Vhi HealthClub

Blood Transfusion Service

The Hospital service needs 3,000 donations of blood a week, especially at holiday times like Christmas. Kieran Healy of the Irish Blood Transfusion Services joins me and tells us why it is vital that regular donors come forward to give blood.

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(3 mins 24 sec)

New Hospital Bug

The new hospital bug that has hit Irish hospitals, Clostridium Difficile, or C dif, is much more dangerous than MRSA. I'm joined by one of the scientists working hard to find a cure, Dr. Christine Loscher from the School of Biotechnology in DCU, who explains the challenges researchers are facing.

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(3 mins 41 sec)

Healthy Eating at Christmas

Our resident food expert, Nuala Collins, is back with me in studio today to tell us how we can eat healthy at Christmas and still enjoy ourselves also.

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(4 mins 19 sec)

Chronic Respiratory Disease

St. James' Hospital in Dublin has launched a special DVD to help patients of COPD or Chronic Respiratory Disease to manage their symptoms. Marie Lawlor is a respiratory nurse at the hospital and she tells me how it works.

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(2 mins 54 sec)

New Book about Reforming the Health Service

I'm joined in studio by Eilish Mc Auliffe from Trinity College Dublin and one of the editors of "Politics in Healthcare; Achieving Real Reform." Eilish tells us how this book examines the Health Service and offers a positive, feasible approach to individuals who want to improve things with practical examples at local level in the community. Eilish also shares her views with us on both the advantages and disadvantages alike of the centralised Health system in this country.

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(3 mins 23 sec)

Athlete Muriel Haire on living with Osteoporosis

Athlete Muriel Haire joins me in studio to share her personal story about living with Osteoporosis, which affects one in three Irish women, and tells us how she manages to keep up all her training despite this. Muriel was diagnosed with Osteoporosis, a disease which ultimately thins your bones, while training for the London Marathon and she talks about the injuries incurred as a result. We hear about the importance of getting a bone scan and how she has prevented any further depletion of her bones.

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(4 mins 21 sec)

Writing Your Own Life Story

The Irish Hospice Foundation is encouraging all of us to compile and write our own life stories. I talk to broadcasters Eamon Dunphy and Miriam O Callaghan who explain why it helped them cope with their own bereavements in life. Eamon talks about the loss of her father while Miriam lost her sister to breast cancer when she was still quite young. The Irish Hospice Foundations website is www.hospice-foundation.ie

Listen to the episode by clicking here

(4 mins 12 sec)

Vhi Health Club Summer Break

Vhi Health Club is taking a short summer break. We will be back with all your favourite experts and all our health news and topics with a new series starting on September 4th.

We hope you have enjoyed all the shows over the past year and remember all the shows and segments are available online whenever you want to listen. All the complete shows are in the categories on this blog with the segments ordered by topic. You can also get the complete back catelogue on Podcastingireland.ie and you can listen and download through iTunes.

Enjoy the Summer and we look forward to hearing your views and comments on the new series in September.

From All at Podcastingireland and Vhi Health Club.

Malaria cases on the rise in Ireland

Malaria cases in Ireland are growing steadily with 97 cases in 2006. Dr. Gavin Fry is an expert in tropical diseases and he tells presenter Aileen O Meara that more and more people are going on exotic holidays and also that more and more people resident in Ireland, but originally from Malaria hot spots are going back to visit family, unaware that they no longer have the immune system to cope with the disease. There is no vaccine for Malaria but a course of tablets before, during and after your trip are the best course of action for anyone heading on a tropical holiday this summer.

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(3 minutes 34 secs)

John Treacy – The Irish Sports Council

Olympic silver medalist John Treacy knows all to well the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and in his role as Chief Executive of The Irish Sports Council John tells us about their work encouraging physical activity and promoting sport. John talks about his work on the National task force about obesity and his input to the ‘Go For Life’ scheme which encourages exercise and activity among older people. John Treacy’s advice is ‘to make an appointment with yourself’ for half an hour each day to exercise and you will see the benefits throughout your life.

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(3 minutes 42secs)