endorse the use of currently legal supplements that are found to be harmful in the future.

He says that if legal muscle growth supplements such as creatine turn out to harm individuals in the long term, "teachers who actively incite students to use it could face civil actions or indeed, where the students are below the age of consent, criminal prosecution for assault."

He points out that there have already been cases similar to these in the US.

Although some studies have linked creatine to kidney failure, cancer and sudden death, the jury is still out on the long-term effects of this complex but naturally occurring protein-based substance.

However, last week, Conor O'Brien, one of the doctors to the Irish Olympic team, said initial fears about creatine are looking more and more likely to stack up.

A UCD survey last year found one in five GAA, soccer and rugby players use or have used the substance, which is not banned.

Mr Cox told a recent conference on liability in schools that there was evidence to suggest creatine is used extensively at underage level.

INSIDE STORY:

"There is very widespread use among Irish schools athletes of lawful dietary supplements, and especially the supplement creatine. Indeed, there is anecdotal evidence that some sports teachers have actually prescribed this muscle-building substance for use by members of school teams," he said.

From June, Irish Sports Council rules will say a coach found to assist a minor in committing a doping offense will himself receiving a lifetime ban from all sport.

The former sports minister Jim McDaid, also a medical doctor, believes that more must be done to dissuade young athletes from taking supplements such as creatine, which he believes could be linked to sudden death.

The Fianna Fail TD, who unsuccessfully tried to have creatine banned, is also worried that young people are taking supplements and steroids to escape bullying, a phenomenon first noted in America but also becoming a factor here.

Some athletes who inject steroids are joining needle-exchange programmes once designed for heroin users.

Life Coaching has risen in popularity over the last year, and a an excellent website for Life Coaching is www.personal-life-coaching.com

She says: Life coaching is a way of optimising your potential, renewing your energy, and enabling you to create the time and space in your life you have always wanted.

After the first session, if you do not wish to carry on in coaching, you will be under no obligation to continue.

If you are interested in Life Coaching methods or articles please visit the above site, which is run by Vicki Brereton, resident Life Coach.

For your up to date current courses in psychotherapy, and continued professional development courses please visit: www.mcpt.co.uk for the 2004-2005 new programme, this is well worth a visit for all the new existing courses both professionally and personally

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Start On: 8th March 2004
Phone: 01843-587929 Jean Murton
Email: postbox@belmont-centre.co.uk

If you want a bit more space in your life then try out my free weekly newsletter. Each issue focusses on a different element of balance and contains a suggested exploration for the week ahead. Sign up at my website at www.achieve-balance.co.uk.

I work as a coach by creating a space where my clients can hear themselves. My newsletter will help you to create a small space for yourself every week. Each issue contains a reflection on an aspect of balance in my own or my client's lives, and also how you might want use this reflection to look at your own balance. I also recommend useful resources and throw in a couple of inspiring quotes for good measure. You can have a browse at past issues and subscribe at my blog at www.achieve-balance.blogspot.com.
If you are interested in doing some work with me you can find more information on my website at www.achieve-balance.co.uk.
I look forward to hearing from you!

Phone: 07900 – 605055 Fiona Hall
Email: fiona@achieve-balance.co.uk
Start On: asap?

We are glad to invite you to join our accredited Training in Life, business and Executive Coaching. It is attracting people from the world of the Theatre, Business the private and Public sectors, People who are already trained in the Caring professions
We are training people to deliver our training throughout the UK and will be interested in hearing from people who would be interested in forming a group in other parts of the UK so that we can deliver our training there and train up those interested to deliver it in their areas henceforward.
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WORKSHOP LED BY WILLEM LAMMERS, TSTA, CTA
William Lammers is a social and clinical psychologist, a licensed psychotherapist and a consultant to organisations with over 20 years of experience in the field.

DATE: 16th-18th April 2004
COST £300
A repeating pattern in training workshops is that participants arrive stressed, almost breathless. They work long hours, and hurry to arrive in time, or even come late. People talk about goals, but the only thing they reach is a state of exhaustion. This has become so wide-spread that we consider it normal. Is it?

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Start On: 10 March 2004
Phone: 01392 – 219200 Julie Hewson
Address: Iron Mill Institute, Hems Studio, 86 Longbrook
Email: info@ironmill.info

On a final note: This newsletter currently goes to all our members of uktherapists.com, thus it is an excellent way of advertising your site or event. Please go to: http://www.uktherapists.com/payment/news.asp for advertising costs.

With the constant re-newing and re-vamping of uktherapists.com and the increasing membership, we are always interested in suggestions and comments that you think will help in the sites operation and clarity.

E-Mail: bob@mcpt.co.uk