Media Medics

You might imagine a meeting hosted by the Food and Drink Federation would be accompanied by good food. This was certainly true of the Media Medics meeting in July 2007, to discuss and review the GDA – General Daily Allowance – and the recent signposting on packaged foods. Calories, sugars, total and saturated fats, and salt are all listed as percentages of the daily total, allowing the consumer to make informed choices without specialist knowledge. A more detailed system than simple ‘traffic lights’, originating from 1998 and extended in 2005. The system includes both pack and portion sizes, and helps to eliminate bother anomalies like the fast content of butter and spreads, which is related to how much we use.

Thanks again for inviting me to the Food and Drink Federation. it was a very interesting, well planned and well presented meeting            (what else would I expect from you guys?)

                                        Dr. Trisha Macnair

We heard the ideal adult diet is around 2000 Calories per day, divided as

20% breakfast     30% lunch     30% evening meal     20% snacks

 Excellent meeting - really enjoyed it and learned plenty.   Food fantastic.

                                         Dr. Rob Hicks

It is not necessary to starve to loose weight. Spread the caloric intake and understand the value of foods. There is now a generation whose mother never cooked a meal, and have little idea how to plan and balance nutrition and snacking with exercise.

Clear labelling with realistic portion sizes which is consistent across all foods could put them back in control.

In March ALK-Abelló called a further meeting to present the recently released 2-year efficacy data from clinical trials of sublingual immunotherapeutic grass pollen allergen tablets, and the clinical experience and safety data gained since the launch. This is the first new therapy for over 30 years and represents an evolution in the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

In February a meeting at Astra Zeneca’s headquarters highlighted some of the problems currently affecting those suffering from bipolar conditions and Schizophrenia. A recent report highlighted how media reporting of severe mental illness tends to focus on cases of violence linked with mental illness to the exclusion of more balanced coverage.  However, those with personal contact with people suffering from mental health problems are more likely to be critical of media reporting, while those without are more likely to link impaired mental health with violence and crime.

Just before Christmas a group of media medics assembled at the Chancery Court Hotel in Holborn to hear news of a new treatment for hay fever. Attempts to desensitise people against pollen allergy in the past have been largely confined to a long series of injections which have been largely been abandoned. Oral therapy is now available and taken once a day before the season starts offers the first effective preventative treatment for years.

Astra Zeneca hosted the next Roundtable meeting at their corporate headquarters in Mayfair, London. The brief was simply to discuss and plan how the pharmaceutical industry can improve communications with the media and with the doctors who work in it.

All present agreed the valuable source of information the industry can be, with an unrivalled knowledge base in areas of their special interest. The use of in house public relations departments was reviewed, and how these can build important contacts with professionals involved in research and clinical medicine on one side, and media medics and other journalists on the other.

About a dozen Media Medics doctors meet at ‘Rules’ Restaurant in  Covent Garden for the third in our series of Roundtable Meetings.

Rules is the oldest restaurant in London, dating from 1798, once the haunt of Graham Greene and Charles Dickens, and notoriously King Edward VII and Lilly Langtree. Dr. Sarah Jarvis, GP and spokesperson for the Royal College of General Practitioners, welcomed the group and introduced the subject of sexual health and contraception. Chris Wilkinson, chairman of the NICE Guidelines Development Group reviewed their recent publications emphasising the need for greater choice and in particular reminded us all that contraception does not simply mean the combined oral pill. Dr. Anne Szarewski, Senior Clinical Medical Officer from the Margaret Pyke Centre discussed different methods and advances in contraception, and finally Dr. Sarah Jarvis presented the results of ‘Talkchoice’, a survey of who women discuss their contraception with and the extent to which they feel informed.

Media Medics and Univadis

www.univadis.co.uk is the non promotional medical website of MSD pharmaceuticals, providing information and interest to UK doctors. Media Medics has been appointed to provide new content for the site, and each month we will be supplying four articles on topical subjects, together with regular input to the related discussion forums. The articles are opinionated (as well as factually accurate!) and comment is encouraged. We are now looking for potential contributors - would you like to write regular articles for Univadis and/or get involved in some lively discussion on topics that matter to primary care?

The second roundtable meeting was held on 22^nd September at the Quo Vadis Restaurant in Soho, where fifteen doctors were updated on problems with the menopause and why so few women talk about them.

In a room once part of the home of Karl Marx, Dr Annie Evans, Women’s Health Specialist from the Royal Infirmary and Nuffield Hospitals in Bristol discussed Silent Postmenopausal Problems. Urogenital atrophy occurs in the majority of women at the menopause yet less than a quarter seek medical advice. Most find it hard to discuss their symptoms with those close to them, leave alone their doctor or nurse. A few turn up at the STI clinic, rather more buy anti-thrush creams that make it worse.

Dr Diana Mansour, Consultant in Community Gynaecology from Newcastle upon Tyne then proposed a sympathetic approach to taking a sexual history, identifying and then managing the condition, using both local and systemic oestrogens. She reviewed their safety and effectiveness as well as personal preferences.

Finally the results of a new anonymous on-line survey conducted by Menopause Matters were revealed. The condition remains at least as common as before, but women are prepared to discuss it with health professionals if they are assured of a knowledgeable and sympathetic response, effective treatment and confidentiality.

Media Medics held the first of our series of roundtable discussion meetings at the Groucho Club in London in May. It was designed to present the facts about cardiovascular disease and the media’s reaction.

Dr. Sarah Jarvis reminded us that cardiovascular disease is responsible for 28% of all deaths in industrialised countries and kills twice as many people as cancer and four times as many as AIDS. It is the commonest cause of premature death in the UK and for 40% of people their first encounter with the disease is also their last – such is the impact of sudden death. 

Total cholesterol is intimately linked to CHD, and in northern Europe we have amongst the highest lipid levels, and thus the highest rates of disease in the world. Lowering cholesterol is directly related to falls in both the incidence of CHD and its mortality, although until recently there has been little emphasis on the different lipid fractions. A 1% reduction in LDL reduces CHD by 1%, but a 1% rise in HDL reduces it by 3%. This lack of interest may have been due to the previous lack of an evidence base, few acceptable and effective treatments, and perhaps to the public and media’s obsession with just cholesterol – as in the ‘know your number’ campaign.

Dr. Marc Evans illustrated articles from both the UK press suggesting there is no difference in the choice of statin. This is clearly at odds with the published data and seems to take little account of the different doses needed by different compounds to achieve the same end point. It might be possible to increase the dose of any statin to reach target, but a less potent drug which required a higher dose may then exhibit an unfavourable side effect profile.

And the media is influential. For many people it is their principal if not their only source of information. The public have an increasing need for health information, and this role has fallen to the media, who are regarded as well researched and trusted sources, making their readers reassured, informed, and expert in the areas that interest them.

There seems to be no apparent lower threshold for LDL and recent evidence continues to add weight to the benefits of intensive cholesterol reduction. Present target levels of between 4.5 to 5 mmol/l for total cholesterol and 2.4 to 3 mmol/l for LDL seems likely to fall still further, despite which the famous rule of halves applies to current lipid reduction as much as elsewhere. Of the population in the UK who qualify for lipid lowering therapy, approximately half are receiving it and only half of those achieve treatment targets.