HEALTH BRIEFS

MS PATIENTS LIVE LONGER

People with multiple sclerosis are living longer, according to a 15-year study of New Zealanders with the condition. It shows that the median survival time from when their symptoms first start is 45 years. This is similar to other countries that have run the same sort of research, and is far longer than the reported median survival in 1969 of only 17 years. However, the study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, also found that the median survival age for MS patients is 7.2 years lower than the general population.

EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES

Many cancer patients in New Zealand are turning to natural therapies. A survey of more than 300 people at a Northland treatment centre found 29% were using complementary or alternative medicine, and 10% intended to do so in future. Complementary and alternative medicine in this context includes cannabis, anticancer diets and acupuncture, as well as more harmful treatments like Miracle Mineral Solution

(an industrial bleaching agent). Of the cancer patients at Whangārei Base Hospital who used complementary medicine, 65% said it was to help relieve their symptoms or side effects of treatment, and 45% believed there was potential for a cure.

GARDEN BENEFITS

Even rural people gain from spending time in a garden, a study from Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology has found. “The whole idea that, because people live in the countryside, c they’re not desperate for green space and gardens is a bit flawed,” says lead author Leith L Symes. Surrounding themselves t with beauty h had positive effects on rural folk’s physical fi fitness, social connectedness and friendship, and self-esteem.