Category: Health

FRENCH television and newspapers have been raising awareness of haemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that sees people absorb excessive amounts of iron from their diet.

The week long campaign aims to help people recognise the symptoms and get a check-up if necessary, as it is estimated that around 200,000 people in France are affected by the illness.

Here Helen Aurelius-Haddock, who lives in the Poitou-Charentes, writes about her experience of being diagnosed, some of the difficulties now being faced, but also the support network that has developed, especially on the internet:

“I am 52 years old, and I was diagnosed with type 1 haemochromatosis in January 2009. During the late summer of 2008 I visited the doctor with abdominal pains, along with palpitations and joint pain.

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FOR many people the wines of France are one of the reasons for visiting and living in this wonderful country, writes the Alcoholics Anonymous France South West Intergroup.

But what if the dream starts to be tainted by an uncontrollable desire to drink more and more and you, or somebody you know, find that drinking alcohol is causing a problem?

Nobody likes to be classified as an alcoholic because the image of a down-and-out in a dirty raincoat sitting alone on a park bench, drinking from a bottle wrapped in brown paper is the one that is normally associated with alcoholism.

But it doesn’t have to have reached that stage: broken relationships, lost jobs, financial problems, losing your driving licence, blackouts and periods when you can’t remember what you did the night before, secret drinking and behaviour unacceptable to your friends and relations are all part of the downward spiral.

One of the members of Alcoholics Anonymous writes a cautionary tale, when ignorance is anything but bliss:

There was a time when I enjoyed a glass of wine or two with a meal or at the pub with friends. Then something changed. Due to a life event I discovered that a glass or two or three blocked out what I didn’t want to deal with emotionally, and it worked.

However, things progressed. I did not realise it but somehow along the way I had lost the choice of having a glass or two. That did not do the job and my drinking gradually escalated to the point where it became an absolute necessity to function.

Always having access to a supply became essential and still I did not realise that I had a problem. Of course I could control my drinking, if I really wanted to that is. I always had a strong will. So I tried to stop the downward spiral and to my great surprise I could not.

Fear, panic, self condemnation and loss of self-respect followed. Living both with and without my daily medication became a living hell.

What I had not realised was that I had an allergy to alcohol which condemned me to obsessively consume it, a progressive illness in fact.

However I did find the help I needed through the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. With their help I am now happy and sober because I accepted that for me alcohol is lethal.

If my story raises any doubts for you, or rings any alarm bells then get in touch with AA. You will not be judged because they know how hard it is to come to terms with the problem as they have all experienced it themselves.

Our websites are listed below and give details of most of the meetings conducted in English. Just turn up at one. You will be made most welcome.

The websites also give the contact e-mail addresses for each meeting. The telephone numbers listed on the websites might be private ones so you may need to try more than once – but don’t give up.

You have absolutely nothing to lose and a life with choices to regain, I promise you.

Websites
www.aafrancesud-ouest.com
www.aa-riviera.org
www.aa-europe.net
www.aaparis.org

Related: Alcoholics Anonymous in France there for ‘dangerous’ Christmas period

GOING to a new yoga class in France can be daunting, but with a few familiar words you can soon make a start, writes Carol Miers.

If you are interested in finding a class, ask at your local mairie, visit the tourist office, look in the local paper and read the notices pinned up on the sports hall and salle de fête notice boards.

You can also search online, don’t worry yoga is just yoga in French or in English.

In class although it’s usually possible to stand next to someone and follow their movements, unless you are told to close your eyes, knowing a few words can make it easier.

So you can practice a few yoga movements while saying the French phrases below:

• Chat-Vache à quatre pattes – Cat-cow pose on all fours
• Assis sur les talons – Sit on your heels
• Levant les deux bras au-dessus de la tête – Lift your arms over your head
• Debout – Standing
• Inspirez/expirez – Inhale/exhale
• Accrochez les doigts – Interlace your fingers
• Faites les cercles avec la tête – Make circles with your head
• Allongez-vous sur le dos/ventre – Lie on your back/stomach
• Fermez les deux poings – make fists with your hands
• Levez les jambes vers le ciel – Lift your legs towards the ceiling (for example in shoulder stand)
• Penchez-vous vers l’avant – Bend forwards
• Assis les jambes tendues devant – Sit with the legs straight out in front
• Accélérez – Go faster
• Attrapez fermement le gros orteil de chaque pied – Grip the big toe of each foot
• Accroupissez-vous – Crouch down
• Gardez la colonne droite – Keep the back straight
• Expirez en vous penchant vers l’avant – Exhale as you bend forwards

And some individual parts of the body:

• le pouce – the thumb
• le menton – the chin
• le gros orteil – the big toe
• l’oncle – nail
• les sourcils – eyebrows

Carol Miers holds Kundalini yoga classes in Villefranche du Perigord, Dordogne and qualified to teach Kundalini yoga with the Amrit Nam Sarovar school in France (KRI Level 2).

I HAVE just got back in from a walk with the dog and picked three ticks off her coat, and will be keeping me eyes peeled for others from now on.

Ticks can pose real dangers to your pets, but also to people themselves, so as the days get warmer the chance of seeing some of these beasties increases.

Diseases such as leishmaniasis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and heartworm can prove fatal to your pets so precautions should be taken.

It is possible to buy Frontline spray-on and spot treatment that can be applied to cats and dogs, make sure your pet doesn’t try and shake it off once applied.

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BEING ill in France can really test your language skills, trying to describe where pain is and how you feel can be both exhausting and have potentially disastrous consequences.

The Telegraph covers the problems faced by Britons living overseas who have Parkinson’s considering there is no test for the illness and that patients will have to see a specialist who will look into their health history.

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IF you suffer from hay fever then you can get a little bit of advance notice of pollen levels from the Le Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique (RNSA) website.

There are historical records for towns and cities across France enabling you to spot when pollen levels are at their highest.

And the pollen levels of individual towns and cities can also be checked, they can be found to the right hand side of the page, with an estimate of forthcoming pollen levels plotted on time graphs.

One feature of the RNSA website that could prove particularly useful is a weekly email service that allows you to choose up to three départements and get updates to your inbox about pollen level risks.

I HAVE just got back in from a walk with the dog and picked three ticks off her coat, and will be keeping me eyes peeled for others from now on.

Ticks can pose real dangers to your pets, but also to people themselves, so as the days get warmer the chance of seeing some of these beasties increases.

Diseases such as leishmaniasis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and heartworm can prove fatal to your pets so precautions should be taken.

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THE healthcare system in France is widely regarded as one of the best in the world, indeed many Brits are or have moved to France to take advantage of this system, writes Tristan Freer.

Why then should expats be worried about medical insurance?

The number of British people living and working abroad has, in recent years increased exponentially.

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THE fight to reinstate benefits to Britons living in other EU countries and Switzerland continues.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) still refuses to reinstate disability allowances, withdrawn when claimants who made legitimate moves to live in other EEA Member states, but campaigners are making steady progress.

Here Tina Hamilton provides an update on where the campaign now stands:

Although some progress appears to have been made in the case of exportable benefits, insomuch that a handful of claimants have received appeal submissions from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), hundreds more are still being subjected to delays and procrastination from the exportability team, based in Blackpool.

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WITH the summer holidays here many people will be driving around France either visiting friends or enjoy a week or two away.

But sometimes things don’t run smoothly and should something go wrong and you need to call on the emergency services, a little advanced preparation may help.

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