Soroptimist International St Albans and District organised a special event on Zoom on Mon 28 Oct when *Professor Scarlett McNally spoke on the subject of “Women, Health, Exercise and the Economy – Is Exercise the Miracle Cure?”
The recording is available to view here:
The slides from Professor Scarlett McNally’s presentation are available to download here – Exercise Presentation 28.10.24 SCARLETT McNALLY
Scarlett has been very generous with sharing all of this information with us. Due to time constraints she was only able to touch on some of the material so please go through it in your own time. She is a passionate advocate for exercise and has clear evidence to back up what she is saying which you can see from the statistics and the papers she has included here in her slides.
Summary: I have attempted to summarise just some of the key points that Scarlett made here. Barbara Saunders OBE, introduced Scarlett having been inspired when she heard her speak before. Barbara is the facilitator of the Club’s People Team, with health as one of it’s points of focus. The team will distil the information and produce some action points for the Club to follow up on.
Scarlett started by telling us being sedentary is about the worst thing we can do for our health, and everyone needs to move around more and get more exercise. Deprivation is the other thing that has the biggest negative impact on lives – the most deprived are 2.5 times more likely to get heart disease and cancer. These people have poor health for longer and cost the NHS more. This slide shows the main causes of ill health.
There is data that proves that exercising 150 mins/week (21 mins/day) means that people develop fewer conditions and the impact of conditions is reduced which saves the NHS money. Fitness. strength and balance are the types of exercise and it is important to just do something! 25% of the population in the UK do NO exercise rising to 33% of over 65’s! Exercise is good for the following: Metabolism (sugar/diabetes), Inflammation (cancer), Heart function, Mental health. Fitness means you can get to the toilet, be a day case for better treatment outcomes. Reserves of protein help with wound healing, antibodies and pain management.
People need to know how to change – practical changes so they can become “normal”. Scarlett highly recommends this website aimed at improving the fitness of health workers, but suitable for everyone to find exercises to suit their lives: https://www.movingmedicine.ac.uk
Scarlett advocates for “active travel” – cycling (includes e-bikes) and walking – benefits health and the environment. More needs to be done by towns to make it easier and safer to do. See this article in the BMJ: https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o2862
Exercise before operations delivers massive improvement in outcomes, and mean that many patients can be day patients which is much more efficient and part of the answer to NHS waiting lists.
In preparation for surgery people should consider BRAN – Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Non-operative – some operations are unwarranted, 14% of patients express regret, 14% operations have a complication, preparing for surgery halves complications – this could make huge savings in health and social care. Scarlett tells us that the NHS does not measure sustainability – this is something to be followed up on. In economic terms 3% of patients cost 45% of the total health spend! This is the worst since the pandemic.
Scarlett told us that this “Eatwell” information that has been used for years is wrong (see slide) and should be updated everywhere. Too much carbohydrate in a diet is a massive problem – it all converts to sugar… then to fat, you get a spike of Insulin, then a dip and feel hungry again. We need nutrition to be marketed – protein, fruit, vegetables and fibre and avoid “Ultra Processed Foods” (UPF). See this website for more information: https://www.cpoc.org.uk/guidelines-and-resources/resources/nutrition
She recommends looking at the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine advice to stay full for longer https://bslm.org.uk/five-quick-and-easy-healthy-habits-to-help-health-workers-eat-well/
This is Scarlett’s summary from her personal, open and honest presentation, as someone “walking (and cycling) the talk”:
- Exercise at least 150 minutes per week reduces the risk of dementia, diabetes and depression by 30%
- Exercise helps common conditions
- It needs to be in a schedule ACTIVE TRAVEL is best
- We can’t afford not to!
Scarlett has a regular column in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) click her to view: https://www.bmj.com/search/advanced/mcnally
Scarlett received one question about “weight-loss jabs”. Her answer was that they have a place because they do work and the treatment is appropriate for some people. The downside is that they are expensive, and what happens after the treatment? Surgery can be dangerous for people undergoing the treatment because the drugs delay the emptying of the stomach. She said she would rather get the info out about people having a low carbohydrate diet and eating less UPF than administering drugs – much cheaper.
There were a few questions, but mostly people needed time to 
digest the volume and scope of the information received. There were many similar positive comments in the chat, with just a couple here: “Such an amazing talk – very valuable new understandings and an inspiration to build my fitness.” “Thank you so much, for your brilliant presentation!”
Barbara Saunders OBE, pictured here on the Zoom call introduced Scarlett at the beginning and gave her a very warm thank you at the end – saying she had given us “food for thought” – very good 🙂 .
We were delighted to welcome guest attendees from as far afield as Western Canada, and of course many more will be able to “attend” virtually with this recording.
If you scroll down there is a little more background information.
Professor Scarlett McNally qualified as a doctor in 1989 and has been a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in Eastbourne since 2002. She is also an Honorary Clinical Professor at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Deputy Director of the Centre for Perioperative Care – trying to improve preparation and pathways for people having surgery. As President of the Medical Women’s Federation she appreciates that women have different experiences, and will share her knowledge and views with us. She was only the ninth woman to be an elected Council member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (2011-2021) and was the lead author for the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ “Exercise the Miracle Cure“, Basing her talk on evidence and personal experience, Professor McNally is a passionate campaigner for more active travel to improve health and reduce pollution. In addition to her professional achievements, Scarlett is a 4th Dan Karate black belt, living with myeloma and cardiac amyloidosis, and mother of four adult children. There will be some time for questions after the presentation.
Please join us for what promises to be a really informative and interesting evening.
Soroptimist International is a Women’s Organisation which aims to improve the lives of women and girls globally, to help them achieve their individual and collective potential. Soroptimists inspire action at a local level and creates opportunities to transform the lives of women and girls through a global network of members and international partnerships. Women’s health and welfare is a vital part of the Soroptimist programme of worldwide projects.
*Professor McNally’s full accreditation is: BSc MB BChir FRCS(Tr&Orth) MA MBA FAcadMEd HonMFPH
There was no charge for this special event, but if you would like to make a donation to the Club’s charities supporting women and girls then please email sistalbans@hotmail.com for the Club’s bank details. Please understand there is no pressure to do this.
See below for further information:
• Scarlett McNally: Enabling Active Travel can improve the nation’s health. BMJ 2024;384:q522 https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj.q522
• Scarlett McNally: Prioritising the health of our children by reducing road traffic deaths BMJ 2022; 379 :o2862 https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o2862
• There was an excellent Active Travel Summit which was held in Eastbourne in November 2023 and the recordings are available free. You can rewind for details or fast forward; some have slides or transcripts. Please click on each title for bite-sized sessions (including Scarlett on transport and health): https://ecoactioneb.co.uk/about/sustainable-transport-active-travel-summit-presentation-detail
• UK Health Alliance on Climate Change https://ukhealthalliance.org/
• Academy of Medical Royal Colleges “Exercise the Miracle Cure”
https://www.aomrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Exercise_the_Miracle_Cure_0215.pdf
• Prof Scarlett McNally also has a website: https://www.scarlettmcnally.co.uk/