| 24/01/2013 |
| The Sun |
| By: Presswatch |
| 'Light' cigs blamed for huge rise in cancer risk |
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Female smokers are nearly ten times more likely to die of lung cancer now than they were in the 1960s, according to research. In part, it is because women use lower-strength cigarettes, which tend to be inhaled harder to pull smoke deeper into the lungs. Fifty years ago women had a 2.7 times greater chance of dying from the disease than those who never smoked but, between 2000 and 2010, that rose to 25.7 times. |
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| 24/01/2013 |
| The Guardian |
| By: Presswatch |
| 'Apocalyptic' threat posed by antibiotic resistance |
| Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, has warned MPs that the rise in drug-resistant diseases could trigger a national emergency comparable to a catastrophic terrorist attack, pandemic flu or major coastal flooding. She said the threat from infections that are resistant to frontline antibiotics was so serious that the issue should be added to the government's national risk register of civil emergencies. The supply of new antibiotics has dried up for several reasons, but a major one is that drugs companies see greater profits in medicines that treat chronic conditions, such as heart disease, which patients must take for years or even decades. Davies has met officials at the World Health Organisation and her counterparts in other countries to develop a strategy to tackle antibiotic resistance globally. |
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| 24/01/2013 |
| The Guardian |
| By: Presswatch |
| Green light given to restart bird flu research |
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Research on lab-engineered strains of the bird flu virus is set to restart a year after the scientists voluntarily paused it to allow for a global public debate on the safest way to proceed. In a letter published today in Nature, researchers involved in working on the engineered flu virus said the pause had been useful in that it provided time to communicate the public health benefits of the work and decide how to minimise the risks. |
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| 24/01/2013 |
| Daily Express |
| By: Presswatch |
| New pill to relieve agony of arthritis |
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Hundreds of thousands of Britons crippled by arthritis could find some respite from a new pill said to slow joint damage. The twice-a-day pill - tofacitinib - dramatically preserves joint structure and regulates the immune system, which is responsible for attacking joints and leaving sufferers in agony. Dr Desiree van der Heijde, from Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said: "Our findings provide the first evidence that tofacitinib reduces the progression of structural damage in RA patients with active disease. Tofacitinib inhibits Janus kinase enzymes that are found in white blood cells, and which help to regulate the immune system." |
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| 24/01/2013 |
| Daily Mail |
| By: Presswatch |
| Homeopathy? It's rubbish, says chief medical adviser |
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Homoeopathy has been condemned as 'rubbish' by Britain's chief medical officer, who admitted she is 'perpetually surprised' it is available on the NHS. Professor Dame Sally Davies's views are in conflict with the policy of the Health Service, which spends around £4million a year on funding homeopathic hospitals and on prescriptions and referrals. |
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| 24/01/2013 |
| Daily Star |
| By: Presswatch |
| Number of sex flops is rising |
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Demand for drugs like Viagra has rocketed 30% since 2007 according to Government figures, with around 2.5million men on prescriptions for erectile dysfunction. More than a million are taking sildenafil, the generic name for the drug in Viagra, and millions more buy over-the-counter treatments or natural remedies. |
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| 24/01/2013 |
| By: Presswatch |
| NHS and Health Sector News |
| The Guardian reports that call handlers staffing an out-of-hours GP service run by the private contractor Serco have been told to make new checks before calling 999 so as to cut down the number of referrals they make to the ambulance service. Separately, NHS maternity units will get new birthing pools, more family rooms so dads can sleep over and extra midwife-led units after winning slices of a £25m fund to improve women's experiences of childbirth. The Daily Telegraph reports that the Department for Health has estimated that the planned friends and family patient ratings system to put pressure poorly performing hospitals and GP surgeries to improve their services could cost up to £600million. |
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