Real Health with Karl Henry

On this week’s show, I’ll be talking about the menstrual cycle.For far too long periods have been a taboo subject. Each month many women are faced with bleeding, severe pain and a litany of menstrual problems.However, with new attitudes, treatments and technological developments things are changing.Joining me to talk about periods, pain and irregular cycles is leading expert Dr. Caoimhe Hartley, GP & Menopause Specialist.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s show, I’ll be talking about Suicide Awareness in Ireland. Every year suicide accounts for over 800,000 deaths globally. Even though attitudes have changed in recent years, there is still a stigma surrounding suicide. We can all play a role in reaching out to someone we think in is in need – no one should suffer in silence. Last month Pieta House launch their: ‘Know the Signs Campaign’, which aims to help people recognise suicide warning signs and what someone can do to help. Joining me to discuss suicide awareness in Ireland is Leigh Kenny, Qualified Therapist & Pieta House Regional Manager for the Greater Dublin Region. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/ And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from. The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s show I’ll be talking about the prevalence of smoking in Ireland.Ireland is recognised as a global leader in tobacco control having developed extensive treatment programmes for those struggling with tobacco and nicotine dependence. But can the country reach its goal of becoming tobacco free by 2025? Joining me on this week’s podcast is Dr Damien Lowry, Senior Counselling Psychologist and chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Damien has lot of really good advice on how to quit smoking. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter andrealhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s show I’ll be talking about pelvic floor physiotherapy.One in three women leak urine – it is a massive problem in this country.Some women will have a severe urge to pee, which can happen very often, hourly, or more and it can have them up several times at night. These women though they are not leaking, their lives are ruled by their bladders. It is also an issue for many men. But there is help out there.Joining me on this week’s podcast to discuss the pelvic floor and the treatments that are available is Aoife Ni Eochaidh, Chartered Physiotherapist and Clinical Specialist Women’s & Men’s Health & Continence. Aoife has lots of expert advice on how to prevent pelvic floor issues as well as manage them. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter andrealhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s episode of the Real Health podcast, I'll be discussing anxiety, what it is and how we can offer support to someone who has it. I’m joined by Counselling Psychologist and anxiety expert Dr Rachel Allan, to talk about how we can help somebody with anxiety, by becoming better listeners, supporting them when they try to make a change and how to look after our own mental health in the process. Rachel’s new book, How to Help Someone With Anxiety, looks at just that. It's a practical guide to help you be there for a loved one, while giving you confidence to assist them in navigating their journey with anxiety. “Really anxiety is partly a mental response but it's so much in our bodies. Anxiety has one purpose and one purpose only and that is to keep us safe - to protect us, to tune us into a threat that might be in our environment.”Rachel says the pandemic has undoubtedly made people more anxious. “We like a sense of predictability. The pandemic has really played to our vulnerabilities in terms of anxiety. On the one hand, we’ve got the illness itself...in addition to that, we have all the stuff that’s happened around the pandemic; lockdowns, change in employment, massive changes in how we live our lives, distance from loved ones. With all that comes a sense of unpredictability.” We also discuss how to help someone we know who has anxiety. Rachel says oftentimes, we think the best way to tackle anxiety is to remove the cause or to completely avoid certain situations. Instead, Rachel believes this can prolong the problem: “When someone close to us is suffering the most natural response is to want to make it go away. We want to make them feel better...One of the really important steps to supporting someone to live better with anxiety, is to get a little bit of an understanding of what anxiety is but also what keeps it going. And often the one thing that keeps anxiety going is the stuff we try to do to not feel anxious.”Rachel also gives us great tips on how to be better listeners, what the right questions to ask are and how to resist the urge to fix the problem. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter andrealhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Real Health episode is all about pain.Chronic pain is something that impacts many in Ireland, with chronic back pain one of the most common forms that people suffer from.On the show, I’ll be talking about what pain really is, our understanding of it and how some pain can be contagious.I’m joined by doctor and clinical fellow at Oxford University, Monty Lyman, who is an expert in pain. Monty’s new book, The Painful Truth explores the world of pain. It looks at cutting-edge research, how our emotions impact the pain we experience and how hypnotherapy and virtual reality can play a role in pain relief.Monty believes that most of us don’t fully understand pain and its purpose. He says we need to acknowledge the role of pain and by properly understanding it’s function, he says it can help in dealing with chronic, persistent cases: “Understanding that pain is trying to be a guardian angel...that it's trying to protect you, even if it is completely ruining your life...is the first step to understanding how to live with, reduce and even eliminate persistent pain.”Apart from studying pain itself, Monty has also looked at pain relief. Not just the traditional forms of painkillers, but alternatives, like the use of virtual reality and hypnotherapy. The latter is something he says helped him with persistent pain he was suffering from: “I was very skeptical about hypnotherapy. I had never been taught about it during medical school. I had seen some really good evidence [of] hypnotherapy [used] for a number of pain conditions. I have suffered with occasionally really bad irritable bowel syndrome since I was fifteen. I interviewed a hypnotherapist for the book who offered me a session and my IBS was completely cured...it was near miraculous.”Monty has also examined how we can feel others' pain and how we’ve developed this ability in order to protect ourselves from experiencing the same hurt: “Research shows we’re all mirrors. If you see someone hurt whether it's in real life or in an action movie or rugby match - you see these hits and you flinch. That’s because the same areas in the brain that are activated when you experience pain yourself, are being activated.”For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s show, I’ll be talking about cocaine addiction in Ireland. The latest figures released by the Health Research Board, shows the number of people seeking treatment for problem cocaine use has increased, with the number of crack cocaine cases increasing by 400 per cent in recent years. The HRB says last year, cocaine was the only substance where they saw an increase in those entering treatment for. To discuss cocaine use in Ireland, I’m joined by Consultant Psychiatrist, Professor Colin O’Gara. Colin is the head of addiction services at St John of God Hospital in Dublin, where they provide specialist services in substance misuse. Colin says all the indicators are pointing to a rise in cocaine use in Ireland, which he says is a result of the drug becoming normalised as well as widely available: “There’s probably been two peaks [in cocaine use]. The first was around the Celtic Tiger and with the economic crash, it almost disappeared. Then as the economy improved from 2013 onwards, we saw on the clinical frontline, reports of cocaine increasing quite substantially and up to recent years it's been quite dramatic. It's really become very normalised from our point of view, and the availability is huge. So when you have normalisation and strong availability you have serious problems.” Colin says cocaine impacts all parts of the body when taken: “Cocaine is a stimulant that affects all systems of the body...the heart, the lungs, the brain, everything. All of the above is affected by cocaine. It's a very potent stimulant that initially leads to a massive release of dopamine...The problem with stimulants as opposed to opioids like heroin, is they tend to create a very edgy experience...it can create a lot of anxiety and paranoia.” We also discuss what somebody should do if they feel they need to seek help for cocaine addiction, as well as all the different types of addiction services that are available. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/ And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter andrealhealth@independent.ie. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you get your podcasts from. The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s show, I’m talking all about healthy aging, the myths around it, and why it’s important to keep exercising as we get older.I’m joined by personal trainer and fitness expert Jacqueline Hooton, who specialises in how to stay active in your 50s and 60s. She’s all about promoting active ageing, while helping to avoid physical decline in midlife.Jacqueline is an expert on knowing the importance of exercise, especially for women after menopause: “Bone health can massively decrease because of the menopause. Weight training and loading the bones can improve their strength, helping to avoid osteoporosis.”Jacqueline says it's not just about keeping fit, but making sure we retain as much movement as possible, so we can do the basics when we’re older, like brushing our hair or putting something in the kitchen press: “We do lose muscle mass with each decade. If we don’t promote the retention of muscle mass with movement through exercise, we’ll lose it.”Even if you haven’t exercised properly in years, Jacqueline says it's never too late to start: “You are never too old and you never have too many underlying medical conditions or injuries, that you can do nothing. There is always a work around. We need to challenge the idea that you can be too old. We know we can get stronger at any age.”We also talk about motivation and goals, and Jacqueline gives loads of great tips on how to start your fitness journey at any age. You can find Jacqueline on instagram at @hergardengymFor more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, orwherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re going to talk about running injuries and how to avoid them. Running has become one of the most popular ways to improve fitness, and to stay in shape. Especially during lockdown when gyms, team sports and swimming pools were off limits. But most runners must deal with injury at some point. Most injuries are caused by repetitive stress, but sudden injuries like a sprained ankle or a torn muscle can happen, too. I’m joined by Peter Francis author of Running From Injury. Why Runners Get Injured And How To Stop It. “Put simply, runners get injured when they change anything too quickly. Changes in running distance or speed, surface, footwear, stress levels, environment and non-running activity can all precede a running injury.” “Humans are born to run. Your achilles tendon (the cord at the back of your heel) is around 10 times longer than that of our ape-like cousins and combined with the arch in our feet, it means our feet and ankles can act like springs. We have big bum muscles on the side of our hips that stop us falling over and we have a big ligament that runs down the back of our neck that keeps our head still as we bop along (watch a ponytail swinging to see this ligament in action while restraining the head).” This episode is jam-packed full of tips from Peter on avoiding injury and maintaining longevity in your running career. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/ And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from. The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know drinking plenty of water is good for us. But how else can water improve our health and well being?On this week’s show, I’m talking about how we can embrace water, from the sea to the shower - looking at the other ways it can help us. I’m joined by Dr Catherine Kelly, geography academic and Director of the Wild Beach School in Brighton. She’s the author of the new book Blue Spaces: How and Why Water Can Make You Feel Better. Catherine believes water can be beneficial to our mental as well as our physical well being: “We feel relief when we see water. When we are in or near water our troubles and busy thoughts often quieten.” She says more than ever, experts are looking at how water can have a positive impact on our mood: “While the connection between ‘green’ landscapes and mental health is well documented, researchers are increasingly intrigued by our psychological response to oceans, rivers, lakes, canals and waterfalls – and how they can induce a positive mood, reduce negative feelings while helping us to be present.”For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie.Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.