View the full post Cabinet Ministers to donate one month’s salary to Project Polaris fund on NOW Grenada.

View the full post Opposition Leader experiences minor injuries on way to Parliament on NOW Grenada.

“The challenges before us are many, but so are the opportunities to build a future that is more just, prosperous, and inclusive”

View the full post Throne Speech 2025: Delivering a better future, together on NOW Grenada.

Disease risk factors are characteristics or behaviours that increase a person’s chance of developing a particular disease. Not everyone who has a disease risk factor will develop the disease, and there are some people who develop a specific disease without having a disease risk factor.

That said, in our population, the main diseases are the non-communicable diseases (NCDs), like heart diseases and strokes, and cancers. Indeed, in Barbados over the last decade, we average just over a heart attack a day and two strokes every three days.

Not everyone dies after having their first heart attack or stroke, but each month, at least 20 people die after having a heart attack and another 20 die after having a stroke.

The main disease risk factors for the NCDs include a family history, getting older, being overweight or obese, being inactive, unhealthy eating habits, drinking alcohol and cigarette smoking. Some of these cannot be modified or changed, such as getting older or changing your family, but, for the most part, the other disease risk factors can be modified or changed. If you have hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol, you are perhaps many steps closer to having a full-blown heart attack or stroke, or (heaven forbid) even sudden death. Reaching this point depends largely on your eating, drinking and exercise habits.

So, for example, drinking alcohol increases your risk of having a heart attack. Similarly, being overweight or obese increases your chance of having a heart attack. In fact, the bigger you are, the greater the risk. But if you have two risk factors, such as being an alcohol drinker as well as being overweight or obese, the risk of a heart attack just doesn’t double, but jumps up significantly. Thus, one risk factor plus one risk factor does not just double the risk for a heart attack or stroke, but may increase this risk fivefold.

While normal arithmetic suggests that one plus one equals two, this does not hold for disease risk factors. One disease risk factor plus another disease risk factor may increase the risk of a disease more than two times, for example.

Someone with three risk factors, for example, may have a tenfold (or higher) risk of developing a particular disease.

Learning about your risk factors can help you make informed decisions about your health and lifestyle. It allows you to take steps to reduce your risk, such as making changes to your diet or quitting smoking.  Knowing your risk factors can also help you and your family doctor monitor your health more closely and potentially prevent a disease, or catch a disease early, when it may be reversed or easily treated and controlled.

We now know that some of the ‘modifiable’ risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, poor diet, inactivity and overweight/obesity, are also the risk factors for many (but not all) cancers. Thus, if we wish to lower our rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer, we must address the risk factor stage of many conditions before they become full-blown diseases that are often difficult to reverse.

As far as cardiovascular diseases are concerned, over the last decade, scientists have developed “Cardiovascular Risk Tables”, which allow doctors to ‘tally’ the cardiovascular risk of individuals, and calculate the chance of that individual having a major cardiovascular event (like a heart attack or stroke) in the next ten years, for example.

This then allows the doctor-patient to identify specific targets, e.g. lose 10 lbs, and lower your systolic blood pressure by 10 mmHG, to lower the chance that you would develop a major cardiovascular event.

The Pan American Health Organisation, PAHO, has introduced a cardiovascular risk calculator called Cardiocal, for specific countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Barbados. This was part of the Hearts in the Americas programme, aiming to promote the adoption of best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Use of this calculator should give doctors and their patients targets that can eventually reduce the risk of a major cardiovascular event, lower the overload at the Accident and Emergency Department, and lower the suffering and deaths associated with these major cardiovascular events.

The latest hypertension guidelines, the first ‘upgrade’ since 2017, were endorsed by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC), released a few days ago, suggest individual treatment guidelines based on an individual’s cardiovascular risk calculated in a table called PREVENT. PREVENT, unlike Cardiocal, is not calibrated for Latin America and Caribbean use. These 2025 updates represent a more aggressive approach towards managing high blood pressure, based on the latest research. But in the Caribbean, we should still be using Cardiocal.

These are also risk factor calculators for kidney (renal) disease and a few other conditions, but at this time, these do not seem to be in widespread use, perhaps until they are calibrated for specific populations.

Thus, a ‘touch of sugar’, plus a ’touch of pressure’ and only ‘one or two drinks’ can send you on a one-way trip to the local cemetery. A little bit of laziness plus a little bit of ‘lickrishness’ add up to big trouble, as far as ‘life and death’ are concerned. Beware disease risk factors.

Dr Colin V Alert is a family physician and former researcher with the Chronic Disease Research Centre.

The post One plus one equals trouble: The hidden math of disease risk appeared first on Barbados Today.

Barbadian businesses must play a greater role in protecting young people from unhealthy choices within schools, says President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Paul Inniss.

Speaking during a Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) webinar themed Back to School, Back to Health: Nothing at School Should Encourage Unhealthy Choices, Inniss said closer collaboration between the private sector, the Ministry of Health, and other stakeholders is needed to create effective solutions.

“I’m actually working through trying to coordinate between business, the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders… how can we pool resources and become more effective in [managing] the concerns around companies that actually pitch to our kids unhealthy foods and so forth. It is a balancing act… quite frankly, in talking to a lot of them, they actually want to be part of the solution as well. I don’t think we have figured it out,” he admitted.

Inniss noted that while companies like Sagicor have long supported schools by donating equipment or funding, there is room for businesses to go further.

“For companies like Sagicor, we started adopting schools. But no school has ever said to us, ‘Why can’t we devise a health programme?’ Maybe that is where we partner with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, HCC and others to actually be part of what is happening within the schools,” he said.

He also cautioned against fragmented approaches, stating, “Too many agencies are coming into business houses, independently, and everybody’s trying to achieve the same result, and there’s limited resources, limited capacity. You have to find a way to harness the resources and actually focus them where they are needed.”

The call comes against the backdrop of growing concern about how marketing and food environments exploit the vulnerabilities of young people.

Caribbean Vice-President of the International Association for Adolescent Health (IAAH), Dr Asha Pemberton, stressed that children and adolescents are neurologically wired to gravitate towards products that make them feel good.

“The frontal lobe… is simply not complete in maturation until age 25. So young people do things that feel good over and over… and that is exploited by all the industries. The food industry knows this because ultra-processed products taste good, they’re crunchy, they’re sweet, they’re salty [and] their dopamine drive happens. They are uniquely targeted,” she explained.

Dr Pemberton argued that it is unfair to place the responsibility solely on young people. 

“The simplistic ‘just make better choices’ only goes so far. We have to recognise that these are children and adolescents. Unless our environment, through a comprehensive ban, removes these items from their most intimate environment—and their school is one—it really becomes difficult to ask a developing brain to make these choices one by one,” he said.

Dr Pemberton said it is ultimately the responsibility of adults, caregivers, policymakers and businesses to create supportive spaces: “We cannot ask them to make decisions that they don’t have the capacity to do. We have to create an environment that is best supportive of their health and development.” (SB)

The post Businesses urged to promote healthy eating among youth appeared first on Barbados Today.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed the reassignment of six nurses from the Geriatric Hospital to district facilities in St Lucy and St Philip, but insists the move was not punitive. 

Permanent Secretary Wayne Marshall on Thursday rejected claims of victimisation, saying the decision was driven by urgent staffing needs and a commitment to maintaining safe, high-quality care across the public health system.

Marshall was responding to concerns raised in letters from two trade unions, which suggested the transfers were linked to nurses’ complaints about patient allocation during a recent scabies outbreak at the Geriatric Hospital. He maintained that the reassignments were solely intended to address acute shortages at the district hospitals, and pointed out that staff had previously been redeployed in the opposite direction to support the Geriatric Hospital during similar circumstances.

The ministry remains focused on balancing resources across facilities, Marshall said, adding that the affected nurses were notified both verbally and in writing at least two weeks prior to the effective date.

He also addressed union concerns about the handling of the outbreak, stating that all actions taken, including patient relocations, were guided by medical and infection control professionals.

“Measures such as patient relocations were carried out to facilitate proper isolation, treatment, and sanitisation, ensuring the safety of both patients and staff,” he said.  

Marshall further asserted that there was no serious threat to health or safety as a result of the ministry’s decisions.

Acknowledging an administrative oversight, the permanent secretary confirmed that incorrect legislation had been cited in letters issued to the nurses, but assured that corrected correspondence would be provided. 

He emphasised that the reassignments were within his authority and did not infringe on the rights of any officer.

The ministry has already met with senior union officials and plans to convene an additional meeting in response to the most recent correspondence. Written responses will also be issued to formally outline its position.

The National Union of Public Workers, had flagged growing unrest at the Geriatric Hospital, with Acting General Secretary Wayne Walrond saying nurses were surprised by the timing and lack of formal documentation, and believed they were being penalised for raising concerns about the outbreak’s management. (EJ)

The post ‘Not punishment’: Ministry explains nurse reassignments appeared first on Barbados Today.

A Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) orthopaedic technician has been arrested in connection with a video recording traumatised Lolita “Lola” Callender while she was a patient at the Emergency Department, authorities said Thursday. Police said they have since seized the 2o-year-old man’s phone for an analysis to be conducted by the Cyber Crime Unit as ...

View the full post RGPF awaiting toxicology report on Franklyn’s cause of death on NOW Grenada.

Guatemala.- Organizations from Central America Vulnerables warn that rising temperatures in the region are intensifying droughts, floods, storms, heat waves, and crop losses, threatening food security. They are calling on Central American governments to take urgent action to curb climate change and halt the expansion of open-pit mining.

The groups also highlighted the negative impacts of monocultures, agribusiness, and indiscriminate agrochemical use, which harm ecosystems and disproportionately affect women and vulnerable populations. At a meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, Darío Solano of the Dominican Network for Afro-Descendant Studies and Empowerment (RedAfros) emphasized the human right to water, urging universal coverage and prioritization of both human and ecosystem needs.

Proposed measures include wastewater treatment, water quality monitoring, protection of sources, regulation of extractions, and strengthening community water systems. Activists also called for soil protection, support for artisanal fishing, community risk management, and the enactment of robust laws on climate change, food sovereignty, environmental protection, and human rights with gender and intercultural perspectives. They stressed that the climate crisis amplifies vulnerabilities, leaving millions without access to water.

For older adults, minor falls can pose major threats, as their risk of death after a fall has tripled in the U.S. over the last 30 years.

Some experts believe that certain medications — a category called fall risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs) — could be to blame.

Dr. Thomas A. Farley, a Washington, D.C.–based public health expert, writes in the medical publication JAMA that lifestyle changes alone can’t explain the spike.

COMMON PAINKILLERS MAY FUEL DEADLY SUPERBUGS THAT RESIST ANTIBIOTICS, STUDY WARNS

"There is plenty of reason to believe that the surge in fall deaths may be tied to the soaring use of certain prescription drugs," he writes.

Farley noted that these drugs are widely used among older adults, and their use has grown over the past few decades.

"Cutting back on unnecessary FRIDs could be a simple but powerful way to reduce fall rates and help seniors remain safe, independent and active as they age," the researchers wrote in the study, published in BMC Geriatrics.

FRIDs could make people more likely to fall because they can cause drowsiness, dizziness, slower reaction times or problems with balance and coordination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

POPULAR BACK PAIN MEDICATION LINKED TO BRAIN HEALTH RISKS IN SOME PATIENTS

This category of medications includes common drugs such as beta-blockers (often used for heart conditions), anticholinergics (used for allergies, bladder issues or depression), and even proton pump inhibitors (for acid reflux), which may not directly cause falls, but can make injuries worse if a fall happens.

The most concerning FRIDs, according to Farley, are those that act on the brain and nervous system, including the following.

"The easiest way to think of medications that increase the risk of falls is any medication that changes a person’s ability to clearly perceive and navigate the world," Dr. Kenneth J. Perry, a physician based in South Carolina, told Fox News Digital. "Standing or walking without falling takes a great deal of coordination between different parts of a person’s body."

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Previous studies of FRIDs suggest a link to an increased risk of falling.

In one Swiss study last year, a group of seniors 74 and older were tracked over three years. Those taking any FRID at all were 13% more likely to fall, 15% more likely to suffer an injurious fall and 12% more likely to fall multiple times.

For those taking multiple FRIDs, the risks were even higher, with 22% more total falls and 33% more injurious falls.

There are some limitations to these studies, according to Perry.

"Many times, there are obvious associations between the two items, but that does not mean that there is a specific causation," he told Fox News Digital. "Although what appears to be a logical conclusion of FRIDs being the cause of the increased falls, it is difficult to truly make such a statement without further study."

MORE IN HEALTH NEWS

Perry emphasized that seniors shouldn't necessarily avoid the medications altogether.

"There is always a risk associated with taking any medication, but the intent is to make sure that the benefits outweigh the risks," he said. "The discussion of risk versus benefit is best to be had with a primary care physician who truly knows the patient and their specific risk factors."