Sheila Wayman

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Sheila Wayman

An SOS hotline has saved Pauline Doyle, who is being treated for breast cancer, from many trips to a hospital emergency department over the past two years. In this case, SOS stands for Sort Out my Symptoms and it was an initiative that was kick-started by the Covid-19 pandemic. Five years on, this early intervention service has more than proved its worth in keeping vulnerable cancer patients in active treatment away from extra visits to hospital if at all possible, or at least bypassing the ED.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Sheila Wayman

High levels of aerobic fitness are the best predictor of longevity, according to cardiologist Dr Paddy Barrett, who has attracted an international following for his expertise in prevention of heart disease. Feeling how puffed you are after running up two flights of stairs might be a clue to how you are faring on that front. But a more insightful and scientific approach is to measure your VO₂ max.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Sheila Wayman

Fiona McDonald’s 21st birthday should have been a celebratory milestone, but it turned out to be the day she was diagnosed with kidney failure. “It was the beginning of the hardest chapter in our family’s life,” says her only sibling, Emma. The next nine years that Fiona had to spend on dialysis were particularly complex, because she has a rare chromosomal disorder that has affected her physical and intellectual development.

2 months ago | irishtimes.com | Sheila Wayman

It is just over a year since one of Christian Kostner’s few neighbours on Dursey Island in West Cork suddenly became very unwell. “It was pretty bad and people weren’t sure what it was. The ambulance was called and it took forever.” He reckons nearly an hour had passed before the first responders arrived via a seven-minute ride on Ireland’s only cable car, which connects the island to the mainland. “If it had been a serious heart emergency, an hour is far too long,” he points out.

2 months ago | irishtimes.com | Sheila Wayman

Giving birth can bring such profound physical, mental and emotional changes that a woman may have no idea how well, or not, she is coping six weeks later. Yet, this is when she is routinely discharged from maternal healthcare by a GP. Between 10 and 15 per cent of women experience some level of postnatal depression, which may not develop until long after six weeks.