HEALTH NOTES
SMARTPHONE TEST FOR CYSTISTIS
IF you’re among the 50% of women who have had trouble getting a GP appointment when the first twinges of cystitis set in, you’ll be interested to hear there’s now a DIY test for urinary tract infections being trialled in pharmacies across London, Sheffield and Cardiff.
The customer completes a Dip UTI
Urine Test (£9.99, Boots, pictured) and scans it using an app on their smartphone. This scanning technology is already being used by the NHS to monitor kidney transplant and diabetes patients and is more accurate than the standard test used in GP surgeries.
If a positive result is given, the pharmacist can then prescribe antibiotics (£14.99) without the need to see a doctor.
REUSABLE TAMPON APPLICATOR
AROUND 1.3 billion disposable tampon applicators are thrown away each year in the UK alone. Most get flushed down the loo, with many ending up on our beaches – a British beach clean-up found nine used plastic applicators for every kilometre of beach. Which is why D (£24.99, waitrose.com, pictured right), the first reusable tampon applicator, is such a welcome launch.
Simple to use and easy to keep clean, it has all the convenience of a conventional applicator, without any of the waste.
SICK DAYS ON THE DECLINE
EIGHT out of 10 workers would go to work ill – with many afraid of repercussions from bosses or colleagues.
More than two-thirds of workers with colds or flu wouldn’t call in sick. And more than a fifth keep working through stress or an emotional crisis, a poll of 2,000 respondents for People HR found.
The average number of sick days by UK workers fell to 4.1 a year in 2017 – a big drop from 7.2 days in 1993.
MALE BODY GEL CONTRACEPTIVE
A CONTRACEPTIVE gel that men rub on their limbs each day is about to be tested.
The hormone-based ointment – called NES/T – halts sperm production after four months. Levels are normal six months after treatment ends. So far male contraceptives have involved receiving a jab at a clinic.
Edinburgh University’s Professor Richard Anderson – who is leading the trials on 80 couples – said: “This allows men to self-administer a gel, which is more convenient.”