From sickness-fighting vitamins to Dyspraxia – Dr Jeff answers your health questions
DR Jeff Foster is The Sun on Sunday’s resident doctor and is here to help YOU.
Dr Jeff, 43, splits his time between working as a GP in Leamington Spa, Warks, and running his clinic, H3 Health, which is the first of its kind in the UK to look at hormonal issues for both men and women.
See h3health.co.uk and email at [email protected].
Q: NOW that we’re coming into cold and flu season, other than having the flu jab, is there anything I can do or vitamins I should be taking to avoid coming down with the lurgy?
Max Presley, Cumbria
A: Absolutely not.
One of the biggest cons in the nutrition and dietetics world is that we can supplement our way to good health.
For example, you can go to any supermarket or health food shop and buy “immune-boosting” vitamins.
However, the evidence that any of these supplements make any difference to our risk of getting ill is woeful at best.
With the exception of vitamin D, a fit and healthy adult is unlikely to significantly reduce their risk of viral infections by taking any extra vitamins.
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The key is to lead a healthy lifestyle, have a balanced diet, sleep well, exercise (these have been shown to improve your immune system), and try to avoid excess stress.
You could also attempt to avoid exposure to illness.
If you are around other sick people who are coughing and sneezing on you, you are more likely to get sick yourself.
My final piece of advice is to wash your hands regularly as this will remove germs from them.
Q: MY son is almost 15 and is extremely clumsy and always has been.
He has broken both wrists (one of them twice) and had to be X-rayed and had stitches on several occasions throughout his life.
His primary school suggested that he has dyspraxia.
Is there anything I can do to help him with this?
Should I have taken him to the GP about it and does he need a proper diagnosis to receive support?
Julie Brading, Rochester
A: Dyspraxia is a spectrum disorder.
By that, we mean that different people are affected to varying degrees.
For some, dyspraxia may simply be the manifestation of poor coordination in sports or occasional physically challenging situations.
For others, dyspraxia may present with unusual body positions (in the first year of life), difficulty playing with toys, or even problems holding and using cutlery.
As children age, they often appear more clumsy, but dyspraxia can also have a cross-over learning and some may have problems with concentration, following instructions, or have poor social skills.
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Generally, dyspraxia is all about severity.
If it is something that is affecting your son’s quality of life or his happiness, I would suggest you see your doctor and seek further advice to help him.