| 17/05/2012 |
| International Herald Tribune |
| By: Presswatch |
| Trial will test drug's ability to prevent Alzheimer's |
| People who are genetically guaranteed to develop Alzheimer's but do not yet have any symptoms will for the first time be given a drug intended to stop it, U.S. officials announced this week. The $100 million study was announced on Tuesday and will last five years, but sophisticated tests may indicate in two years whether the drug helps delay memory decline or brain changes, said Dr. Eric M. Reiman, the executive director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and a study leader. The trial will be financed with $16 million from the N.I.H., $15 million from private donors through the Banner Institute and about $65 million from Genentech, the trial drug's U.S. manufacturer. The drug, Crenezumab, attacks amyloid plaques, which are found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. If it can prevent memory or cognitive problems, scientists will know that prevention or delay is possible and appears to lie in targeting amyloid years before dementia develops. |
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| 17/05/2012 |
| Daily Telegraph |
| By: Presswatch |
| Statins for all over-50s to reduce heart deaths |
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A study involving 175,000 people has found that statins reduce the risk of a heart attack even in healthy people, and everyone over the age of 50 would benefit from taking them. Research by scientists at Oxford University found that the risk of a heart attack or stroke is cut by a fifth in those who have no sign of heart disease. A National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence spokesman said the study findings will be included in the review of the clinical guidelines on cardiovascular risk assessment and treatment. |
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| 17/05/2012 |
| Daily Telegraph |
| By: Presswatch |
| 'Four cups of coffee a day can lead to a longer life' |
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A 14-year study has indicated that drinking coffee could extend people's life expectancy, and total consumption of four or five cups a day may offer the most benefits. The research found that women who consumed four or five cups per day were 16 per cent less likely to die than non-coffee drinkers. Men drinking the same amount were 12 per cent less likely to die. The researchers said that it could not be proven that the coffee itself was the cause of the lower death rate and it may be that other factors about coffee drinkers influenced the findings. |
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| 17/05/2012 |
| Daily Telegraph |
| By: Presswatch |
| Quick and easy cure for varicose veins: glue them shut |
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A new procedure using non-toxic glue will enable the treatment of varicose veins in just an hour without the need of anaesthetics. Small quantities of a non-toxic glue are injected into the affected veins, using a catheter guided by ultrasound. Blood then finds its way through other, more healthy, veins and the diseased varicose veins wither and become less visible. Early trials have shown good results. A Europe-wide study on 120 patients is being led by specialists at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London. |
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| 17/05/2012 |
| The Times |
| By: Presswatch |
| Diabetics mistreated |
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One in three diabetes patients admitted to hospital is given the wrong treatment, including the incorrect dose of insulin, according to a report by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The National Diabetes Inpatient Audit examined data for 19,400 patients over seven days last October. Results show 32.4 per cent of patients in England had experienced at least one medication error during the previous seven days - down from 36.6 per cent the previous year. |
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| 17/05/2012 |
| By: Presswatch |
| NHS and Health Sector News |
| The Daily Telegraph reports that health authorities have admitted that struggling departments within hospitals that fail to attract patients will be closed under government plans to give patients more choice about where they are treated. Separately, the Department of Health says 150 lives could be saved every year by overhauling the way ambulances are dispatched. Under national changes being brought in next month, the most urgent calls will be divided into "red one" calls where a patient's life is in immediate danger and "red two" where a patient needs an urgent response but it is not immediately life threatening. The Independent reports that as part of government plans to combat postnatal depression, mothers will receive one-to-one care from a named midwife. Women who have a miscarriage or stillbirth and parents who suffer the death of a baby will also be offered extra support from the NHS. |
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