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HEALTH AND FITNESS NEWS AND EVENTS

In a first for Ireland, St James’s Hospital’s Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery has been awarded institutional accreditation by the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS). St James’s Hospital is home to the largest thoracic surgical oncology programme in Ireland and the accreditation recognises the highquality care provided by St James’s Hospital to lung cancer patients and the role the hospital plays in improving survival rates. Approximately 2,600 patients are diagnosed with lung cancer each year in Ireland.

The hospital provides surgical care to approximately 55% of the population in Ireland with lung cancer.

Drinkaware, the national charity working to prevent and reduce alcohol misuse, has launched ‘Here’s To Change’ a new campaign that encourages the public to embrace positive change when it comes to alcohol.

Central to the campaign is a specially commissioned spokenword piece by Dublin-based hiphop artist Nealo, pictured, who recently decided to embrace a sober lifestyle.

Drinkaware is also partnering with Dublin’s alcohol-free venue Board, which offers a wide and varied menu of food and non-alcoholic drinks which can be enjoyed while playing one of their many board games, see drinkaware.ie; boarddublin.com.

A new super-study on tea – combining findings from 20 published studies – has discovered a link between regular long-term tea drinking and a 19% reduced risk of dying from heart disease. Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death, causing a third of deaths worldwide in 2019. The meta-analysis looked at the risk of dying from heart disease when people regularly drank 6 different beverages over a period of 6-40 years. Tea came out top for heart health for both sexes, while coffee drinking reduced mortality risk further – by 37% but this was only in men.