Travel Health Clinic

Travel Health Clinic is a general practice clinic in Dublin (Ireland) that specialises exclusively in Travel & Tropical Medicine. Travel Health Clinic have their practice at 7 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, just above the Waterstone’s bookstore. They provide vaccinations for international travel for individuals and for groups, Tropical Medical check-ups and pre-employment and visa medical examinations.

In addition to vaccinations for the general international traveller, Travel Health Clinic provide preventative, screening and curative healthcare in tropical medicine for people travelling to and working in developing countries such as:

• Members of the general public who are unwell following travel to a tropical country
• Aid agency staff engaged in emergency humanitarian work
• Development workers
• Missionaries
• Diplomats
• Journalists
• Private sector company staff (civil engineering, geology/mining)
• Expedition members

Travel Health Clinic also offers on-site rapid antigen testing for faciparum Malaria and for Dengue Fever with result in 15 minutes. For more information, prices and opening hours check www.travelhealth.ie.

Rhubarb Recipes

Rhubarb… you either like or hate it. Nothing between. There are various rhubarb recipes using this succulent stem in pies, desserts or raw in salads and smoothies.

Botanically speaking, rhubarb is considered a vegetable, but its most often treated as a fruit. Just like fresh cranberries, rhubarb is almost unbearably tart on its own and needs the sweetness of sugar, honey, or fruit juice added to balance out the acidity.

Rhubarb is a cool season, perennial crop and requires temperatures below 5 degree Centigrade to break dormancy. It is one of the first food plants to be ready for harvest, usually in mid to late spring. Considering the fact that both leaves and roots contain poisonous substances (oxalic acid) which are deadly poisonous, they should never be eaten.

Even though rhubarb may not be the most romantic looking edible on earth, but it’s a welcome sight in early spring, when everyone’s fancy turns to thoughts of pie.

Blood Pressure

Everyone has blood pressure.  It shows the amount of work that your heart has to do to pump blood around the body.

Two numbers measure the level of blood pressure. One number record blood pressure when the pressure is at its highest as the heart muscle squeezes out the blood from the heart – systolic pressure. Then the heart relaxes, which allows the blood to flow back into the heart – diastolic pressure.

The normal level of blood pressure is usually about 120 (systolic) over 80 (diastolic), but this can vary with age, how you feel and activity. If you have been told that your blood pressure is higher than 140 over 90 you shouls discuss this with your doctor.

The only way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to have it measured. Blood pressure varies with age and depends on how active you are before it is measured. If you are nervous or anxious, the measurement can be higher then usual.

One high reading does not necessarily mean that you have seriously high blood pressure. Your doctor will usually want to check your blood pressure several times, before deciding whether or not the pressure is really above the level which would be best for your age.

Sometimes your blood pressure may be falsely high when measured by a doctor or nurse because you are worried about being in the surgery or clinic. If that is the case, your doctor may ask you to measure your blood pressure at home using a simple device. There is also a machine that can measure your blood pressure every half hour throughout the day and night. This can be done while you are carrying out your normal daily work and activities over a 34-hour period.

People over 30 yearsof age should have their blood pressure checked every two or three years.