I’m terrified to leave the house, I suffer palpitations – the last time I ventured out was months ago

BURNS, choking, cuts and more – kids get into all sorts of trouble, some of it more frightening than others, some life-threatening.

Would you know what to do if your child or their friend were in a situation like this?

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If not, it’s a good time to brush up on some skills, as it is Child Safety Week.

Follow pages on social media to keep your memory refreshed – @tinyheartseducation, @daisyfirstaid and @cprkids are great Instagram pages.

Some groups, such as London Ambulance Service, list pop-up events on their websites.

You can drop in and learn life-saving skills for free on your lunch break.

If you are really serious about genning up on first-aid, visit redcrossfirstaidtraining.co.uk.

Could you suggest your children’s school put on a training course one evening for parents who are eager to learn more?

A couple of my top things to remember.

Firstly, regarding little ones who have been burned.

Remove the clothing, or nappy, around the injured area (but don’t if it is stuck to their burnt skin) and run the burn under cool water.

Secondly, If someone is choking, do not try to get the obstruction out with your fingers.

Ask them to cough, and if that doesn’t work, use back blows (between the shoulder blades).

Here’s a selection of what readers have asked me this week . . . 

FAMILY HAD CANCER – DO I GET PSA TEST?

Q: I AM a 61-year-old male. Would it be advisable for me to have a PSA test?

I have asked my GP surgery but they don’t seem that interested, although I lost my mum and my brother within six months of each other to cancer, and my sister has had breast cancer.

A: PSA tests are available on the NHS to all men over 50 if they choose to request one.

Lots of men are frustrated that PSA testing is not a regular NHS screening programme.

But the test isn’t quite good enough to be used this way because the false-positive rate is up to 15 per cent and there are also false negatives.

The PSA test measures prostate-specific antigens in your blood.

An elevated level suggests a prostate issue but not necessarily cancer – other causes include an enlarged prostate and prostatitis.

It can help pick up cancer before you have any symptoms which is really useful for fast-growing types of prostate cancers.

And they’re useful if you’re at an increased risk of prostate cancer – having it in the family and being black increases risk levels.

But the disadvantages are that there are some cases of cancer where the PSA level is normal, so it doesn’t definitively rule out the disease.

The next steps after a raised result can be invasive – if a biopsy is needed that can result in pain, infection and bleeding, although most hospitals will offer an MRI first.

Prostate Cancer UK has an information sheet you may find useful to fill out and take to your GP.

This will reassure your GP that you have read and understood the pros and cons to a PSA test and are therefore making an informed decision.

Do mention that your family history is part of your concern.

I’m desperate to find happiness

Q: I CAN’T seem to be happy about ­anything.

What can I do?

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A: The specific symptom you seem to be describing is anhedonia – the lack of interest, pleasure or enjoyment from life.

Sometimes people will stop participating in the things that bring them joy, such as socialising, hobbies or seeing the grandkids.

Other times these things just don’t bring them joy anymore.

Potential causes include tiredness, stress and being overwhelmed by everyday life.

You may have come across the term burnout, which is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress.

Anhedonia can also be a symptom of a mental-health illness, such as anxiety or depression, so it’s not to be ignored.

Have you spoken to your GP or a practice nurse about how you’re feeling?

Have you experienced poor mental health in the past or are these feelings new to you?

For women, declining hormones at the time of perimenopause or menopause can cause anhedonia alongside other mental health symptoms.

In men, low testosterone levels can cause these types of symptoms too.

Other medical problems that can affect our mood and mental wellbeing include thyroid issues or a head injury.

Keep track of your sleep, exercise, diet and work patterns.

It could be that you start to see triggers and patterns, and if so, put behaviours in place that alleviate some of the low feeling you’re experiencing.

Look at aspects of your world – are you eating processed foods, on your phone late at night or wake up feeling unrested?

Giving your lifestyle a thorough MOT can help but I stress that you should be doing this alongside getting some medical help.

You can self-refer for CBT and other talking therapies on the NHS website or speak to your GP about your options.

Please don’t settle for feeling this way.

Happiness is meant to be a transient emotion – we shouldn’t feel it all the time but we should be content in our skin, life, job and environment.

Q: WHENEVER I am invited out I suffer palpitations, chest pains and feel sick.

The thought of leaving the house is too much for me so I let people down at the last minute. I am 63.

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I only feel happy at home but I know it’s not good.

I’m disabled and I think people feel sorry for me, or I feel I am putting them out by needing wheelchair access.

I’ve even cancell­ed appointments at hospit­als I am not familiar with.

Normally I am the life and soul of the party, and everyone says they love to see me.

I last left my house at the start of March.

A: I can’t imagine how difficult it’s been to admit this so writing to me is a huge step in the right direction.

You’re describing symptoms of anxiety which is triggered by the anticipation of leaving the home.

You may be heading towards agoraphobia which is only usually formally diagnosed once symptoms have been present for more than six months.

This is treatable, and the sooner you get help, the easier it is to recover.

If you haven’t already, do an e-consult with your GP (by video or phone).

Explain you don’t want a physical appointment.

The most effective treatment approach is exposure therapy using CBT principles.

This means taking small steps to work towards your goals alongside psychological support.

Call the hospital where you were supposed to have your appointments and ask if there’s any solution.

If it’s a scan or something you need to be physically present for, they can hopefully help.

If it’s to chat through the next steps, your consultant might be able to do this over the phone.

People with anxiety and agoraphobia have good and bad days.

On your good ones, try to sit with your front door open or go into your garden.

Look on social media for some local wheelchair groups.

I’ve seen groups where non- disabled roller skaters take people in wheelchairs out for a ride around – that might not be your cup of tea but it’s worth seeing what’s around, as you won’t be alone in feeling like your wheelchair is holding you back.

What was it about your last trip out that made you not want to go out again?

Think back to when you started to feel like this and write things down.

Giving your GP and therapist as much information as you can when you have the consultation will help them help you get back to being the life and soul of the party.

GET IN THE SWIM…AND BACK DAME DEBS’ CAMPAIGN FUND

EVERY 15 minutes in the UK, someone is diagnosed with bowel cancer.

That is why this August, leading charity Bowel Cancer UK is running its Swim15 fundraising challenge.

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People are encouraged to sign up and set their own swimming goal using the number 15, whether it be to swim for 15 minutes per day, 15km every week or over the month.

The charity’s September event, Walkies 2024, asks dog owners to walk 43 miles over the month with their pet in a bid to highlight that there are 43,000 bowel cancer diagnoses every year.

Register for both events at fundraise.bowelcanceruk.org.uk.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and more than nine out of ten new cases are diagnosed in people over the age of 50.

Before Dame Deborah James died of bowel cancer in June 2022 aged 40, she used her column in The Sun to help launch our No Time 2 Lose campaign.

She rigorously lobbied for the Government to bring the bowel cancer-screening age down from 60 – and won.

As a result, thousands of people in their 50s in England are now eligible for potentially life-saving screening.

It will save around 4,500 lives every year.

Called a faecal immunochemical test, it simply requires you to collect a small amount of poo and send it to the lab in a test tube.

In Scotland, screening starts at 50.

Though bowel cancer is the second deadliest form of the disease – killing 16,000 people per year – it is treatable.

But early diagnosis is key.

Dame Debs set out to dispel embarrassment and urged people to check their poo and speak to their GP.

She also set up the Bowelbabe fund with Cancer Research UK, which has raised more than £12.6million.

If you have symptoms, regardless of age, ask your GP about an at-home test.

The five red-flag symptoms of bowel cancer are bleeding from the back passage or blood in poo, a change in normal toilet habits (such as going more frequently), a lump or pain in the tummy, extreme tiredness and losing weight.

Not everyone will have all the symptoms or they may be slightly different.

For example, poos that are ribbon-like can indicate a tumour in the rectum.

It can be embarrassing to raise these issues with your GP, or even seem trivial, after all, there are other potential causes of bowel cancer symptoms.

But it could save your life, or be the difference between having a curable or incurable form of the disease.