Headford News and Community Spotlight - The Raging Epidemic in Ireland

Pumpkin Festival at The Headford Community Garden on 25th October at 2 pm in the Garden next to the mart (weather permitting). For only €5 per family enjoy activities like Scarecrow Building, Pumpkin Carving, Halloween Sweet Hunt. Please bring old clothes, a pillow case, wear your fancy dress, and they'll provide the rest.  For further details please ring Kathleen at 086-3151852.

Rainbows twelve week programme will be starting at Solas in late October for ten to twelve year olds. This programme is to assist children who have had a loss through separation.  If your child, or any children you know, could benefit from Rainbows, please pass on the information. Phone Solas to reserve as places are limited (093.36446).

Solas Church Gate Collection
A great big THANK YOU! from goes out from the Management & Staff of Solas Family Resource Centre to the communitues of Headford, Caherlistrane, Claran and Cornerchapel for their generous contribution to our church gate collection. We are delighted with the success of this collection which netted €1,426.58, including Claran €262.44, Headford €623.95, Cornerchapel €302.50 and Caherlistrane €237.69.  This money will help us continue to provide support and services to the community, including Counselling Service, Meals on Wheels, and many more services. 

And an extra special big thank you to all our volunteers who gave of their time and energy to make this collection possible. Thanks for showing the Love, Headford! 

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

There’s a raging epidemic in this country and it isn’t Ebola. In fact, this epidemic is global. An estimated 27 million Americans have this disease. There are no official records in Ireland, but it is estimated that the numbers far exceed the staggering number of reported cases. Then there’s the fact that the number of cancer diagnoses related to this disease has tripled since 1975.

What is it? Thyroid Disease.

If you think about it, you probably know someone who has been diagnosed with it—or worse—has the symptoms but has never been diagnosed. Maybe you have the symptoms yourself, because the list seems endless. For hypothyroidism, the symptoms include tiredness, sensitivity to cold, weight gain, depression, constipation, slow movement and slow thought, muscle aches, and weakness. For hyperthyroidism, the symptoms are weight loss, increased appetite, rapid heartbeat, nervousness, anxiety, tremor, sensitivity to heat.

Unfortunately, the numbers above are probably under estimated because thyroid disease usually goes undiagnosed. Or worse, traditional physicians refuse to do the necessary blood tests and, instead, misdiagnose thyroid disease as depression. They then prescribe anti-depressants, which only exacerbate the situation.

When I asked Alan Costello, M.D. of Headford Health Centre, why physicians will not do full thyroid panel blood testing (including T3, T4, thyroid anti-bodies, etc.), he said it was a matter of money and logistics. The Galway University Hospital lab (a public facility) does not offer a full thyroid panel because it would not be cost-effective for the lab. According to the Galway Primary Care lab, some blood samples to be tested for thyroid function would have to be kept on ice and tested within two hours of collection.

So, money and logistics. Great. In the meantime, you could be suffering from a disease that’s making you miserable.

Alternatives

There is an alternative. And, when it comes to thyroid health, if you’re interested in healing yourself rather than just masking the symptoms, the alternative is the only choice.

Enter Maev Creaven, a Galway-based registered Nutritional Therapist and Functional Medicine Practitioner. In case you don’t know, Functional Medicine practitioners develop individual treatment plans for the people they treat. So, rather than slapping an anti-depressant on your symptoms, Maev offers an in-depth consultation, either in person or via skype, a personalised nutrition course, monthly check-ins, weekly updates, and even daily support with what she calls ‘bits of homework.’

Having experienced hypothyroid symptoms herself a few years ago, Maev is a big-proponent of going gluten-free. However, she says, ‘There’s no restriction in healthy eating.’ Yet, going gluten-free is a major life style change and not for everyone. Gluten, that buzzy little protein that’s found in wheat, barley, and rye, has been demonised of late. You may or may not be gluten sensitive, and if you’re not sensitive, there’s really no point in giving it up. But Maev recommends that people eliminate foods like sugar, gluten and dairy, and then keep a log of their symptoms. She says, in her experience, ‘99% of people’s symptoms improve.’

‘Ask yourself, “How do I feel after eating [fill in the blank].” If you give it up for a while, do things improve for you?’

Her favourite dietary advice is the 80/20 rule. If you eat well 80% of the time, then 20% of the time you don’t have to think about it.

Maev is one of the few practitioners in the west of Ireland who offers full thyroid panel blood tests. According to Thyroid Support Ireland, [ http://mythyroidireland.webs.com/] there are several physicians in Dublin, including functional medicine practitioners, who will do a full thyroid panel blood test. They will also prescribe the more natural desiccated thyroid (Maev does not). Desiccated thyroid (which comes from pigs), has been proven to be more helpful to most people than its synthetic counterpart, thyroxine, which is prescribed by most M.D.s. Interestingly, physicians usually refuse to prescribe the more natural desiccated thyroid, even though there is no science—no double-blind, peer-reviewed studies—that prove thyroxine is more efficient at relieving symptoms than desiccated thyroid.

Maev gives advice for all auto-immune diseases, not just for thyroid issues. She works with people with metabolic disorders and cancer, as well as advising about preventative health care. Doing everything from corporate health seminars to teaching cooking classes at Cancer Care West, Maev has helped many different people with all sorts of conditions, ‘I work a lot because this is something I’m very passionate about.’

Since the rate of absenteeism is quite high in Ireland, Maev is hired by corporations to educate their employees. She imparts loads of information, like how to eat healthy while traveling, how to make good smoothies, and what to buy at the Statoil station that’s healthy for when you’re in a hurry.

With bright eyes, an infectious smile and a flawless complexion and figure, Maev is a walking advertisement for her health services. ‘Health to me is a combination of a few areas,’ she says. ‘It includes quality sleep, movement, lifestyle, connection with loved ones, lots of play-time, being outdoors and, of course, smart nutrition.’ 

Free Information 

If you’d care to find out more about Maev’s practice or thyroid health, Solas is sponsoring a community service evening on Thursday, 16 October at 7:30 pm in the Parish Hall. Maev will be speaking on The Truth and Myth About Thyroid Health. Admission is free.

Read more about Maev Creaven here: http://www.nutritioncentre.ie/en/