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29/12/2006
The Guardian
£2bn NHS plan to bypass consultants
Routine hospital check-ups for patients who have undergone even major surgery are to be scrapped if plans formulated by Dr David Colin-Thome, the national clinical director for primary care, are adopted by the Department of Health. The recommendations, which are believed to have the potential to save the National Health Service almost £2 billion a year, will mean consultants will no longer see patients six weeks after surgery. Instead, they will be referred to their GPs. The NHS currently provides 31.5 million check-up appointments a year in England, with each one costing around £90, while a comparative check-up carried out by a GP in a local health centre can be done for a third of the cost. Dr Colin-Thome also asserted that the inefficiency in the NHS' current arrangements is compounded by the fact that 11.9 per cent of patients fail to attend their scheduled routine check-ups. A total of 4.2 million appointments were wasted in 2005/6 at a cost to the NHS of £378 million.
 
 
29/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Housework wards off breast cancer, say scientists
A study involving more than 200,000 women in nine European countries has indicated that women can cut their risk of breast cancer by doing the housework, and the 'moderate' physical activity involved may be more important than strenuous exercise. Researchers including Dr Petra Lahmann, of the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge, analysed data on work, leisure and housework activity levels among 218,169 women aged between 20 to 80 years of age. During the time they followed the women - an average of 6.4 years - 3,423 developed breast cancers, and when all forms of activity were combined, being active appeared to offer a protective effect only to post-menopausal women. Their likelihood of developing breast cancer was cut by 19 per cent through being active in the home. The research, part-sponsored by Cancer Research UK, is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.
 
 
29/12/2006
Daily Mail
Vaccine to cure every strain of flu
British scientists at the Cambridge biotechnology firm Acambis, working in conjunction with Belgian researchers, are believed to be on the verge of producing a flu vaccine which works against all major forms of the disease. Current flu vaccines focus on two proteins on the surface of the virus, but these constantly mutate and prevent vaccine manufacturers keeping up with the evolution of each new strain. The 'universal' vaccine focuses on a different protein - M2 - which has barely changed in the past 100 years and can be found in all types of influenza A, including the current strain of bird flu. Acambis hopes to commence human testing of the vaccine within the next few months, and Swiss firm Cytos Biotechnology, who are developing a similar universal vaccine, are aiming to have their product on the market in five years.
 
 
29/12/2006
Daily Mail
The life prolonger
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has indicated that GlaxoSmithKline's experimental drug Tykerb, when combined with Roche's breast cancer drug Xeloda, delayed breast cancer from progressing longer than Xeloda alone. The research also garnered positive data in women with late-stage forms of the disease who had failed to respond to Herceptin and other treatments, one in five of whom responded positively to Tykerb. Trials are now to be conducted to discover whether the drug has applicable benefits for breast cancer patients in early stages, and GSK has applied for a licence. Tykerb is believed to be cheaper than Herceptin, which costs around £24,000 for a year's course of treatment.
 
 
29/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that four senior Cabinet ministers were accused of "hypocrisy" last night for campaigning against NHS cuts in their constituencies. Elsewhere, a union chief has warned that thousands of community nurses are set to be axed by April.
 
 
28/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
GPs asked to save cash by using generic statins
Doctors will be urged today to step up the prescribing of cheaper drugs to reduce cholesterol, which could save the health service millions of pounds. New data from the Department of Health shows that most are increasing the prescription of the generic rather than the more expensive, brand name statins, but £85 million could still be saved if more doctors switched. If doctors in all primary care trusts (PCTs) prescribed the cheaper statins in 69 per cent of cases, the NHS could save £84.7 million, while league tables indicated that one primary care trust could save nearly £500,000 on its drug bills. In the best performing PCTs more than 80 per cent of prescriptions for statins are for generic versions while in the worst, the figure is only around 30 per cent. In 2005 the NHS spent £600 million on statins, with a 150 per cent rise in prescribing over the past five years.
 
 
28/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Fears as superbug linked to 15 deaths
A coroner yesterday warned of the dangers of the superbug Clostridium difficile (C-diff) after an outbreak was linked to 15 deaths in two months. Incidents of the fatal bacteria have increased sharply and were a contributory factor in all the deaths at four hospitals within a 50-mile radius in the Midlands. Dr Nigel Chapman, the Nottinghamshire coroner, asserted that in the past 12 months he "only had one or two deaths reported where C-diff was mentioned. In the last month, I have dealt with more than 12 cases". Figures for the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham and Nottingham City Hospital showed 509 patients contracted C-diff in 2005, compared with 345 in 2004. Nationally, 2,247 people died after contracting it in 2004, against 1,168 who died after contracting MRSA. Superbug victims have been paid a record £4.8million in compensation in the past two years, figures showed yesterday.
 
 
28/12/2006
Daily Mail
A pot belly raises heart risk by 40pc
A 12-year study of more than 100,000 men and women has reinforced the suspicion of strong links between waist size and cardiac health, indicating that a pot belly increases the risk of heart attacks by up to 44 per cent. A team of researchers from the Kaiser Permanente health charity in the United States, led by Dr Carlos Iribarren, found that waist size outranked Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements as an indicative factor in heart disease, adding to the school of thought which suggests BMI - calculated by dividing weight in kilogrammes by height in metres squared - fails to accurately predict heart disease risk factors as it cannot discriminate between fat and muscle. The study concluded that "obesity in the abdomen matters even more than obesity overall" since abdominal fat is believed to be more metabolically active that fats stored in other parts of the body.
 
 
28/12/2006
The Guardian
Online medical service launches home HIV test
An HIV test that can be done at home with the outcome sent by post or over the internet is being launched today. The screening service, which is 96 per cent accurate, requires patients to send a saliva sample to a laboratory to be analysed for signs of HIV antibodies. The test can only detect if someone is clear of the virus, not if they are a carrier, and patients will be texted or emailed to arrange a blood test and a counselling session. The service, provided by www.drthom.com, is the only online medical service in Britain that is registered with the Healthcare Commission.
 
 
28/12/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the cabinet minister Hazel Blears is petitioning the health secretary to stop the closure of maternity services in her constituency under an NHS reorganisation. Her intervention is deeply embarrassing for the government, coming at a time when it is attempting to prove to the public that reconfiguration of the health service is vital to improving care. Elsewhere, the pressure group Health Emergency has predicted that the number of job losses in the NHS will increase in the New Year as part of a drive to cut costs. Additionally, the Times today notes that a pioneering scheme to help mental patients may have to close because the Department of Health has allegedly pocketed money promised by the Treasury. Finally, counter fraud specialists are investigating claims that pharmacists are stealing money from the NHS by fiddling figures on the number of people they have helped to give up smoking.
 
 
27/12/2006
The Times
Benefits of brittle bone drug 'last five years'
Today's Times (December 27) notes that millions of people who suffer from osteoporosis may be able to stop taking their medication and still feel the benefits, according to the indications of a long-term study. Scientists conducting the Fracture Intervention Trial Long-term Extension (Flex) study - led by Dennis Black, of the University of California - found that the effects of the drug alendronate may last up to five years after a patient stops taking it, significantly boosting its cost-effectiveness. According to the study's findings, most post-menopausal women who took alendronate - part of the class of drugs known as bisphonates - and then stopped after five years of use, had no increased risk for non-vertebral fractures during the next five years. The authors of the study noted that switching to a placebo for five years appeared to precipitate slight declines in bone mineral density (BMD) at the hip (-2.4 per cent) and spine (-3.7 per cent), but average levels were the same or above those ten years earlier, before treatment.
 
 
27/12/2006
The Times
Fracture fear for indigestion remedies
According to today's Times (December 27), a study of nearly 150,000 British patients by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, has indicated that taking potent drugs to combat indigestion can increase the risk of breaking hip and other bones. The drugs - proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) - restrict the production of acid in the stomach and are among the most effective and best-selling treatments in the world, with sales worth around £7 billion. However, the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has suggested that taking PPIs may decrease calcium absorption or bone density in certain patients, leading to increased risk of fractures. An examination of data from the UK General Practice Research Database, limiting the search parameters to patients aged over 50, indicated that after screening for other factors that might lead to a fall or brittle bones, more than one year of therapy using proton pump inhibitors was associated with a 44 per cent increased risk of hip fracture.
 
 
27/12/2006
Daily Mail
Pill that tricks you into losing weight
The Daily Mail today notes that a conference run by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity has been presented with evidence suggesting that an obesity drug currently under development in the United States - Excalia - may be able to cause a 12 per cent reduction in body weight when taken for 48 weeks. Scientists in the United States are currently conducting trials on the drug, which is being developed by the Californian firm Orexigen, and are claiming that it can fool the body's metabolism into remaining active. Many slimmers find that, after weeks of successfully losing weight, their metabolism slows and they hit a plateau. Excalia claims to circumnavigate this problem by tricking the hypothalamus into keeping a fast-running metabolism, and contains two drugs which are widely in use against epilepsy and smoking, which may reduce the risk of side-effects emerging during clinical trials. Larger trials will now be held after Orexigen's chief executive officer, Dr Gary Tollefson, hailed the findings a success.
 
 
27/12/2006
The Times
How to live to a ripe old age without losing your marbles
On Tuesday (December 26) the Times noted that a gene variant that is linked to long life also helps to preserve mental lucidity in old age, scientists have discovered. A study conducted by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University examined 158 people who lived to 95 or beyond, and found that those who inherit a particular version of the gene CETP are twice as likely to have a sharp and alert when they are elderly. They are also five times less likely than people with a different version of CETP to develop Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. It is believed that the insights into how ageing affects the brain could lead to ways of protecting cognitive function in old age, and if drugs could be developed to mimic the protective function of the CETP VV gene variant they could transform the quality of life of the ageing population. Around 8 per cent of people aged over 70 have the CETP variant, but this figure rises to 25 per cent among centenarians. In developed countries, around 1 in 10,000 people lives to 100.
 
 
27/12/2006
The Independent
Potential cure for alcoholics is hailed
Australian scientists believe they have found a way of eliminating alcoholic cravings using a drug that blocks the euphoric high associated with getting drunk. Research conducted by a team at the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne, and noted in the Times newspaper on Tuesday (December 26) focused on cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain that produce orexin, a chemical linked to drink or drug-induced euphoria. They then manufactured a compound that blocked orexin's effects, and gave it to rats that had already been turned into alcoholics. Dr Andrew Lawrence, who led the team, asserted that the subsequent findings were remarkable: "In one experiment, rats that had alcohol freely available stopped drinking it after receiving the orexin blocker". The team is now conducting further tests to identify the precise circumstances that activate the orexin system, which will allow them to develop a drug which could also be used to treat eating disorders.
 
 
27/12/2006
The Independent
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector over the past two days leads today with the news that the source of a bug which infected five babies in a hospital neo-natal ward, and which may have been a factor in the death of one further child, is under investigation. Tough government targets to slash the number of deaths from hospital superbugs have been shelved as cases continue to overwhelm hospitals. Health trusts were told earlier this year to halve the annual 5,000 death toll from killer bugs by 2008. Elsewhere, several newspapers today note that nearly £400 million is being spent on a radio system for all NHS ambulance trusts which will enable crews to talk to police and fire services in emergencies. Finally, the government has suggested it may favour a policy which would deny smokers and obese people priority treatment on the NHS.
 
 
22/12/2006
The Times
New flu pandemic 'would kill 62 million'
Around 62 million people in the world are likely to die if there is a flu pandemic and more than 70,000 of those deaths will be in the UK, according to a statistical analysis published today. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Queensland analysed data from 27 countries to reach the figure, in a study that assumes that a new pandemic would follow the same pattern as the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed at least 20 million people. Most deaths would occur in poorer countries, and Professor Christopher Murray, the leader of the study, said 'International attention needs to focus on how we can protect the poorer countries should the virus recur'.
 
 
22/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Study will take a new look at HRT
Scientists are to re-evaluate the impact of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) despite earlier studies suggesting that it could put women at increased risk of breast cancer, heart attacks and stroke. Attitudes to HRT changed in 2002 when a study of more than 16,000 older women taking different combinations of oestrogen and progesterone was halted. The Women's Health Initiative project, a controversial 15-year study involving more than 160,000 women, ended three years early after it showed women had increased risk of heart disease if they were on HRT.
 
 
22/12/2006
Daily Mail
New killer superbug 'linked to meat and milk from UK farms'
A virulent form of E.Coli, which has killed at least 57 people in two separate outbreaks in the UK since 2004 could be linked to meat and milk from British farms. The original source of the 'super E.coli' has remained a mystery, but Government experts are investigating a possible link to bacteria found in farm animals, and are looking into whether the use of certain types of antibiotics on factory farms triggered the creation of the superbug. A spokesman from Defra has said however that farm animals could have caught the bugs from humans, by coming into contact with sewage, or from their food - rather than the other way round.
 
 
22/12/2006
Financial Times
Hope for safer transfusions
A new blood filter could prevent people being infected with the human form of mad cow disease through transfusions, it was revealed yesterday. A filter which scientists say will remove variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - the human form of "mad cow" disease - from donated blood could be used by the National Blood Transfusion Service after trials proved it reduces transmission to zero in animals.
 
 
22/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Doctors warn over mistletoe 'cure'
The belief that mistletoe can treat cancer is not only wrong but dangerous, doctors warn today. A woman developed a lump in her stomach after receiving injections of mistletoe three times a week for a year after breast cancer treatment. The lump at the injection site proved to be benign. Professor Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, says in the British Medical Journal that he does not recommend mistletoe as an anti-cancer drug.
 
 
22/12/2006
The Sun
'Jab' for memory disease
A breakthrough in the treatment for Alzheimer's disease was unveiled yesterday by British scientists. Researchers at Cardiff University have found an antibody that reduces production of a protein believed to cause the brain illness. It is hoped that the antibody could be made into an injection to delay the later stages of the disease - or even prevent deterioration in early-stage sufferers.
 
 
22/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
The Daily Telegraph reports that European doctors who speak poor English should be banned from practising in Britain, a coroner said yesterday. Dr Paul Knapman called for new laws after an inquest heard that a man died after his French private doctor struggled to make himself understood in a 10-minute call to the ambulance service. Separately, the Daily Mail reports that nearly £600million was spent last year training health workers who have still to find jobs. Midwives and speech therapists are among those without work despite undertaking often long and costly degree courses. The staff and training positions they would normally have taken have been axed to help clear debts of up to £1.2 billion. Meanwhile, The Sun reports that a strike loomed at a cash-strapped health authority yesterday after 5,000 medical staff were offered voluntary redundancy. The cuts are designed to plug a £15million budget shortfall for the Devon Primary Care Trust.
 
 
21/12/2006
Daily Mail
Bingeing on diet pills
A record 871,000 prescriptions for anti-obesity drugs were written for NHS patients last year, compared with about 127,000 in 1999, new figures show. Meanwhile, the number of people who are classified as obese has risen sharply, particularly among men and boys, where the figures have nearly doubled in the past decade or so. Experts believe that the increase in prescriptions is more than simply a quick solution, as the pills are vital for the health of the nation.
 
 
21/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Child obesity study fails at weigh-in
A government project to measure and tackle childhood obesity significantly underestimates the problem, partly because overweight children are opting out, an official report warned yesterday. The attempt to produce an accurate picture of childhood obesity has failed because less than half the children agreed to be measured or weighed. The report by the Association of Public Health Observatories found that only 48 per cent of children in the three age groups - school starters, those aged four to five and 10 to 11 - were weighed for the National Child Obesity Database.
 
 
21/12/2006
The Independent
Mothers and babies infected in hospital outbreak of PVL
An outbreak of a PVL superbug struck the maternity unit of a hospital in Plymouth leaving 10 mothers and their babies with severe infections during October and November 2003, it has emerged. Details of the outbreak emerged yesterday after the Health Protection Agency put out a warning to the NHS last weekend following the deaths of a nurse and a patient from the PVL superbug at University Hospital of North Staffordshire earlier this year.
 
 
21/12/2006
Daily Mail
Fish oil 'clever capsules' can even make your baby brighter during pregnancy
Women who take high doses of fish oil during pregnancy could dramatically boost their children's co-ordination, according to a study published in the medical journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. The study found a significant advance in hand-eye co-ordination among toddlers whose mothers took fish oil supplements during the second half of pregnancy compared with those who did not. The last three months of pregnancy are thought to be a key time for intake of fish oil because there is a growth spurt in the human brain during this time. Other research has suggested that cod liver oil taken during pregnancy may increase birthweight and reduce the risk of the baby developing type-1 diabetes.
 
 
21/12/2006
Daily Mail
Baby killed by extra zero on a drug dose
A hearing into the death of a baby at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool last year has heard that the baby died after nurses misread a prescription and gave her ten times the correct dose of a blood-thinning drug. The baby could have been saved even after the overdose, but blood tests which would have shown the seriousness of her condition were delayed. 15,000 units of the drug, Heparin, were administered, instead of the prescribed 1,500.
 
 
21/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Treatment may be forced on cancer girl
Leah-Beth Richards, an eight year old cancer sufferer who does not want to continue painful radiotherapy, could be forced to have the treatment, as the University Hospital of Wales has told her parents that they face possible legal action if treatment is refused. Colin Powell, consultant paediatrician at the hospital, said that he could not comment on individual cases, but added: 'We put our patients' best interests and medical needs first'.
 
 
21/12/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
The Guardian reports that the first of a new generation of NHS cottage hospitals will be announced by the Department of Health today, kickstarting a £750 million programme to move minor operations away from the big general hospitals and closer to people's homes. The Times reports that changes to the way oxygen cylinders are distributed to patients have cost the NHS millions of pounds. A survey by medical newspaper Pulse has revealed that the new system, brought in on February 1, which switched oxygen delivery from pharmacists to four experienced suppliers, sparked concerns that patients may not get the oxygen they need, and so family doctors resorted to ordering cylinders under expensive emergency arrangements. Meanwhile, The Sun reports that the health advice service NHS Direct is launching on Freeview. The plan, announced yesterday, is to reach 6.4million households through an interactive 150-page service, allowing viewers to find answers to common health questions, information on NHS services and advice on healthy eating and giving up smoking.
 
 
20/12/2006
The Independent
Vitamin D could help prevent MS
Research by the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston has revealed that vitamin D could protect against multiple sclerosis. Researchers found that those with the highest levels of the vitamin, particularly before the age of 20, had a two-thirds lower risk of developing MS compared with those who had the lowest levels. The U.S. team analysed vitamin D levels in samples taken from 257 individuals who were diagnosed with MS between 1992 and 2004, finding that the effect of keeping vitamin D levels high was most pronounced in those tested before the age of 20. The findings support existing evidence that vitamin D deficiency could be responsible for triggering a range of diseases, including several cancers.
 
 
20/12/2006
Financial Times
Minimum standards prove elusive for private hospital groups
None of Britain's big private hospital groups met all the minimum standards required by their licences when they were last inspected, figures released by the Healthcare Commission revealed yesterday. In the study of 249 acute private hospitals, 10 per cent failed to meet the standard of properly completed health records and eight per cent did not meet the standards on training and education. The private hospital information is being made available on the Healthcare Commission website and patients can now look for information on their local hospital.
 
 
20/12/2006
The Guardian
Trials begin of nasal spray to tackle obesity
A nasal spray that could help people to lose weight by blocking the senses of taste and smell is to begin human trials next year, Compellis Pharmaceuticals of Massachusetts, said yesterday. The company will seek US Food and Drug Administration approval in about three years, and chief executive Christopher Adams said that the spray treatment would sell for $500 to $1,000 a year. However, The Obesity Action Coalition has warned that dieters using such a spray would also need to change their lifestyles in order to really lose weight.
 
 
20/12/2006
The Times
NHS and Health Sector News
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers it is reported that the latest official statistics on NHS performance have revealed that some patients needing orthopaedic surgery are still waiting more than two years for treatment. Across all the specialities, the real waiting time, from seeing a GP to treatment, shows that one patient in seven waits more than a year. Separately, the Daily Mail reports that cancer patients in England could be given access to a drug that is already available in Scotland after a U-turn by the Health Service’s drugs watchdog. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence previously rejected NHS funding for Alimta, a life-extending treatment for the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma, but yesterday partially upheld an appeal against the decision by the drug's manufacturer, Eli Lilly.
 
 
19/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Hospital workers and patients die from potent form of MRSA
The University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust in Stoke-on-Trent has been named as the hospital where two people, including a previously healthy nurse, died from a new strain of MRSA, called PVL. Officials last night moved to reassure patients after three further cases involving the deadly strain of the superbug, which has never previously caused deaths in a British hospital, were identified. The bug, which is carried in the nose and on the skin, can enter the body through a scratch or pimple, and can develop into necrotising fasciitis, the 'flesh eating bug'.
 
 
19/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Warning over blood sugar meters
Diabetics who use a particular brand of blood sugar meters have been warned that they can show the wrong measurement, putting the patient at risk of taking too much insulin. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has warned that One-Touch Ultra, InDuo and PocketScan, all made by LifeScan, can give unexpected readings if the meters are dropped, or if the battery is changed without the meter being switched off. LifeScan is replacing all the affected meters, which are used by about 320,000 diabetes sufferers in Britain.
 
 
19/12/2006
The Times
Echinacea warning
Researchers from the University of Arkansas have reported in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics that echinacea, the natural cold remedy, could provoke bowel diseases including colon cancer. The researchers found regular doses of echinacea, in tea or tablets, boosted potentially harmful bacteria after just ten days. Large amounts of some of the bacteria have been found in people at risk of colon cancer.
 
 
19/12/2006
Daily Mail
The great happy pill betrayal
A Daily Mail investigation has found that NICE guidelines for the treatment of depression, recommending that cognitive behaviour therapy should be given to patients, are being ignored as talking therapies are not funded across the NHS. Last March a national survey found that 93 per cent of GPs said that they had been forced to prescribe anti-depressant drugs instead of talking therapies due to a lack of availability. CBT was not offered by more than a fifth of primary care bodies, and where it was, average waiting times were five months.
 
 
19/12/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers, it is reported that the health minister, Lord Warner, has confirmed that the government is to abandon an attempt to oblige GPs to provide a medical summary on every patient for a centralised electronic record. Ministers said that patients will be able to place a total block on their records being uploaded to the system - rather than just a bar on them being shared. Separately, the Daily Express reports that Age Concern has warned that more than 750,000 pensioners could be left to battle starvation in British hospitals next year, after a study found that one in four hospital patients or visitors in 2005 and 2006 knew someone who had suffered an unhealthy experience with meals and vital nutrition. The charity is calling on the NHS to enforce changes in the way it monitors meal times.
 
 
18/12/2006
The Times
Cloning benefits oversold, says stem-cell scientist
The medical promise of therapeutic cloning has been oversold and its unreasonably high profile risks turning the public against more promising aspects of stem-cell research, according to Professor Austin Smith of the University of Cambridge. In an interview with the Times newspaper he asserted that "significant technical barriers" mean that the goal of using cloned embryonic stem (ES) cells to create patient-matched tissue may never be achieved. Professor Smith would prefer scientists to focus on basic understanding of ES cells and adult stem cells, both of which will be studied in depth at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research in Cambridge, which officially opens today. He recently moved from the University of Edinburgh to become its first director.
 
 
18/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Test can help identify breast cancer victims most at risk
A team of researchers led by Dr Dave Hoon, of the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, have indicated that the amounts of two different proteins in a breast tumour can help predict if it is likely to spread, which can give doctors the opportunity to identify which women are most at risk. Writing in the journal Cancer Research, the researchers claim that a test for the two specific proteins is 88 per cent accurate in identifying breast cancer that has spread to lymph nodes in a group of 65 patients, compared with an analysis of lymph nodes. A bigger study will now attempt to confirm the findings of the research, as recent studies have found that the assessment of lymph notes for disease spreading can produce both false positive and false negative readings.
 
 
18/12/2006
The Independent
Long-term alcoholics risk permanent brain damage
Long-term alcoholics risk permanent brain damage, a pan-European study has indicated. Researchers from the United Kingdom, Italy and Switzerland found that while the brain can regenerate after damage caused by drink, it struggles more after longer periods. Using scanning technologies and computer software, the scientists analysed the ways in which the form, function and size of brains in 15 patients altered over a period of six to seven weeks after they gave up alcohol. The size of the brain increased by an average of 2 per cent 38 days after the study commenced. Levels of chemicals that indicate the strength of the brain's nerve cells and sheaths also rose significantly, by between 10 and 20 per cent. The research is published in the journal Brain.
 
 
18/12/2006
Daily Mail
High doses of IVF drugs 'are not necessary'
Scientists have claimed that the hormone drugs given to women undergoing IVF treatment are needlessly strong. A course of IVF to help a woman get pregnant can cost between £3,500 and £7,000, with many patients requiring two to three cycles, but scientists now believe that small doses of the hormones given to stimulate the ovaries into producing more eggs can work as effectively as the expensive higher doses most commonly given. The drugs are associated with symptoms including mood swings and bloating, as well as having the capacity to damage embryos and cause ovarian hyper-stimulation. A second study, from the University of Utrecht, indicated that the higher stimulation of the ovaries with the hormone drugs created more chromosomally damaged embryos than mild stimulation treatment.
 
 
18/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Rosehips may help arthritis
The findings from a Danish study have indicated that rosehips could provide new ways of tackling a range of inflammatory diseases. Dr Kay Winther, of Copenhagen, carried out a trial involving 80 people using the herbal remedy LitoZin, which contains a rosehip extract, and garnered positive findings indicating that 80 per cent of participants could attest to a 'significant reduction in pain'. Other recent studies have indicated that extract of rosehip could reduce pain and improve movement in patients with osteoporosis, while experts now believe it has applications in conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to Crohn's disease and even heart disease.
 
 
18/12/2006
The Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that a nurse and a patient died from a deadly new strain of MRSA after a superbug outbreak at a hospital in the West Midlands earlier this year. Three other workers at the same hospital also contracted the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive (PVL) MRSA bacterium. A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency claimed that PVL-MRSA was more toxic than other strains of MRSA, but it could still be treated with antibiotics. The strain attacks healthy young people and can cause symptoms ranging from minor infections in the skin and soft tissue to a form or pneumonia that can kill in 24 hours. Angela Kearns, an MRSA expert, added: "When people contract PVL-producing strains of MRSA, they usually experience a skin infection such as a boil or abscess." Britain has the worst record for tackling superbug infection among big European nations, according to a new study from the European Commission.
 
 
15/12/2006
The Guardian
Many animal tests are badly flawed, say scientists
A team of senior scientists has found that many animal tests are flawed and do not predict how well a prototype medicine will work in humans. The new study, published by the British Medical Journal, looked at six drugs - two for stroke, and one each for head injury, haemorrhage, neonatal distress and brittle bones. After investigating the findings of human clinical trials and then at the animal trials that had gone before, it was noted that there was often a disparity between the two. Animals given corticosteroids after a head injury appeared to benefit, but the drug did not appear to aid recovery in humans. Equally, the animal trial involving the stroke drug tirilazad were positive, but when the drug was administered during human trials it was shown that it actually increased the numbers of patients who became dependent or died. The authors of the study, including Professor Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, called for more systematic reviews such as this one and asserted that the jury was "still out" on the usefulness of animal tests.
 
 
15/12/2006
The Times
Big fall in breast cancer cases as women reject hormone therapy
A sharp and unexpected fall in breast cancer cases may have been caused by millions of women giving up hormone replacement therapy, according to the findings of a research team at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre at the University of Texas. Professor Peter Ravdin, who led the research, informed a conference in San Antonio yesterday that in 2003, after rising steadily for 20 years, new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in the United States fell by 7 per cent. Around 14,000 fewer women developed the disease in 2002. The fall was even greater among women aged 50 to 69 with forms of breast cancer that are sensitive to hormones - a 12 per cent drop was recorded. Professor Ravdin suggested that the 2002 health scare relating to a study which indicated higher breast cancer risk in women taking HRT had had an impact on the rate of new diagnoses.
 
 
15/12/2006
Daily Mail
'Virgin birth' cells hope
Stem cells created by a 'virgin birth' technique could offer hope for transplant patients, research has suggested. For the first time, scientists have produced customised stem cells which were not rejected by the patient. Scientists from Boston Children's Hospital in the United States believe they have circumnavigated the problem associated with normal stem cell techniques - that the recipient is likely to reject the cells because they come from someone else - by creating stem cells that match the patient's immune system. In experiments carried out on mice, the researchers focused on a process called parthenogenesis, in which mouse eggs were tricked into developing into embryos without being fertilised by sperm. The stem cells were then extracted, matched to the immune system of other mice and injected into them. While the technique is considered as having the potential to offer hope to humans, the researchers, writing in the journal Science, warned that their work was in the early stages.
 
 
15/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Homosexuals who start a family to get equal rights
Homosexual couples who have children together are to get the same legal rights as heterosexual parents under proposed new laws published yesterday. The legislation would give both women in a lesbian couple automatic and equal parental rights over a baby born using donated sperm. Caroline Flint, the public health minister, announced the introduction of a White Paper containing 25 proposals that will form the basis for an overhaul of current laws on fertility treatment and embryo research. Lesbian couples and single mothers are also expected to be given greater access to IVF treatment after the suggested scrapping of the requirement for clinicians to consider a child's needs for a father when approving fertility treatment. Additionally, current regulations policed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority than ban sex selection for non-medical reasons during fertility treatment will be formalised in law.
 
 
15/12/2006
Financial Times
Call for aggressive prostate treatment
Older men with early-stage prostate cancer may live a lot longer if they are treated aggressively with radiation or surgery instead of the usual approach of waiting to see whether the malignancy progresses, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Doctors often hold off on surgery for older men with prostate cancer because the disease progresses slowly and they may face a higher risk of dying from other causes. However, the new research - published in the Journal of the American Medical Association - has indicated that men aged 65 to 80 with the cancer who were treated had a 31 per cent lower risk of dying over 12 years compared with those who were only observed.
 
 
15/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the British Computer Society (BCS) has criticised the NHS IT programme for failing to provide value for money and slowing down IT projects already under way in hospitals. In a study released today based on the opinions of IT workers from the NHS and outside, the BCS criticises the cost of the project to digitise patient care records and link up all the NHS IT systems across the country. Elsewhere, a study has indicated that hospitals are putting patients at risk by failing to record medical errors such as drug overdoses that cause them harm.
 
 
14/12/2006
The Guardian
Circumcision halves risk of getting HIV
In a development that has wide-scale implications for the fight against Aids, scientists announced last night that circumcision could halve the risk of a man contracting HIV. Kevin de Cock, the head of the World Health Organisation's HIV/Aids unit, claimed the number of infected men could be reduced by many tens of thousands, many hundreds of thousands and maybe millions over coming years. The two trials, conducted in Kenya and Uganda, were drawn to an abrupt close yesterday by the funder, the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, after an interim review of the data showed a halving of the risk of infection among those who were circumcised. It was believed that it would be unethical to continue once the point had been proven. The announcement came with a stark warning that the maintenance of good sexual health and safe sex remained vital to protecting against the spread of HIV/Aids. Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID, warned that the 48 per cent reduction among men in the Rakai, Uganda, trial, and 53 per cent reduction among those in Kisumu, Kenya, "could be negated by small reductions in condom use or the addition of additional sexual partners."
 
 
14/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Women are told to keep the morning after pill with plasters
A leading sexual health care charity has urged women to keep the "morning-after" pill alongside plasters and paracetamol in the bathroom, in case they have unprotected sex. A spokesman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service declared that the organisation was "trying to make the morning-after pill as normal as Nurofen", and argued that the emergency contraceptive pill can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, but can be up to 50 per cent more effective if taken within 12 hours. The BPAS lamented the fact that it is rarely available to women in advance, and that many women struggle to get it within 72 hours. Critics have responded with claims that the charity was encouraging reckless behaviour and lack of self-control.
 
 
14/12/2006
The Independent
Pill promises an end to the pain of periods
A contraceptive pill that promises to end the misery of menstruation for millions of women has been proved safe and effective for the first time. The medicine, called Lybrel, was taken every day for a year and halted periods in more than half of the women who used it, and is the first pill specifically designed to eliminate the fertility cycle. Wyeth, the United States pharmaceutical behind the pill, has applied to regulators on both sides of the Atlantic for a license, and is expected to be launched in the United States and United Kingdom in 2007. David Archer, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Easter Virginia Medical School, who led the study published in the journal Contraception, declared that 58 per cent of women were free of periods after using the pill for a year, but the downside was some had irregular bleeding, which was unexplained.
 
 
14/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Child who felt no pain may help to develop safer drugs
A street performer who pushed knives into his arms and walked on burning coals has helped scientists to make an advance in understanding and treating pain. A team at Cambridge University was able to discover a pain-killing genetic mutation present in a Pakistani boy and three more related families with children aged from two to 12, none of whom felt pain. All subjects were from the Qureshi birdari clan in northern Pakistan, and appeared to have a normal nervous system and normal sensations. Writing today in the journal Nature, Dr Geoffrey Woods describes how his team were able to isolate the presence of a mutation in the SCN9A gene and attribute the condition to this defect. The finding complements previous research indicating that a painful inherited human neuropathy, knows as erythromelalgia, is due to other mutations in the gene.
 
 
14/12/2006
Daily Mail
First brain bypass
Britain's first 'brain bypass' operations have been carried out on patients with life threatening conditions. The technique, which until now has only been available abroad, is expected to help patients with brain tumours or aneurysms. Four Britons have been treated so far by consultant neurosurgeon Christos Tolias, head of a surgical team at King's College Hospital, London. Using the ELANA (Excimer Laser Assisted Non-Occlusive Anastomosis) method, pioneered in the Netherlands, Mr Tolias has successfully rerouted the blood supply around the problem area in the brains of his patients via a piece of grafted vein taken from the leg. King's has now linked up with hospitals in Birmingham to offer the service to patients outside London.
 
 
14/12/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that Alliance Boots is to become the first high street chain to have a GP surgery in one of its shops. The drug distribution and retail company has signed a deal with the National Health Service to open a healthcare centre in Poole, Dorset. Elsewhere, Tony Blair's drive to introduce choice and competition into the National Health Service was dealt a blow yesterday with the resignation of Lord Warner, minister for health reform. The peer, who is 66, claimed that after three-and-a-half years in the job his decision to go at the end of the year was entirely his own. Finally, official figures have revealed that the bill for 'managing' the 'NHS identity' has almost doubled in the last five years - reaching £333,996 last year.
 
 
13/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Obesity worse than smoking or drinking
Experts at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) have asserted that obesity, caused by over-eating and inactivity, is Britain's most pressing public health issue. The government's health agency claimed that it inflicted more damage on health than smoking, heavy drinking or poverty, and launched a set of guidelines to help the nation get back into shape. The prevalence of overweightness and obesity in England is believed to have trebled in 25 years, with a third of women and nearly half of men overweight. Among the advice given was the warning that dieters should be aiming to cut calories by 600 each day and the use of low-calorie dieting techniques is recommended for periods of 12 weeks only. Perhaps the most widely-covered aspect of the Nice recommendations, however, is the assertion that stomach surgery for overweight children should be considered in exceptional circumstances as a last resort. Children would only be considered for surgery if all other methods, such as slimming drugs, diets, and exercise, had failed over a period of six months.
 
 
13/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Experimenting on monkeys to ease human suffering is right, say experts
Four centres of excellence should be established to carry out experiments on monkeys because of the "strong scientific case" for their continuing use in research of medical importance, an expert group has asserted in a study commissioned by the Royal Society, Academy of Medical Sciences, the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust. The independent working group appointed to the task, led by the medical scientist Sir David Weatherall, carried out an 18-month investigation of the use in research of non-human primates such as marmosets, tamarins and macaques. In particular the study highlighted the continuing need for monkeys in the study of the immune, nervous and reproductive systems, since rodents and other animals are too different from humans to provide suitably relevant data. Sir David was keen to stress, however, that he was not calling for "an expansion in non-human primate research".
 
 
13/12/2006
The Times
AstraZeneca plan for delivery of medicines triggers protests
AstraZeneca has signalled a transformation of the way that life-saving medicines are delivered to patients in the United Kingdom. Britain's second-largest drugs company is seeking to copy its United States rival Pfizer with a plan to distribute all its products through a single channel. The change will mean that dozens of pharmaceutical wholesalers are cut out of the distribution chain which provides services to Britain's 12,500 pharmacies, 327 hospitals and 1,386 dispensing doctors. Independent pharmacists have reacted angrily to the news, claiming that the decision could undermine competition and delay the provision of vital medicines. The Office of Fair Trading, which is already investigating the Pfizer proposals, has declared it will examine the AZ proposals in turn. Three other drug firms - thought to be Sanofi-Aventis, Eli Lilly and Novartis - are allegedly considering similar moves.
 
 
13/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Flu outbreak antivirals 'must be given within first 48 hours'
A study of how nations could cope with a flu pandemic has concluded that there will be huge logistical problems involved in fighting the disease with antiviral drugs. In a review published today in the Royal Society journal Interface, Dr Miriam Nuno, of Harvard School of Public Health, analyses the pandemic preparedness of the United Kingdom, United States and the Netherlands. Using a "moderately severe" scenario for an influenza pandemic, also the basis for a recent government exercise, she predicted 21 million cases in two waves in this country alone. Dr Nuno asserted that "it is tremendously important to ensure that they [antiviral treatments] are implemented within 48 hours of the onset of illness". Beyond that point, she claimed, there is "little you can do" to prevent the wider spread of influenza.
 
 
13/12/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the "takeover" of an effectively insolvent National Health Service hospital by a foundation trust has been approved by the Treasury in what officials claim could be the first of several rescues. Elsewhere, a study by the Commons health select committee has shown that the percentage of NHS trusts in deficit soared from around seven per cent in 2001-2 to more than 30 per cent in 2005-6.
 
 
12/12/2006
Daily Mail
'Speck of dust' microchip to fight cancer
A team of scientists in the United States, with more than £1 million in funding from the National Cancer Institute, has asserted that a microchip one-tenth of a millimetre in diameter - currently in the developmental stages - could help to identify cancers that are likely to spread. The chip works by spying on cancer cells deep inside a tumour and monitors their activities to see if they are likely to metastasise. The chip would most likely be injected into a tumour, where it would monitor the way in which cancer cells interact with surrounding tissues and chemicals for several days or weeks. Malignant tumours spread by sending cancer cells into the bloodstream, where they usually travel to organs such as the lungs, liver, brain and bones.
 
 
12/12/2006
The Guardian
Hundreds of babies sought for mass study of peanut allergy
Researchers at King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals are seeking 480 babies for a clinical trial to identify factors that put people at risk of developing a dangerous allergy to peanuts in childhood. Traditionally, health officials have advised parents to exclude food containing peanut-based products from a baby's diet, and studies have indicated that consuming peanuts during the first year of life increases the chance of children going on to develop a peanut allergy. More recent evidence to the contrary has emerged, however, and the trial aims to investigate the effects in babies between the ages of four and 11 months old.
 
 
12/12/2006
Daily Mail
Two drinks a day to ward off dementia
New research from scientists at Ohio State University in the United States has indicated that the consumption of two alcoholic drinks a day could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The findings are based on a study in rats which suggested alcohol may have a protective effect on neurons in the brain. During tests, rats given the equivalent of two drinks a day for a human performed much better in memory tests. While the reasons behind the apparently enhanced memory performance are not yet clear, it was noted that during the experiments researchers increased the expression of a particular receptor, NR1, on the surface of neurons in the hippocampus. The receptor is believed to preserve memory and boost learning.
 
 
12/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Hay fever sufferers get New Year gift - a vaccine in a pill
The first vaccine pill for hay fever sufferers will be launched in the New Year. Grazax reduces symptoms more effectively than anti-histamines and steroidal nasal sprays, and is effective for the approximately 40 per cent of patients for whom these treatments do not work. Trials conducted by manufacturer Alk-Abello, a Danish firm, showed that patients given Grazax registered a 30 per cent reduction in symptoms and a 40 per cent fall in the need for rescue medication. Anti-histamine treatments reduced symptoms by 10 to 20 per cent and nasal sprays do so by 20 to 30 per cent.
 
 
12/12/2006
Daily Mail
At last, an injection to cure impotence
Doctors have developed a gene therapy treatment that could cure millions of men who suffer from impotence. The development comes after researchers were able to identify a gene that is responsible for the condition that affects as many as 60 per cent of men over the age of 55 and around three million men in total in the United Kingdom. A team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, led by Professor Arnold Melman, has already begun testing the therapy in humans, and the first small trial indicated that the gene is safe and effective. Professor Melman will now give high doses of the jab, called Maxi K, to almost 200 men in a trial starting in the New Year.
 
 
12/12/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the health department has postponed a decision to scrap a set of accounting rules that have plunged some NHS trusts into potentially irrecoverable financial deficit. The head of the NHS in England admitted yesterday that its accounting system was unsustainable and inconsistent, forcing the weakest hospital trusts into a vicious cycle of spiralling deficits. Elsewhere, iSoft, the beleaguered software company with a key role in the multi-billion pound IT programme for the NHS, has warned it may be unable to continue operating after plunging into the red in the first half following a costly restructuring. Finally, Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, was yesterday accused of failing tens of thousands of expectant mothers last night as it emerged that 43 maternity units across the country have been shut down or face the threat of closure.
 
 
11/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Folic acid in bread will cut risk to babies
A report commissioned by the Government is tomorrow expected to call for folic acid to be added to bread to reduce the number of babies with birth defects. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition is to call for the fortification to prevent babies being born with spina biffida. However, The Daily Mail reports that the health of pensioners could be put at risk by such a move as it could mask vitamin deficiencies. Help The Aged said: 'We would not want to see anything that put the wellbeing of older people at risk. A lot of pensioners are limited in what they can buy and bread is a staple part of their diet'.
 
 
11/12/2006
The Guardian
Research finds warning signs of ovarian cancer
Researchers have shown for the first time that women with early ovarian cancer have physical symptoms that could warn them to get life-saving treatment before the cancer spreads. A lack of symptoms in the early stages means that it is often not diagnosed until it has spread to other parts of the body, however, U.S. doctors have found that signs of abdominal pain, stomach bloating or difficulty eating and feeling full for more than 12 days a month were commonly present in women with both early and late-stage disease.
 
 
11/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Cannabis 'triggers paranoia in teens'
A new report has revealed that half of young cannabis users suffer side-effects such as paranoia and blackouts, resulting in the report's author, the children's mental health charity YoungMinds, to call for urgent research into how the drug affects the teenage brain. More than 80 per cent of young people in their teens and early 20s who were polled had tried cannabis, and there was evidence that the drug could both trigger and worsen mental health problems.
 
 
11/12/2006
Daily Mail
Fat on the inside
Scientists have discovered that many outwardly slim people are storing up dangerous layers of 'internal fat'. They may look thin on the outside, but their health can be more at risk than those who are noticeably fat. Using MRI scanners, scientists have found that many slim people carry large fat deposits around their vital organs, streaked through their underused muscles and wrapped around their hearts. It is this 'visceral fat', rather than the 'subcutaneous fat' just under the skin, which can lead to insulin resistance, diabetes and heart problems, especially in men who have a slim build, but do little or no exercise.
 
 
11/12/2006
Daily Mail
Housework, the lifesaver
Regular housework could reduce your chances of contracting cancer, doctors said yesterday. An hour of domestic chores a day has the potential to reduce the risk by a fifth. Sedentary people are at a far higher risk of colon cancer than their energetic counterparts, and research has revealed that the risk of the disease is vastly reduced through either two hours of moderate exercise or one hour of intense exercise each day. Dr Lesley Walker of the Cancer Research charity said that an enthusiastic session of housework, cleaning the car or a spot of gardening could be enough to raise the heart rate and reduce the risk.
 
 
11/12/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
The Guardian reports that research using the Department of Health's own figures has revealed that at least a dozen NHS trusts are technically bankrupt and will never be able to balance their books. 103 hospital trusts in England expect to end the year with a combined debt of £1.6 billion. Separately, The Independent reports that the NHS faces a further round of belt-tightening next year in which more jobs will be lost and services cut as the health service prepares for leaner times. David Nicholson, chief executive of the NHS, will announce today that health authorities and trusts are to be required to achieve a surplus of £250 million by March 2008, the date that will mark the end of five years of exceptional growth.
 
 
08/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
24 patients at risk from vCJD in blood
Thousands of patients are thought to be at risk from a new epidemic of mad cow disease due to infected human blood or scientific instruments. Medics have warned that the case of a Briton who died seven years after a transfusion showed that the disease was far more easily spread than previously thought. The greatest risk is to patients given blood from people who were healthy at the time but later went on to develop variant CJD. Twenty-four people accidentally given blood transfusions contaminated with the human form of mad cow disease are now at "substantial" risk, according to Professor John Collinge, Britain's leading expert on the disease.
 
 
08/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Scientists question breast screening for the under-50s
Breast screening of women aged under 50 does not appear to have a significant impact on cancer deaths, researchers said yesterday. Scientists conducted a 10-year trial in which more than 160,900 women aged 40 to 49 were invited to have annual checks on the NHS, estimating that four lives for every 10,000 women would be saved. In findings reported in the Lancet, it emerged that even though screening at a younger age caused a 17 per cent drop in breast cancer mortality, scientists said that the result was not statistically significant. Each year around 41,700 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK and 12,350 die as a result of the condition.
 
 
08/12/2006
Daily Mail
Breast cancer 'need not be a bar to pregnancy'
Women with breast cancer may not have to wait two years to start a family, say researchers, who claim the current advised 24-month delay is probably unnecessary. Researchers in Western Australia looked at 123 women aged up to 44 who were diagnosed with the disease and then had at least one pregnancy, finding that around half conceived within two years of their diagnosis. Doctors currently tell patients to delay pregnancy so they can identify those who relapse early and need treatment for advanced cancer. Research also found that women who became pregnant were more likely to survive compared with 2,500 other young women who did not conceive after having breast cancer.
 
 
08/12/2006
The Times
Malaria and HIV are linked by scientists
Scientists have discovered that the amount of HIV virus in the blood increases by about ten times when HIV positive people are also infected with malaria, sparking fears that malaria could be contributing to the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa by making carriers more likely to pass it on to their sexual partners.
 
 
08/12/2006
Daily Express
NHS and Health Sector News
The Daily Express reports that hospitals are to be forced to reveal how quickly patients recover from routine operations. Every hospital in the country will be asked to collect and publish data on procedures from hip and knee replacements to hernia and cataract surgery. The British Medical Association has welcomed the move, but said that the data should not be used to blame hospitals which perform badly.
 
 
07/12/2006
The Times
Half give up preventive drugs
Half of all people prescribed statins to protect against heart attacks have given up taking them within two years, a Dutch study has revealed. The Dutch scientists, writing in European Heart Journal, followed the prescription records of 60,000 patients over 14 years. The research suggests that in the Netherlands there are 300 to 400 heart attacks a year that would have been prevented if patients kept taking the drugs, and across Europe the number would be up to 9,000 a year. Patients prescribed drugs often give up taking them through boredom or dislike of side-effects, but in the case of statins, which have no perceptible effects on improving health or well-being to encourage compliance, the drop-out rate is high.
 
 
07/12/2006
The Times
Smokers face additional risk
Men who smoke run a greater risk of arthritis in the knee and suffer twice as much cartilage damage as non-smokers, according to a study at the Mayo Clinic. The study followed 159 men with arthritis of the knee over 30 months and gave each of them three MRI scans. Of the 159, 19 were smokers, and these were found to lose cartilage more than twice as fast as the non-smokers and also suffer more pain.
 
 
07/12/2006
The Times
Cancer protection
A study published online by the British Journal of Cancer shows that Gardasil, an anticancer vaccine for women, can protect for up to five years from a single course of treatment. The study found that the vaccinations, against the papilloma virus, the cause of cervical cancer, do not need to be repeated regularly, or at all.
 
 
07/12/2006
The Times
Discovery of weakness in virus opens door to new remedies
Research has shown a critical weakness in a key flu protein that is common to all the most dangerous varieties of the flu virus, including H5N1 avian flu and the strains that infect millions of people each winter. The findings offer a fresh approach to designing antiviral drugs that could be used to control seasonal flu epidemics. A new drug would be particularly valuable if a pandemic strain of flu were to involve resistance to Tamiflu, which has been stockpiled by many countries.
 
 
07/12/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
The Guardian reports that people with conditions such as blood clots on the lung or ectopic pregnancies should be treated at home by GPs and nurses rather than being admitted to hospital, according to a draft NHS report. The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement's report lists a range of conditions that it says could be dealt with as day cases by GPs.
 
 
06/12/2006
The Times
After 21 years, scientists say: mobiles don't cause cancer
More than a decade's use of mobile phones does not increase the risk of brain cancer, according to one of the largest studies into the link. The longest-running investigation yet conducted involving almost half a million people has found that there is no link between mobile phone use and cancers of the head or neck. Research by the Danish Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen found that of the 420,095 people studied, 14,249 cancers were diagnosed, but there was no suggestion that any were linked to mobile phone use. The research contrasts with a 2004 Swedish study which found that using mobile phones for ten years or more can increase the risk of non-invasive growths called acoustic neuromas.
 
 
06/12/2006
The Times
Women who follow 'lifestyle laxative' diet put their lives at risk
Research has suggested that obsession with weight loss is fuelling an alarming rise in the use of laxatives. Analysts Mintel have found that overall sales of digestive medicines have risen by 26 per cent and are set to hit £245 million this year. Indigestion and heartburn medicines make up the largest share of the sales, but the greatest rise is in laxatives. Steve Bloomfield of the Eating Disorders Association has warned that the use of laxatives can have serious side effects as they purge the body before it has had time to absorb vitamins and minerals.
 
 
06/12/2006
Daily Mail
Losing your sense of taste could be a sign of depression
Scientists have reported that losing your sense of taste may be an early sign of depression. Taste is linked to the brain chemicals which control our moods, and when levels of these chemicals fall, which is thought to happen when a patient is suffering from depression, the sense of taste is blunted. The Bristol University team which conducted the research suggested that their findings could explain why loss of appetite often goes hand-in-hand with depression. The discovery could lead to the development of a taste test which would allow doctors to quickly and accurately choose the right drug to treat patients, as they currently have no way of knowing which medicine will work for which patient, and can initially prescribe the wrong drug.
 
 
06/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
British firm seeks to repair brains with lab stem cells
A British company, ReNeuron, has developed laboratory-grown foetal stem cells to repair the brains of stroke victims. Scientists believe a single injection of cells from a baby aborted at 12 weeks could relieve symptoms such as paralysis, memory loss and slurred speech. Scientists also believe that they would only ever have to extract cells from a single foetus to treat strokes, which afflict 130,000 people in the UK every year. Following successful tests on rats, the firm has applied to the medicines watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration, for permission to carry out the first human trials. If the tests, which will involve 12 stroke patients, prove successful, a treatment could be available to hospitals in just a few years.
 
 
06/12/2006
Daily Express
Discovery could stop blindness
A new treatment for glaucoma is possible after experts discovered why nerve endings in the eye suddenly die. Researchers aim to neutralise a rogue molecule which only activates in response to increased pressure in the eye. Half-a-million people in the UK have glaucoma, which is often caused when the natural flow of fluid in and out of the eye is blocked.
 
 
06/12/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
In a widely-featured story in today's papers it is reported that the future of a tax-funded NHS is at risk if doctors and politicians lack the courage to act quickly to close hospital departments that no longer provide the best patient care, Tony Blair warned yesterday. He said that the NHS in England has only one opportunity to reorganise accident and emergency departments and other key services, but did not explain how many A&E departments, maternity wings and other facilities may have to be downgraded or closed over the next two years, as these decisions would be made by local NHS commissioners. Separately, the Guardian reports that the Royal College of Nursing is to close its in-house final salary pension scheme to existing workers as well as new members, sparking an outcry from the GMB union, which said that the move would affect about 800 RCN staff.
 
 
05/12/2006
The Guardian
Obesity epidemic may trigger 12,000 cancer cases a year
Britain's soaring rates of obesity are likely to trigger a new wave of cancer, with as many as 12,000 weight-related cases now expected every year by 2010, researchers at Cancer Research UK warned yesterday. Almost 4 per cent of cancers are attributed to being overweight, and government figures suggest the total number of obese and overweight people is set to rise by 14 per cent by 2010, from 24.2 million in 2003 to 27.6 million. Research in America has found that having a Body Mass Index of between 30 and 35, which is classified as obese, increases the risk of dying of cancer by up to a third.
 
 
05/12/2006
Daily Mail
Stressed workers at risk of diabetes
Stressed workers facing career 'burn-out' could be at a higher risk of developing diabetes, say researchers. A five year study by the University of Tel Aviv suggested that workers under pressure could be up to four times as likely to develop diabetes as those with a better balanced working life. Natasha Marsland, a care adviser at Diabetes UK, said 'Stress can cause high blood pressure, which is a risk factor, and it can also cause fat to deposit around the waist, which is a huge risk factor'.
 
 
05/12/2006
Daily Express
Women told: Diets don't work, joining a gym does
A new study claims that exercise is the key to being healthy rather than slimming down. Women who took part in four hours of gentle exercise every week over a three-month period saw their cholesterol, blood pressure and heart rates significantly reduce, despite losing little weight. The 62 women who took part in the study were less depressed, more sociable and had fewer medical problems related to obesity, with an overall improvement in wellbeing.
 
 
05/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Anti-smoking drug triples the chances of giving up
A new drug that almost triples smokers' chances of kicking the habit is available on prescription from today. Research found that one in seven smokers who took varenicline tartrate, sold as Champix, were still abstaining a year after starting treatment, compared with fewer than one in 20 of those trying to quit while taking a placebo. The tablets reduce cravings for tobacco by stimulating the same brain receptors as nicotine, and are also said to reduce withdrawal symptoms.
 
 
05/12/2006
The Independent
NHS and Health Sector News
The Independent features the news that according to a new report, campaigns to keep local accident and emergency departments and small specialist units open may cost more than 1,000 unnecessary deaths a year. The Government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, is to argue that concentrating services in fewer, larger hospitals will mean longer travelling time for patients, but safer care once they get there. The Daily Mail reports that controversial plans for a Health Service computer program have been heavily scaled back because of technical failures. Difficulties with the software mean that the electronic records will now contain only a fraction of the information that Ministers originally intended. The Telegraph reports that mothers and babies are being put at risk because there are not enough consultants and midwives on delivery wards, according to a report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Separately, the Guardian reports that the British Medical Association has accused ministers of breaking a promise to allow people to refuse to let their confidential records be uploaded onto a central NHS database.
 
 
04/12/2006
The Times
Gene find may help to curb breast cancer
Cancer specialists will announce today that they have discovered a gene which may hold the key to a treatment for up to 10 per cent of all breast cancers. The development could, in time, lead to treatments that would make chemotherapy unnecessary. Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, found extra genes in lobular breast cancer cells which drive the disease. Half the cancers were shown to be carrying extra copies of the FGFR1 gene, which is responsible for a protein of the same name and is involved in promoting cell division. An excess sends this process out of control. Lobular tumours are currently treated using hormone-blocking drugs, but the disease returns in around 30 per cent of women. The new findings, however, indicate that blocking FGFR1 activity itself might slow, stop or reverse tumour growth. The first drug treatment to evolve from the research could be available for testing on patients within two years, according to an article published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
 
 
04/12/2006
Daily Mail
IVF drugs 'harm pregnancy chance by damaging eggs'
Doctors have warned that drugs routinely used during IVF treatment could in fact lower the chance of pregnancy. The hormone-based drugs, used to promote egg production, are thought to also affect the lining of the womb, preventing embryos from implanting, as well as causing ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome. The IVF expert Lord Winston asserted that at least 50 per cent of the eggs harvested from women undergoing IVF contained damaged DNA, which could, he speculated, be caused by the drug treatments used in the process. He believes that cutting the application of such drugs during IVF can reduce the cost by up to £1,200, making it more widely available on the NHS. Lord Winston also advocated an increase in the use of 'natural cycle IVF', although success rates of ten per cent an attempt, compared with 25 to 30 per cent for standard IVF, do not make it a necessarily viable alternative.
 
 
04/12/2006
Financial Times
Pfizer scraps key drug
Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, has abruptly halted clinical trials of its leading experimental medicine, the cholesterol drug torcetrapib, after the deaths of eighty-two people during testing. Evidence from the trials, which involved 15,000 patients worldwide - some of them in the United Kingdom - revealed increased death rates from heart attacks and strokes. In the 7,500 people taking a combination of torcetrapib and atorvastatin (Lipitor) there had been 82 deaths from heart attack and stroke, whereas in a similar number taking atorvastatin alone there had been 51 deaths. The abandonment of such a key pipeline drug treatment is a blow for Pfizer, which revealed that an independent safety board had recommended the measures after the trial had shown what was referred to as "an imbalance of mortality and cardiovascular events."
 
 
04/12/2006
Daily Express
Hope for women in battle against a killer
Scientists were last night hailing a major breakthrough in the treatment of ovarian cancer which could significantly increase survival rates among the 70 per cent of sufferers with a resistance to chemotherapy. Experts have discovered four major gene pathways that could reverse the body's resistance to the treatment, and a drug could be developed which allows chemotherapy to progress unhindered. Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in the United Kingdom, after that of breast, bowel and lung, with 6,900 new cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed in Britain each year. However, 70 per cent of patients are unable to undergo chemotherapy because their bodies build up a resistance to the treatment.
 
 
04/12/2006
The Times
Underweight women '72% more likely to miscarry'
A study commissioned by the Miscarriage Association has suggested that women who are underweight are more at risk of suffering a miscarriage than those who are overweight. Women whose body mass index was low - below 18.5 - when they conceived were much more likely to have a miscarriage in the first three months of pregnancy. The same study, conducted by a team of researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and involving 603 women aged 18 to 55, also indicated that taking vitamin supplements during the first weeks of pregnancy halved the odds of a miscarriage, as did eating fresh fruit and vegetables. The findings are published online in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
 
 
04/12/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that patients who have complained about the idea of having their confidential medical records uploaded on a new centralised NHS database were sent letters over the weekend flatly rejecting their concerns. In an uncompromising statement, the Department of Health said nobody could have genuine grounds for claiming substantial and unwarranted distress as a result of having their intimate medical details included on a national computer system, known as the Spine. Elsewhere, it has been shown that less than a third of the extra money invested in the Health Service last year was spent on improvements to patient services, according to Health Department figures obtained by the Daily Mail. Finally, an inquiry into maternal deaths will be launched today amid increasing fears that cuts to maternity services are putting the lives of mothers and their babies at risk. The review by the King's Fund will call on obstetricians, midwives and birthing charities to explain what is going wrong after a run of deaths in labour wards.
 
 
01/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Success of abstinence in cutting teen pregnancies is a myth, say advisers
Sexual abstinence as an effective tool in reducing teenage pregnancy is a complete "myth", the government's advisory body on the issue claimed yesterday. The comments from the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy provoked a furious response from those who believe it is better to encourage young people to abstain from sex until they are older, or even married. The group pointed to research from teams at Columbia University and the Guttmacher Institute which examined the role of abstinence and contraceptive use in the decline in teenage pregnancy rates in the United States, which dropped by 27 per cent between 1991 and 2000. They claimed that 86 per cent of the decline could be attributed to improved contraceptive use, according to findings published in the American Journal of Public Health.
 
 
01/12/2006
Financial Times
Cancer hope from RU-486 chemical
Animal experiments suggest that the active chemical in the controversial abortion pill RU-486 would prevent the growth of tumours in women with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer. A compound called mifepristone used in the abortion pill could also provide a new weapon against ovarian cancer. Researchers from the University of California, writing in the journal Science, noted that progesterone seems to be a major culprit in the development of both illnesses. The hormone is involved with the female reproductive cycle and can be inhibited using mifepristone, and by genetically altering mice to carry the most common human breast cancer gene, Brca-1, they showed that after treatment with mifepristone no animals had developed a tumour by the time they reached one year old.
 
 
01/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
Condoms help to make Ugandan relations safer
Ribbed and studded condoms that promote pleasure as well as protection could add to the success of safe sex campaigns, it was claimed yesterday. A government-backed team of experts, writing in The Lancet, asserted that emphasising the pleasurable aspects of condoms might make them more popular. Experts including Anne Philpott, of the Department for International Development, and Dermot Maher, of the World Health Organisation, examined the "huge success" achieved by the marketing of textured condoms in Uganda by Marie Stopes International. Twelve million studded condoms are purchased each year by Ugandans. The team asserted that "since pursuit of pleasure is one of the main reasons that people have sex, this factor must be addressed when motivating people to use condoms and participate in safer sexual behaviour."
 
 
01/12/2006
Daily Mail
How stem cells could cure your bad back for life
A cure for chronic back pain using a patient's own stem cells from bone marrow to regenerate spinal discs could be available within three years, it was revealed last night. Therapy to be given only once has been developed by Dr Stephen Richardson, of Manchester University, who found a way of extracting stem cells from a person's bone marrow and then treating them with chemicals in the laboratory to encourage them to become disc cells. When mixed with collagen and then injected into the spine, they repair any damage to the discs. Dr Richardson asserted that the treatment could become "a very long-term solution, with 30 to 40 years before another problem occurs", and noted that it is hoped the first trials will commence within two years.
 
 
01/12/2006
The Guardian
Tea 'helps cancer patients after radiation therapy'
A study published yesterday has suggested that tea could help cancer patients recover from the after-effects of radiation treatments. And a study by scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Freiburg in Germany found that tea extracts could help skin damage from the treatments heal faster. Green and black tea extracts were shown to help radiation-induced skin damage to heal up to 10 days sooner than normal. The paper, published in the journal BMC Medicine, also charts evidence that tea reduces inflammation.
 
 
01/12/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that thousands of patients who have suffered injuries after contracting the MRSA bug in hospital were given hope of compensation yesterday as solicitors revealed they had discovered a legal loophole. They have begun using a plea more common in industrial cases in their legal battles to get compensation. Elsewhere, hospitals will be required to publish cancer survival rates as part of a new strategy to boost care for patients across the country. The league tables will form part of a new offensive against cancer in the face of an expected rise of 30 per cent in cancer diagnoses by 2020. Finally, it has been revealed that a total of 29 accident and emergency units are facing closure as NHS trusts struggle to cope with record deficits. A nationwide survey identified for the first time the casualty departments in England that are most at risk under plans to reorganise services.
 
 
30/11/2006
The Times
Hospitals are told to produce cancer survival league tables
The number of people dying of cancer in every hospital in England is about to be published under a new government strategy to fight the disease. Health secretary Patricia Hewitt is to tell the Britain Against Cancer conference that according to the latest quarterly figures released today, the National Health Service has now met a key target in that more than 95 per cent of cancer patients in England do not wait longer than two months for first treatment from the date of an urgent GP referral.
 
 
30/11/2006
The Independent
Cancer drugs harmful to brain cells
Common cancer drugs may be more harmful to the brain than the tumour cells they are meant to destroy. Laboratory tests have shown that dose levels typically used when treating patients killed 70-100 per cent of neural cells but just 40-80 per cent of cancer cells. The study saw healthy brain cells as well as cancer cells exposed to three chemotherapy drugs, carmustine, cisplatin and cytosine arabinoside. Tests showed that the drugs were toxic to all the different cell types even at very low concentrations.
 
 
30/11/2006
Daily Mail
Letting baby sleep with Mum 'can improve breastfeeding'
Researchers have said that mothers will be more successful at breastfeeding if they sleep in the same bed as their child, after a study found that babies with 'unhindered' access to their mothers were able to feed twice as often as those placed in a separate cot. The two-year study compared the overnight breastfeeding frequency of babies who slept in bed with their mothers, in a standalone cot, or a 'sidecar' crib clipped onto the bed, finding that babies in the bed and in the side car crib made significantly more attempts to feed and showed more feeding effort than those in the cot.
 
 
30/11/2006
The Times
When it comes to your health, Europe drinks New World wines under table
A study in the journal Nature has revealed that moderate red wine drinkers are less likely to suffer from heart disease than teetotallers. Red wines from southwest France or Sardinia boast the highest concentrations of chemicals called polyphenols, which protect the condition of blood vessels.
 
 
30/11/2006
The Times
NHS and Health Sector News
The Times reports that patients face delays in receiving urgently needed care because of the failures of the Government's Choose and Book IT system, doctors claim today. In a widely-featured story, it is reported that figures released yesterday have revealed that family doctors have enjoyed a massive pay boost thanks to their new contract. The average earnings of a GP soared by more than 30 per cent in 2004-05, the first full year of the new contract, to reach £102,388. The Independent reports that cash-strapped health authorities have been accused of cashing in on NHS patients by banning the use of mobile phones in hospitals. The Sun reports that Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said yesterday that a 'significant number' of NHS penpushers would lose their jobs 'so that we put the maximum amount of money into frontline staff and patient care'. Separately, the Daily Mirror reports that unions warned yesterday that closing more than half of all blood centres was a reckless gamble that could cost patients lives, after the NHS Blood and Transplant Service said that it was to cut the number of units serving England and Wales from 10 to just three over the next four years.
 
 
29/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
1 in 5 men classed as excessive drinkers
One in five men is a heavy drinker, consuming more than four pints of beer every day of the week, according to a study commissioned by the Department of Health. Forty-two per cent of men aged 16-24 were shown to have exceeded four units - the maximum recommended daily allowance - on at least one day the previous week, compared with 16 per cent of men aged over 65. Heavy drinking - more than eight units a day - was more prevalent among men, at 19 per cent, than women, at eight per cent. In 2004, 39 per cent of men admitted drinking more than the "sensible" daily maximum set by the government, but this fell to 35 per cent last year. Kieran Moriarty, professor of gastroenterology at the Royal Bolton hospital, and Professor Gilmore, chairman of the Royal College of Physicians, predicted it was "only a matter of time" before the first teenage death from liver damage was recorded.
 
 
29/11/2006
The Times
Mothers who sleep with new babies 'have more success at breast-feeding'
Research conducted by Sleep Lab at Durham University has provided the first convincing evidence that placing a baby in a cot can damage breast-feeding and could result in an inadequate supply of milk. The findings contradict governmental advice to site babies in separate cots, a stance which was adjusted two years ago after evidence that babies could be accidentally smothered if they share a bed with their parents. The Sleep Lab team demonstrated that new babies who spend the night in their mother's bed or in a special clip-on cot, which allow direct contact with the mother, feed or attempt to feed five times more than babies in a separate cot. Regular feeding, and even unsuccessful attempts at feeding, stimulate production of the hormone prolactin in a new mother which, in turn, signals how much milk will be required in the coming months.
 
 
29/11/2006
The Times
Simple surgery can restore male fertility
A new technique can correct knots of varicose veins in the scrotum that can adversely affect a man's sperm count and quality, research in Germany has shown. The knots, known as varicoceles, are one of the commonest causes of male infertility, affecting up to 20 per cent of adult men. Sebastian Flacke, who led the study, asserted that the researchers "found that spermatic vein embolisation combined with anti-inflammatory treatment improves sperm motility and sperm count in men varicoceles". The new embolisation process involves making a small incision in the groin area and inserting a catheter into the affected area, through which a special fluid and platinum coils are injected. Of the 228 varicoceles treated in this way during the test period, 226 were cured.
 
 
29/11/2006
Daily Mail
Teenage sunbed users face 75pc higher risk of cancer
A review of data collected from sources worldwide has indicated that people who tanned using sunbeds in their teens and twenties were 75 per cent more likely to develop the most deadly form of skin cancer than those who started later in life. The research, carried out by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer, is the first to quantify the link between sunbeds and skin cancer, and was described by WHO as "unequivocal". The organisation then called for young people to be banned from using tanning salons. The evidence, drawn from 70 studies worldwide, demonstrated that those people who first used sunbeds under 30 were 75 per cent more likely to develop malignant melanoma. Rates of skin cancer have more than doubled in the past decade, with 70,000 Britons diagnosed each year.
 
 
29/11/2006
The Sun
Cancer's high risk
Men over 6ft are almost twice as likely to develop testicular cancer than those under 5ft 8in, researchers have found. A team of scientists at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, United States, found that men between 5ft 8in and 6ft in height faced a 40 per cent increased risk of developing the disease. The study involving 1,700 United States servicemen aged under 45 did not, however, find any evidence to support a suspected link between the development of testicular cancer and the consumption of dairy products in early youth.
 
 
29/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that financial deficits and plans to reorganise the NHS could put at risk fifty Accident and Emergency units out of 200 in England which are open all hours, according to the chairman of the Association of Air Ambulance Charities. Elsewhere, doctors looking for intensive care cots for premature or sick babies will be able to find them more quickly following the launch of an online cot locater system yesterday. Finally, it has been shown that the NHS saves more lives than the United States health service for less money, according to a study published yesterday.
 
 
28/11/2006
The Sun
Fat 'can stave off cancer'
Women with puppy fat at the age of 18 have a lower breast cancer risk, research has revealed, and girls around one to three stone over their ideal weight reap the most benefits. Researchers at Harvard Medical School in the United States conducted a study involving 110,000 women, the findings of which contradict current medical advice, which emphasises the importance of keeping weight down to avoid all cancers. The Harvard team found that girls who fall in the 'one to three stone over their ideal weight' bracket have a 50 per cent reduced risk of developing breast cancer before they reach the age of 50. It has been suggested that the presence of puppy fat may keep female hormones under control and therefore cut the risk of developing the disease. 41,000 women in the United Kingdom are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, with 50 per cent of those aged 50 or over.
 
 
28/11/2006
The Times
Abortion should be made easier for women, says charity
The British Pregnancy and Advisory Service claimed yesterday that the law requiring two doctors to approve an abortion should be dropped to allow women complete control over their family planning. The charity, which handles 50,000 terminations each year, is demanding legal reforms to address the relaxation of the few remaining restrictions on abortion, which were referred to yesterday as "frankly arcane". It was recommended that nurses should be permitted to prescribe the abortion pill to women within the first nine weeks. The move comes after research from New Zealand indicated that women who had abortions suffered twice the level of mental health problems and three times the risk of serious depression as other women.
 
 
28/11/2006
The Times
Relax - it's the safest way to sit
Using a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a team of radiologists has found that sitting up straight puts unnecessary strain on the spine and could cause chronic back pain due to trapped nerves or slipped discs. The study at Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen involved 22 healthy volunteers with no history of back pain or surgery. They adjusted their posture while being scanned by an MRI machine, which indicated that the relaxed posture - one of three sitting positions adopted by the participants - best preserved the spine's natural shape. Research also indicated that surgical treatments for slipped discs are not much better than non-surgical ones. Doctors found that although having a back operation gave patients slightly better outcomes than having only physiotherapy, home exercises and anti-inflammatory drugs, it offered only a slight advantage.
 
 
28/11/2006
The Guardian
Ecstasy harms brain on first use, study finds
A new study from the University of Amsterdam has suggested that people who use ecstasy for the first time could suffer impaired memory and harm to their brains. Even low doses were shown to be sufficient to cause measurable changes in the brain, according to the findings of what is the first study to compare users before and after they took the drug for the first time. The research, led by Dr Maartje de Win, involved 77 men and 111 women who had never used the drug before. Those who subsequently admitted to taking the drug - the users took on average six pills - were shown to have subtle changes to cell architecture and decreased blood flow in the brain regions. Ecstasy users also performed worse during memory tests than non-users. There was evidence to suggest the drug has any effect on serotonin-producing neurons.
 
 
28/11/2006
Daily Express
Smoking 'starts in the womb'
Women who smoke when pregnant may "programme" their children to take up the habit. A 20-year study involving 30,000 Australian families, found that the children of smokers may not simply be copying their parents, but could have their addiction sparked while in the womb. The research, published in the public health journal Tobacco Control, indicated that if a pregnant woman smokes, her child is three times more likely to take up the habit before the age of 14. Over the next seven years, the child is twice as likely to smoke as the children of non-smokers. However, the study also demonstrated that if a woman quits smoking only for the duration of her pregnancy, the risk to the child is cut completely.
 
 
28/11/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that competition in the market for NHS services is to be regulated by a new health and social care body that will replace the NHS and social care inspectorates. Elsewhere, it has emerged that NHS hospitals would be allowed to recruit celebrities to advertise their services under a code of practice proposed yesterday by the Department of Health. Finally, hundreds of NHS technicians and scientists who test and process blood have been balloted about strike action over Christmas.
 
 
27/11/2006
Daily Mail
The instant male pill
A contraceptive pill for men that can be taken just hours before sex has been developed by British scientists. The pill will not have to be taken over the long term, and fertility will return to normal after a few hours with no side effects. The new hormone-free pill being developed at King’s College London, could be on the market within five years. The contraceptive was inspired by the observation that some drugs used to treat schizophrenia and high blood pressure also prevent ejaculation. A survey in the British Journal of Psychology found that a third of men questioned would consider using a male pill as their main form of contraception.
 
 
27/11/2006
Daily Mirror
The bigger c
Tall men face double the risk of developing testicular cancer, according to new research. Experts found that those over 6ft tall are far more likely to develop the disease than men under 5ft 6ins. The study found that the taller the man, the greater risk of developing the form of male cancer. Even men between 5ft 6 ins and 5ft 9 ins increased their risk by 40 per cent. However, researchers admit that they are uncertain for the reasons behind the trend. The disease is fairly rare, but cases have already doubled since 1985. If diagnosed early, 98 per cent of patients make a full recovery.
 
 
27/11/2006
The Sunday Telegraph
GPs who keep you waiting for an appointment face cash penalties
In a widely-reported story over the weekend, family doctors who keep patients hanging on the telephone or who make it difficult for people to book an appointment are to receive less money from the Government, whilst the best performing practices will earn additional payments of up to £8,000. Five million patients will next year be asked to fill in a questionnaire which will ask, among other things, whether they have been able to secure an appointment within 48 hours, as the Government has pledged.
 
 
27/11/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
The Financial Times reports that the health service's troubled £12.4bn information technology programme is being overhauled in a move likely to lead to further delays. Richard Granger, the programme’s head, has said in an interview that a combination of the NHS’s financial troubles and the need for more useful software meant that the installation of the new patient administration systems, which are already running well behind schedule, is likely to be put back further.
 
 
24/11/2006
The Guardian
NHS study questions use of new schizophrenia drugs
Doctors are widely prescribing expensive modern drugs for people with schizophrenia that are no better than cheaper medicines which have been used for decades, according to NHS funded research by leading psychiatrists. Scientists followed 227 patients who were considering changing their medicine because it wasn’t working or was having too many negative side effects. The researchers compared first generation anti-psychotic drugs with the second generation introduced in the 1990s and found no clear benefit in taking the newer drugs despite them costing at least 10 times more.
 
 
24/11/2006
The Times
A daily dose of folic acid could help to prevent heart attacks and strokes
Taking folic acid can reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes, according to research. British scientists have discovered that raised levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood is one of the causes of cardiovascular disease. Since folic acid helps to lower homocysteine, it is believed that increasing the intake of the vitamin could help to reduce the risk of disease.
 
 
24/11/2006
The Sun
'Quack' attack
Cancer victims should be protected from ‘vile exploitation’ by alternative medicine practitioners, according to Professor Jonathan Waxman of Imperial College London. He said that complementary therapies should be better regulated by the Government, as ‘the alternative medicine industry is full of snake oil salesmen that exploit the desperate’. Alternative remedies are currently not subject to the same tests that face mainstream drugs as they are classed as food supplements.
 
 
24/11/2006
Financial Times
Finding may offer key to Alzheimer's
A peacekeeper in the body's immune system may hold the key to understanding, and ultimately treating, Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine examined slices of the brains of Alzheimer’s patients who had died, and found abnormally low levels of a molecule involved in controlling the body’s response to infection. That molecule allows the brain to detect and respond to TGF-Beta, a protein involved in fighting infection and perhaps keeping brain cells alive.
 
 
24/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
The Telegraph Business reports that the Department of Health has said: ‘The National Programme for IT 'local ownership programme' is under way, which aims to achieve a shift in ownership to the local NHS to ensure it is an essential part of normal NHS business in supporting the delivery of better quality and safer care’. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the Government has not yet honoured Labour's manifesto pledges of 1997 and 2001 to eliminate mixed-sex sleeping accommodation in NHS hospitals, Patricia Hewitt admitted yesterday, as she launched an inquiry into the issue. Separately, the Independent reports that thousands of patients could be denied life-saving medicines if hospitals are to pay for the few to be given the breast cancer drug Herceptin, doctors warn today.
 
 
23/11/2006
The Times
Millions at risk from flu vaccine shortages
Millions of elderly and infirm people are being put at risk of contracting potentially life-threatening bouts of flu because of serious problems distributing the flu vaccine. The Government stood accused last night of startling complacency in its preparations for seasonal flu, which contributes to thousands of deaths annually. Figures from medical magazine Pulse revealed that less than forty per cent of the 13.2 million people needing immunisation had received a flu jab by the end of October, with far fewer pensioners vaccinated compared to this time last year. The Times reports that some doctors have said that their practices have received only 50 doses for more than 1,800 eligible patients.
 
 
23/11/2006
The Guardian
HIV infection in UK increases to 63,500
The relentless rise of HIV and other sexual infections in the UK is continuing, with evidence that some groups in the population are ignoring warnings and still engaging in risky sexual behaviour, according to figures published yesterday. Around two out of three heterosexuals diagnosed with HIV last year were African immigrants, according to official figures, with the vast majority of them contracting the disease overseas before moving to Britain. The number of new cases of HIV diagnosis has risen from 3,224 in 1985 to 7,450 last year. About 63,500 adults are infected with the virus but 20,100 do not know they are ill, according to the Health Protection Agency.
 
 
23/11/2006
The Sun
Secret of long life
Doctors said yesterday that the first-born children of mothers aged under 25 are twice as likely to live to 100 than other children. Their study shows that long life is linked to the order of birth and age of the mother. Research by Chicago University, which studied the life spans of 1,000 people who had lived to 100, found that such people were 1.7 times more likely than brothers or sisters to reach 100 if they were first born, but if their mothers gave birth before the age of 25 they had double the chance of living to 100. The results were attributed to the fact that younger women’s eggs are in much better health.
 
 
23/11/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
The Finanancial Times reports that almost half of last year's £5.5 billion increase in health spending in England went on higher pay, the latest figures from the Department of Health show. The figures reveal that of the extra spending last year, 56 per cent went on staff. However, 47 per cent of that figure – almost £2.6 billion – went on higher pay and a mere 9 per cent on extra staff. The Daily Telegraph reports that hospitals are being told not to treat patients "too promptly" because improvements made in meeting Government targets are costing too much money. Separately, in a widely-featured story it is reported that drug addicts are being given injections of heroin on the NHS under a government-backed plan to deter them from committing robbery and theft to fund their habit. The Home Office trial allows up to 150 drug addicts to take heroin at two supervised clinics.
 
 
22/11/2006
Daily Mirror
Drug aid in NHS fight on cancer
Three life saving drugs known as aromatase inhibitors, which can dramatically reduce the recurrence of breast cancer among postmenopausal women in the early stages of the disease, will be universally available on the NHS from today. The Government's drugs watchdog has approved the use of Arimidex, Femara and Aromasin alongside ‘gold standard’ drug Tamoxifen. Campaigners have welcomed the news, saying that it would put an end to the current postcode lottery.
 
 
22/11/2006
The Guardian
Schizophrenia much more likely in children of single parents
Children born into families which split up before they are 16 are two and a half times more likely to develop schizophrenia in later life than those brought up by parents who stay together, psychiatrists leading the largest UK study into why people develop psychosis revealed yesterday. Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, found that the risk occurs if children have been separated from their parents for at least a year. It makes no difference which parent leaves, and the risk remains even if the child maintains regular contact with the absent parent.
 
 
22/11/2006
The Guardian
Doctors warn patients of 'backstreet Botox' dangers
Doctors have urged patients to avoid backstreet Botox treatments after four people were hospitalised following injections with an unlicensed product. The patients, who received between four and six injections, developed fatigue and neurological problems and had to be put on ventilators to support their breathing after it emerged that the batch of botulinum toxin A that was administered was not approved for human use.
 
 
22/11/2006
The Times
Why monster spit could be the answer for diabetics
A drug developed from the saliva of a rare poisonous lizard for the treatment of diabetes has been approved by European regulators. Eli Lilly has been granted permission by the European Medicines Agency to market the drug, Byetta, for diabetics in Europe. The drug works in diabetic patients by mimicking natural hormones that stimulate the production of insulin, which breaks down sugar in the blood. The drug will be launched in Britain in mid-2007.
 
 
22/11/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
In a widely-featured story in today's papers it is reported that overspends in the National Health Service have been partly caused by taking on too many staff too quickly, according to health secretary Patricia Hewitt. However, medical organisations and opposition MPs said that staff had been taken on to meet waiting list targets, then made redundant once improvements were achieved. Separately, The Times reports that the Alzheimer’s Society has said that care for patients with Alzheimer's Disease has been left in a "confusing mess" after vital drugs for their treatment were withdrawn. The Independent reports that protests were growing last night over the NHS's failure to eliminate mixed-sex wards, almost a decade after the Labour government pledged to phase them out. Also featured is the news that Patricia Hewitt has been accused of ‘breathtaking arrogance’ during a meeting of the Commons select committee, after saying that patients in Tory constituencies needed less NHS funding because they had the "good fortune" to be healthier than many patients in Labour seats.
 
 
21/11/2006
The Guardian
Marathon runners warned of skin cancer risk
Long distance runners are more likely to suffer from skin cancer because they spend longer with their bodies exposed to the sun than non-runners. A study by the Medical University of Graz in Austria attributed the heightened risk to greater exposure to ultraviolet rays, with sweat exacerbating the effect by sensitising the skin to UV rays.
 
 
21/11/2006
The Times
Alzheimer's clue
A lack of oxygen to the brain caused by narrowing arteries or blood clots may contribute to Alzheimer's disease, research suggests. The findings indicate a connection between the disease and common conditions of ageing, such as heart disease and strokes. It is hoped that these conditions could be treated with increased oxygen to the brain.
 
 
21/11/2006
Daily Mail
Implant in your neck can cure high blood pressure without drugs
A new matchbox-sized implant could save the lives of thousands of people with high blood pressure by firing small amounts of electricity at arteries in the neck, and reducing blood pressure by stimulating the sensors that control it. The Rheos device is implanted just under the collarbone, with wires attached to the carotid arteries in an operation that takes three to four hours. Large scale trials of the device are to start in the New Year, probably at a London hospital.
 
 
21/11/2006
Daily Mail
Once-a-month pill for men with osteoporosis
A pill for men with osteoporosis is about to start clinical trials. More than 150 men will get the drug Ibandronat in a 12-month trial due to start in January to measure its effects on bone thickness. The drug is thought to work by reversing bone loss both by halting more loss of bone and increasing bone thickness.
 
 
21/11/2006
The Times
NHS and Health Sector News
The Times today reports that four out of five GPs think that confidentiality would be at risk if they placed patient records on a new national database, according to a survey by Medix, the online health research group. Almost half are threatening to defy government instructions to put files into the new NHS computer system that will store information on 50 million patients. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that hospitals will be allowed to advertise to patients under a long-awaited health department marketing code to be published next week. A draft version says that the NHS needs to give ‘reliable information’ to assist patient choice, and should not spend too much on advertisements.
 
 
20/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Milk allergy 'missed'
A study involving 500 health care professionals has shown that 78 per cent believed colleagues were missing milk allergies in infants, confusing the symptoms with gastroenteritis and colic. As many as 50,000 British babies show symptoms of an allergy to cows' milk, making it the most common allergy for infants, but the vast majority are being misdiagnosed. Six senior gastroenterologists - five from Europe and one from Australia - have now drawn up guidelines to assist doctors in achieving more accurate diagnoses of the allergy. One, Dr Martin Brueton of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and a spokesman for Act Against Allergy, declared: "If the guidance is adopted in the UK, it will improve how infants with an allergy are managed".
 
 
20/11/2006
The Times
Britons 'dying from a stiff upper lip'
According to a study from the British Heart Foundation (BHF), almost half the population would ignore chest pains that could be heart attack symptoms, preferring to wait and see if they improved before calling for medical help. The charity's findings are published on the eve of its "Doubt Kills" campaign to raise awareness of the need for people to call the emergency services if they experience the symptoms associated with a heart attack, and indicated that 40 per cent of people would wait and see if the symptoms went away before calling for medical assistance. Anyone with chest pain should call the emergency services immediately, the charity declared, as prompt treatment improves greatly the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest.
 
 
20/11/2006
The Times
Cancer growth cell found
A colon cancer cell that allows tumours to grow has been identified, holding promise for new therapies that could prevent a common form of cancer returning. Research from two separate teams - one at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, and the other at the Superior Institute of Health in Rome - was published in the journal Nature and indicated that the growth of colon cancers appears to rely on a small subset of abnormal cells that are responsible for tumour formation and maintenance. These stem cells could hold the key to improved ways of treating the disease. Catherine O'Brien, of the Toronto research team, declared that "their [the cells'] existence suggests that, for therapeutic strategies to be successful, they must target the cancer stem cells".
 
 
20/11/2006
Daily Mirror
60hr wk doubles risk of diabetes
Working more than 60 hours a week doubles the risk of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged women, a study has revealed. A study from the University of California, involving 62,000 female nurses aged 29 to 46, showed that working longer hours increased the risk due to stress and raised levels of cortisol in the blood, which leads to higher blood pressure and increased body fat. Even working more than 40 hours increased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 50 per cent, when compared with those who work a 21 to 40 hour week. Dr Candyce Kroenke, who led the study, declared the findings to be "consistent with an impact of job stress on diabetes outcome, and hours worked per week may reflect the extent of exposure to stress".
 
 
20/11/2006
Daily Mail
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health service leads today with the news that ministers were last night accused of covering up the scale of the black hole in NHS workers' pensions. Accounts are expected to reveal that the cost of funding retirement for doctors and nurses has risen by a third in two years to £156 billion. Elsewhere, it has emerged that Ken Anderson, the health department's Texas-born commercial director, who has driven the outsourcing of billions of pounds worth of National Health Service care in recent years, is to leave to join UBS, the Swiss investment bank.
 
 
17/11/2006
The Guardian
Test helps older women decide about IVF treatment
Doctors have developed a test to predict the chances of successful fertility treatment in women over 40 years of age. Specialists at the assisted conception unit at Jessop hospital in Sheffield are recommending the test, which is being made available online, to older women and those with a history of fertility problems to help them make informed decisions before paying for treatment. The test measures three hormones that together indicate how many eggs a woman has left in her ovaries. Levels of two ovarian hormones, inhibin B and anti-mullerian hormone (AMH), and a follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) are measured during the test. A study published today in the journal Human Reproduction showed that the researchers tested blood from 84 women aged 40 and over before they were given fertility treatment. 57 per cent were shown to be producing four eggs or fewer, while 15 per cent had their treatment cancelled because they did not respond to drugs.
 
 
17/11/2006
Daily Mail
The Prozac generation
According to a new study parents are bullying GPs into prescribing antidepressants for their children. Norwich Union Healthcare found that GPs have experienced a sharp increase in the number of teenagers with mental health problems over the past five years, with around one in ten now thought to have some form of mental illness. Over a third of GPs claimed they felt under pressure from parents to offer a 'quick fix' solution to the problem, and also pointed to 'very poor' NHS services which they claim are forcing them to prescribe drugs such as Prozac when they believe counselling may be a better option for many. According to the study, the most common mental health problems brought to doctors' attention are depression, self-harm and eating disorders, with recent research indicating that 40,000 children and adolescents are currently being prescribed antidepressants. Half of these receive no psychological support in the form of counselling or therapy.
 
 
17/11/2006
Financial Times
Drugs arbiter faces legal challenge
Two leading pharmaceutical companies have launched a ground-breaking legal challenge to the medicines advisory body over its recommendation that the National Health Service should not pay for drugs to treat mild Alzheimer's disease. Eisai, of Japan, and Pfizer, of the United States, have warned the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) that they are seeking a judicial review into the decision-making process which led to Aricept failing to be ratified by the organisation. Nice originally approved Aricept in 2001, but modified this decision after a study published this year recommended it should only be used in moderate and severe cases of Alzheimer's. It has since refused appeals by pharmaceutical companies, medical associations and patient groups.
 
 
17/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Drug switch 'aids some breast cancer victims'
Researchers have found that postmenopausal patients who changed from the gold standard treatment of tamoxifen to anastrozole improved their chances of survival by almost 30 per cent and reduced the risk of their cancer returning by 45 per cent. Many of the 23,000 women who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year could be eligible for the drugs, while thousands of others are expected to switch from their current treatment. At present, tamoxifen is prescribed for five years after surgery to cut the risk of the cancer recurring.
 
 
17/11/2006
Financial Times
Polio vaccination strategy questioned
The world could eradicate polio with a different vaccination strategy, according to a study published today. Public health experts at Imperial College London believe the disease persists in the poorest parts of northern India, despite intensive efforts to wipe it out, because local authorities are not using vaccines best suited to local conditions. The research, published in the journal Nature, suggests that in place of the standard "trivalent" vaccine, which contains weakened versions of all three types of polio virus, the eradication programme should use the new and more powerful "monovalent" vaccine aimed at the one strain more prevalent in the area.
 
 
17/11/2006
The Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector, on what is a light news day, today leads with the claims by a senior doctor that patients are being put at risk by Health Service reforms. Consultant general surgeon David Flook claims targets and 'dishonest' initiatives are endangering lives while the government hails them for cutting waiting times.
 
 
16/11/2006
Daily Mail
How cells can make the heart heal itself
British scientists have discovered that the heart may be able to heal itself following a heart attack after a fully-grown heart was coaxed into growing new blood vessels. Researchers at University College London's Institute of Child Health have shown that a protein, called thymosin beta 4, can make cells found on the outside of the heart move deeper into the organ, where they form cells capable of making blood vessels. Similar in nature to stem cells, these cells lie dormant until triggered by high levels of the protein, and can create the blood vessels which are vital to survival after a heart attack has taken place. Dr Paul Riley, a researcher on the project, claimed that the new approach would "bypass the risk of immune system rejection" which comes with a stem cell transplant from an outside source. It is believed that within a decade some of the 300,000 people who suffer heart attacks each year could benefit from the new treatment.
 
 
16/11/2006
The Guardian
Fertility and embryology
The government has announced that draft laws governing services at fertility clinics and related industries are be introduced as part of the raft of legislation announced as part of the Queen's Speech yesterday. The decision is billed as originating from the need to reflect advances in human reproductive technology and changes in public attitudes since current laws were drawn up more than 20 years ago. Proposals include the likely dropping of the official requirement for a father figure to be involved in the process, to allow single women and lesbian couples to become parents. The ethical consequences of permitting couples to choose the sex of their child for reasons of family balancing will also be addressed, while strict regulations are to be introduced to govern internet-based organisations which offer fresh sperm in a client's locality.
 
 
16/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Dog helps find cure for fatal muscle disease
A stem-cell treatment for the degenerative and fatal disease muscular dystrophy, which mostly affects boys and young men, could be available for testing on patients within two years, following a remarkable series of experiments announced today. A team of researchers led by Professor Guilio Cossu, director of the Stem Cell Research Institute of San Raffaele Scientific Institute of Milan, used dogs with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in experiments involving the injection of healthy cells from other dogs. The animals' immune systems were suppressed in order that the cells would not be rejected, and the procedure worked. The breakthrough, which was described by British experts as startling, offers hope to hundreds of children crippled by the disease.
 
 
16/11/2006
Financial Times
Immigrants suffer most from infectious diseases
A study on immigrant health released yesterday by the Health Protection Agency showed that while most immigrants were healthy, 70 per cent of tuberculosis, HIV and malaria cases identified in 2004 were contracted by people born outside the country but the chances of them passing on infection to those born in the United Kingdom are minimal. The HPA study suggested that the vast majority of immigrants did not have infectious diseases and those that did largely contracted them before coming to the United Kingdom. Most were infected in their countries of origin, and others during visits back home. The statistics showed a rate of TB infection of 103 per 100,000 immigrants - up from 78 per 100,000 in just four years.
 
 
16/11/2006
The Times
Bird flu virus 'has mutated'
Bird flu has mutated into a virus that can infect humans and is potentially evolving in ways that could trigger an influenza pandemic, according to research. Scientists in the United States and Japan found that samples of the H5N1 virus taken from patients in Thailand and Vietnam were genetically different to strains in chickens. The research, published in the journal Nature, indicates that there were two changes in the haemagglutinin protein which, although not allowing the virus to move freely from person to person, have been identified as "steps towards a pandemic strain". Yoshihiro Kawaoka, who led the study, declared that "we are watching this virus turn itself into a human pathogen".
 
 
16/11/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that John Weston, the chairman of embattled NHS software group iSoft, last night fended off an attempt to eject him from the chairmanship of telecoms group Spirent Communications. Elsewhere, it has been shown that maternity units facing closure under health cuts are mostly in constituencies held by Opposition MPs. The Department of Health has consistently denied that political considerations reflect policymaking.
 
 
15/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Babies born at 22 weeks 'should not be kept alive'
A controversial study from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics is to set out guidelines for doctors and parents for dealing with very premature babies whose survival chances are low and in whom the risk of disability is high. It is expected to recommend that premature babies born after just 22 weeks in the womb or earlier should not be routinely resuscitated. The study will also advise on the provision of guidance to parents who argue over the fate of their child. Almost 300 babies a year are born in Britain between 22 and 23 weeks. Babies born at 23 weeks have a 17 per cent chance of surviving. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics was led by Professor Margaret Brazier, of Manchester University School of Law, who welcomed the submission of different views during the study and who accepted that the issue was one which was "upsetting" for many. Paul Tully, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, yesterday expressed his fear that the recommendations could lead to moves encouraging euthanasia for disabled babies.
 
 
15/11/2006
The Guardian
US health scheme fails to prove worth in UK
A United States-based health scheme which the government imported into England to keep frail older people out of hospital has failed to cut emergency admissions, according to research today in the British Medical Journal. The Evercare scheme, developed by United Health, garnered positive evidence in the United States that indicated it was successful in keeping elderly people out of hospital, using computer monitoring of at-risk patients' health and then intervening accordingly when a problem occurred. The BMJ research, however, found that the version of the scheme adopted in this country did not have the same effect. John Reid, the then health secretary, ratified the scheme before it had been evaluated, based on evidence which showed a 50 per cent reduction in the number of unplanned emergency admissions among the over-65s. The scheme did not achieve similar figures here.
 
 
15/11/2006
The Guardian
Dark chocolate for a healthy heart - study
What is believed to be the first biochemical analysis of the chemical in cocoa beans has shown that it has a similar effect to aspirin and can reduce the likelihood of blood clotting. A study carried out by scientists at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States found that eating a small amount of dark chocolate each day can almost halve the risk of heart attack death in some men and women. The findings came after 139 participants in a trial to investigate the effect of aspirin on blood platelets were disqualified due to their ingestion of dark chocolate - a contraband substance during the trial. The biochemical impact of the chocolate was then shown to reduce platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms.
 
 
15/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Get a grip, and you too can live a long life
A 40-year study involving nearly 6,000 men has identified nine key factors which represent good predictors of longevity in middle-aged men. The men in the study, conducted since 1965 by the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu, averaged an age of 54 years, and those who managed to meet all the healthy criteria had an 80 per cent chance of living to the age of 80, and were much more likely to attain old age while avoiding illnesses. Of the 5,820 original study participants, 42 per cent survived to the age of 85, and 11 per cent reached that age without suffering serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer. Factors included not being overweight, not smoking, having low blood pressure and having a good grip.
 
 
15/11/2006
The Sun
Net alert on sperm
The British Fertility Society has warned against the use of so-called DIY pregnancy website, pointing to the risk of HIV infection from improperly-screened sperm. Women are placing themselves and their unborn child at risk by using the websites, which often charge up to £2,000 and do not, according to the BFS, achieve as high a quality of screening as fertility clinics. Spokesman Dr Allan Pacey asserted that the websites "are taking us back 20 years in terms of health checks", since online sellers do not wait for the three month incubation period which applies to viruses such as HIV and hepatitis.
 
 
15/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector, on what is a light day for news, leads with the case of a hospital patient whose death is being linked to anaesthetic equipment used during her operation. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency announced its investigation yesterday.
 
 
14/11/2006
The Independent
Bodies often reject face transplants, surgeons warn
British doctors planning the world's first complete face transplant were warned by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) yesterday that the operation could go 'horribly' wrong. Professor Peter Butler, 44, plans to perform the operation in London, but was warned that up to half of patients who undergo a full face transplant may find that their body eventually rejects the graft. The procedure was labelled a "leap in the dark" by Professor Sir Peter Morris, who chaired the working group at the RCS. However, the same group recommended that as long as stringent criteria were met, the ethics committees of hospitals could be justified in allowing such treatments to go ahead. As skin is the most rejected transplantable tissue in the human body, the RCS group estimated that between 30 and 50 per cent of face transplants could lead to complications in the subsequent five years following the surgery.
 
 
14/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Red meat 'doubles' breast cancer risk
Women who eat red meat more than once a day double the risk of getting the most common form of breast cancer, doctors declared yesterday. A new study of 90,600 pre-menopausal women, which examined the effect of diet on different forms of breast cancer, indicated that women who ate the most meat - particularly in processed forms such as hamburgers and sausages - were at the greatest risk of developing hormone-sensitive breast cancers. Dr Eunyoung Cho of the Harvard Medical School, who led the study, suggested that there was a variety of reasons behind the findings, including the treatment of beef cattle in the United States with growth-enhancing hormones, the carcinogens created during the cooking process and the presence of a form of iron in the meat itself. The findings are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
 
 
14/11/2006
The Independent
Malfunctioning hearts could be healed by patients' own stem cells
A malfunctioning heart could be restored to health with the help of stem cells taken from the patient's own body, according to a study of how to repair the effects of cardiac failure. A team of scientists at John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, led by Professor Eduardo Marban, found that it was possible to grow cardiac stem cells under laboratory conditions before transplanting them back into a patient to replace heart tissue. The technique involves taking a small biopsy of living heart muscle no bigger than a grain of rice, and was tested on pigs using a standard method of accessing the organ through a catheter into an artery in the animal's leg. The team is confident that the similarities between a pig's heart and that of a human mean clinical trials involving human patients could take place within 12 months.
 
 
14/11/2006
Wall Street Journal
How early prostate tests can catch worst cancers
New evidence has emerged that commencing prostate cancer testing at the age of 40 - ten years earlier than current normal practice - could not only catch the worst cancers but also could spare men from undergoing unnecessary treatment in later life. Scientists at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, have indicated through research that screening men via the PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test at the age of 40 can help doctors better interpret screening scores as men age. The tests showed that a single PSA score is not particularly helpful, and a range of scores can better facilitate diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Around 1.6 million biopsies are conducted each year, but only 234,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer.
 
 
14/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Babies 'designed' to be free of disease
Twins Freddie and Thomas Greenstreet have become the first babies to be born in Britain who have been screened for faulty genes. IVF screening ensured that the twins will not develop cystic fibrosis, the condition that affects their older sister. Embryos have been tested for some time using a technique called PGD - preimplantation genetic diagnosis - and the twins are the 100th birth at Guy's Hospital, London, using this method. However, the new technique - preimplantation genetic haplotyping (PGH) - is a better test as it allows for a wider range of disorders to be screened for. The genetic screening process can check for up to 6,000 inherited illnesses and could revolutionise IVF treatment if it becomes routine on the National Health Service.
 
 
14/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that a senior United States health official yesterday suggested that the world's main drug companies should be permitted unrestricted access to the NHS as part of a package of free market reforms for the service. Elsewhere, it has emerged that lung cancer patients are set to be denied the potentially life-extending drug Tarceva on the NHS, under draft guidance from the government's health watchdog. Finally, the patient choice initiative has made a slow start, according to a poll commissioned by the Department of Health. Most GPs are boycotting the government's scheme to give patients a choice of at least four hospitals for diagnosis and treatment on the NHS, a survey of patients revealed yesterday.
 
 
13/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
British kidney cancer vaccine 'wipes out tumours'
A cancer vaccine which uses the body's own immune system to shrink tumours has been developed by British scientists. Two Americans with kidney cancer have had their tumours eradicated after being injected with a vaccine based on a genetically-altered virus. The tumours shrank in the two phase II trials on 24 patients with two common forms of kidney cancer. Oxford BioMedica’s TroVax was tested by Dr Robert Amato, of the Methodist Hospital in Houston. A worldwide study on 700 patients is now under way.
 
 
13/11/2006
Daily Express
The breath test that can detect lung cancer risk
A breath test could soon identify smokers at most risk of lung cancer. The test examines DNA produced by the lungs for clues that anti-cancer mechanisms are being switched off. It is not refined enough yet for use on patients, but a trial on seven US volunteers found it worked in principle. The test detects the presence of a process called methylation in six genes that help to suppress cancer. Although the research is in its early stages, scientists hope that a new detection system for the killer disease could lead to more effective treatment.
 
 
13/11/2006
Daily Mail
The 'designer baby' tests that will screen out 200 diseases
The health service could screen IVF embryos for more than 200 inherited diseases, leading to fears that the technique may be misused to create ‘designer babies’. The screening method is based on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, a technique developed in the 1980s to identify chromosomal abnormalities in IVF embryos before transferral to the womb. However, the latest advances in computer analysis mean that it is possible to screen for virtually all known genetic disorders, including cycstic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia. Doctors have hailed the test as ‘revolutionary’ in diagnosing genetic disorders, however, pressure group Comment said ‘We are venturing into the unknown with extended genetic testing’.
 
 
13/11/2006
The Times
Cancer depression
A study published in Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society, has reported that almost half of women who have breast cancer diagnosed suffered significant mental health problems, with almost a quarter experiencing psychiatric disorders including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
 
 
13/11/2006
Daily Express
NHS and health sector news
The British Dental Health Foundation has warned that a surge in deaths from mouth cancer is set to be triggered by the lack of NHS dentists. There are fears that millions of patients who cannot get an appointment with an NHS dentist will refuse to pay for private treatment, meaning that they will not receive the regular check-ups needed to detect the early signs of mouth cancer. The Daily Telegraph reports that a new study has revealed that as few as one in 1,500 people are voting in elections for ‘patient’ governors at Tony Blair’s flagship foundation hospitals. The Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust serves a population of about a million people, but only 806 voted in the last election for governors. Separately, The Guardian reports that the NHS has started using the marketing techniques of double-glazing salesmen to target the most vulnerable patients who need help to stay well this winter. NHS managers have located postcodes in Liverpool, Knowsley and Runcorn with a high proportion of older people in the social groups that are most susceptible to bronchitis, emphysema and other pulmonary disorders, and are calling them to give advice about wrapping up warm and giving up smoking.
 
 
10/11/2006
The Independent
'Widen use of cholesterol drug'
Millions of patients as young as 35 should be put on cholesterol-lowering drugs to cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes, doctors have reported, saying that patients with only a one per cent chance of suffering the illnesses should consider long-term use of the drugs. A study involving more than 20,000 people concluded that the drug simvastatin would benefit people even with a 1 per cent risk of heart disease or stroke. The drugs reduce blood levels of cholesterol, the substance like waxy fat which can build up inside arteries, damaging them and raising the risk of heart disease and stroke. The study, reported in the British Medical Journal, said that the preventative care would also be cheaper than hospital treatment.
 
 
10/11/2006
The Times
Baffled GPs urged to try diagnosis by Google
Doctors should make more use of the internet to assist them in diagnosing difficult cases, a study claims today. Researchers found that almost six in 10 uncommon conditions can be diagnosed with help from the search engine Google. Researchers from Brisbane University selected 26 of the hardest cases to diagnose and found that the search engine got the correct diagnosis in more than half of them. However, studies have shown that more than 40 per cent of the searches contained incorrect information. The findings provoked concerns that doctors could make fatal mistakes by taking advice from unverified sources.
 
 
10/11/2006
The Guardian
Scientists use body's immune system to fight skin cancer
Scientists have shown that the body's immune system can be used as an effective weapon against skin cancers, researchers revealed yesterday. Patients whose immune systems were boosted by drugs saw their malignant melanomas shrink and they remained alive for longer. Seven patients with advanced skin cancer were given a combination of diphtheria toxin and interleukin 2 in a bid to increase the body’s number of activated T cells, which fight cancer. In five cases the tumours shrank or remained stable. Malignant melanoma is the fastest growing cancer, especially among the young, with more than 8,000 new cases diagnosed every year with 1,777 deaths from the disease in 2004.
 
 
10/11/2006
The Sun
Fitter kids skip fever
Regular exercise might stop children getting hay fever, a study has suggested. Researchers found that the less active of the 1,700 children studied were 50 per cent more likely to develop the allergy. The children, who were aged five to fourteen were monitored for up to 12 years by German scientists, but it is not known how exercise may reduce the risk of hay fever. Some have suggested that regular physical activity may boost the immune system.
 
 
10/11/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
The National Health Service finances are worsening again, with health authorities digging further into training, public health and other budgets to help balance the books. About a third of the NHS trusts in England forecast deficits totalling almost £1.2 billion this year after a sharp deterioration in the health service's financial position during the summer. The Daily Telegraph reports that twice as many people as expected are complaining about the NHS to the Healthcare Commission. The numbers have prompted a preliminary investigation by the Government's spending watchdog, the National Audit Office. Separately, personality clashes between surgeons, doctors and nurses are putting patients at risk in the operating theatre, England's leading surgeon will warn today. The President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Bernard Ribeiro, is to tell a London conference that a sustained effort is needed to educate hospital staff as teams to prevent medical errors and avoid unnecessary deaths in hospitals.
 
 
09/11/2006
Daily Mail
Children 'given too many jabs' with vaccination records in chaos
Vaccination levels for children could be in danger because of 'shambolic' record keeping, it was revealed yesterday. Fears that children are getting too many jabs - or that doctors are fiddling the figures to earn bonuses - have surfaced as a result of a nationwide project to transfer medical notes to a central NHS computer. Secret documents seen by The Sun newspaper have revealed that up to 60 per cent more vaccinations have been administered to children than should have been, with some apparently getting nine in a day. The British Medical Association has rejected claims that doctors are exaggerating the number of jabs they give in order to qualify for bonuses, saying that GP medical records are among the best in the NHS.
 
 
09/11/2006
Daily Mail
Two fizzy drinks a day can double cancer risk
Consuming two cans of fizzy drink a day can double your risk of developing one of the deadliest cancers, research has revealed. People who add sugar to tea or coffee are also at higher risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study by Swedish scientists which has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Having at least two sugared, carbonated drinks a day was linked to a 90 per cent extra risk of pancreatic cancer compared with people who never drank them. In a 1997 dietary survey which monitored 80,000 men and women until 2005, it was also found that people who add sugar to food and drink at least five times a day ran a 70 per cent extra risk compared with those who did not.
 
 
09/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Smoking 'reduces the chances of pregnancy'
Heavy smoking significantly reduces the chances of a woman becoming pregnant because it undermines the ability of fertilised eggs to implant in the lining of the womb, according to research to be published today in the journal Human Reproduction. Spanish and Portuguese researchers have found that among women having IVF with donated eggs, heavy smokers had lower pregnancy rates than light or non smokers, suggesting that cigarettes have an independent harmful effect on the lining of the uterus.
 
 
09/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
US surgeon says: I will transplant a womb next year
The world's first successful womb transplant will take place next year, doctors have announced. Dr Giuseppe Del Priore, from New York Downtown Hospital, has been given the go-ahead to carry out the operation and claims to have found a number of potential donors. If the operation can be perfected for humans, it could help thousands of women with Rokitansky syndrome, a rare congenital condition that affects one in 5,000 women in which the uterus develops abnormally but the ovaries still function.
 
 
09/11/2006
Daily Mail
Walk back to happiness
Research has revealed that the daily task of walking the dog can ward off depression and loneliness. A study by the University of Portsmouth found that Britain's 6.2 million dogs motivate their 15 million owners to exercise every day, making them feel healthier and maintain social contacts. The findings come as conservation experts launch a campaign to urge people to ‘reconnect’ with the environment. According to the research, children with attention disorders are shown to improve when they walk or play in the countryside, and patients recovering from operations need less painkilling medication if they are looking out onto green fields.
 
 
09/11/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
The head of the NHS wrote to all MPs in England yesterday warning of a wave of closures and fundamental changes to "much loved local services" that may cause strong political emotions in their constituencies. David Nicholson said that he could not give details of a shake-up that threatens the survival of accident and emergency departments and maternity and children’s services at many acute hospitals. The letter followed a decision by the Department of Health to publish ‘heat maps’ that it prepared in July showing 77 areas of England where a change in NHS services provoked local media attention.
 
 
08/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Millions of children 'damaged by chemicals'
Millions of children could have suffered brain damage as a result of industrial pollution, scientists will say today. American and Danish researchers describe a "silent pandemic" of disorders including autism, attention deficit syndrome, mental retardation and cerebral palsy caused by chemical pollution. One in six children is thought to have some kind of developmental disability, but the exact causes are largely unknown. In the EU, 100,000 chemicals were registered for commercial use in 1981, and in the US 80,000 are registered. Yet fewer than half have been subjected to even token laboratory testing, according to the researchers, and in 80 per cent of cases there was no information about the danger to children.
 
 
08/11/2006
The Times
Heavy drinking kills twice as many people as in 1991
The number of people dying from alcoholism has more than doubled in 15 years and continues to rise, Government statistics have revealed. The Office for National Statistics recorded 8,386 alcohol related deaths last year, up from 4,144 in 1991. Some 5,566 men drank themselves to death last year, killed by conditions such as heart failure, cancer and liver disease. Figures from the charity Alcohol Concern showed that the largest increase in drink-related deaths was among those aged between 35 and 54.
 
 
08/11/2006
The Times
Heart attack victims to be given own stem cells
Heart attack victims will be given a revolutionary new treatment involving an injection of their own stem cells to repair the organ damage that they have suffered. New clinical trials are to start at two London hospitals into the use of the therapy, which is carried out within hours of a cardiac arrest. Patients will be given injections of stem cells extracted from bone marrow taken from the hip to delay or prevent the onset of heart failure. It is hoped that the cells will turn into muscle cells, repairing the damage of a heart attack, or preventing it from occurring.
 
 
08/11/2006
The Times
Scientists turn light on tumours
Scientists in Israel say that they hope to use highly concentrated light from commercial light bulbs to fight tumours, providing an effective and cheap replacement for laser surgery. A study in the Journal of Biomedical Optics by Jeffrey Gordon of Ben-Gurion University, showed that the off-the-shelf technology had killed tissue successfully for the first time, by concentrating the light with a special optical system to burn away healthy tissue in rats. The tests will be repeated on cancerous tissue in larger animals and eventually humans, in the hope of producing similar results with malignant tumours.
 
 
08/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers it is reported that a new European working hours deal which could have saved the NHS £250 million a year was voted out at talks in Brussels last night. The Independent reports that more than 1,000 patients treated at four hospitals in the West Midlands in the past six years were recalled for blood tests after a health worker was diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis B. The worker had no symptoms and had been unaware of the infections until they were picked up by a routine health assessment. The Times reports that The General Medical Council has abandoned the principle of self-regulation after 150 years and agreed to give equal representation to lay people. The council’s president, Sir Graeme Catto, said ‘The GMC has always changed in response to changes in society, but we believe this will make no practical difference, so long as the regulator is seen to be independent of government’. Separately, The Daily Telegraph contains the news that a secret "hit-list" of the 77 NHS trusts most at risk from closures, cuts or significant deficits was released last night. Every region in England is affected by the upheaval in services which will hit scores of acute and community hospitals.
 
 
07/11/2006
The Guardian
Medical error death risk 1 in 300
Britain's most senior doctor warned yesterday that the risk of dying in hospital as a result of medical error is one in 300. Clinical misjudgements or mistakes mean that the odds of dying as a result of being treated in hospital are 33,000 times higher than those of dying in an air crash, according to the chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson. Between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of patients admitted to modern hospitals in the developed world acquire one or more infections, with at least 5,000 deaths directly attributed to healthcare-acquired infections in England every year. Sir Liam stressed that operations needed to be carried out in a more standardised way, particularly where there was a high risk of complications.
 
 
07/11/2006
Daily Express
News for stroke victims
Stroke survivors can regain more of their physical abilities than previously believed if they are forced to use the damaged side of their body, according to new research by American doctors. A study of 222 stroke sufferers by doctors at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, which saw half the patients receive normal care while the other half had the hand on the least affected side of their body restrained in a mitt, forcing them to use their worst side. The study found that after a year, the group who had used the mitts were on average 34 per cent faster at performing daily activities than the group who received normal care. More than 130,000 people a year are affected by strokes in the UK.
 
 
07/11/2006
Daily Express
Women are told 'nature's way is as good as HRT'
Health claims for hormone replacement therapy have been undermined in a new medical study. Research carried out by the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health in Finland found that women undergoing HRT made more frequent visits to their GP than those not taking the treatment, and that the treatment does not boost overall health and happiness. The study of 2,000 Estonian women found that the group receiving hormones showed no difference in general quality of life compared with those not on medication. The findings of the study clash with claims by some experts that giving women HRT can boost their health and reduce costs to the NHS.
 
 
07/11/2006
Daily Mirror
Ritalin heart risk for children
A drug prescribed to calm hyperactive children should not be used by those with serious heart defects, the Government warned yesterday. Health minister Andy Burnham has admitted that Ritalin has been found to cause increased heart rate, abnormal heart rhythm, rises in blood pressure and angina. The news follows research into sudden death in children with heart problems in Europe and data from the United States.
 
 
07/11/2006
The Times
NHS and Health Sector News
The Times reports that Britain's largest ambulance service is calling for a change in the law to allow emergency response crews to supply a lifesaving tranquilliser, after the death of a teenage girl who suffered a severe epileptic fit. The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust sent a series of advanced medical technicians to attend to the teenager, but they were not permitted to administer the tranquilliser diazepam, which could have saved her life. Only registered ambulance paramedics are allowed to supply and administer the tranquilliser. The Ambulance Service has said that despite having nearly 1,000 paramedics it is unable to provide one in all of its 411 ambulances and 95 response cars. Separately, the Telegraph Business reports that the Department of Health has created a £10m fund to improve NHS occupational health services to small businesses. Part of the money will be used to set up health centres in business parks to make it easier for staff to visit during work hours, according to health minister Rosie Winterton.
 
 
06/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Newborn euthanasia plans condemned
Doctors involved in childbirth are calling for an open discussion about the ethics of euthanasia for the sickest of newborn babies. The option to end the suffering of a severely damaged newborn baby - who might have been aborted if the parents had known earlier the extent of its disabilities and potential suffering - should be discussed, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Its recommendations, published as part of a consultation document to the Nuffield Council of Bioethics, have been severely opposed by a number of organisations. The British Council of Disabled People asserted that doctors did not have the right to decide whether a patient should live or die. A spokesperson for the organisation, Simone Apsis, claimed it was "completely wrong" for the RCOG to suggest that the lives of disabled babies were worth less than those of other children. The RCOG also claimed that "a very disabled child can mean a disabled family".
 
 
06/11/2006
Financial Times
Measures to fight flu pandemic considered
New measures to help fight a future flu pandemic, costing up to £3 billion over the next three years, could be approved by the government within the next few weeks. The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, is to consider in the coming weeks a series of proposals in preparation for a flu outbreak, which include the purchase of substantial quantities of protective masks, antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines. Under the proposals, the government would quadruple its stockpile of Tamiflu to more than 60 million packs at a cost of around €700 million (£468 million). The decision to increase recommendations on vaccine levels is based on computer modelling which indicates that "social distancing" actions such as the closure of schools could sharply reduce the impact of the pandemic in its early stages. Several newspapers today speculate that the government is also considering placing an order for around three million body bags in preparation for the pandemic.
 
 
06/11/2006
The Times
The computer that could transform a diabetic's life
Clinical trials are currently scheduled for January to investigate an artificial pancreas that continuously monitors blood sugar levels and provides insulin automatically to diabetics. The device, to be tested by a team at the University of Cambridge, could free children with diabetes from their reliance on blood tests and injections. The technology works using a computer to monitor blood sugar levels, and administers insulin from a pump worn on the belt when levels are too high. This rapid administering of insulin is hoped to prevent long-term complications of the disease such as blindness, loss of sensation and ulceration of the feet. The project has been handed a £500,000 grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
 
 
06/11/2006
The Times
Growing pill intake is confusing the elderly
Elderly people are being swamped with so many pills that they do not know how to take them, or whether the pills may be interacting with each other to produce dangerous consequences. Data published today by Ask About Medicines Week shows that the average intake in Britain is 3.2 drugs at age 40, 3.8 at 50, 5.1 at 60, 7.5 at 70, 8.5 at 80, and 9.1 at 90. It is believed that up to a tenth of hospital admissions are due to difficulties encountered by the elderly in taking their medicines. The study showed that the task of recalling which drugs to take and when, and in which combinations, increases in complexity at the same time as memory begins to lose its sharpness, leading to the problems associated with incorrect ingestion of medicines.
 
 
06/11/2006
The Times
The gadget that blows your head lice away
A team of scientists in the United States has designed a novel form of hairdryer, which tests suggest could eradicate 80 per cent of lice and 98 per cent of their eggs. Parents may soon be spared the painstaking combing of children's hair and the unpleasant stench of head lice lotions after the development of what has been suggested is the most effective treatment yet for nits. Developed by Dale Clayton, of the University of Utah, the device works at a lower temperature than regular hairdryers, but with a higher rate of airflow. It includes a nozzle that is held close to the head and destroys parasites by drying them.
 
 
06/11/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector, on what is a light news day for coverage, leads today with the news that the National Health Service announced last night that it was continuing to treat people at a hospital unit in spite of an infestation of flies that settle on patients, staff, appliances and spilt blood.
 
 
03/11/2006
Financial Times
New push to boost uptake of innovative medicines
The British pharmaceuticals industry launched fresh efforts yesterday to boost the uptake of innovative medicines in the United Kingdom, as it presented new data showing unequal access to recently developed drugs around the country. Regional discrepancies in the use of some medications, so-called "postcode prescribing" were shown to still be prevalent, with less than 40 per cent of eligible patients in south-west Wales receiving MabThera for cancer treatment in the year to June 2006. Nigel Brooksby, president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), speaking at the launch of the organisation's new "The right patient, the right medicine, the right time" manifesto, declared that "we have to end postcode prescribing and the passport lottery".
 
 
03/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Men 'facing battle to get treatment for prostate cancer'
Prostate cancer patients are being denied access to specialist care and approved treatments because of financial difficulties in the NHS, campaigners claimed yesterday. Charities believe men are facing a "titanic battle" for care because many local health trusts facing deficits are abolishing cancer specialist nurse roles and refusing to fund treatments that government watchdogs have ruled should be publicly funded. John Neate, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity, described the National Health Service as "short-sighted" in its compromising of patient care. Mr Neate will today address the National Prostate Cancer Conference in London.
 
 
03/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Ethnic communities are worst hit by 11pc rise in tuberculosis
Cases of tuberculosis have increased by almost 11 per cent in a year, mainly among immigrant communities. Figures yesterday from the Health Protection Agency showed that there were 8,113 TB cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2005, up from 7,321 cases in 2004. The highest proportion of cases was in people from an Indian, Pakistani of Bangladeshi background - up from 2,574 in 2004 to 3,075 in 2005. Dr John Watson, head of the Health Protection Agency's respiratory diseases department, claimed the figures represent "the largest increase we have seen since 1999 when we introduced a new surveillance system".
 
 
03/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
China completes face transplant
Chinese doctors were believed yesterday to have completed what is believed to be only the second face transplant ever performed. New pictures taken of the 30-year-old patient, Li Guoxing, during surgery emerged yesterday after a second operation completed corrective work on his face. Mr Li received a new cheek, upper lip, nose, and an eyebrow during the first procedure, while skin tissue was removed from a brain dead patient for grafting in the same procedure. The second surgery corrected the unnatural shape of Mr Li's lips and right eye, which had been disfigured in a bear attack in 2004.
 
 
03/11/2006
The Times
British GPs beat the Americans
A study from The Commonwealth Fund has found that GPs in Britain were far more likely to have good IT systems and that patients had better access to out-of-hours care than in the United States. Doctors in Europe performed far better in a number of key areas than their counterparts in the United States, including systems designed to indicate when patients needed to be called for tests, or when their drugs might interact dangerously. The health minister Lord Warner described the findings as a "standout performance" on the part of British GPs.
 
 
03/11/2006
The Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the government yesterday announced it has pledged £30 million to increase the safety of women at risk of sexual attacks on mental health wards. Mental health charities welcomed the move.
 
 
02/11/2006
Financial Times
Dream of anti-ageing drug moves closer
The prospect of a pill that can help people live longer comes one step closer to reality today with the publication of evidence that a compound found in red wine significantly slows the ageing process in mice, regardless of how much they eat. Research conducted at Harvard University, led by David Sinclair, identified a compound found in red wine which reverses the damaging effects of a high-fat diet in mice and can extend their life. The team fed the animals high doses of resveratrol and noted that although the mice grew fat, they did not demonstrate signs of the diseases related to obesity that affected mice eating the same diet but without the compound. Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, a firm spun out to commercialise the resveratrol research, has started trials involving the compound formulation with a view to applying it to patients with type 2 diabetes.
 
 
02/11/2006
The Independent
Chemotherapy 'super-cocktail' cuts breast cancer deaths by 30%
Doctors have announced that a chemotherapy "super-cocktail" given to women with breast cancer reduced deaths by more than 30 per cent, compared with standard treatment. Researchers from the University of Birmingham conducted separate studies in England and Wales which confirmed earlier findings, published in 2003, which showed a "dramatic" improvement in the survival rate. Chris Poole, the consultant who led the research, speculated that women receiving the traditional three-drug chemotherapy cocktail, which has been in use since 1976, may not be getting the correct dosage in the correct schedule, and consequently may not be maximising their chances of survival. Adding the fourth drug, epirubicin, reduced the death rate by more than 30 per cent compared with standard chemotherapy, and by more than 50 per cent with no chemotherapy at all.
 
 
02/11/2006
Daily Mail
The pumps that allow hearts to heal themselves
British doctors, led by Sir Magdi Yacoub, are claiming a breakthrough in the treatment of certain heart conditions after developing a revolutionary mechanical heart pump which took over much of the work of maintaining circulation. Fifteen patients with end-stage heart failure were involved in the study, details of which are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, all but four of whom recovered sufficiently to have the device fitted. The Left Ventricular Assist Device is removed after an average of six months to a year, and was applied in conjunction with standard drug treatments.
 
 
02/11/2006
The Sun
More tots at risk of cot death
Britain's cold snap will increase the risk of cot deaths, experts declared yesterday. Sarah Kenyon of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths warned that overheating is a key risk factor, but with the weather suddenly getting colder a lot of parents will be turning up the central heating. A recent study at Harvard University which identified a possible genetic defect as a contributory factor to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was welcomed by Ms Kenyon, who recommended that an ideal room temperature would be at around 18C - "much cooler than many people think".
 
 
02/11/2006
Daily Express
Glaxo settles lawsuit
GlaxoSmithKline is to pay $64 million to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming it promoted antidepressant Paxil for children while withholding negative information about it. The pharmaceutical firm denied the claims but settled to avoid costs.
 
 
02/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS & Health Sector
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that poor standards of hygiene in hospital kitchens and failures to follow safety procedures were highlighted in a study published yesterday. Health inspectors discovered mouldy equipment, cockroach and mice infestations, basins without soap or hot water and unrefrigerated food. Many wards were also shown to leave patients hungry, even after they had eaten meals. Elsewhere, a medical expert has claimed that Health Service patients should be able to pay to upgrade their cancer drugs. Professor Karol Sikora, former head of the World Health Organisation, called for a 'top-up' payment system to improve care for those prepared to spend more in exchange for a longer life. Finally, it has emerged that the health service is facing an £11 billion black hole as a consequence of government plans to squeeze NHS funding increases from 2008, according to a study. Tony Blair yesterday told MPs that the NHS was facing "real difficulties".
 
 
01/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
Scientists trace 'cause' of cot death to the brain
Abnormalities in the part of the brain that controls breathing could play a more important role in cot death than previously thought. Scientists in the United States have identified significant differences in nervous system cells in babies who died suddenly in their sleep and those who did not. The study was led by Dr Hannah Kinney, of the Boston Children's Hospital, who claimed yesterday that the findings dispelled the "mystery" of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and established it as "a disorder that we can investigate". Her team's research identified abnormalities in the neurons of the medulla - the area of the brain which monitors breathing, heart rate and blood pressure - which affects their ability to use and recycle serotonin. The work has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
 
 
01/11/2006
Daily Telegraph
'Supermice' cure cancer in ordinary cousins
‘Supermice’ which appear immune to cancer have started to reveal their secrets in research that could open up a new front in the war against the disease. Two thousand cancer-resistant mice all stem from a single mutant mouse discovered in 1999 and, in one experiment, cells extracted from the spleen and bone marrow of the rodents cured advanced cancers in ordinary mice. A team at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, examined how the mutation protects the cancer-resistant mice from a variety of injected cancer cells. Their findings, although conducted using an animal model of the disease, were so dramatic that they are convinced the method will inspire new approaches to cancer treatment. The study has been published in the journal Cancer Immunity.
 
 
01/11/2006
Daily Mail
How fish oils helped violent schoolchildren keep their cool
The case for giving fish oils to children has been boosted by a study which found the supplements helped young people with severe behavioural problems to control their anger. A trial involving 28 boys aged between ten and 16-years-old, carried out at Eaton Hall Special School in Norfolk, found that the subjects had fewer violent outbursts when taking daily doses of capsules containing omega-3 fish oils and omega 6 evening primrose oils. A previous study commissioned by the government and carried out by the Food Standards Agency found that the benefits of fish oils were unclear in young people given to violent outbursts, although these conclusions were subsequently called into question by nutritionists.
 
 
01/11/2006
Daily Mail
Breast-fed babies 'become happier children'
Research from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Australia, has indicated that babies that are breast-fed grow into happier children. Infants fed on their mother's milk for at least six months were shown to have 'significantly better mental health' than those who were given formula feeds. Problems such as anti-social behaviour and delinquency in later life were also reduced in breast-fed babies. The team in Perth followed the progress of 2,500 children in Australia over a 16 year period, and showed that children who were breast-fed for less than six months were 55 per cent more likely to have mental health problems by the time they reached the age of 6 than those breast-fed for longer.
 
 
01/11/2006
The Times
Stroke study
People who suffer a stroke that damages an arm do better if they are forced to use it, a new study has found. A team at the Emory University in Atlanta examined the effects of having stroke patients force themselves to use the affected arm as much as possible. The method, tested on 222 patients, garnered positive findings and showed that overall recovery of function was improved. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
 
 
01/11/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of events in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that thousands of NHS patients and staff will march on Westminster today in the first national rally against a wave of hospital closures and service changes that has provoked the most widespread local unrest since the poll tax revolt in 1990. Elsewhere, it has emerged that millions of personal medical records are to be uploaded regardless of patients' wishes to a central national database from where information can be made available to police and security services, according to an article in the Guardian. Finally, a TUC poll showed last night that around 52 per cent of voters believe the NHS has got worse under Labour.
 
 
31/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
New strain of bird flu spreads to humans
A previously unknown and dangerous strain of the H5N1 bird flu has emerged from southern China and has spread from birds to people in South-east Asia, marking a third wave of avian flu and rekindling fears of a global pandemic. Professor Yi Guan of the University of Hong Kong, leader of a large team which describes the new virus today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, yesterday asserted that "the pandemic threat persists" although there is "no information to suggest [the new strain] is more highly pathogenic" than any other strain of H5N1. The team monitored the H5N1 virus in market chickens, ducks and geese, finding that a strain emerged last year and became dominant in southern China early in 2006, displacing previous ones. It was shown to be responsible for recent human H5N1 infections in China's rural and urban areas.
 
 
31/10/2006
Daily Mail
Exercising just three times a week 'can stop you going blind in old age'
Regular exercise can prevent blindness in old age, research from the United States has shown. Those who break into a sweat during exercise at least three times a week are 70 per cent less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly. The study involved more than 4,000 men and women aged between 43 and 86 years old, and focused on the effects of exercise on the condition which affects the vision of more than 50 per cent of the over-75s. The findings, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, indicated that diet may also play a part in eye health, although the importance of regular exercise in strengthening eye blood vessels was paramount.
 
 
31/10/2006
Daily Mail
Human liver grown in a lab
British scientists have grown a miniature human liver from stem cells in a world-first breakthrough. The organ, which is the size of a 1p piece, was created by researchers at Newcastle University, in conjunction with a team from the United States, using a technique which allowed them to separate stem cells from blood taken from umbilical cords a few minutes after birth. The liver can immediately be used to test drugs, reducing the need for animal experiments. Within 15 years the experts hope to provide whole sections which can be used to repair damaged livers, thus providing a potential lifeline for future patients awaiting liver transplants. In 2004, 72 people died while on waiting lists for suitable donors.
 
 
31/10/2006
Daily Mail
Love pill perks up prostate victims
Impotence drug Cialis may prove useful for men who have survived prostate cancer but who are having difficulty with their sex lives, according to a new study carried out in Holland. A clinical trial carried out by researchers at the Erasmus MC-Daniel Den Hoed Cancer Center in Rotterdam showed that Tadalafil (sold as Cialis) helped 48 per cent of men tested in improving sexual relations, against 9 per cent who were given a placebo. Sixty-seven per cent registered an improvement in erectile function versus 20 per cent of those given the placebo drug.
 
 
31/10/2006
The Independent
Hospital 'superbug' vaccine successfully tested in mice
A team of scientists at the University of Chicago have registered the success of a promising MRSA vaccine, which thus far has been tested on mice. The drug was effective against five virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, including one that is the most common cause of hospital infections. While official figures show a mortality rate from MRSA of around 5,000 hospital patients a year in the United Kingdom, the MRSA Support Group believes this figure lies closer to 20,000.
 
 
31/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that a bitter feud has broken out over the accuracy of official figures relating to the exact number of job cuts made in the NHS. The Department of Health claims that only 903 members of staff had been sacked, in contrast to 21,000 lost posts claimed by the Conservative Party and the unions. Elsewhere, it has been shown that the price paid to National Health Service hospitals and other organisations for non-emergency operations and a range of other procedures is to rise by 2.5 per cent next year well under the current headline rate of inflation. Finally, it emerged last night that hospital trusts cannot recover costs from the delays to the government's multibillion pound NHS IT programme without the specific consent of Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary.
 
 
30/10/2006
The Times
Acupuncture 'curbs arthritis pain'
Acupuncture can ease the pain and disability caused by arthritis, a study in Germany has indicated. Previous trials have shown that acupuncture can relieve pain, but many have been small and it is difficult to decide whether the benefits identified are simply the result of the placebo effect. The research, published in Arthritis and Rheumatism, compared the experience of 357 patients given immediate acupuncture with a further 355 whose treatment started three months later. The researchers, led by Claudia Witte, of the Charite University of Medicine in Berlin, concluded that adding acupuncture to the normal treatment regimes – which generally consists of anti-inflammatory drugs – produced ‘a clinically relevant and persistent benefit’.
 
 
30/10/2006
The Times
Cancer 'plaster'
A light-emitting patch invented by British scientists could lead to home treatment for skin cancer patients. The patch, which is powered by a small battery, would give patients a dose of light sufficient to activate anti-cancer cream medication, and allow patients to be treated within GP surgeries or at home rather than in hospital. During photodynamic therapy treatment, which is already available to skin cancer patients, the affected area of skin is first covered with a light sensitive anti-cancer cream, activated by controlled exposure to bright light. However, existing systems use cumbersome light sources in hospital, and the patient must sit or lie still under the light for several hours. The new sticking plaster does the same job but is small enough to be portable. Like other forms of PDT, the treatment is only suitable for less serious non-melanoma cancers near the surface of the skin.
 
 
30/10/2006
The Independent
Trials for alternative male Pill show no side-effects
Men concerned about contraception may soon be able to use the male equivalent of the Pill, without the potential side-effects of a drug based on altering the balance of sex hormones. Scientists at the Population Council in New York have developed a chemical contraceptive that temporarily blocks the development of sperm but does not interfere with testosterone levels. The approach relies on a chemical called adherin, which interferes directly with the way key cells in the testes help to nurture the development of mature sperm.
 
 
30/10/2006
The Guardian
Genetic 'breakthrough' offers hope to schizophrenia victims
Scientists have discovered a variation in a gene in people at risk of schizophrenia that strongly suggests they will develop the condition. Brain scans of young people predisposed to schizophrenia show that those who go on to develop the symptoms of the disorder have the mutated gene. The news provides strong evidence of a key genetic link and brings scientists one step closer to finding a cure. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh made the discovery after following 163 young people at risk of developing schizophrenia from their late teens for 10 years, finding that there is a clear link between one particular variation of the neuregulin gene – which is involved in the development of the mind and the wiring of the brain –and the risk of developing psychotic symptoms.
 
 
30/10/2006
Daily Express
New hope of a cure for victims of Alzheimer's
British scientists have made a breakthrough in fighting Alzheimer's by being able to plot the progress of the disease in the brain for the first time. Until now it was only possible to confirm the disease's presence after death, but powerful new scanning technology just developed in Britain can now show how the disease overwhelms healthy brain cells. In the new technique, images of amyloid plaque – the tangles that destroy healthy brain cells – are detected by injecting patients with a radioactive dye. The test allows scientists to see whether experimental vaccines are having a beneficial effect by viewing the build-up of the killer protein.
 
 
30/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and health sector news
The Financial Times reports that either a boost in private spending on health or new National Health Service charges will be needed if healthcare quality is not to decline after 2008, Bupa, the private health insurer and hospital operator, will claim today. The Social Market Foundation will today host the launch of the Bupa report, Mind the Gap, which argues that even with an increase in productivity, there is likely to be an £11 billion shortfall in the amount the NHS needs by 2015. Separately, The Times reports that incompetent and underperforming doctors are to face a strict new system of discipline in a drive to make the profession more accountable to the public. At present, doctors under investigation for ‘fitness to practise’ are judged by the standard of proof applied in criminal courts: whether the allegations are proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. However, under plans to go before the profession’s regulatory body, the General Medical Council, the standard of proof will be changed to that used in the civil courts: ‘on a balance of probabilities’, in a move that has been strongly opposed by doctors’ representatives.
 
 
27/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Flu jabs could be ‘a waste of time’
An expert in infectious disease has called into question the usefulness of the multimillion pound annual flu vaccination campaign. Every year more than 15million patients receive the vaccine to help protect them from influenza, but vaccine expert Tom Jefferson believes there is little evidence to show the jab has any impact on the length of hospital stays, time off work and death rates in healthy adults. Dr Jefferson, of the Cochrane Collaboration, has analysed the best available evidence that should show the impact of vaccination on the population, finding that in infants up to the age of two, vaccination was no better than a placebo and in older children there was little evidence of benefit. Only among people who suffer bronchitis could he find good evidence that the flu vaccination was worthwhile. However, Dr David Salisbury of the Department of Health, said ‘We know that flu vaccines can give up to 70 to 80 per cent protection against infection’.
 
 
27/10/2006
The Guardian
Dangers in crushing pills
Health experts warned yesterday that crushing pills to make them easier to swallow could make them less effective or even potentially fatal. Six out of ten older people find it hard to swallow tablets and have them crushed on the advice of doctors. However, David Wright, a lecturer in pharmacy at the University of East Anglia, who led the group for the journal Guidelines in Practice, said ‘Crushing pills increases the risk of side effects, of the patient getting a large dose of a drug which should be released slowly, or a drug being cleared from the body too early before it can do anything’.
 
 
27/10/2006
The Times
Women at greater risk of mental illness after an abortion
A group of leading doctors has said that women who have abortions are risking depression and other mental illness and should be told of the dangers. In a letter to The Times, 15 senior obstetricians and psychiatrists have said that new evidence has uncovered a clear link between abortion and mental illness in women with no pervious history of psychological problems. The evidence cited by the doctors was published this year and came after a lengthy study that was conducted in New Zealand. The doctors say that women who have had abortions have twice the level of psychological problems and three times the level of depression as women who have given birth or never been pregnant.
 
 
27/10/2006
Daily Mail
Easing homeopathy law will put lives in peril, warn doctors
Lives will be put at risk by a new law that allows homeopathic medicines to make 'scientific' claims, leading doctors warned last night. New laws, which were debated in the House of Lords yesterday, would make it legal for producers of so-called 'alternative' remedies to make claims about the effectiveness of their products, without having proved them in trials. More than 700 medics, scientists and members of the public have signed a statement criticising the rules, saying they make a mockery out of conventional medicine.
 
 
27/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Obesity pill is shown to help treat diabetics
A new slimming drug can help to keep people with diabetes healthy, doctors have said. Rimonabant, licensed to treat obesity, was used to help people with poorly-controlled type-2 diabetes to lose weight over the course of a year. The study found that those taking the drug lost nearly four times more weight than those taking a dummy drug. Amanda Eden, of Diabetes UK, said ‘Trials have shown that rimonabant can help reduce cardiovascular risks and cholesterol levels as well as helping control blood glucose levels’.
 
 
27/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and health sector news
The Daily Telegraph today reports that the taxpayer will be paying out billions of pounds for up to 30 years to pay for NHS hospitals which were built for a fraction of the cost under the Government's private finance initiative, figures given to MPs showed last night. Private sector contractors will receive a total of £53 billion for hospitals worth only £8 billion, in figures that underline the looming cash crisis in the NHS. Separately, in a widely-featured story, it is reported that health service officials spent £400,000 on modern art to put in seven mental hospitals and then spent another £100,000 on finding out if the money was well spent. The initial sum went on 17 works of art - including two wooden benches costing £10,000 each - despite the fact that other mental health units are facing closure.
 
 
26/10/2006
The Times
Infertility link to autism in children
Children born to couples who have undergone fertility treatment are more likely to have a child with a serious medical disorder such as autism, cerebral palsy or cancer, scientists have found. The higher risk to child health is believed to be caused by medical problems in the parents, such as diabetes and hypertension, damaging the child in the womb. However, doctors conducting the study said that IVF and other fertility treatments may also play a role. The risk of minor problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder rose by 40% and other medical conditions affecting hearing and sight nearly doubled. Medical records of children born after their parents sought fertility treatment showed that they were four times more likely to have autism than those born to fertile parents. However, Dr Mary Croughan of the University of California, which conducted the study, said ‘The vast majority of children born to infertile couples are healthy’ and Claire Brown, Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK, said ‘continual research’ was necessary to ensure ‘treatment is safe for couples and children’.
 
 
26/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
300 recalled after smear test error
Three hundred women have been recalled for cervical cancer screening at a health centre in Hull after faults with a previous test procedure. Screenings for cervical cancer between February and July 2005 were found to be faulty after a routine audit found that their samples did not contain enough cells to detect abnormalities or pre-cancerous growths. Hull Primary Care Trust has denied any claim that doctors and staff were to blame for not taking samples properly, and Wendy Richardson, director of public health for Hull, said ‘Patients are not being recalled because there is a problem with their health, but because we don’t feel the quality of their last sample was high enough’.
 
 
26/10/2006
Daily Mirror
Alzheimer's risk in operations
Some general anaesthetics may increase the risk of elderly patients getting Alzheimer's, research suggests. Lab and animal tests showed drugs like isoflurane and propofol - used in Europe and the US - may encourage the formation of protein clumps in the brain that are linked to the disease. Pittsburgh Medical School said that the risks from anaesthetics like halothane – rarely used in Europe – increase according to the length of the operation. With many elderly patients reportedly changing in behaviour after surgery, Dr Pravat Mandal, who led the study, told New Scientist: ‘The focus should now be on using an anaesthetic that does not have such effects’.
 
 
26/10/2006
Daily Express
Why exercise helps women fight off colds
Older women who spend half an hour a day exercising can halve their chance of catching a cold. New research suggests a moderate workout can do wonders for the immune system. A study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in America, of sedentary, post menopausal women, found that those who took up a 30-40 minute exercise routine were less likely to catch a cold. The findings, published in the American Journal of Medicine, showed that in the last three months of the study, the non-exercisers were three times more likely to suffer a cold than the exercise group. However, women have been warned not to overdo exercise, as excessive and exhaustive exercise can have the opposite effect.
 
 
26/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's papers, it is reported that Sir John Oldham, head of the Improvement Foundation, has said that the one in five doctors and nurses who fail to wash their hands before seeing each patient should be treated with as much disdain as drink-drivers. Research shows that one in five clinical staff don't wash their hands between seeing patients, despite evidence that it reduces hospital infection. At the International Society for Quality in Healthcare conference, Mr Oldham referred to official figures showing that in 2004, MRSA killed 1,168 patients in England and Wales, compared with the 580 people who died as a result of drink-driving incidents. Separately, The Guardian reports that the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has called in a powerful troubleshooter to quell a public rebellion against NHS hospital closures. Sir Ian Carruthers, who was until recently acting head of the NHS, will conduct a six-month review of all plans around the country to cut services or close units, to see if more can be done to win public support for change. Sir Ian’s review would not override the normal rules for consultation with the public, and local authority scrutiny committees would retain the right to object.
 
 
25/10/2006
The Times
Painkiller link to heart risks
High doses of a class of painkillers which includes ibuprofen can increase the risk of heart attacks if taken over long periods, doctors were warned yesterday. The Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) has written to every doctor in the UK warning them that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - which are routinely taken by arthritis and back pain sufferers - may be associated with a small risk of heart attack or stroke when used for long-term treatment. The latest warning came after the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Uses formally acknowledged the risk. Its advice is to ‘use the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible duration’.
 
 
25/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Vitamin pills 'can reduce infertility'
According to research, taking multivitamins while trying for a baby substantially reduces the chances of women suffering one of the most common causes of female infertility. Scientists believe a number of nutrients in multivitamins could be behind the protective effect but that folic acid plays the most significant role. For one in 12 couples with fertility problems, the woman's inability to produce eggs is the main obstacle to pregnancy. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health who followed 18,000 women over eight years found those who took a multivitamin at least six days a week had a 40 per cent lower risk of suffering ovulatory problems, increasing fertility chances.
 
 
25/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Older mothers pass on fertility risks
Scientists said yesterday that women who delay motherhood could be damaging the fertility of any daughters they go on to have. A study found the age at which the mothers of a group of women undergoing IVF gave birth had an impact on whether their treatment resulted in pregnancies. The discovery is the first evidence that the steep decline in fertility seen in older women causes genetic damage that is passed on if they conceive, causing reduced fertility in female children. Female fertility declines with age because damage accumulates in a woman’s eggs. The researchers believe some of the genetic damage that builds up in older eggs is passed on to daughters, reducing the quality of their own eggs.
 
 
25/10/2006
The Guardian
MRI advised for women with cancer gene
Women aged between 20 and 49 who have a strong family history of breast cancer should be given MRI scans as regularly as once a year, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) will rule today. It is hoped the move could spare them the trauma of having their breasts removed as a preventive measure. Women in their 20s should be offered the scans if they carry the TP53 mutation, which puts them at ‘exceptionally high risk’. Those who carry the BRAC1 and BRAC2 genes should have annual scans once they reach 30. Around 5% of women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease, accounting for around 2,000 new cases each year.
 
 
25/10/2006
The Times
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's papers it is reported that unions and staff associations representing about 750,000 NHS workers refused to rule out strike action yesterday in a row over pay. The unions, which yesterday submitted their evidence to the Nurses and Other Health Professions Review Body, condemned demands from the health department that doctors, dentists and nurses should get basic pay rises of only 1.5 per cent next year, less than the inflation rate. The leaders of 14 NHS unions and staff associations presented a case for a ‘substantial’ pay rise to reflect living costs and to reward health workers for helping to achieve government targets. Separately, The Sun reports that the NHS is condemning 50 Britons a day to blindness by refusing to fund a sight-saving drug. Macugen, licensed for UK use in May, treats age-related macular degeneration, which robs 16,000 of their sight each year. An AMD Alliance poll found that 90 per cent of NHS trusts fund Macugen, but that some wait until a patient has lost sight in one eye before considering treatment.
 
 
24/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Anti-depressants 'can make men infertile'
Best-selling antidepressant drugs may be making some men infertile, according to research reported yesterday. American researchers have said some patients taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other antidepressants suffer dramatic drops in sperm concentration. The warning follows a study of two men at Cornell Medical Centre in New York whose sperm counts dropped dramatically to almost zero while taking the drugs, but recovered to healthy levels whenever their medication was suspended.
 
 
24/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Excessive use of mobiles may be causing dramatic drop in sperm count
Men who use mobile phones a lot have lower sperm counts and produce sperm of poorer quality than those who use them infrequently or not at all, according to new research. Samples taken from men attending a fertility clinic revealed that their sperm declined steadily in number, quality and ability to swim as mobile phone usage increased. The results of the study were released yesterday at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's annual meeting in New Orleans.
 
 
24/10/2006
Daily Mail
Flu jabs for mothers-to-be
Pregnant women are to be given flu jabs from next year in a mass vaccination drive that could protect their unborn babies from leukaemia. Research shows that if a mother has flu in pregnancy, it almost doubles the unborn baby's risk of childhood leukaemia. It is thought that the virus causes changes in the baby 's immune system which can trigger the blood cancer in years to come.
 
 
24/10/2006
Daily Express
Are you a victim of the secret heart epidemic?
Many Britons could be suffering from a serious heart condition without knowing it, doctors have warned. Atrial fibrillation, which causes an irregular heart beat, has reached 'epidemic' proportions in Britain, affecting up to 2 per cent of the population. Up to a fifth of those who have the problem have no idea because they have no symptoms or their tell-tale signs are being missed by GPs, putting them at a much greater risk of suffering a stroke or heart attack. Common symptoms of dizziness, fainting or shortness of breath are often ignored by sufferers.
 
 
24/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Staying lean may help the body to reject cancerous cells
Keeping slim may help ward off cancer, according to a study which has discovered that lean animals are better able to fight the disease than obese ones. Researchers conducted tests on mice with a form of non-melanoma skin cancer – squamous cell cancer – triggered by exposure to artificial sunlight. Some animals had fat surgically removed, while others were helped to stay slim by exercising. In both cases raised levels of cancer cell death were found.
 
 
24/10/2006
The Guardian
Alcohol lowers heart attack risk
Doctors should not encourage men in good health who drink moderately to give up alcohol, according to researchers. A 16-year study of nearly 9,000 men in the US by the Beth Israel Medical Centre in Boston found that a regular drink lowered their risk of heart attacks. Overall, the lowest risk of heart attack was for the group that drank between 15 and 29 grams of alcohol a day, while men who never drank had the greatest chance of having an attack.
 
 
24/10/2006
The Times
Teeth whitening kit danger
The teeth-whitening kits used by thousands of Britons who want polished molars can cause permanent damage, according to dentists. Teeth whitening kits using a solution of hydrogen peroxide can be up to 250 times stronger than the legal limit, the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry has warned.
 
 
24/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers, it is reported that Alan Milburn, the former health secretary and architect of many of the government's health service changes, called yesterday for patients with long-term conditions to be given their own budgets. The scheme could mean that patients with asthma or heart problems could choose to take an NHS package or decide how to spend the money themselves. Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reports that in revised guidance for doctors, the General Medical Council has warned that having an affair with a former patient would almost always be viewed as inappropriate however much time had elapsed. The Daily Mail contains the news that thousands of patients are dying each year because of nursing shortages. A study has shown that patients cared for by tired and overworked nurses are 26 per cent more likely to die than those looked after by staff with a lighter workload. Finally, the Daily Mail reports that Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge is disposing of aborted babies in the same incinerator used for rubbish. Pro-life groups claim the practice, while not illegal, goes against guidelines issued by the Royal College of Nursing, which say disposal of foetuses alongside clinical waste is 'completely unacceptable'.
 
 
23/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
IVF mothers in their fifties 'cope as well as younger women'
Women who give birth in their fifties are just as healthy, both physically and psychologically, as those who start families much earlier in life, according to new research that will significantly strengthen the case against upper-age limits for fertility treatment. A study by Dr Anne Steiner, of the University of Southern California, believed to be the first to evaluate the abilities of mothers in their fifties, found that more women who became mothers in their forties had problems dealing with the pressures of motherhood than those who had children after their 50th birthday. On average, the women in their fifties who responded to the questionnaire scored below those in their thirties for physical function but higher for mental function. The NHS currently refuses to fund treatment for women over the age of 40, and many private clinics are unwilling to treat women older than 45 years.
 
 
23/10/2006
The Guardian
Teach contraception to primary pupils, says report
Children should learn about contraception in their final primary school year, when aged 10 or 11, according to a study published by the Institute for Public Policy Research next month. It also recommends that condoms be free or sold at low cost to teenagers in schools and sports centres. The findings reflected a worrying trend among 15-year-olds, one in three of whom claimed they did not use a condom when they last had sex, while it was also noted that Britain has the highest rate of births to teenagers in Europe. On average there are 26 live births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19, almost a fifth higher than Latvia. A spokesman for the DfES, however, pointed out that teenage pregnancy rates are currently at their lowest level for 20 years and had fallen by 11.1 per cent since the government's teenage pregnancy strategy began in 1998.
 
 
23/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Rush on walnuts
Supermarkets have noted a surge in walnut sales after research in Spain indicated that they could prevent damage to arteries and had a bearing on potency. Waitrose has experienced an 80 per cent surge in sales of organic walnut kernels, now dubbed ‘superfoods’ thanks to their apparent nutritional qualities. Despite their high fat content, many nuts have high levels of polyunsaturated fats, as well as omega-3 fats, vitamin E and folic acid. A comparison of the effects of olive oil and walnuts on 24 volunteers, led by Dr Emilio Ros from the University of Barcelona, found that walnuts contributed to the preservation of elasticity and flexibility in blood vessels.
 
 
23/10/2006
The Sun
Good memberry
Strawberries may hold the secret to delaying memory loss in old age, scientists have claimed. The fruit contains an antioxidant which enhanced the brain power of mice in lab tests. Researchers in California studying the properties of fisetin believe it could do the same for humans. The natural substance protects cells from degenerating and was dubbed "the holy grail" to enhance memory by Dr Pamela Maher, one of the scientists involved in the study. However, it was shown that one would have to eat 10lbs of the fruit each day to benefit.
 
 
23/10/2006
The Times
No cancer support
Two out of five employers fail to provide support to staff suffering from cancer, a study from the Working with Cancer group has claimed. It believes that each year up to 90,000 people of working age are diagnosed with cancer, but more than 40 per cent of those claim that their employer offers them no support.
 
 
23/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that detailed information highlighting widespread variation in admission and operation rates, lengths of stay and discharge procedures across the health service has been sent to all English NHS trusts in a bid to unlock £2.2 billion of greater efficiency. The National Health Service is wasting at least £2 billion a year, more than four times the record deficit registered in 2005-06, according to analysis of hospital activities and finances set out by the government today. Elsewhere, it has emerged that a military-managed ward is to be established at Birmingham's Selly Oak hospital for troops recuperating after treatment for injuries, Tony Blair declared yesterday. But he ruled out reopening military hospitals, as demanded by some campaigners.
 
 
20/10/2006
The Independent
Stem cells offer hope of finding cure for diabetes
Scientists have come a step closer to a cure for diabetes with a study showing that it is possible to create the insulin-producing tissue of the pancreas from human embryonic stem cells. Scientists at Novocell, a stem-cell engineering firm based in California, have developed a method of converting human embryonic stem cells to the endoderm tissue of the pancreas, the part of the endocrine organ which is necessary for the formation of insulin-producing cells. The findings, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, indicate that it is possible in the test tube to mimic the process of natural differentiation that is the consequence of normal pancreatic development in the body. Emmanuel Baetge, Novocell's chief scientific officer, labelled the development a "critical step towards providing a renewable supply of cells for the treatment of diabetic patients".
 
 
20/10/2006
Daily Mail
Eating lots of white bread 'can raise the risk of cancer'
Findings from a study conducted at the Institute of Pharmacological Research in Milan have indicated that people who eat five slices of white bread a day are almost twice as likely to develop kidney cancer than those who have just one and a half slices. The research, published in the International Journal of Cancer, aimed at identifying and investigating potential triggers for renal cell carcinoma, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of the 6,000 cases of kidney cancer diagnosed each year in the United Kingdom. While the research did not conclude which ingredients in white bread could be responsible for the findings, scientists indicated that the high Glycaemic Index of many types may be a factor. Foods with high GI cause a dramatic rise in blood sugar levels and leads to the release of insulin and chemicals which can fuel cell growth.
 
 
20/10/2006
Financial Times
Cancer fear at computer plants
Research carried out by Richard Clapp, from the Boston University School of Public Health in the United States, has found that workers at computer factories are more likely to die from brain, kidney or breast cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - a form of cancer - than the rest of the population. His study investigated the deaths of 3,000 employees who had worked for at least five years in International Business Machines (IBM) factories in the United States between 1969 and 2001. While certain forms of cancer can be linked to contact with industrial materials, such as machine oils, herbicides and pesticides, Mr Clapp was unable to link the deaths with any specific substances. His study does, however, confirm the findings of an earlier investigation into mortality at three IBM manufacturing bases which showed an increase of deaths related to cancers of the brain and nervous system.
 
 
20/10/2006
Daily Mail
Medical apartheid
Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, has been criticised after the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) refused to ratify the funding of Velcade, a bone cancer treatment, for use in England. The drug is thought to extend the lives of patients with bone cancer by up to seven years, but was ruled not to be cost-effective despite being "more clinically effective than chemotherapy". The decision by the rationing body was not due to be published until next week, but a leaked copy has precipitated an avalanche of opposition to the verdict. A spokesperson for the charity Myeloma UK labelled it "the biggest setback in the history of the treatment of myeloma".
 
 
20/10/2006
Financial Times
New study denies MMR-autism link
A Canadian study has potentially put an end to the speculation surrounding the possible link between the combined vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella and incidences of autism in children. The research, carried out by the McGill University Health Centre and published in the United States journal Pediatrics, argues that earlier molecular studies which showed the measles virus persisting in certain tissues of children with autism who had received the MMR jab were fundamentally flawed. Analysis has revealed that in many cases laboratory errors led to false identification of the measles virus.
 
 
20/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the government has declared that doctors, dentists and nurses should get basic pay rises of only 1.5 per cent next year - less than half the current inflation rate - in a move presaging the toughest public sector pay round in years. Nurses' leaders accused the government last night of imposing a "massive pay cut" on all NHS staff. Elsewhere, the British Medical Association has warned that some sectioned mental health patients are having to stay at home because of a lack of available beds on NHS wards.
 
 
19/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Suicide risk is trebled for women with breast implants
Studies in the United States, Canada and Denmark have indicated that patients who had cosmetic procedures are at greater risk of killing themselves. New Scientist magazine today publishes an article which demonstrates that women who undergo breast implant procedures are up to three times more likely to commit suicide compared with those who do not. Many researchers believe those who feel the need for cosmetic surgery are more likely to have suicidal personality traits. A related study, led by David Sarwer of the Centre of Human Appearance and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, found that 18 per cent of patients having cosmetic surgery were found to be taking drugs to control psychiatric conditions, compared with 5 per cent of those undergoing normal surgical procedures.
 
 
19/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Clinics to limit IVF multiple embryos
Tough new controls on in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) must be introduced to cut the soaring number of twins being born, a study has suggested. Under recommendations presented yesterday to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) by the Expert Group on Multiple Births After IVF, fertility clinics may be forced to restrict the number of women implanting more than one embryo at a time during IVF treatment to cut the number of multiple births. One of the central proposals of the paper is to establish a maximum twin birth rate of five or ten per cent at fertility clinics. Elsewhere, Dr Mohammed Taranissi has claimed that the procedure is much more likely to work if embryos are grown for an extra two or three days.
 
 
19/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Lack of sleep 'may help make youngsters obese'
Lack of sleep could be contributing to the rise in obesity in children, according to Dr Sharad Taheri, of the Henry Wellcome Institute, University of Bristol. In a review of published studies in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, Dr Taheri asserts that while sleep is "probably not the only answer to the obesity pandemic", its role as an influencing factor should be considered carefully and seriously. He advocates removing distracting gadgets such as computers and televisions from children's bedrooms in favour of a calmer environment, pointing to research which showed that levels of the hormone ghrelin, which is released to indicate hunger, were 15 per cent higher in people who had only five hours sleep a night compared with those who had slept for eight.
 
 
19/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Broken homes link to early onset of puberty
Divorcing parents and absentee fathers may hasten the onset of puberty in their children, a public health doctor will claim today. Dr Mark Bellis, of John Moores University centre for public health, Liverpool, has had a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health which shows that the average age of puberty has been falling for 150 years and dropped by as much as three years in the past 100 years. He draws particular attention to the conflict between younger maturity and society's view of childhood behaviour when it is based on their age alone. He identifies the use of sexual imagery as a contributing factor to what he describes as "health-damaging behaviour" such as self-harm, substance abuse and violent behaviour.
 
 
19/10/2006
The Times
Cannabis boost
Cannabis may contain compounds that slow the memory loss caused by Alzheimer's disease, research at Ohio State University suggests. The effect, found during trials involving rats, may be due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Previous studies have linked chronic inflammation with the progression of Alzheimer's.
 
 
19/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that Sir Derek Wanless is to repeat his study of health spending, five years after his previous groundbreaking review for the Treasury helped justify the current massive boost in NHS spending. Elsewhere, NHS hospitals are preparing to embark on an advertising war to attract more patients in response to the government's decision to give people more choice about where they go for treatment. Finally, a study by the British Dental Association has found that the government's reform of NHS dentistry in April has not improved access for patients.
 
 
18/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
'Gender-bending' chemicals linked to breast cancer rise
A new study for the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) has shown that chemical pollutants that mimic the hormone oestrogen may contribute to the development of breast cancer and could account for the rise in cases. The chemicals, known as endocrine disruptors, can be found in a range of common products including air fresheners and the casings for mobile telephones. Dr Andreas Kortenkamp, of the School of Pharmacy at London University, notes today that a recent Spanish study had demonstrated an association between breast cancer risk and oestrogen-mimicking chemicals. He asserted that: "This is the first evidence that chemicals in our environment, with oestrogenic properties that are accidental, and not just natural hormones or pharmaceutical oestrogens, may contribute to the development of breast cancer". Changes in lifestyle have been blamed for an 81 per cent increase in the incidence of the disease in Britain since the early 1970s but the role of chemicals has been neglected.
 
 
18/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Screening for breast cancer 'may harm women'
Following new research conducted by Dr Peter Gozsche, an expert in internal medicine and director of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, it has been suggested that breast cancer screening may do more harm than good. A study indicated that for every 2,000 women undergoing mammograms, one will have their life prolonged but 10 will endure potentially devastating and unnecessary treatment. Dr Gozsche claims that many women are being treated for slow-growing cancers that might never have affected them if they were not picked up during screening. Relatedly, figures published by the Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer Screening earlier this year showed that for every 2,000 women who are invited to join a programme over 10 years, five will have their lives prolonged and eight will be diagnosed and receive treatment even though they may have survived without intervention. Its study also revealed the NHS Breast Screening Programme saves 1,400 lives a year.
 
 
18/10/2006
The Guardian
Gene therapy raises hope for Parkinson's sufferers
Scientists in the United States have shown that the first gene-based therapy developed for Parkinson's disease substantially alleviates the symptoms of the condition without the need to leave any devices in the body. The treatment involves infusing the brain with a harmless virus which activates a gene controlling the production of dopamine, the neuro-transmitter chemical. The loss of dopamine-producing cells in the part of the brain controlling movement precipitates the onset of Parkinson's. During phase I clinical trials conducted by the United States biotech firm Neurologix, all 12 patients involved registered a clinical improvement of 25 per cent after treatment.
 
 
18/10/2006
The Times
Drug trial success boosts hope of defeating malaria
A pair of experimental vaccines against malaria could prevent tens of thousands of cases of the disease a year, a review of recent studies has indicated. The Cochrane Library conducted analysis of six candidate vaccines and confirmed that two - RTS,S and MSP/RESA - were promising. The findings relating to RTS,S, which was shown to prevent 58 per cent of the most severe cases of malaria among children in Mozambique, back up trial data from manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, which developed the treatment in conjunction with the Walter Reed Army Research Institute in the United States.
 
 
18/10/2006
Financial Times
Cervical cancer vaccine launched
The commercial struggle to control the lucrative market for the prevention of cervical cancer kicked off in the United Kingdom yesterday when the first of two competing pharmaceutical firms launched a pioneering vaccine. Cancer charities have welcomed the news that Sanofi Pasteur's Gardasil is now available in the United Kingdom and could soon be on the NHS. More than 100,000 doses of the vaccine, which has been heralded as a breakthrough in preventing cervical cancer after it was found to reduce the number of cases by 75 per cent, were made available from yesterday.
 
 
18/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector begins today with the news that the newly-appointed chief executive of the National Health Service admitted yesterday that he did not know how many jobs would be lost this year as a consequence of budget cuts and reorganisation. However, David Nicholson rejected claims by NHS employers that 20,000 jobs will have been axed by the end of the year. Elsewhere, iSoft, the software supplier to the national programme to digitise NHS patient records, has put itself up for sale and warned revenues will fall 10-15 per cent this year. The firm yesterday claimed bad publicity over delays and accounting problems had adversely affected sales. Finally, Tony Blair caved in to growing pressure yesterday by announcing that military-only wards may be created at NHS hospitals.
 
 
17/10/2006
Daily Mail
Experts warn on dementia drug ban
Mental health experts have expressed concern that the decision to withdraw funding for Ebixa, the popular Alzheimer’s drug, could force patients to turn to unsuitable alternatives. The ruling by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) also affects Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl, all of which will only be made available if a patient’s condition deteriorates beyond the “mild” stage. It was also feared that psychiatrists will increasingly turn to anti-psychotic drugs which can trigger serious side-effects including stroke, heart disease and falls, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Guidance has now been published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and former faculty head Professor Susan Benbow yesterday declared that doctors “do have to consider…as an option” the decision to defy the ban and prescribe Ebixa and its related treatments.
 
 
17/10/2006
Daily Mail
Antibiotics could slow Alzheimer's symptoms
A three-year clinical trial into the effects of various drugs on the progress of Alzheimer’s, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is to involve 500 patients being given various combinations of doxycycline, rifampin and a placebo. The trial follows a smaller study which registered a possible benefit relating to the use of antibiotics in treating the disease, the theory behind which derived from the post mortem discovery of traces of the Chlamydia pneumonia bacteria in the brains of men and women with Alzheimer’s. While it is possible that the infection may be involved in triggering the disease, and so antibiotics which attack the bacterium may help, there is a second theory which suggests that the antibiotics interfere with the build-up of amyloid plaques around the neurons of the brain.
 
 
17/10/2006
Daily Mail
Eight out of ten new mental patients are heavy cannabis users
Heavy cannabis users make up the vast majority of new patients with a serious mental illness, a study on the effects of the drug revealed yesterday. The findings are contained in a set of documents compiled as part of David Cameron’s policy raft ahead of a review of party policies, and were prepared by the Conservative Party’s social justice policy review committee. It is asserted that 1.75 million Britons are thought to use the drug each month, and that more than a quarter of 14 and 15-year-olds have used it. Professor Robin Murray of the Institute of Psychiatry told the inquiry that 95 per cent of psychiatrists would now attest to the link between cannabis usage and psychosis, compared with a similar percentage who five years ago would have argued against the possibility of the relationship. Professor Peter Jones, of Cambridge University, is also quoted in the study estimating that children who start smoking cannabis at ten or 11 may treble their risk of developing schizophrenia.
 
 
17/10/2006
The Times
Vitamin D 'helps to curb progress of breast cancer'
Vitamin D manufactured by the skin in response to sunlight may have a role to play in fighting breast cancer, according to research from Imperial College, London, published today in the Journal of Clinical Pathology. The study measured levels of vitamin D in the blood of 279 women with invasive breast cancer and found that women in the early stages of the disease had higher levels of the vitamin (15 to 184 mmol/litre) than women in the advanced stages of the disease (16 to 146 mmol/litre). Although the disparity was not explained, it has long been recognised that vitamin D could be instrumental in fighting a number of cancers, including those of the prostate, colon and pancreas, as well as in maintaining healthy bones. Countries that are further north and enjoy fewer hours of sunshine have a higher incidence of breast cancer.
 
 
17/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Hair test can diagnose bulimia
Research carried out by scientists at the Brigham Young University in Utah has indicated that analysis of hair samples can be used to diagnose eating disorders. Researchers found that the carbon and nitrogen content of proteins that are attached to the base of hair strands as they grow provide information on an individual’s dietary habits. Examination of five strands of hair allowed the team to predict with 80 per cent accuracy whether a subject had anorexia or bulimia.
 
 
17/10/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector begins today with the news that a key delivery target on the NHS's £6.2 billion IT upgrade will be missed in two weeks time as the troubled project fails to meet a promise to have iSoft patient-administration systems installed at 20 acute trusts by the end of October. Elsewhere, Dr Andrew Holt, 54, who was ordered to undergo retraining after he misdiagnosed epilepsy in more than 600 children at Leicester Royal Infirmary, is seeking a judicial review, claiming that his civil rights were breached. Finally, it has emerged that as many as 80 cottage and community hospitals in England have been threatened with cuts or closures in direct contradiction to government policy, which calls for more health services near people's homes.
 
 
16/10/2006
The Sun
Alcohol in milk for sick children
Milk containing alcohol could prevent food allergies in babies, say researchers. Scientists said ingredients in the fermented drink kefir may block immune responses which cause allergic reactions. It is already used to wean babies in eastern Europe. Taiwanese researches who tested the drink on mice found that after three weeks, the amount of Ovalbumin – a protein found in egg whites which causes most allergic reactions in children – reduced threefold. The study also found that the drink raised levels of ‘friendly’ bacteria.
 
 
16/10/2006
Daily Mail
Brittle bone fear for boys with junk food diet
One in five men over 50 suffer from osteoporosis, but experts fear that figure could rocket because teenagers are failing to build up strong healthy bones. The National Osteoporosis Society is urging teenage boys to eat more fruit and vegetables and to do more exercise, as almost half of children in some areas watch TV or play computer games for at least four hours a day. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that those who eat more fruit and vegetables have a high mineral content in their bones, making them healthier.
 
 
16/10/2006
Daily Mirror
Wine cure for stroke
Two glasses of red wine a day could stop much of the brain damage caused by a stroke, experts have revealed. Scientists fed mice a compound found in red grapes then gave them stroke-like symptoms. The animals suffered 40% less brain damage than those not given a dose of reveratrol, which has been found to boost an enzyme in the brain which shields nerve cells from damage.
 
 
16/10/2006
The Guardian
Warning to teenagers on back pain danger
Teenagers are facing increasing problems with back pain because of a lack of exercise and the carrying of heavy schoolbags, a report warned yesterday. A new guide published by the Chartered Institute of Physiotherapy has said that back pain problems were expected to increase over the next few years unless teenagers started taking more exercise. A survey of 2,700 people for the CSP found that almost half of children did not get the recommended one hour of exercise a day, while one in four youngsters complained of back pain.
 
 
16/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers it is reported that nearly 1,000 operations are being cancelled every working day in the NHS, according to new figures gained under the Freedom of Information Act. In a news story that was heavily featured in the weekend papers, it is reported that under plans announced by the Department of Health, minor operations such as removal of varicose veins, warts and other small surgical procedures will be carried out in GPs' surgeries or consultants' clinics instead of in hospitals. The Times reports that community hospitals that lie in Conservative or Liberal Democrat constituencies will bear the brunt of the Government's closure programme, re-igniting accusations of political interference in the NHS. Separately, it is reported that the NHS cannot cope with the huge increase in the number of organ transplants for which the Government has legislated, according to campaigners. Many national newspapers carry the news that NHS hospitals are slowing patients' recovery by serving meals that are tepid, unappetising or downright inedible, a survey of catering at 97 health trusts reveals today. It found 40% of patients were having their meals supplemented by food brought in by relatives and friends, whilst 37% claimed to have left a meal uneaten because it appeared unappetising.
 
 
13/10/2006
The Independent
Breast cancer risk is higher for girls who live on farms
Teenage girls who live or work on farms may be putting themselves at risk of developing breast cancer in later life, researchers say. Pesticides or other toxic agents to which farm workers are exposed may be responsible for triggering changes in the developing breast. The danger further increases if the women then go on to work either in the health sector or in car factories. The occupational link to breast cancer was identified in an Anglo-Canadian study of the health records of more than 1,100 women, but the findings have been criticised by cancer research charities for being based on too small a group of patients.
 
 
13/10/2006
Daily Mail
Mothers 'at risk from umbilical cord craze'
Mothers and babies are being put at risk by the way in which umbilical cord blood is extracted for use in stem cell treatments, an expert has warned. Dr Leroy Edozien, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, said the practice compromises care of patients at a critical time. Separately, the Metro today reports that new mothers are wasting their time and could jeopardise NHS care by 'banking' their baby's umbilical blood. The practice, used in case a child gets ill later in life has no proven benefits and could compromise maternity ward services. The initial collection of the blood increases the risk of a specimen being contaminated.
 
 
13/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Dairy business 'crushed' by EU row with Britain over milk testing
The European Commission said yesterday it had launched legal action against the British Government for failing to prevent milk containing potentially dangerous levels of antibiotics from reaching the market. The Commission began infringement proceedings after finding that officials from the Food Standards Agency had failed to ‘effectively enforce and mitigate risks to consumer safety’ despite being ‘fully aware of the serious problems’ that EU inspectors had found a Lancashire dairy. The European Commission has said that antibiotic residues in milk can cause reactions in people with allergies to antibiotics.
 
 
13/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Side-effects fears over diet pills
Researchers studying dieting patterns have found that 55 per cent of the 1,230 people questioned in the study admitted using diet pills to lose weight. Some of the pills have dangerous side-effects, including depression, heart disorders and strokes, said a spokesman for closerdiets.com, which conducted the poll.
 
 
13/10/2006
Daily Mail
NHS and health sector news
Many national newspapers today feature the news that hospitals should not ban mobile phones over 'mythical' risks to patients, according to experts. They believe the benefits far outweigh the negligible dangers of using mobiles near sensitive medical equipment and accuse managers of hiding behind overzealous safety concerns. Meanwhile, The Times reports that it has been claimed a training programme to recruit junior doctors will throw hospital services into chaos for up to six weeks. Junior doctors fear that the programme will lead to disruption as up to 28,000 junior doctors apply for about 23,000 posts. It is also feared that consultants who are tied up in interviewing candidates may be too busy to see patients.
 
 
12/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Eating too much fish could raise risk of premature birth
Eating oily fish during pregnancy could raise the risk of premature birth, scientists warned yesterday. It is thought that the blame might lie with high mercury levels found in some fish, and scientists recommended that mothers-to-be take fish oil in supplement form only until more was known about the dangers. Research has found that among a group of more than 1,000 pregnant women, eating more fish was associated with high mercury levels, and participants in the study who gave birth prematurely were three times more likely to have double the average mercury level in hair samples.
 
 
12/10/2006
The Guardian
Severely troubled boys 'soothed by fish oils'
Experts in the field of omega-3 fatty acids said yesterday there was an urgent need for properly conducted scientific research on the impact of diet on the brain, amid claims that fish oils have dramatically improved the behaviour of boys with some of the UK's most severe emotional and social problems. The claims being made for fish oil’s effect on children’s learning and behaviour have become controversial, with experts criticising supplement manufacturers for overstating the evidence from unscientific research. A recent study held by the Cotswold Community School, a school for boys who cannot be handled in mainstream schools and care homes, found that giving pupils fish oil supplements improved the children’s scores for hyperactivity, impulsiveness and oppositional behaviour.
 
 
12/10/2006
The Guardian
Pregnant women infected by cat parasite more likely to give birth to boys, say researchers
Researchers in the Czech Republic have found that women infected with the common cat parasite toxoplasma give birth to more sons than daughters. The study found that women whose antibody count was high – indicating a substantial infection – had a much higher chance of having baby boys. The parasite infects around 15% of Britons, but up to 80% of the population in some countries. It is spread by contaminated cat faeces, but also lurks in uncooked pork and beef. In most cases the parasite is harmless in humans, but it is still unclear what the infection does to people in the long term
 
 
12/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers, it is reported that health inspectors demanded urgent action last night to remedy failings at 50 NHS trusts across England that scored the worst marks in a new tougher system of measuring the quality of patient care. Meanwhile, many papers report that campaigners for the rights of Alzheimer's sufferers are preparing to take the NHS rationing body to court over its 'nonsensical' decision to deny treatment to 50,000 people each year. A powerful coalition of doctors, charities and drug companies said that it was considering seeking a judicial review of the ban on Alzheimer’s drugs which cost just £2.50 per day. Separately, The Daily Telegraph reports that Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust is to ban children aged 16 and under from visiting patients in an attempt to prevent them spreading infection to wards.
 
 
11/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Britain becomes the fat man of Europe
Lack of exercise and bad diet mean obesity is now a major problem, with the number of overweight children soaring from 9.9 per cent to 14.3 per cent in just a decade. A Government report has revealed that the UK has more obese people than any other country in Europe. 23 per cent of adults are classified as obese, ahead of Spain (13.1 per cent) and Germany (12.9 per cent). Public health minister Caroline Flint said that just over a quarter of the population living in London and the South East ate the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables, and that obesity was by far the greatest challenge facing the country’s health.
 
 
11/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Plea to lift ban on Alzheimer's drugs fails
Alzheimer's campaigners lost an appeal yesterday for drugs to be made available to sufferers in the early stages of the disease. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ruled that Aricept (donepezil), Reminyl (galantamine) and Exelon (rivastigmine) should only be used to treat those with moderate Alzheimer's. NICE views the drugs as too expensive compared to the potential benefits they offer.
 
 
11/10/2006
Daily Express
'300,000 cancer cases a year' by 2020
The number of people diagnosed with cancer will rise by a third to hit 300,000 cases a year in 2020, experts said yesterday. Figures produced by Henrik Moller, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology at King’s College London, showed that the increase will be most acute among diseases such as breast cancer. The increase will be caused by the fact that there will be a larger population by 2020 and a higher proportion of people will be over 65, the age when cancer is most likely to strike.
 
 
11/10/2006
The Independent
LSD helps alcoholics put down the bottle
According to research led by a British doctor more than 40 years ago, a single dose of the hallucinogenic drug LSD is an effective treatment for alcoholism as studies showed it helped trigger a change in mental attitude, leading drinkers to quit. Trials involving thousands of alcoholics treated with the drug in the early 1960s are alleged to have been successful, but in spite of its promise, the therapeutic potential of the drug has been ignored since it was banned worldwide in the late 1960s as a threat to public safety.
 
 
11/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers, a report by the Healthcare Commission is to label as "weak" almost half of all NHS trusts, with sixty three hospital trusts responsible for 70% of the NHS's debt. The 49 NHS foundation trusts allowed to become self-governing as they were judged to be among the best-performing hospitals under the old system, have done better financially than the rest of the NHS, and on balance have performed better on quality of service. Separately, the Daily Telegraph reports that the health service is facing a crippling shortage of up to 8,000 junior doctors that will force scores of hospitals to cut services, the Conservatives claimed last night. New figures have revealed that ministers have failed to recruit enough doctors to cope with the introduction of a European Directive that will slash the number of hours junior doctors can legally work over the next three years.
 
 
10/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Healthcare News
The Conservative Party formally unveiled their proposal for an independent board for the National Health Service yesterday, and won an immediate acknowledgement from the minister of state for health, Rosie Winterton, that the idea was "worth looking at". The Tories said that Healthwatch would stand up for patients and have the power to influence which treatments and drugs were available in hospitals. It would also be able to demand action to turn around failing hospitals and services. However, health analysts warned that the notion of an independent board to commission services raises big questions, to which the Tories did not yet appear to have all the answers. Reports from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that more than 1,600 dentists in England left the NHS during the first three months of the new dental contract. Dentists with a contract to work in the NHS fell from 21,111 in March to 19,462 in June, a drop of nearly 8 per cent. Audited accounts revealed in a written parliamentary statement show that the NHS ran up debts of £547 million by the end of the last financial year. The figures do not include the still-unaudited deficit for Whipps Cross NHS Trust in East London. Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, said that the NHS was on track to achieve financial balance at the end of the 2006-07 accounting year. The £20 billion NHS computer system may not work, Britain's leading computer scientists warned last night. In an open letter to MPs on the Commons Health Select Committee, 23 eminent scientists from universities such as Oxford and Cambridge raised major doubts about the Connecting for Health project. One in eight patients who travels abroad for a kidney transplant dies within two months, a study has warned. Research by Dr Indranil Dasgupta, a consultant at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, has revealed the desperate underworld of the international trade in donor organs. The NHS rationing body NICE has said women under 75 should not be given drugs to prevent broken bones unless they have already suffered a break. The National Osteoporosis Society says osteoporosis should be dealt with in the same way as diseases such as heart disease and stroke, where those at high risk receive preventative treatment.
 
 
10/10/2006
The Times
Plug is new contraceptive for men
US trials of a new male contraceptive are being expanded after overwhelming interest from the public. The Intra Vas Device or IVD, which is inserted via a small hole made in the scrotum, uses a tiny plug of silicone gel that blocks sperm from travelling along the two tubes connecting the testicles and the penis, and in a pilot study involving 30 men the IVD was effective in preventing conception. Elaine Lissner of the non-profit Male Contraceptive Information Project in San Francisco, said that men increasingly want to take responsibility and control for the use of contraception.
 
 
10/10/2006
The Guardian
Research offers hope of repairing damage suffered in heart attacks
A cocktail of drugs that can repair potentially fatal tissue damage suffered during heart attacks has been developed by scientists based at Children's hospital Boston. Tests in rats show that an injection of two drugs can encourage heart tissues to regenerate themselves after an attack, and further tests are being conducted to see if the treatment is effective when the drugs are administered many hours after a heart attack. The research is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
 
 
10/10/2006
Daily Mail
Sleeping pill that doesn't leave you feeling groggy
People who suffer insomnia could soon be helped with a drug that gets them to sleep, and keeps them that way for up to eight hours. Research conducted by Surrey University has found that people who took the drug EVT 201 were able to get to sleep despite having a box under their beds playing 52 decibels of record traffic noise all night.
 
 
10/10/2006
Daily Mail
New drug to flush out superbug
A new drug being tested on UK patients could help curb the increase in infections caused by a dangerous superbug. The drug, called tolevamer, is designed to combat the deadly clostridium difficile organism.
 
 
10/10/2006
Daily Mail
The walking pill
A new pill that makes it easier to walk could have a major impact on the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The tablet, Fampridine-SR, contains a drug that helps damaged nerves communicate with each other. It has proved so successful in trials that scientists are now investigating whether it can also help treat spinal injuries.
 
 
10/10/2006
The Times
Why this diet may prevent Alzheimer's
Eating a Mediterranean diet and cooking with olive oil can help to prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to scientists at the Columbia University Medical Centre, New York. Those who eat lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish and drink a moderate amount of red wine are 68 per cent less likely to suffer Alzheimer's than those who do not.
 
 
10/10/2006
Daily Mail
Just a few walnuts can keep you in good heart
Spanish scientists have found that snacking on the nuts can prevent fatty foods from damaging arteries. The research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that walnuts provide even more protection than olive oil, feted for its ability to ward off heart disease. Heart expert Dr Emillio Ros looked at the effect of walnuts on a group of healthy adults asked to eat fatty food, and while walnuts and olive oil both had a protective effect on the arteries, the benefits of the nuts were more wide-ranging.
 
 
10/10/2006
The Independent
The power of touch
Touch, a key component of traditional healing, is being increasingly studied in mainstream medicine, with some trials showing symptom benefits in a number of areas, from asthma and high blood pressure to migraine and childhood diabetes.
 
 
10/10/2006
Daily Mail
Could red wine hold back the menopause?
Scientists at Harvard University have found that women who drink red wine have a lower risk of an early start to the perimenopause - the two to eight years leading up to beginning menopause itself.
 
 
09/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Healthcare News
David Cameron and his health spokesman, Andrew Lansley, will today announce plans for the Conservatives to unveil an NHS Independence Bill next year that will sweep away the culture of Whitehall targets and stop the health service from being treated like "a political football". In an attempt to put Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, on the back foot the Tory leader will appeal to the Government to join forces with his party so that the Bill can be introduced in time for the 60th anniversary of the NHS in 2008. In the wake of last week's debate about the role of the NHS in military care, military surgeons have called for the retention of a dedicated military hospital for the hundreds of wounded servicemen returning from operations abroad as up to 20,000 military personnel find themselves deployed around the world. But there is debate over whether to fight to retain the Royal Hospital Haslar or revamp one of the closed military hospitals. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail focuses on the case of an individual British soldier who was forced to join lengthy NHS waiting lists for treatment after suffering appalling injuries when his tank was hit by a missile in Iraq. The Healthcare Commission will this week publish hospital ratings based on a new system of assessment. Star ratings are to be replaced by a system that will rate NHS trusts as excellent, good, fair or weak using a more comprehensive assessment than has been attempted before. A survey conducted by The Independent has found that nine out of 10 primary care trusts in the NHS are failing to offer the recommended level of fertility treatment to patients. The financial crisis in the health service means that many trusts are cutting back even further on IVF provision, denying thousands of couples the chance of a family and resulting in a postcode lottery of care. The civil servant in charge of the Health Service's disaster-prone £20 billion computer system is being paid a colossal £280,000 a year, it emerged yesterday. Richard Granger's salary is £100,000 more than Tony Blair's - yet yet his 'Connecting for Health ' system is over-budget, behind schedule and threatening to become the biggest IT disaster in history.
 
 
09/10/2006
The Times
Cancer therapy
Patients with rectal cancer had a greater chance of surviving by being given radiotherapy before surgery, a study of 1,350 people indicates. The trial, which was conducted in the UK, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, led scientists to conclude that giving patients radiotherapy prior to the surgical removal of tumours nearly eliminated the risk of the disease returning in later years. Of the 35,000 cases of bowel cancer diagnosed in Britain each year, around one third who develop rectal cancer stand to benefit from the procedure.
 
 
09/10/2006
The Guardian
Faulty gene 'doubles risk of breast cancer'
According to research by scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research published in the journal Nature Genetics, women with a faulty version of the BRIP1 gene are twice as likely to develop breast cancer. Flaws in the gene increase the risk of breast cancer from one in 12 to one in six by the time a woman is 70 years old.
 
 
09/10/2006
The Independent
Women neglect heart health
Women are lagging behind men when it comes to caring for their hearts, research published under the title Caring About Cholesterol has claimed. More men than women are likely to have a cholesterol test, and they are more likely to address high cholesterol levels, says the report which was commissioned by Flora pro.activ and Bupa.
 
 
09/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Depression treatment pinpointed
A team at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University has found a new way to diagnose depression and ensure that sufferers get the right treatment as soon as possible using a sample of a patient's DNA and looking for a variant of the gene coding of a protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor or BDNF. If the patient has the variant the test will show it is unlikely that they would respond to treatment with the most commonly used drugs.
 
 
09/10/2006
Daily Mail
The IVF drugs cocktail that could harm mother and baby
Women undergoing IVF treatment could be receiving unnecessary and dangerous drugs, experts at St George's Hospital in London have warned. Many are being given high doses of hormones and steroids to help them conceive, but some of these drugs could be harmful to both mother and baby . Dr Neeta Nargund said: "There is currently no regulation for drugs used in IVF treatment and that is both worrying and wrong".
 
 
09/10/2006
The Times
Addicts' drug helps women quit
Naltrexone, a drug used to help recovering heroin addicts could help women smokers to kick the habit, a study by Andrea King of the University of Chicago has found. Women usually find it harder to give up smoking than men according to the scientists, but the trial using naltrexone in addition to NRT and cognitive behavioural therapy, found that the drug made a big difference among women but had no identifiable effect on men.
 
 
09/10/2006
Daily Express
Found: Long lost LSD cure for drink addiction
LSD could be used to help cure alcoholism, according to Erika Dyck, a British doctor who has discovered records of research conducted over forty years ago into the drug.
 
 
09/10/2006
Daily Mirror
Hopes for prostate cancer pill
A study out yesterday claimed that a new pill could help men with advanced prostate cancer. It found that abiraterone could shrink tumours and reduce pain with few side-effects.
 
 
09/10/2006
The Times
Animal research backed by GPs
96 per cent of GPs think using animals for medical research is important in tackling illness and preventing disease. The results of a survey of doctors will be released today in a speech by Health Minister Andy Burnham, who will reinforce the Government's support for animal testing.
 
 
09/10/2006
The Guardian
'Iron chain' links smoking and poverty
According to the campaigning group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), smoking is inextricably linked to poverty, which will launch interactive maps revealing the close match between cigarette consumption and deprivation.
 
 
06/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Healthcare News
According to the health service regulator, many hospitals are achieving the target of 98 per cent of patients waiting less than four hours in casualty by “fiddling the figures”. The Healthcare Commission found that while people are spending less time waiting, some hospitals are moving patients from accident and emergency departments on to trolleys before they are admitted to a ward or room and are failing to count this extra time. As Derek Twigg announces a new welfare package for wounded soldiers, it is reported that the head of the Army, Gen Sir Mike Jackson, gave a written assurance two years ago that problems surrounding the care of wounded soldiers "had been properly dealt with". However, it has emerged this week that "failings in the military medical service" have led to "5,000 servicemen languishing on NHS waiting lists". Refresher training schemes designed to make it easier for doctors taking a career break to return to work have been scrapped, the British Medical Association confirmed. The organisation said that no money had been set aside in this year's budget, meaning that experienced GPs would find it harder to return to work when most needed.
 
 
06/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Lancet backs sex disease jabs for girls
The Lancet has said that vaccination against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer should be compulsory for European schoolgirls aged 11 and 12. There have been claims that the jabs against what is in effect a sexually transmitted infection could encourage under-age sex. The respected medical journal said that Europe should take its lead from the US state of Michigan, which passed a bill in September ruling that all 11 to 12 year old girls must be immunised.
 
 
06/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Pay donors for transplant organs, urges surgeon
A transplant surgeon, Professor Amy Friedman, will call today for the law to be changed to allow payments for donations from live donors. Ms Friedman who works at Yale University School of Medicine, argues that greater availability of organs would cut the trade in trafficking. She also says that payments would be cost-effective in the long term, reducing expensive hospital costs, particularly for kidney dialysis.
 
 
06/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Obesity leads to more caesarean births
New research has found that obese mothers-to-be are three times more likely to need caesarean section births than slimmer women study of 17,000 mothers fuels the debate on rising obesity. Virginia Beckett of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "It is very difficult to monitor the baby of very obese women. It's very hard to see whether it is coping well with the labour so we often have to resort to caesarean section". Meanwhile it is also reported that doctors have warned of a fertility crisis due to rising obesity. More than half of women attending fertility clinics are overweight but often unaware of the damage it is doing to their reproductive health.
 
 
06/10/2006
The Guardian
Exercise fails to aid fat children - study
Exercise does not stop children from getting fat, according to new research by Glasgow University which contradicts the belief that youngsters are putting on weight because they spend too much time in front of television or computer screens.
 
 
06/10/2006
The Guardian
Cancer victims facing the sack
Cancer victims face discrimination and unfair dismissal at work despite new legislation to protect them. Sufferers report bullying, sacking threats and insults, the Disability Rights Commission said yesterday. In particular women with breast cancer are being discriminated against, the Daily Mail reports. Campaigners say the findings are just the tip of the iceberg and warned that many more seriously-ill patients remain unaware of their rights.
 
 
06/10/2006
The Sun
Legion 3 taken ill
Two factory workers and a school caretaker have been struck down by Legionnaire's disease in separate outbreaks in Lancashire and Birmingham.
 
 
05/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Aspirin 'restricts tumours'
Research at the University of Newcastle Medical School has found that aspirin can help prevent the formation of blood vessels that fuel developing cancers. The new discovery could lead to the development of new cancer-fighting drugs, scientists believe. Dr Helen Arthur, who led the research said: "Aspirin seems to work against tumour formation in several ways, on of which is to restrict the blood supply".
 
 
05/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Nose spray could halt flu epidemic
A British team of scientists, led by Professor Nigel Dim mock at the University of Warwick has said that a squirt of a "protecting virus" up the nose to defend against any strain of influenza - such as the one that killed 50 million people in 1918 - is ready for testing on patients. Animal tests have shown that the novel approach can provide instant protection against flu symptoms and slows the development of an influenza infection to such an extent that the body has enough time to build up immunity.
 
 
05/10/2006
The Times
Drug lifts blindness threat for thousands
Two trials to be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine have found that Lucentis, a new treatment for age-related macular degeneration, not only halts the deterioration of sight, but also helped some patients regain vision. Patients given Lucentis did not only have the gradual deterioration of their sight halted, but even regained vision lost to the disease.
 
 
05/10/2006
The Times
Injections may cure hayfever
American scientists have claimed that a new DNA-based allergy vaccine can offer long-lasting relief to hayfever sufferers after just six injections. Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland believe that a six-injection treatment with the new vaccine, known as AIC, could offer significant improvement over traditional allergen immunotherapy, which can require several years of weekly or bi-weekly injections.
 
 
05/10/2006
Financial Times
Campaign launched to cut salt content
A group of international medical professors have launched a new campaign, World Action on Salt, which will put food companies under pressure to make further cuts in salt levels. The group, which says high blood pressure is the single biggest cause of cardiovascular disease, wants food companies to lower slat levels in all countries to which they sell.
 
 
05/10/2006
Daily Mail
Mothers unaware of deadly infection
A survey by Pregnancy and Birth magazine has said that nine in ten mothers-to-be have never heard of an infection which kills at least 75 new-born babies each year. Group B Streptococcus (GBS), which is carried by one woman in four, can infect infants in the womb or during delivery as they pass down the birth canal.
 
 
05/10/2006
The Guardian
Stem cell experts seek licence to create human-rabbit embryo
Approval is being sought by British scientists to create embryos by fusing human cells with animal eggs in controversial research which will boost stem cell science and tackle some of the most debilitating and untreatable neurological diseases. The teams are to submit simultaneous applications to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority this month, requesting licences to cerate early-stage "chimeric" embryos that will be 99.9 per cent human and 0.1 per cent rabbit or cow.
 
 
05/10/2006
The Sun
Veg warning for boys
A recent Medical Research Council study found that boys who doubled their fruit and veg intake upped the bone mineral content in their hips by six per cent. At the moment, boys aged between 14 and 18 are eating only two-and-a-half portions a day.
 
 
05/10/2006
Daily Mail
Swimming pools 'can raise hay fever risk in children'
Children who use swimming pools more than once a month may be more likely to develop hay fever when they get older, say scientists from the National Research Centre for Environment and Health in Neuherberg, Germany. They claim youngsters who visit pools regularly face a 70 percent increased risk of suffering allergies than those who rarely go swimming.
 
 
05/10/2006
The Guardian
Tea helps beat stress, researchers say
Research published today reveals that people who drank four cups of black tea a day were able to de-stress more quickly than those who drank a tea substitute. They also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol after being exposed to stressful events, scientists from University College London have found.
 
 
05/10/2006
The Independent
Yogurt modified to fend off HIV
The New Scientist has reported that scientists have engineered the Lactobacillus bacterium, found in yogurt, to give women more resistance to HIV. They found a way to insert a microbicidal gene into the bacterial chromosome, which migrates from the gut to the vagina, allowing the microbicide to work.
 
 
05/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and health sector news
Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin said yesterday that the pharmaceutical industry is undermining the NHS's efforts to control its drugs bill by using non-brand name products more widely. The respected journal said that efforts to control the £10 billion a year bill were being "seriously undermined" by a series of "plays" that can leave doctors with little choice but to prescribe more expensive brand-name equivalents. Mike Richards, the national cancer director, is to release a report today that says that the NHS has met almost all the tough cancer waiting times targets set by the government six years ago. Excluding breast cancers, the numbers treated within 62 days rose at the rate of 3 per cent a month. Today, says Professor Richards, 93.8 per cent of patients get their first treatment within 62 days of seeing a GP. Patients will face longer waiting times as 12 NHS Direct sites close and 196 jobs go, unions warned yesterday. Unison said it would mean delays in speaking to the remaining staff manning the 24-hour helplines and more pressure on local accident and emergency hospitals. David Cameron will next week call on Gordon Brown to prove his modernising credentials by backing a Conservative proposal that would finally embed the healthcare market initiated by Tony Blair. Under Mr Cameron's proposal, a statutorily independent board would be responsible for commissioning care for NHS patients. A second economic regulator would oversee competition between NHS hospitals, foundation trusts and the independent sector. And a third body would undertake resource allocation.
 
 
04/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Breast milk will not make your baby clever, mothers told
Breast-fed children are more intelligent than those given formula milk, but only because their mothers are more intelligent, according to research by the Medical Research Council's social and public health sciences unit in Glasgow. The findings turn 80 years of research into the possible connection between breast feeding and increased intelligence scores on its head, as the MRC claimed yesterday that many such studies failed to take into account the mother's own intelligence as a contributing factor. The team analysed data originating from the United States involving 3,161 mothers and 5,475 children, all of whom were followed over a 25-year period. Breast-fed babies tended to be cleverer by an average four IQ points, although when the mother's intelligence was factored in this increase was negated and "little or no effect" was registered on the intelligence scores. The research, published in British Medical Journal Online, concluded that "while breast feeding has many advantages for the child and the mother, enhancement of a child's intelligence is unlikely to be among them".
 
 
04/10/2006
The Times
Statins could beat flu epidemics
Three eminent flu researchers have written to the Times to warn that not enough is being done to assess whether statins could be used to combat a flu pandemic. Early evidence suggests that the cholesterol drugs are a potential treatment for virulent flu strains, and although the effectiveness of statins remains uncertain, the experts believe the strength of the preliminary evidence and their huge potential advantages makes further study essential. The letter was organised by David Fedson, a retired professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia, and is co-signed by Suzan Chu, editor of fluwiki.com, and Peter Dunnill, Professor of Biochemical Engineering at University College London. Mr Fedson notes in the letter that statins could prove to be a "promising candidate for therapy and prevention", and as current flu vaccine manufacturing levels are anticipated to have an annual output of just 75 million doses, Mr Fedson claims that "the public health rationale for investigating statins is compelling" due to their availability in large quantities.
 
 
04/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Pregnant girls smoke to have smaller babies, says minister
Pregnant teenagers are deliberately smoking in the hope of giving birth to smaller babies, making labour less painful, a government minister claimed yesterday. Caroline Flint, the public health minister, attested to "anecdotal evidence" she had received from both health professionals and young women, which revealed that while the message that smoking during pregnancy is damaging to a baby's health, some young girls are deliberately ignoring the advice in the hope that they might avoid the pains associated with birth. Studies have shown that smoking while pregnant accounts for between 20 and 30 per cent of low birth weight babies, and babies of smoking mothers weigh an average 200g (7oz) lighter than those of non-smoking mothers. Belinda Phipps, of the National Childbirth Trust, blamed "poor education" for the fear instilled in some young girls that allegedly causes them to take such actions.
 
 
04/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
Brittle-bone drugs ban on under-75s
Drugs to prevent the brittle-bone disease that affects three million people in Britain should not be made available to women under the age of 75, according to draft recommendations from Nice, the treatment rationing organisation, announced yesterday. Rulings by the authority on six drugs used in the treatment of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women were criticised as "terrible" and "unacceptable" by campaigners, while the National Osteoporosis Society claimed the recommendations could be interpreted as Nice "saying it's not worth trying to prevent broken bones in women below the age of 75". Professor Peter Littlejohns, the clinical and public health director of Nice, reacted to the criticism by declaring: "It is important that clinicians are aware of the most appropriate and cost-effective drugs to prescribe."
 
 
04/10/2006
Daily Mail
The nasal spray that protects you against bird flu
A nasal spray that protects against all the deadliest forms of flu could be only five years away, according to researchers at the University of Warwick. In animal tests, the spray has been found to successfully combat all types of influenza including the H5N1 bird flu strain, and could provide effective protection for up to six weeks with just a single drop up the nose. The man leading the research team, Professor Nigel Dimmock, is "incredibly optimistic" that the spray will provide strong data when tested on humans, although he warns there are "no guarantees". The treatment focuses on a form of flu virus that lacks key genetic material and is therefore unable to harm the body and reproduce, but which, when combined with other flu viruses, reproduces much faster than normal influenza strains.
 
 
04/10/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that David Cameron will today promise to make the NHS his main priority in government. The Conservative Party leader will steal a march on Gordon Brown by telling voters that the NHS will never have its funding cut if the party returns to power, and will offer to guarantee real-term spending increases year on year for as long as he remains in office. Elsewhere, Harry Cayton, the national director for patients and the public, has criticised the culture of ageism in the NHS, and has called for doctors and health managers to be banned from referring to elderly patients in demeaning terms, such as ‘crumblies’ or ‘bed-blockers’. Finally, Aneez Esmail, a professor of general practice at the University of Manchester, has declared that the system for rewarding NHS consultants with extra money for individual achievements is unfair and discriminatory.
 
 
03/10/2006
Financial Times
HIV infections in EU rise nearly 40%
According to health statistics released yesterday, the number of new HIV infections within the European Union has risen by nearly 40 per cent in the past five years and nearly a third of those who are HIV positive do not know it. It was also shown that Britain has one of the most promiscuous attitudes towards sex in Europe and is among the least aware of Aids. According to the survey, more than half of the Britons polled did not use extra protection to avoid HIV and 22 per cent thought that Aids could be caught by kissing. The figures were released at a two-day meeting of public health experts at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm, where attempts are being made to formulate a strategy on Aids. The director of the ECDC, Zsuzsanna Jakab, expressed concern over the need to tackle the estimate 30 per cent of European Union citizens with HIV who were not aware of their status.
 
 
03/10/2006
Financial Times
Short shrift for depression drugs
Health experts have found that just one out of 13 drugs recommended by health shops to tackle depression actually has sound scientific backing. A study published yesterday found that St John's Wort is the only alternative medicine proven to have an effect, while others such as ginseng, liquid tonic, cat's claw and royal jelly have no firm evidence base and "have potentially serious drug interactions". The tests were carried out by Joyce Reed, of St James's University Hospital in Leeds, and Peter Trigwell, of Leeds General Infirmary, and will be published in the Psychiatric Bulletin, from the Royal College of Psychiatrics. Staff at 10 health food shops within three miles of Leeds city centre were questioned over treatments for mild to moderate depression.
 
 
03/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
3D images of foetal actions 'misleading'
Images of a 12-week foetus in the womb sucking its thumb and moving its legs as if walking, which were published three years ago, were dangerously misleading, scientists declared yesterday. The debate surrounding the age at which unborn babies can feel - which currently determines the abortion limit - was reignited after 4D scans pioneered by Dr Stuart Campbell at King's College, London showed the unborn babies can stretch, kick and leap from around 12 weeks. Anti-abortion lobby groups used the images to campaign against the 24-week abortion limit, but three neonatal experts yesterday warned that, despite the "fantastic" nature of the scans, they provided no fresh or conclusive evidence that might justify the lowering of the limit.
 
 
03/10/2006
Daily Mail
Early test for lung cancer
French scientists are developing a blood test to detect lung cancer before patients develop life-threatening symptoms. A team led by Dr William Jacot, of the Hospital Arnaud de Villeneuve in Montpellier, conducted a trial involving 170 people and showed that the new test could detect 85 per cent of the patients who either had lung cancer or other lung diseases. The test works by detecting protein signatures produced by cancer cells in the blood, and has been welcomed by cancer experts who attested to it potential "incredible impact" if the effectiveness of the test was proven. The research was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Conference in Istanbul.
 
 
03/10/2006
The Guardian
Virulent TB strain that targets specific ethnic groups identified
A super-virulent strain of tuberculosis that targets a specific ethnic group has been identified by scientists, who believe that new treatments may be needed to combat the spread of the disease. Research by scientists led by Mike Barer, a clinical microbiologist at Leicester University, and a team at Imperial College, London, showed that a mutation of the CH strain can weaken the immune system of those it infects. During work on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the scientists demonstrated how the strain spreads preferentially through people originating from the Indian subcontinent and is one of six that transmits more easily via different ethnic groups.
 
 
03/10/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector, on what is a quiet day for related news, leads with the revelation that a plan to close most of the NHS' blood testing and processing laboratories and lay off hundreds of public service technicians is to be announced next month.
 
 
02/10/2006
The Guardian
Flu jabs timetable hit by vaccine delay
Doctors are expected to ration this year's flu jabs for the next two months because of a delay in supplying vaccines after a glitch at laboratories earlier in the year. High-risk groups including the elderly and those with respiratory conditions will be prioritised more rigorously than usual until medical suppliers catch up with the government's order for 15.2 million doses, probably in late December. The Department of Health announced that doctors are having to compile lists of priority patients and may be asked to share supplies with other surgeries. A number of supermarkets yesterday announced that they would be stepping in to plug the gap in supply of flu vaccines this winter.
 
 
02/10/2006
The Guardian
Antibiotic holds out hope of new cancer treatment
A little-known antibiotic shows promise as an anti-cancer treatment, according to research published yesterday. Siomycin A inhibits a cancer gene found to be overactive in most human tumours, without damaging normal cells. Andrei Gartel, who led the research carried out at the University of Illinois, in Chicago, declared the discovery of siomycin's anti-cancer properties to be "promising" because it is not toxic. Experiments on tissue cells showed the drug induced a form of suicide in cancer cells, although Gartel acknowledged the need for further laboratory tests and tests on animals before human trials can be planned.
 
 
02/10/2006
The Times
Athletes on steroids put brain at risk
Taking body-building steroids could cause a 'catastrophic loss of brain cells,' according to scientists from Yale School of Medicine. Researchers there believe the discovery may account for some of the other known side-effects of steroid use, such as heightened aggression. Large doses of steroids are known to boost levels of testosterone and cause a condition known as hyperexcitability, characterised by aggression and suicidal tendencies. A team led by Professor Barbara Ehrlich exposed cultured nerve cells to testosterone to test the theory, and found that high levels of the hormone triggered programmed cell death, or apoptosis - a natural process that clears away damaged cells.
 
 
02/10/2006
The Times
Gene identified that triggers skin cancers
A genetic trigger that sets off up to one in five of the most deadly skin cancers has been identified by scientists, promising new ways of treating a disease that kills almost 2,000 people in Britain each year. Research at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, published in the journal Cancer Research, has indicated that between 15 and 20 per cent of malignant melanomas are stimulated by a damaged version of a gene known as RAS. The condition is the most serious form of skin cancer, accounting for around 10 per cent of all cases, and can be hard to treat if not detected sufficiently early. Over 8,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
 
 
02/10/2006
The Times
Pointing to age
A study by the Twin Research and Epidemiology Unit at St Thomas' Hospital, London has indicated that arthritic fingers may be a sign of accelerated ageing. X-rays of the hands and DNA from blood samples of nearly 1,100 volunteers aged between 30 and 79 indicated that a genetic marker for biological ageing was more pronounced in volunteers with osteoarthritis in their fingers. The research was led by Professor Tim Spector and focused on lengths of DNA called telomeres, the shortening of which is thought to be linked to diseases of old age such as cancer. The findings are to be published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
 
 
02/10/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that an NHS trust has confirmed that a "hypervirulent" strain of the superbug Clostridium difficile has caused or contributed to the deaths of at least 49 people at three hospitals in Leicester in eight months. Elsewhere, plans are being finalised for the first "take over" of a National Health Service hospital, a move which has been interpreted as an indication of the adoption of market disciplines into the NHS. Finally, Britain's most senior surgeon has warned that millions of pounds that should be spent on training junior doctors, nurses and midwives are being withheld in a bid to meet the NHS' financial deficit.
 
 
29/09/2006
Daily Mail
Breast cancer cases rise 80% in thirty years
Cancer Registrations, the annual statistical report issued by the Office for National Statistics, has revealed that breast cancer rates have risen by 80% since the 1970s. In 2004 there were 36,939 cases in England alone, almost twice as many as 30 years ago. Improved nutrition, the Pill and delaying childbirth are all thought to contribute to an increased risk of contracting the disease. In 2004, 120 of every 100,000 of the population contracted breast cancer, up from 66.9 in 1971. One breast cancer charity warned that within a decade the number of women diagnosed with the disease each year will top 50,000 - 13,000 more than were suffering the illness in 2004. Last night experts said the increase was mainly caused by the fact there are now more women reaching their 50s and 60s, the key age at which the disease strikes.
 
 
29/09/2006
Daily Express
Diabetes timebomb as cases rocket by 100,000
Statistics from the Information Centre for Health and Social Care have revealed that 100,000 new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in only one year, with almost 2 million people in England now suffering from the disease. The total number of cases of diabetes in England rose from 1,766,391 in 2004/05 to 1,890,663 in 2005/06. Much of the increase may have been caused by better diagnosis on the part of doctors, but the obesity epidemic could also be to blame for the rise.
 
 
29/09/2006
The Times
Mothers who gain weight face risks in pregnancy
The results of a study published in the Lancet suggest that mothers who gain weight after having their first baby risk serious complications if they become pregnant for a second time. The study involving women in Sweden found that even women who were not overweight but gained a small amount of weight after their first birth were at risk. A gain of just one or two BMI units after their first birth increased the risk of pregnancy-linked diabetes, high blood pressure, or high birthweight babies by an average of 20 to 40 per cent.
 
 
29/09/2006
The Times
Confidence in MMR 'returning'
New figures released yesterday by the NHS show that confidence in the MMR vaccine is returning, with about 84% of two-year-olds having the injection in 2005-6, up from 81% in 2004-05. However, this figure is still short of the World Health Organisation's recommended 95%.
 
 
29/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Best cure for tennis elbow? Nothing
According to the latest research, tennis elbow, a common and painful condition affecting millions of adults, is best treated by physiotherapy. Corticosteroid injections that give early relief from pain and restricted movement proved, over a year, to be the least effective of the three treatments that were compared in the study. A total of 198 people aged between 18 and 65 were studied for the research.
 
 
29/09/2006
The Times
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's papers, it is reported that US consultancy firm Computer Sciences Corporation has taken over as the largest regional contractor on the NHS's troubled £6.2bn IT overhaul after rival group Accenture yesterday exited two 10-year contracts with the health service worth £2bn. Separately, a public interest report by Julian Rickett of PricewaterhouseCoopers has said that Ipswich Hospital NHS trust had forecast a deficit of £4.2 million for 2005-06, after deficits of £1.4 million and £6.4 million in the two previous years, and has no chance of recovering its accumulated deficit by the end of the year. Meanwhile, new data published yesterday showed GPs to be improving the quality of their services, but they still preferred to deal with more affluent patients. The data came from the points based Quality and Outcomes Framework system and a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. The Guardian reports that Health inspectors criticise the NHS in England in a report today for failure to provide talking therapy for the mentally ill as an alternative to medication. The Daily Express contains the news that a coroner has criticised Tameside General Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, for offering "despicable" and chaotic treatment after four elderly patients died in painful and degrading circumstances.
 
 
28/09/2006
Daily Mail
Ibuprofen in safety check over heart attack risks
The safety of ibuprofen and other common painkillers is to be investigated after studies found that they may raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The safety of the drugs is to be reviewed by the European Medicines Agency following a recommendation last year by a committee that changes should be made to the way that everyday drugs are prescribed, to ensure consistency across the EU. In June, studies showed that ibuprofen and diclofenac could almost double the risk of heart problems if taken in high doses.
 
 
28/09/2006
The Independent
Doctors hail lung cancer breakthrough
An experimental drug that extends the lives of lung cancer patients by a third has impressed doctors, who say that it is one of the first signs of progress against the disease. The new drug can extend life expectancy by more than 50 per cent, research in New Zealand shows. Patients using the experimental AS1404 lived an average of 14 months compared with 8.8 months for those given chemotherapy alone. The vascular disrupting agent was developed by UK biotechnology company Antisona, with backing from Cancer Research UK.
 
 
28/09/2006
Daily Express
Heavy industry link to cancer
Living close to heavy industry could double the risk of lung cancer , according to a study published today. Researchers compared 204 women suffering primary lung cancer with 339 healthy women in Teesside. Women living within 5km of sites such as chemical plants for more than 25 years were more than twice as likely to get lung cancer as those living farther away.
 
 
28/09/2006
The Times
Scientists find a dirty way to fight hay fever
Allergies could soon be treated using new drugs that trick the immune system into thinking that it is under attack, as Cytos Biotechnology has developed an experimental drug that makes the immune system think that it is under threat from a germ called mycobacteria, found in dirt. Early results suggest a benefit for hay fever. The injection, which wipes out all symptoms including sneezes and itchy eyes, has been developed by scientists in Switzerland.
 
 
28/09/2006
The Times
Babies' bowel risk
Babies born weighing less than 3.3lb are twice as likely to develop irritable bowel syndrome, experts from Norway have said in a study published online in the journal Gut, in which researchers from the University of Oslo and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health questioned more than 3,000 pairs of twins.
 
 
28/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's papers, it is reported that Accenture, the biggest and most successful regional contractor working on the NHS 's troubled £6.2bn IT overhaul, is poised to pull out of the project. This will be a body blow for the NHS as Accenture has been responsible for deploying more than 80% of the systems installed so far by the four lead contractors under the National Programme for IT. Separately, Gordon Brown clashed with unions yesterday as they defeated one of the main pillars of the Government's health service policy - the use of the private sector to provide treatment on the NHS. The public service union Unison has condemned the breakneck speed of change in the NHS and the outsourcing of some services.
 
 
27/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Acne drug death link
In what is a quiet day for health news, the Daily Telegraph reports that a drug prescribed for a teenage girl's acne contributed to her death, an inquest was told yesterday. Jodie Mettrick had been prescribed the acne-reducing drug Dianette, which raised the risk of her blood clotting, leading to deep-vein thrombosis. An independent study into her death reported that she had flu at the time, and ‘this led to dehydration, which can cause the blood to become stickier, and therefore more likely to clot’. She had been using the drug for two months after it was prescribed by her GP.
 
 
27/09/2006
The Independent
Pesticide residues found in nearly a third of Britain's food and drink
Nearly a third of food and drink products tested by a government watchdog body last year contained traces of pesticides, and in 1.7 per cent of cases the chemical residues exceeded maximum legal limits. The annual report of the Pesticide Residue Committee has revealed that a further 30.2% of the 3,787 items surveyed had pesticide traces within those limits. In 2004 only 1.09% of the samples contained traces above the statutory limits. The rise has been attributed to more imported exotic fruit and vegetables being tested.
 
 
27/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's newspapers it is reported that more than a third of doctors believe the Government has left them unprepared for a bird flu outbreak. And more than half said they have not received any information on how to deal with a flu pandemic, a survey revealed yesterday. Of the 44 per cent who had been given information, just ten per cent said it was very useful. When it came to their own levels of preparation, only 22 per cent of doctors believed they were very well or moderately well prepared, while 37 per cent said they were badly or very badly prepared. In other news it is reported that The Healthcare Commission is to investigate how Maidstone Hospital in Kent handled an outbreak of Clostridium difficile that affected 136 patients, killing six and contributing to the deaths of fourteen others. The Daily Telegraph reports that a survey by the Royal College of Nursing and Bowel Cancer UK of 460 gastroenterology nurses found that nearly half said that either their own job or that of a colleague had been downgraded, frozen when vacant or subject to redundancy. The Times reports that a postcode lottery that denied thousands of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients MabThera, an effective "smart" drug, was scrapped yesterday, with all NHS patients in England and Wales with late-stage follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) now entitled to the treatment.
 
 
26/09/2006
The Times
Bar to quitting
A study of more than 1,500 men and women aged 18 to 30, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, has suggested that smokers may find it harder to give up tobacco if they smoke menthol cigarettes. Studies have revealed that smokers of menthol cigarettes are nearly twice as likely to relapse as smokers of ordinary cigarettes and are also less likely to try giving up in the first place. Menthol cigarettes are as harmful to health as conventional cigarettes, and in Britain, 6.3% of people who smoke opt for menthol cigarettes, but their appeal is not restricted to any particular group.
 
 
26/09/2006
Daily Mail
When the blues arrive before baby
Research suggests that up to one in ten expectant mothers can suffer 'ante-natal depression'. Experts say the problem can be triggered by the stress of combining a busy working life with pregnancy. Research by the baby charity Tommy’s found that in a poll of 1,000 women, three in five were surprised by the intensity of their emotions during pregnancy and more than half needed more reassurance than they would have anticipated.
 
 
26/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Mammogram computer 'cuts the time and cost of checks'
The combination of computer-aided detection (CAD) and one expert has proved as good at reading breast X-rays as two experts, and cuts the time by nearly half, according to a trial by Cancer Research UK. As part of the study, 10,000 mammograms which had previously been read by two radiologists were read again by the new computer programme. The study revealed that computer-aided detection was sometimes better than human reading of mammograms.
 
 
26/09/2006
Daily Express
How you can stop spread of common ailments
A survey of 1,000 mothers has found a lack of awareness of childhood conditions which have been around for generations. Ailments such as scabies are much more common than many parents realise but there is an unwillingness to discuss them because they are wrongly associated with poor hygiene and carry a stigma.
 
 
26/09/2006
Daily Mail
Yearly jab for osteoporosis
A bone-building drug that needs to be taken only once a year could transform treatment for thousands of women with osteoporosis. Aclasta is in the final stages of clinical trials involving 13,000 women, and initial results suggest it is just as safe and effective as drugs currently taken daily or weekly.
 
 
26/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's papers, it is reported that the British Medical Association said yesterday that a controversial scheme for training doctors, Modernising Medical Careers, should be delayed for at least a year in order to ensure that 10,000 young doctors are not left without training places. Half of new doctors have said they were prepared to go abroad if they could not get a career grade job, according to a survey last month by the BMA. Separately, a Norwich Union Healthcare survey of GPs has discovered that almost half of them avoid talking about obesity with overweight patients to spare their feelings.
 
 
25/09/2006
The Times
Drug that transforms lives of sick children 'too costly'
Health experts have expressed their concern that Shire Pharmaceuticals' new Elaprase treatment for Hunter Syndrome, a rare genetic condition which currently affects no more than 100 children in the United Kingdom, will be judged too expensive for the National Health Service. The fatal disease, which is suffered almost exclusively by boys, is caused by a defective gene that is unable to break down the sugars produced as waste products produced by the body. The compounds, called mucopolysaccharides, cause worsening physical and mental health problems. The new drug, which is given by infusion but is not an outright cure for the condition, allows Hunter patients improved breathing and movement. However the cost of at least £100,000 a year for each child, and as much as £300,000 for adult patients who require larger doses, may prove to be the deciding factor in whether or not to approve the drug. Elaprase is already licensed for use in the United States and is expected to be ratified in Europe by the end of the year.
 
 
25/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Depression in pregnancy may be more common than after the birth
Postnatal depression has long been recognised as a debilitating illness, but thousands of women become depressed during pregnancy too. Research by Tommy's, the babies charity, suggests that antenatal depression may be more common than depression after the baby is born, but there is little treatment for it. Annette Briley, a representative of the charity, declared that "antenatal depression is a much bigger problem than people think". A study published recently in the British Medical Journal was conducted by Dr Jonathan Evans of the University of Bristol, and found that of 9,000 pregnant women nearly 12 per cent were depressed at 18 weeks, rising to 13.5 per cent at 32 weeks. Depression rates dropped to 9.1 per cent at eight weeks after birth, and 8.1 per cent at eight months.
 
 
25/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Stem-cell transplants could end age-related blindness
Scientists have asserted that the most common cause of blindness in old age could one day be reversed with cell transplants into the eye. Researchers led by Robert Lanza and Irina Klimanskaya of Advanced Cell Technology, Massachusetts, have improved vision in rats suffering from a disease similar to age-related macular degeneration using embryonic stem cells. The team grew retinal pigment epithelium from human embryonic stem cell lines cultured in the laboratory, and found that sight which would normally be lost was successfully recovered. The findings will be published in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells.
 
 
25/09/2006
Daily Express
Spinach saves your eyesight
Scientists at Manchester University are preparing to test their theory that spinach may protect people from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - the most common cause of blindness. The research team, led by Dr Ian Murray, will ask a selection of AMD patients to partake of a diet rich in spinach, kale, sweetcorn and broccoli, all foods rich in lutein, a chemical which, combined with zeaxanthin, forms macular pigment in the centre of the retina. The oily, yellow pigment is thought to protect the macula from AMD, and it is hoped that a large intake of lutein will help slow the degenerative process. Age-related macular degeneration affects 12 per cent of men in the United Kingdom and 29 per cent of women over the age of 75.
 
 
25/09/2006
Daily Mirror
'Obese die of diabetes'
Obesity only increases the risk of early death when patients develop diabetes, researchers declared yesterday. After studying 15,408 patients, a team at the University of Kentucky claimed obese people had the same risk of death as people of normal weight. But diabetes trebles the risk of patients dying young. Diabetes UK warned that 80 per cent of type-2 diabetes patients are overweight.
 
 
25/09/2006
Daily Mail
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that Tony Blair and Patricia Hewitt yesterday refused to endorse Gordon Brown's plan for the Health Service to be run by a Bank of England-style independent board. Elsewhere, ministers are braced for trouble this week at the hands of trade union opponents to private sector involvement in the National Health Service. NHS Logistics’ duties are due to be handed over to DHL at the end of the month.
 
 
22/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Lack of senior doctors puts up caesarean rate
Many emergency caesarean sections could be avoided if more experienced doctors were present during the final stages of labour, senior obstetricians will declare today. Chris Spencer, Deirdre Murphy and Susan Bewley, writing in the British Medical Journal, have argued that many more women could give birth naturally if the lack of skilled obstetricians experienced in managing difficult vaginal births was addressed. The Royal College of Obstetricians announced last year that the proportion of graduates in the United Kingdom choosing obstetrics had halved in a decade, while the caesarean rate climbed from less than three per cent in the 1950s to 22.9 per cent in 2004-05. Of those, almost 14 per cent were classified as emergency procedures.
 
 
22/09/2006
The Guardian
Patients are told bone grafts could have come from stolen US cadavers
Dozens of patients around the country were yesterday being told by their doctors that their bone grafts could have come from cadavers stolen in the United States. Bone and tissue supplied by Biomedical Tissue Services in New Jersey has been recalled amid an investigation by the United States authorities into an alleged bodysnatching ring. More than 1,000 diseased bodies were stolen from funeral parlours by a mafia gang and sold for use in bone grafts, with the fear now that British patients could have been exposed to HIV or syphilis. Some 25 hospitals in the United Kingdom have known that they unwittingly used bone grafts which may have come from stolen cadavers since last October, when they were informed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA).
 
 
22/09/2006
The Independent
Aids discoverer finds new hope of cure after trials of vaccine
The scientist who discovered the Aids virus more than 20 years ago announced yesterday that he has developed a potential vaccine against the disease that has killed 25 million people around the globe. Professor Robert Gallo, director of the Human Institute for Human Virology at the University of Maryland, declared that his team had created antibodies that worked against different HIV strains, essential if a vaccine is to provide effective protection but thus far an unattainable goal. The candidate vaccine was tested on four monkeys, for their similarity to man, and will now be trialled on a further 12 monkeys.
 
 
22/09/2006
Financial Times
Brain food in a wineglass
According to a new study by Mount Sinai School of Medicine, moderate red wine consumption in the form of Cabernet Sauvignon may help reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study used mice with AD-type neuropathology to explore the effects of moderate consumption of the wine on cognitive deterioration. A concentration of approximately 6 per cent ethanol was delivered to the subjects and the findings noted that AD-type deterioration of spatial memory function and neuropathology was "significantly reduced". The study will be published in the Federation of American Scholars for Experimental Biology Journal next month.
 
 
22/09/2006
The Sun
IVF revolution
Women desperate for a baby have been given new hope with an IVF technique that doubles their chances of conception. Scientists at the private CARE Fertility Centre in Nottingham, led by fertility expert Dr Simon Fishel, are to test the revolutionary method in a secret trial involving 50 women under the age of 39. The procedure garnered positive feedback during a trial in the United States, where sixty per cent of women got pregnant using the method - twice the success rate of normal IVF.
 
 
22/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector news
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the biggest strike in the health service for nearly 20 years began last night at depots across England, where Unison, the public service union, is fighting a government decision to privatise NHS Logistics, the hospital supply agency. Unison yesterday dropped its application for a judicial review of the government's decision to transfer much of the NHS' supplies and delivery business to DHL, the German-owned freight company. Elsewhere, the Conservative Party has declared that the NHS will have lost around five per cent of its bed capacity over three years by 2007. Hospitals closed more than 2,400 beds in 2004-5 when health authorities first began to feel the strain on their budgets.
 
 
21/09/2006
The Guardian
Smokers unaware of lung disease
According to the first large-scale study into the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), published today, only 18.8 per cent of sufferers have had their condition diagnosed and nearly half of those (46 per cent) in the severest stages of the illness know they have it. Researchers at Cancer Research UK investigated the saliva and lung function test findings from 8,215 people aged over 35, and asked them if they had ever been diagnosed with the condition or with asthma, for which it is frequently mistaken. The findings, published in the journal Thorax, found that 30 per cent of sufferers smoked, and 35 per cent were former smokers. The lack of diagnosis of COPD will be a concern to smokers since it is possible to halt the progression of the condition with sufficiently early diagnosis and the cessation of smoking.
 
 
21/09/2006
Daily Express
Natural fake tan can halt cancer in fair skin
It has been suggested that a cream made from mint plants could make the body produce a natural tan and boost fair-skinned people's protection against skin cancer. Scientists at a cancer centre in Kentucky discovered that an extract from the root of the coleus forskohlii plant, a mint plant grown in the Himalayan foothills, can mimic the effect of a protein found in skin cells and may increase the skin's ability to avert ultra-violet damage. Tests on mice bred for their fair-skin found that the cream could trigger a natural tan after just two courses of treatment. If no-side effects are found, experts are predicting the treatment may be on sale within five years.
 
 
21/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
'Shadow' sheds light on schizophrenia
Doctors investigating the effects of schizophrenia have been surprised by the findings of a study which identified an area of the brain which, when electronically stimulated, gave a 22-year-old patient the sensation that her every movement was being mimicked by a male shadow. Professor Olaf Blanke, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, explains the findings in an article published today in the journal Nature. The experiment involved stimulating an area of the brain called the left temporoparietal junction, situated an inch behind and above the left ear, which led to the woman complaining that the 'shadow' was attempting to interfere with her actions.
 
 
21/09/2006
The Sun
Clue on eczema
Eczema sufferers were given hope of a cure yesterday as British scientists revealed they have found a faulty gene which causes the skin condition. Scientists at York University identified a gene which protects the skin by retaining water, and which was found to be defective during research. People with eczema have dry and flaky skin due to this genetic fault. Margaret Cox, of the National Eczema Society, declared that the findings provided hope of a cure and was "a real step forward" for the study of eczema.
 
 
21/09/2006
The Sun
Air stroke alert
High pollution levels can dramatically increase the risk of suffering a stroke, according to research from Dr Shin Yamazaki, of Kyoto University, Japan. His team studied stroke death statistics in 13 cities and found that mortality rates doubled when levels of pollution were high in the two hours before. Dr Yamazaki blamed the effects of inhaled particles on blood pressure, calling for the hourly monitoring of air pollution levels in cities as a means of preventing stroke deaths.
 
 
21/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that the government has been accused of fiddling its finances after admitting that the ballooning debts of the National Health Service will be left off Gordon Brown's balance sheet. A much heralded announcement from the Office of National Statistics re-categorising billions of pounds of liabilities under the private finance initiative was found to have omitted hospital contracts in England and Wales. Elsewhere, it has been found that NHS dentists who own their own practices earned an average of £105,300 a year in 2004-05, according to data released yesterday. The figures indicate, however, that private work forms a higher proportion of their total income than before, as the drift away from NHS dentistry gathers pace.
 
 
20/09/2006
Financial Times
Novartis upbeat on landmark eye drug
Novartis yesterday predicted that a breakthrough new eye treatment would trigger sharply rising sales and profits growth at its ophthalmics subsidiary. The forecast came in spite of the fact that the new drug, Lucentis, will one of the most expensive available and may even be substitutable more cheaply by another member of the same family of medications. The treatment has been billed as setting "new standards in treating age-related wet macular degeneration (AMD), an increasingly common condition leading to deteriorating vision and, potentially, blindness. Lucentis uses a mechanism to prevent the formation of abnormal blood vessels in the eye, and could be used against other conditions involving vascular abnormalities, including some diabetes-related disorders.
 
 
20/09/2006
The Times
More patients getting cancer drugs
The use of cancer drugs in England has grown rapidly, and there is less evidence of "postcode prescribing", according to a new study. The figures, to be announced today by Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, show great changes in prescribing over quite a short period, between the second half of 2003 and the first half of 2005. After criticism from charities and pharmaceutical firms that cancer drugs were not being used widely enough to make a difference, even after being approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Professor Richards chose to investigate the prescription of drugs such as rituximab, temozolomide and others. The findings will be announced during a speech at a Health Service Journal conference.
 
 
20/09/2006
Daily Express
Now oily fish can limit cancer risk
A diet rich in oily fish can dramatically reduce the risk of kidney cancer in women, according to new research from scientists in Sweden. A study at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, led by Alicja Wolk, analysed the diets of 61,433 women aged between 40 and 76 years, all of whom had been diagnosed with a type of tumour that causes 80 per cent of kidney cancer. Researchers found that those who had eaten at least 150g of oily fish a week had a 44 per cent lower chance of developing the disease than those who did not. The news comes as a panel of GPs, nutritionists and scientists warn that shoppers risk being shortchanged by products fortified with 'insignificant' amounts of the omega 3 oils, which are commonly found naturally in oily fish.
 
 
20/09/2006
The Guardian
Vitamin may combat pain in multiple sclerosis
Scientists will claim today that vitamin B3 may protect people with multiple sclerosis from debilitating nerve damage. Tests published in the Journal of Neuroscience revealed that mice with an MS-like disease experienced less weakness and paralysis if they received regular injections of nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3. Shinjiro Kaneko, the project's lead researcher at Children's Hospital Boston, in Massachusetts, believes the chemical protects against progressive nerve damage, which can cause pain, fatigue and behavioural changes.
 
 
20/09/2006
The Guardian
Sweet tooth of mosquito could help fight malaria
It has been suggested by scientists at Jerusalem's Hebrew University that mosquitoes' thirst for sugar could help kill them and eradicate the malaria they spread. Yosef Schlein and Gunter Muller wiped out virtually the entire mosquito population of an oasis by spraying a sugar solution mixed with insecticide on acacia trees. They believe that the planting of mosquito-attracting "floral centres" could provide a cheap way of killing the pests.
 
 
20/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that in a speech in London to the Institute of Public Policy Research, health secretary Patricia Hewitt has claimed patients, primary care trusts and family doctors will decide the extent of private sector involvement in the National Health Service. Ms Hewitt also admitted yesterday that the extra billions of pounds invested in the NHS have failed to make much difference to patients.
 
 
19/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Scientists link acne drug to depression
A link between an acne drug and depression has been shown for the first time, scientists revealed yesterday. Since Roaccutane was introduced in the early 1980s several studies have suggested that suicides and attempted suicides have been caused by mood swings in patients taking the medication. Roche, the manufacturer, added a warning to its packaging in 1988 that patients should tell their doctors if they had a history of depression. Dr Sarah Bailey, of Bath University, and colleagues at the University of Texas showed that mice given the drug exhibited more depressive behaviour than those not given it. Her study, published in this month's Neuropsychopharmacology journal, asserts: "Establishing a link between the active molecules in the drug and a change in depression-related behaviour, albeit in mice, is an important step in our understanding of the drug's effects in the wider context of brain function."
 
 
19/09/2006
The Times
Pregnant women ignore advice and keep drinking
Thousands of women are putting their babies at risk of permanent brain damage by drinking more than the recommended level of alcohol during their pregnancy. A study conducted by the children's charity Tommy's showed that one in 20 pregnant women admitted to regularly exceeding the recommended limit of one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week. The charity interviewed 1,100 pregnant women during the course of the study, and is now urging the government to follow the example of countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in recommending that pregnant women abstain from alcohol completely.
 
 
19/09/2006
The Guardian
Blood test developed to detect risk of genetic disorder in foetus
Doctors have developed a non-invasive test that can help determine if a foetus is at risk of genetic disorders six weeks into the pregnancy. Non-invasive pre-natal diagnosis, a blood test which determines the foetus' sex, halves the need for further invasive procedures which can precipitate miscarriages in up to one in 50 pregnancies. The test involves work on small amounts of "free foetal DNA", which makes up around 5 per cent of the mother's DNA in her blood during the early stages of pregnancy, and was headed by Dr Lyn Chitty of the Institute of Child Health and University College London.
 
 
19/09/2006
The Guardian
Pressures making teenage life a misery, warns charity
Britain's teenagers are afflicted by an epidemic of depression and self-harm, a leading children's charity warned yesterday at the start of a two-year inquiry into whether the pressures of modern living are sullying the experience of childhood. The Children's Society released the preliminary findings of a study which showed that 58 per cent of young people are worried about exams and one in 10 have diagnosable mental health problems. Bob Reitemeier, the chief executive of the charity, declared: "There is clearly a mood in the UK that as a society we have got some important things wrong about childhood."
 
 
19/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Penis in 'successful transplant' is removed
A man who had the world's first successful penis transplant has had to have the organ removed two weeks later because of a severe psychological problem of the recipient and his wife. Surgeons at Guangzhou General Hospital, in China, spent 15 hours attaching a 4in organ taken from a brain-dead 22-year-old man after his parents agreed. However, in next month's issue of the journal European Urology, they will announce that they had to remove the organ despite the success of the procedure, which allowed the recipient the ability to sustain an erection immediately after the operation.
 
 
19/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Industry News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that hospitals have been hit by more than 110 large-scale incidents affecting their information technology systems over the past four months. The new £12 billion NHS computer system, which holds the records of 50 million patients, is already three years behind schedule. Elsewhere, union leaders have called a second strike at a key NHS department to coincide with a health debate at Labour's conference next Tuesday. Unison has already announced a 24-hour walkout on Thursday in protest at the privatisation of NHS Logistics. Finally, it has emerged that patients are having to wait longer than ever for NHS hearing aids, according to a new study. The survey reveals it takes up to five years to swap old-fashioned analogue aids for the latest digital devices.
 
 
18/09/2006
Daily Express
Stressed-out Britons are running low on vitamins
A survey by Boots Health Club has revealed that millions of Britons are starving themselves of vitamins and minerals that are vital for a healthy life. The study compared the intake of vitamins and minerals with the recommended daily target for people based on their age and sex. In total, 30 studies and surveys between 1993 and 2005 were reviewed, all involving UK youngsters and adults. At least seven vitamins including vitamin C and calcium are not being taken in sufficient amounts, and 96% of women are not taking enough iron, which helps prevent anaemia.
 
 
18/09/2006
Daily Mirror
Shift workers four times more likely to get prostate cancer
Japanese researchers have revealed that people who work rotating shifts which disturb sleep patterns are four times more likely to develop prostate cancer, with night shift workers at the most risk. The study of more than 14,000 people has given scientists reason to believe that a key to the problem may be a reduced secretion of the hormone melatonin, which the body uses to induce sleep. The hormone is known to stop cancer developing.
 
 
18/09/2006
The Guardian
'Chameleon' swab will detect bugs with a wipe
A napkin that changes colour to identify bugs is being developed. The paper towel is embedded with fibres containing antibodies that latch on to bacteria or viruses. The swab could be used in meat plants, cruise ships, aircraft, and hospitals, say researchers.
 
 
18/09/2006
The Sun
NHS and health sector news
The Sun reports that doctors yesterday backed plans to axe up to 60 hospital departments. Leaders of the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians said controversial nationwide cuts were crucial to protect patients. Casualty departments, maternity units and children centres in smaller hospitals all face closure as the NHS battles a £512million deficit. Separately, patients wait up to five years for their old hearing aids to be upgraded on the NHS, a report revealed yesterday. The British Society of Aid Audiologists said that the delays were due to the replacement of analogue units with digital devices. Meanwhile, The Independent reports that the Health Secretary has said there should be no limit to the involvement of the private sector in the NHS. Her remarks risk exacerbating a threatened strike by health unions angry over the award of a contract for the delivery of hospital supplies to the private firm, DHL .
 
 
16/09/2006
The Guardian
Pill can fend off risk of diabetes, say scientists
At the end of a three-year trial, an international team of researchers announced that giving people at high risk of diabetes a pill called rosiglitazone, marketed under the brand name Avandia by the British company GlaxoSmithKline, along with advice on diet and exercise, can prevent two-thirds of them developing diabetes. The drug, which makes the body use insulin more effectively, cuts the risk of type 2 diabetes by 62 per cent, a study by Canadian researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario found. The findings open a whole new market for the drug, estimated to be worth as much as £7.5bn. But analysts warn the extra sales will be modest in the short term.
 
 
16/09/2006
Daily Mail
The gas in cigarette smoke 'that could save a pregnancy'
Carbon monoxide could help control a life-threatening condition, pre-eclampsia, in pregnant women. Researchers say that the deadly gas, found in cigarette smoke and car fumes, can protect against pre-eclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy.
 
 
16/09/2006
The Guardian
Experimental drug given to British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are being treated with an experimental blood-clotting drug that has not been fully tested. The drug, called NovoSeven, was originally licensed in 1999 as a treatment to stop bleeding in haemophiliacs, but because randomised control trials have not been carried out into the drug's effectiveness, it is impossible to know whether it is doing more harm than good to patients.
 
 
16/09/2006
Daily Mirror
Size zeroes
Super-skinny models could soon be banned from the catwalk - for being too thin. As London Fashion Week begins today, leading dieticians are urging designers to refuse to employ girls who are underweight, partly over fears for their health, and partly because it is feared that young girls are endangering their health by trying to emulate them. The organisers of London Fashion Week are being urged to ban from the catwalk anyone with a body mass index of less than 18.
 
 
16/09/2006
Daily Mail
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-reported story in today's papers, the Health Secretary has been accused of ordering senior Labour figures to identify 'heat maps' showing where the party could lose votes if hospitals were closed. The Financial Times reports that an investigation found that patients of the United Hospitals NHS Trust were given appointments even when medics could not honour them. The appointments were subsequently recorded as if patients had cancelled. It emerged that its waiting lists had been ''mismanaged'' to meet government targets. Separately, the National Health Service could save at least £500 million a year by adopting techniques that could halve the recovery time of patients after surgery. A new trial at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne has shown that bowel surgery patients were ready to be discharged in just seven days, rather than 14. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that the National Health Service will become an organisation that largely commissions care for patients rather than providing all the treatment itself, according to David Nicholson, the service's new chief executive.
 
 
15/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Morning-after pill 'has not cut abortion rates'
The British Medical Journal reports today that the decision to make emergency contraception easily available to women has had no impact on the rising abortion rate. The availability of the morning-after pill was increased three years ago and its use has doubled. Anna Glasier, director of Family Planning and Well Woman Services at Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust in Edinburgh has reported that the number of women buying the pill from chemists has doubled in a year, but the abortion rate remained unchanged between 2004 and 2005, at 17.8 per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44.
 
 
15/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Cancer fear as women fail to take smear tests
There is increasing concern over a fall in the number of women coming forward for tests for cervical screening that could save their lives. Experts also fear that the advent of the first vaccines against cervical cancer will create a false sense of security, with even more women not having the test. Figures out yesterday showed that of the 3.6million women eligible for the test last year, 625,000 did not have one - a two per cent rise since 2000. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation meets next week and is expected to make recommendations on a programme for cervical cancer vaccination.
 
 
15/09/2006
The Independent
Acupuncture more effective for treating back pain than traditional methods on the NHS
Traditional Chinese acupuncture has more to offer 21st century sufferers of back pain than anything modern medicine can provide, researchers report today. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, represent the latest salvo in the war between alternative practitioners and orthodox doctors. Research by York University has shown that patients who have the ancient Chinese therapy apparently suffer less discomfort and need fewer painkillers.
 
 
15/09/2006
The Sun
Infertility is in the genes, say doctors
A study by the University of North Carolina has led to the discovery of a gene that could reduce fertility in women. The faulty protein-producing gene reduces the chances of a fertilised egg implanting in the womb. Women with the faulty gene can still get pregnant, but it is believed the defect can interfere with the blood supply between mother and baby that could lead to miscarriage. Doctors hope that the research could lead to a test for the faulty gene, allowing them to offer fertility treatment at a much earlier stage.
 
 
15/09/2006
The Guardian
NHS and Health Sector News
The Guardian today reports that Accenture, a lead contractor on the £6.2bn upgrade of National Health Service IT system, is preparing legal action against the government as part of an attempt to extricate itself from the project. Meanwhile, it is reported that the government triggered the near financial collapse of the troubled NHS software supplier iSoft when it refused the company's request for a multimillion-pound advance. Separately, Emails leaked to the Times have led to accusations that ministers are secretly arranging to save hospitals in Labour's key marginal seats, after health secretary Patricia Hewitt ordered a meeting of senior party figures to identify areas where Labour could lose votes if hospitals were closed. Separately, it is reported that the number of casualty departments across the country could be halved, as NHS managers believe that district general hospitals can no longer cope with the pressure of providing key services such as A&E and maternity services. In a widely-featured story in today's papers, it is reported that almost £20million of taxpayers' money has been spent on hospital art in four years, the Lib Dems revealed yesterday. The figures come after NHS chief executive David Nicholson unveiled proposals to cut A&E and maternity departments.
 
 
14/09/2006
The Sun
'Magnet' hope on cancer
Breast cancer treatment could be transformed by a new technique which can spot a tumour cell in a blood sample of more than 2,000 ordinary cells. The test uses magnetic antibodies to find the cancer cells, rather than waiting until the disease has spread to other parts of the body - often ruling out effective treatment. The technique is 97 per cent accurate at detecting cancerous cells among the millions of normal cells circulating in the blood, scientists said yesterday.
 
 
14/09/2006
The Sun
Boys' big C jab
Cervical cancer jabs may be given to nine-year-old boys as well as girls, it was reported last night. The move is part of a bid to stop them passing on a cancer-causing virus to partners when they become sexually active.
 
 
14/09/2006
The Independent
Later parenthood and toxins seen as factors in childhood cancer rise
According to a survey, cancer rates are rising rapidly among children across Europe, increasing by up to 17%. Children are being born heavier, and higher birth-weight has been linked with cancers such as leukaemia , Wilm's tumour and neuroblastoma.
 
 
14/09/2006
Daily Mail
The £5,750 balloon that can help you lose excess weight
Ultralase Medical Aesthetics is to launch a controversial 'diet balloon' treatment for obesity sufferers. The treatment involves inserting a balloon into the stomach, giving the user a feeling of being full. The procedure could become as commonplace as cosmetic surgery, with its appeal to thousands who want to shed excess weight.
 
 
14/09/2006
Daily Mail
Vitamin can 'cut cancer'
Taking vitamin D supplements can almost halve your risk of pancreatic cancer, scientists have reported. The findings suggest the vitamin could one day prevent the disease, U.S. researchers believe.
 
 
14/09/2006
The Times
Mineral water 'can slow cancer'
Researchers from Maribor University in Slovenia have said that Scottish mineral water, Deeside, can help to slow the spread of cancer by inhibiting the growth of certain cancerous cells and killing other diseased cells. Tests found that Deeside Water inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells 62.5 per cent faster than lab-grade water . It also killed 35 per cent of liver cancer cells, 21 per cent of cervical cancer cells and 6.5 per cent of skin cancer cells.
 
 
14/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and health sector news
In a widely-featured story in today's papers it is reported that David Nicholson, the new chief executive of the NHS, said yesterday that up to 60 closures as part of sweeping health service "reconfigurations" expected to involve every region in England, might affect accident and emergency, paediatric and maternity departments especially in smaller district hospitals. Meanwhile, The Times reports that an investigation by the Disability Rights Commission has concluded that the NHS is complacent and fatalistic about the physical needs of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities. The paper also contains the news that at least one in seven GP surgeries are "not fit for purpose", according to a study published in the medical journal Pulse. According to figures from 175 primary care trusts, local health boards in Wales and Northern Ireland, and Scottish NHS boards, a total of 1,092 premises in the UK were below standard. Separately, the Daily Telegraph reports that a Liberal Democrat report has identified 16 NHS trusts that are most at risk of closures and further job cuts.
 
 
13/09/2006
The Guardian
Steroid abuse rises among young men
Increasing numbers of young men are using anabolic steroids to accelerate their muscle development during weight training, according to a new survey. There a big rise in the numbers of people aged 16 to 25 buying an array of steroids, whose side-effects include reduced sperm count, kidney and liver problems, high blood pressure and aggression.
 
 
13/09/2006
Daily Mail
A seventh of young men have chlamydia
One in seven young men has chlamydia, according to the latest official figures. A new screening programme has uncovered the highest level of infection among men aged 20 to 24, of whom 13.3 per cent tested positive. Cases of chlamydia have risen sharply in recent years, passing the 100,000 mark for the first time between 2003 and 2004.
 
 
13/09/2006
Daily Mail
An epitaph for childhood, killed by junk food, TV and the computer
A generation has had its childhood poisoned by junk food and computer games, experts warned yesterday. Authors Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson joined academics, teachers and psychologists to warn that a mix of bad diets, sedentary play, violent TV images and marketing is causing behavioural problems in children .
 
 
13/09/2006
The Times
For health, this might be your cup of tea
Drinking green tea can reduce the risk of early death from heart disease by up to a quarter, researchers say. A Japanese study of more than 40,000 people suggests that drinking five or more cups a day can also decrease deaths from other causes such as strokes. The tea is thought to reduce coronary heart disease and ischaemic strokes by affecting the structure of the arterial wall, possibly causing some arterial dilation, and by making the blood less likely to clot.
 
 
13/09/2006
The Guardian
NHS and health sector news
The Guardian today reports that the government has admitted making two up-front payments, totalling £82m, to iSoft, the financially stretched software group playing a central role in the £6.2bn overhaul of NHS computer systems across England. The Daily Telegraph features the news that as many as a quarter of detectable bowel cancers could be missed in the new national screening programme because it does not cover the older age group, a doctor claimed yesterday. The programme, launched in England last month, is for men and women aged 60 to 69. Meanwhile, infertile couples in Northamptonshire are to be denied IVF treatment on the NHS by three primary care trusts facing a £38m deficit. The three trusts, which will merge into Northamptonshire PCT from next month have suspended treatment for all couples. The Sun reports that an NHS Trust with a £23million debt spent £500,000 on accountants - who advised them to cut spending. City accounting firm KPMG was called in by Selby and York Primary Care Trust after it was identified as an organisation at risk of serious financial overspend last December.
 
 
12/09/2006
The Independent
Small gap between children damages mothers' health
Women who wait less than 18 months between having children are more likely to die younger than those who have a bigger gap between siblings, research has found. Mothers who have babies in rapid succession may be putting both their physical and emotional health at risk, experts said. The study by the Economic and Social Research Council suggests that the recipe for a long and healthy life is for women to have a single, long-standing marriage and about two children , two or three years apart. Women who have no children have a 20 per cent higher risk of an early death and a risk of breast cancer compared with those with two children.
 
 
12/09/2006
Daily Mail
Heart implant warning
Thousands of heart patients treated with tiny devices which hold arteries open are being warned they could be at higher risk of life-threatening blood clots. Research suggests that stents raise the risk by nearly 40 per cent if they are coated with drugs.
 
 
12/09/2006
The Sun
Blind link to body building
Weightlifting can make you go blind, experts have warned. Lifters who strain their breath while pumping heavy weights can build up pressure in the eyes. This may develop in to glaucoma, which causes internal damage and can lead to blindness.
 
 
12/09/2006
Daily Mirror
Knock lice on the head
One in four youngsters in the four to 12 age group may be infested with head lice at any one time - that's over 1.5 million children. The study, carried out by Lyclear, a treatment for head lice, also found that one in 10 mums never even check their kids for lice.
 
 
12/09/2006
The Guardian
Study links violence with antidepressants
The antidepressant drugs known as SSRIs, which include the British best-seller Seroxat, may precipitate a small number of individuals into violence, according to a paper published today on the Public Library of Science.
 
 
12/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and health sector news
The Daily Telegraph today reports that hospitals and GP surgeries face shortages of key medical equipment after NHS workers decided yesterday to stage the first national strikes in the health service since 1988. Workers with NHS Logistics, who deliver supplies to hospitals and GPs voted for industrial action after the Government awarded a £1.6billion contract to the German delivery firm DHL. Unison warned yesterday that non-essential operations might have to be cancelled in English hospitals as a result of the strike. Meanwhile, it is reported that NHS Trusts will spend £172 million on private management consultants this year despite being in the grip of the health service's biggest ever financial crisis. Figures today reveal that spending on the small army of advisers is now almost twice the £93 million that hospitals and surgeries were paying out two years ago.
 
 
11/09/2006
The Guardian
New hope raised in battle against drug-resistant bacteria
Scientists have taken a big step towards a new generation of antibiotics by designing compounds that stop bacteria "talking to each other", thwarting their ability to spread infection. The approach renders bacteria benign rather than killing them off, and is a timely development as increasing numbers of pathogens are becoming resistant to drug treatments. The research, carried out by a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, used a new method called microwave-assisted chemistry to design compounds called N-acylated L-homoserine lactones (AHLs), and demonstrated that the new compounds actively blocked the spread of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes fatal lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis. The research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco.
 
 
11/09/2006
Daily Mail
On sale in weeks, a cervical cancer vaccine for £180
A vaccine that will protect women and girls from cervical cancer will go on sale within weeks for £180. Gardasil will be the first to receive a licence, covering girls and women aged between 9 and 26, followed by GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix in early 2007, which protects women up to the age of 55. GPs and private health clinics are preparing themselves for an influx of women signing up to receive the vaccine, which has been hailed as a huge breakthrough and offers 100 per cent protection against the main two strains of cervical cancer. Despite the largely positive reception given to the development, the vaccine has been controversial as some fear the inoculation of girls at a young age will lead to sexual promiscuity at a young age. Cancer experts, however, have lent their support to a programme of vaccination for girls at the age of 12, before they become sexually active and exposed to the human papilloma virus (HPV).
 
 
11/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Gel developed to fight avian flu
Dermasalve Sciences, an Aim-listed maker of skincare products, will today inform investors it has developed a hand gel that kills the avian flu virus. Independent verification of the success of the product during trials has been received, after tests showed that the gel kills the H5N1 virus within 30 seconds and remains active for at least a further 30 minutes. Dermasalve developed the product in conjunction with Drug Delivery Solutions, and plans to begin manufacturing the gel in October, aiming to sell to the individual as well as hospitals and healthcare workers. The news came as the World Health Organisation confirmed two new deaths from bird flu in Indonesia.
 
 
11/09/2006
Daily Mail
Unborn babies exposed to gender-bender pesticides
A study from the Department of Radiology and Physical Medicine at the University of Granada, Spain, has suggested that babies are exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals before they are born. Blaming agricultural pesticides and other hazardous chemicals, such as those found in flame retardants, scientists identified up to 15 pesticides in blood taken from the placentas of pregnant women. High levels of exposure to chemicals have been linked to reproductive abnormalities - so-called gender-bending - as they upset the hormonal development of the embryo.
 
 
11/09/2006
The Times
Superbug strikes more children
A total of 147 babies and children suffered potentially fatal blood infections last year after contracting MRSA in NHS hospitals, according to a preliminary study from the Health Protection Agency. More than three quarters of the children involved were under a year old, and four out of ten were under month. Previous HPA findings, covering England and Wales, found that the number of MRSA bloodstream infections in children under 16 had risen from four in 1990 to 76 in 2004. Research suggests that newborn babies at nine out of ten hospitals in England are carrying the bug in their noses or on their skin.
 
 
11/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that Unison, the biggest public sector union, has called for a judicial review into the decision to award DHL a £1.6 billion, 10-year deal to purchase and deliver almost half of the NHS's non-pharmaceutical supplies. Unison chief Dave Prentis also demanded policy changes including the lifting of a two per cent cap on public sector pay.
 
 
08/09/2006
The Times
Pill that prolongs the joy of sex
Scientists may have formulated the first pharmaceutical means of tackling premature ejaculation - using a class of drug usually associated with treating depression. After trials involving 2,600 men, researchers in the United States have shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) could prolong sexual intercourse by more than three times the duration previously experienced. Drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, the firm behind the trial, found that even a placebo treatment prolonged intercourse from less than one minute to 1.75 minutes. The use of SSRIs, however, provided even better findings, with a 30mg dose producing 2.78 minutes and a 60mg dose 3.32 minutes. Mild side effects were noted in some participants, including nausea and diarrhoea.
 
 
08/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Free condoms for 12-year-olds urged
The Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy has suggested the distribution of free condoms to children - possibly as young as 12 - in sports halls, shops and swimming baths. The governmental group also called for compulsory relationship lessons for five-year-olds in a bid to drive down the number of teenage pregnancies. Critics of the scheme have been scathing in their opposition, pointing to high rates of sexually transmitted infections among young people as a sign of the failure of the government's teenage pregnancy strategy. Gill Frances, of the National Children's Bureau, who chairs the group, declared that they were "not specifying an age" since "no sensible person would give a child a condom. She was speaking ahead of the publication next week of the Social Exclusion Action Plan.
 
 
08/09/2006
The Sun
Brain damage patients can 'talk'
Brain-damaged patients unable to move or talk can understand others, doctors have proved for the first time. Scientists from the Medical Research Council asked a woman of 23 who had been in a car crash and could not walk, talk or communicate in any way to imagine playing tennis in her head. Although she could give no outward sign of understanding, an MRI scanner showed the same brain activity as that of a healthy volunteer. Dr Adrian Owen, who led the Cambridge-based study published in the journal Science, declared: "It is very exciting. This vegetative patient retained the ability to understand spoken commands and to respond to them through brain activity. Her clear act of intent confirmed that she was consciously aware of herself and her surroundings."
 
 
08/09/2006
The Independent
Scientists find trigger for fatal pregnancy condition
A team of scientists at the United States National Institutes of Health has identified a possible cause of a pregnancy complication that kills thousands of women and babies every year. Abnormal levels of two proteins may trigger the condition pre-eclampsia, according to the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The findings could allow the development of screening tests and eventually a cure for the condition, although experts greeted the development with the warning that a cure was still a long way off. Five women and 600 babies die of pre-eclampsia each year in the United Kingdom, with up to 60,000 mothers dying globally every year.
 
 
08/09/2006
Daily Express
Best diet is a plan based on your age
Designer diets based on age, sex and body shape could be the key to helping people stay healthy, according to research by Dr Sian Astley of the Institute of Food Research, Norwich. Young women attempting to conceive, for example, should eat folic acid-rich foods, such as green, leafy vegetables and wholemeal breads and cereals. Professor Astley pointed to the dramatic change in the way the body processes vitamin B as it ages as a sign of the importance of tailoring one's diet to one's age. Older bodies find it harder to extract the vitamin from food. Relatedly, the British Association Festival of Science heard yesterday that we may be able to purchase foodstuffs formulated to suit our age within the next 20 years.
 
 
08/09/2006
Daily Mirror
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that NHS underfunding has been blamed for causing "endemic" ageism. Professor John Young believes elderly patients are denied treatments for life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease, that are readily offered to young people. He declared early progress has been made in England through the National Service Framework for Older People since 2001. Age Concern director general Gordon Lishman noted: "Attitudes need to change urgently." Elsewhere, experts have expressed their fear that obesity services could collapse because so many fat people need them. Almost 90 per cent of health professionals questioned by the medical journal Pulse responded that services such as those provided by dieticians and weight-loss surgeons need more cash to stave off the crisis. And 44 per cent had to block many referrals from GPs, or delay them for months, because of the lack of resources. Finally, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS trust, which is facing a £31 million deficit, has been criticised in an Audit Commission study. A lack of financial management and strategies was identified as the trust's main failings.
 
 
07/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
'Death risk triples' in elective Caesareans
Babies born alive by Caesarean section are almost three times more likely to die in the first month than those delivered naturally. The findings, from a large United States study examining the risks of Caesarean births, will fuel the debate in the United Kingdom, where women are increasingly demanding the right to be given a choice over the method of delivery. Researchers from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Maryland studied almost six million births, and found that the neo-natal mortality rate - deaths during the first four weeks of a baby's life - was 1.77 per 1,000 live births among women who had an elective caesarean. Those born naturally had a mortality rate of 0.62 per 1,000 births. There is an increasing upward trend in this country in favour of the c-section, with almost a quarter of British babies born in this way, despite it being recognised for some time that Caesareans increase the chance of a baby dying.
 
 
07/09/2006
Daily Mail
Babies who miss jabs 'at higher risk of asthma'
Children who do not have their full course of vaccinations as babies are 50 per cent more likely to develop asthma, research by the University of Leicester suggest has suggested. The findings seem to contradict the suspicion that immunising babies in their early years may actually trigger asthma. A team comprising British and Swedish scientists spent five years studying more than 9,000 children living in Leicestershire, focusing mainly on the whooping cough vaccine. Mike Silverman, who conducted the study, declared: "the same conclusions [as those relating to the whooping cough vaccine] can be drawn for all the other vaccinations traditionally offered to infants, such as tetanus, diphtheria, measles, rubella and mumps."
 
 
07/09/2006
Daily Mail
How breast type could increase cancer risk
Women with dense breasts face a higher risk of cancer so they should be checked more carefully for early signs of disease, a study published in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute has warned. Research carried out by scientists in Seattle found that women with the highest amount of milk-producing tissue compared to fat levels in the breast were almost four times more likely to develop breast cancer than those with the least dense breasts. Experts in this country, however, were quick to note that the reliability of evidence regarding the role of breast density in the development of the disease was not conclusive. Dr Sarah Rawlings, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, noted the need for further research into whether a screening programme is necessary.
 
 
07/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Blood pressure drug causes diabetes
Drugs to control high blood pressure, although no longer recommended as a first-line treatment, are causing needless cases of diabetes, research has revealed. According to scientists at the World Congress of Cardiology, beta blockers could be causing an estimated 8,000 cases of type 2 diabetes a year, while newer treatments such as Ace inhibitors and calcium channel blockers (CCBs), when used in combination, cut the number of patients who went on to develop diabetes. Amanda Eden, a care adviser at Diabetes UK, declared the findings of the research "encouraging", although she was emphatic in stating that the value of conducting an active lifestyle and maintaining a healthy diet was not to be disregarded in diabetes prevention.
 
 
07/09/2006
The Times
Women are told to freeze their eggs for later
Women who donated eggs in their 30s and stored them for future use would stand a greater chance of having a healthy baby than if they tried to conceive naturally in their 40s, according to Dr Gillian Lockwood, a fertility expert. She is due to present her findings today at the British Fertility Society conference in Glasgow, which will include the recommendation that younger women thinking of delaying motherhood should freeze their eggs in expectation of declining fertility in later life. Dr Lockwood, medical director of Midland Fertility Services, asserts that "Social factors are causing women to delay pregnancy. The older you are... the greater the chance of a miscarriage or abnormality."
 
 
07/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that Professor Ian Roberts of the London School of Tropical Medicine has declared that many treatments used on trauma patients in accident and emergency departments are untested, and some may be doing more harm than good. After leading a large-scale study two years ago, which found that among 10,000 brain injury patients treated with anti-inflammatory corticosteroids, 3.2 per cent were more likely to die than those given a placebo, Professor Roberts reiterated his concern that many medicines had not even undergone proper clinical trials before use in trauma cases. Elsewhere, it has emerged that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), the government's watchdog on clinical effectiveness, is to switch its attention from useful newer treatments in an attempt to save the NHS millions. Nice is to rebalance its work to spend more time deciding which older treatments should be abandoned. The fresh drive to stop the NHS spending millions on obsolete and ineffective treatments was launched by health minister Andy Burnham yesterday.
 
 
06/09/2006
The Guardian
Global alert over deadly new TB strains
World health officials last night put out an unprecedented warning that deadly new strains of tuberculosis, virtually untreatable using the drugs currently available, appear to be spreading across the globe. Paul Nunn, who heads the World Health Organisation's TB resistance team, claimed the situation was serious, as the new strains - known as extreme drug resistance TB, or XDR-TB - continued to kill people in the United States and Easter Europe, as well as in Africa, where they could put an end to the hope that the Aids pandemic can be controlled by drug treatment. Discussing the "possibility of virtually untreatable TB", Dr Nunn asserted that there was no point investing in antiretroviral (ARV) programmes if the recipient is going to die weeks later from XDR-TB. Of the 9 million cases of tuberculosis recorded worldwide, 2 per cent are estimated to be extreme drug-resistant.
 
 
06/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Children to get easier contraceptive access as pregnancies rise
Tony Blair pledged yesterday to make contraceptives more easily available for children under Labour's latest drive to tackle teenage pregnancy and social exclusion. Speaking at a Joseph Rowntree Foundation conference in York, Mr Blair conceded that more needed to be done to address the issues surrounding teenage pregnancy, since teenage parents were more likely to be "unemployed, have mental health problems and themselves have children who have babies as teenagers". More details of the government's plans will be announced next week, with the increase in focus on contraception and the promotion of the safe sex message has been interpreted as a reaction to the news that the number of teenage pregnancies has risen by 12 per cent in the past 10 years.
 
 
06/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Cannabis MS drug seeks approval
The first medicinal product based on cannabis was filed for approval in Britain yesterday, and could be widely available in a year's time. Sativex, an under-the-tongue spray developed by pharmaceutical firm GW Pharma, is aimed at multiple sclerosis sufferers and is intended to treat the muscle stiffness associated with the condition. The treatment has already received approval from the regulatory body in Canada, where users currently pay around £4 a day for the drug, but an approval for distribution and use in Britain would make the spray much more available. Sativex has been filed for approval on a previous occasion, but authorities maintained their demands for further information before a decision was made.
 
 
06/09/2006
Daily Mail
How a handful of nuts could save you from a heart attack
Just two portions of nuts a week cuts the risk of dying from a heart attack by 11 per cent, according to a study carried out as part of the European Prospective Investigation into cancer and nutrition - EPIC - which involved almost 400,000 people from ten countries, including 90,000 from Norfolk and Oxford. Professor Elio Riboli, one of the United Kingdom researchers who participate in the study, noted that all nuts were counted in the assessment, which studied nut consumption in 1,200 people who died of a heart attack and compared the findings with people who are still alive. Earlier analysis of EPIC data also indicated that eating nuts could be linked to a lower risk of bowel cancer.
 
 
06/09/2006
The Times
Intelligent implant 'cuts deaths'
An "intelligent pacemaker" implant that regulates the heartbeat could cut the risk of death from heart failure almost by half, according to research presented at the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona. The small device, known as cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) sends electrical impulses to the heart muscle to adjust its contractions and facilitate the more effective pumping of blood throughout the body. The study, which involved 800 patients, found that the CRT reduced the risk of death in heart failure patients by 45 per cent, while the risk of sudden cardiac death was reduced by 53 per cent.
 
 
06/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that unions have criticised the government's decision to outsource the work of an award-winning NHS organisation as "a privatisation deal which will be viewed by many as symbolic of what's to come" for the rest of the NHS. The outcome of a strike ballot of NHS staff is due to be announced on Monday at the start of the Trades Union Congress' annual meeting. Unions are using the high-profile event to begin a campaign against the DHL deal. Elsewhere, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists has commissioned a study which reveals a devastating de-prioritisation of speech therapy services by local primary care trusts. It claims that 78 per cent of speech and language therapists across the United Kingdom have had their budgets reduced in the coming year. A study has confirmed that hospital casualty units are being swamped as a consequence of the GP opt-out of evening and weekend work. It found 'clear evidence' that emergency departments were facing increased demands. Relatedly, a review by the Healthcare Commission has highlighted "worrying" gaps in emergency care for children at hospitals across the United Kingdom. The study assessed hospitals' progress in meeting national standards in children's healthcare. Finally, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Birmingham, has called on Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to reverse its proposal to make six of its seven chaplains redundant.
 
 
05/09/2006
Financial Times
Bacteria linked to alleviation of autism
It has been suggested that children born to fathers aged 40 and over are six times more likely to suffer from autism compared to those born to fathers under 30, according to research published by the Archives of General Psychiatry. Plans to study whether friendly bacteria in probiotics can improve some symptoms of autism were also announced, after it was found that people with autism have unusually high levels of clostridia - bacteria in the gut which are believed to produce toxins in the bowel. A team headed by Glenn Gibson, professor of food microbiology at the University of Reading, compared the bacteria in faeces taken from 50 autistic and 50 non-autistic children and a trial was set up, giving half a probiotic treatment to reduce the level of clostridium, and half a placebo. The research was presented yesterday at the British Association Science Festival.
 
 
05/09/2006
Daily Mail
New womb hope for infertile women
Successful womb transplants could be carried out within two years, according to a leading British surgeon. Richard Smith, a gynaecological surgeon at Hammersmith Hospital, London, believes he has overcome the central problem of establishing a reliable blood supply to a transplanted womb. Tests showed that a transplanted womb could thrive if larger blood vessels were used, a development which highlights the possible reasons for the failure of earlier attempts, which only transplanted the womb itself. The procedure also relies on the use of the womb from a deceased donor. Previously, hopes had been pinned on a transplant from a mother to a daughter or other close relative, but surgeons found not enough tissue could be removed from the donor for a successful implantation.
 
 
05/09/2006
Daily Mail
Girls fretting about their weight from the age of five
Girls as young as five are worrying about their weight, an expert warned yesterday. Children are becoming concerned about being overweight at an increasingly early age, according to Andrew Hill, professor of medical psychology at Leeds University, who addressed an obesity conference in Sydney. The warning comes as figures from the Department of Health reiterate the predicted rise in the number of obese Britons, expected to reach 12 million adults by 2010. Kate Steinbeck, chairman of the Australian conference, declared that the battle against obesity "was not simply a matter of eating less and exercising more." She advocated the investigation of environmental and genetic contributors to obesity.
 
 
05/09/2006
Daily Mail
Implant can end chronic back pain
A tiny electrode implanted under the skin can combat pain that has not responded to any other treatment, giving patients control over their symptoms at the push of a button. Just an hour or two of stimulation a day can kill pain symptoms for 24 hours. Pain specialists carried out the pioneering procedure to attach the device at St Thomas' and Guy's Hospital in London. Neuropathic or nerve pain affects eight per cent of Britons, and while standard pain relief is often ineffective, experts have described the new implant as a "novel, simple and effective" way of managing pain.
 
 
05/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
How families help cardiac patients on road to health
Heart patients eat more fruit and vegetables and take more exercise when their families become involved in their care, according to the Europe-wide Euroaction programme. The study, which involved 10,000 patients and family members, was presented at the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona yesterday. Patients were are also shown to be more likely to stop smoking, reduce fat in their diets, and achieve lower cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure when in the care of their family.
 
 
05/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and Health Sector News
An overview of developments in the NHS and health sector leads today with the news that DHL, the German-owned logistics company, has signed a contract that will outsource the purchasing and delivery of billions of pounds of supplies annually to the National Health Service. Elsewhere, a burka-style hospital gown is being introduced into the NHS for patients whose religion demands they must be modestly dressed.
 
 
04/09/2006
Financial Times
Cancer jab could cut deaths by 76%
A study into the Cervarix vaccine, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, has indicated that it could cut deaths from cervical cancer in the United Kingdom by up to 76 per cent. The findings, presented yesterday at the International Papillomavirus Conference in Prague, suggested that the vaccine, which protects against the HPV 16 and HPV 18 strains of the disease, could offer a 61 per cent reduction in cases if 80 per cent of girls received Cervarix at the age of 12. This would potentially offer a halving of the number of abnormal smear test findings over a woman's lifetime, and also halve the need for diagnostic colposcopy, an examination of the cervix.
 
 
04/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Fast-track treatment 'can slash heart attack death toll'
Deaths from heart attacks could be cut ten-fold if patients are given almost immediate treatment to unblock their arteries, according to new research from a London trial involving 400 patients. The study, presented at the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona, also found that in patients over the age of 75 there was a five-fold cut in deaths when the new method - primary angioplasty - was offered. Dr Kenneth Morgan, who took part in the study at Hammersmith Hospital, asserted that there was growing evidence that rapid intervention led to less damage to the heart. More than 47,000 angioplasty procedures are performed each year, leading to an increase in interest from the Department of Health, which has made up to £1 million available to set up pilot schemes.
 
 
04/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Diabetes pill 'halves risk of having a stroke'
A pill for diabetes has been found almost to halve the rates of strokes in high risk patients. Actos, one of several in its class, is primarily used to improve the control of blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, and after an international trial involving 5,000 patients was shown to bring about a 47 per cent reduction in the risk of having a second stroke. The figures, released yesterday by the World Congress of Cardiology, showed that Actos could also cut the risk of a first stroke, a heart attack and the combined risk of death by 28 per cent.
 
 
04/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
GSK asthma drug 'to treat lung disease'
GlaxoSmithKline's asthma drug Advair could be an important treatment for a severe lung disease, a professor involved in a key clinical trial asserted yesterday. Professor Peter Calverley told the European Respiratory Society in Munich that the Torch study was the first to show an improvement in the survival of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reducing "the risk of hospitalisation and death from this disease."
 
 
04/09/2006
Daily Express
The gel that can get rid of our wrinkles
A gel designed to prevent wrinkles has been developed by British scientists which uses advanced technology to target fine lines with high doses of vitamin E. Research at King's College, London, employed nanotechnology to inject vitamin E into nano-particles, which are then placed in a cream and rubbed into the skin. Stuart Jones, a lecturer at the college, will present his research to the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester tomorrow, and believes that the new method could prove a "breakthrough in the battle against ageing skin." Vitamin E is currently sold in heavy oily formulations only due to its hydrophobic tendencies, but the new method allows for wider dispersal in a uniform manner.
 
 
04/09/2006
Daily Mail
Fat men 'are 10% less fertile'
Men's fertility is 'significantly reduced' if they are overweight, a study involving 1,468 couples from Iowa and North Carolina revealed yesterday. Scientists found that weighing just a stone and a half extra can cut the chances of being able to father a child by 10 per cent. When other risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, were taken into consideration it was concluded that the men's Body Mass Index was an independent risk factor for infertility, as extra weight is itself thought to affect the quality of sperm and cause hormone problems.
 
 
01/09/2006
Daily Mail
Food allergies causing 'unnecessary panic'
Fears over dangerous food allergies in children are causing unnecessary panic, says a leading doctor. Professor Allan Colver, of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, claims the risks are being 'overstated'. In particular, food allergies are often thought to be more dangerous than conditions such as pneumonia , asthma , or diabetes. In reality, the risk of death is very small, with just eight children under 16 dying from a food allergy between 1990 and 2000, equal to one death per year from Britain's 16million children.
 
 
01/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Alternative cures for menopause 'may be harmful'
Women seeking alternative remedies for symptoms of the menopause were warned by leading gynaecologists yesterday not to expect too much and to understand that some treatments can be harmful. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists however says it is concerned by lack of evidence to support the claims.
 
 
01/09/2006
Daily Telegraph
Gene therapy cures dying cancer men for first time
Gene therapy has eradicated cancer from two dying men using genetically modified versions of their own cells. The two men were saved after their white blood cells were engineered genetically to become tumour-hunters. Both were suffering from advanced melanoma but the technique could be customised to attack other common cancers.
 
 
01/09/2006
The Sun
Protect & survive
Women were last night warned by The Medical Research Council to insist that sexual partners use condoms to cut the risk of cancer. British researchers have discovered that a chemical in seminal fluid speeds the growth and spread of cervical and womb cancers.
 
 
01/09/2006
The Guardian
Homeopathic licensing alarms doctors
Packaging on homeopathic products will be allowed to describe the illnesses they claim to be able to treat under a controversial licensing scheme introduced by the government today.
 
 
01/09/2006
Financial Times
NHS and health sector news
The Financial Times today reports that the government was warned yesterday that it risked damaging the NHS unless it involved doctors and patients in developing health policy. The BMA expressed dismay at the ''incoherence'' of current government policies of tendering the NHS to commercial corporations which are accountable to shareholders rather than to patients. Meanwhile, The Sun features the news that Professor Jeffrey Aronson - president-elect of the British Pharmacological Society - has claimed that junior doctors are often under-trained. Junior doctors spend an average 61 hours learning about prescribing pills and potions, compared to 162 hours for nursing recruits, which led to 40,000 prescribing errors last year, at a cost of thirty-six lives. The Daily Mirror reports that mistakes by bosses have endangered lives at the Royal London, one of Britain's busiest casualty departments, the hospital's own doctors claimed yesterday.
 
 
31/08/2006
Daily Telegraph
Organ transplant Act gives new hope to dying patients
Thousands of people who desperately need an organ transplant will be