| 19/04/2007 |
| Daily Telegraph |
| By: Presswatch |
| HRT 'raise risk of ovarian cancer' |
| Women were advised yesterday to think "very carefully" about taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after evidence was published showing that it has killed 1,000 women in Britain since 1991 by increasing their risk of developing ovarian cancer. HRT has been used by millions of women to alleviate the symptoms of menopause or - in some cases - because they hope it will help them remain youthful and active for longer. The authors of the Million Women Study, the largest ever research programme to examine the link between HRT and cancer, conclude in an article published in the Lancet today that women who take HRT are at a greater risk of developing and subsequently dying from ovarian, breast and endometrial cancer. Led by Professor Valerie Beral, director of the epidemiology unit at Oxford University, the study has already faced stern criticism, with one HRT expert claiming: "This is not science. The findings fly in the face of cancer biology." |
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| 19/04/2007 |
| The Times |
| By: Presswatch |
| Half of late abortions are for women who didn't notice they were pregnant |
| Most women who have had late abortions claim that they had not known they were pregnant for up to three months, it has emerged. An extensive study of women who had abortions between 13 and 24 weeks found that half did not know they were pregnant for at least two months, and a further quarter only discovered their pregnancy at three months or later. The research, published today by the University of Southampton and the University of Kent, involved 883 women and indicated that while ignorance of their pregnancy was the primary reason for women seeking late abortions, other factors often conspired to push back the termination further. Almost two thirds complained of a delay when seeing their doctor, claiming that a significant period elapsed between their requesting an abortion and having it, even though medical guidelines emphasise the need for urgency at this stage. |
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| 19/04/2007 |
| Daily Telegraph |
| By: Presswatch |
| Chinese herbs may ease chemotherapy |
| Chinese herbal medicine could protect the immune systems of breast cancer patients from the side effects of chemotherapy, by reducing the immuno-suppressive side effects of powerful anti-cancer drugs, researchers claimed yesterday. Chinese scientists working for the Cochrane Collaboration, a United Kingdom-registered charity that specialises in reviewing scientific data, analysed data from seven studies involving 542 women with breast cancer treated with a number of Chinese medicinal herbal mixtures and compounds. Six were tested in controlled trials comparing treatment with and without Chinese herbal medicine (CHM). Three showed improvements in white blood cells in women given the herbal extracts. Two appeared have had a general positive effect on quality of life. The researchers noted that further trials were needed to confirm with any confidence the benefits of CHM in alleviating the effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. |
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| 19/04/2007 |
| Daily Express |
| By: Presswatch |
| Why a cuppa helps to fight skin cancer |
| Drinking just two cups of tea a day could cut the risk of certain types of skin tumours by at least 65 per cent, according to new research published yesterday in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention. Scientists at Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, concluded that tea appears to protect the body against squamous cell carcinomas and basal cell carcinomas. While not as dangerous as malignant melanomas, they do affect nearly 70,000 people in Britain each year. However, the research was conducted in the United States, where more people drink lemon tea than in the United Kingdom. Previous studies have suggested that it may be the lemon that protects the skin rather than any chemicals in the drink itself. |
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| 19/04/2007 |
| Financial Times |
| By: Presswatch |
| NHS and Health Sector News |
| An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that slack financial management at the Department of Health allowed NHS consultants in hospitals across England to get a 25 per cent pay increase for doing less work, the National Audit Office - parliament's spending watchdog - will reveal in a critical study published today. A new contract, agreed in 2003, cost £715 million in the first three years - £150 million more than the Department of Health estimated. In that time the average consultant's pay rose to £110,000 a year while the average number of hours worked fell from 51.6 a week to 50.2. Elsewhere, haemophilia sufferers exposed to contaminated blood products have appeared at an independent public inquiry, renewing their calls for compensation as evidence emerged that the government was informed of the dangers of using "skid row" blood products as early as 1975. Victims and relatives appeared at the hearing to give testimonial regarding their experiences of living with HIV and hepatitis C following what Lord Winston, a fertility expert, referred to as "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS". Finally, the Royal College of Nursing has warned that older people are becoming malnourished on NHS wards because too few nurses are available to help them eat. Nurses warned that elderly patients were taking longer to recover from operations and were at increased risk of catching superbugs such as MRSA because they were not receiving adequate nutrition. |
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