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National News
Stage and screen to be spared smoking ban - Independent 27/04/06
A drag on a cigarette has been a traditional requirement in plays from Henrik Ibsen to Noel Coward, so the prospect of a smoking ban in England has raised alarm in West End theatres and beyond.
The 'Hollywood smile' boosts sales of teeth whitening products - Independent 27/04/06
Dazzling white teeth have become as important to the celebrity look as a wrinkle-free forehead and designer sunglasses. So it is perhaps inevitable that the modern imperative to flash the faultless "Hollywood smile", associated with such luminaries as Tom Cruise, is fuelling a boom in teeth-whitening products.
New National Director To Boost Workplace Health, UK - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Professor Dame Carol Black, one of the nation's top doctors and President of the Royal College of Physicians, was today named as the Government's first ever National Director for Health and Work. She will spearhead initiatives promoting and improving health in the workplace, ensuring that people with health conditions and disabilities are supported to enter, return to and continue in work.
Chickens test for bird flu strain - BBC News 27/04/06
Some 35,000 chickens at a poultry farm in Norfolk are to be slaughtered after dead birds tested positive for a strain of bird flu. The dead chickens were found on Witford Lodge Farm in Hockering, about 13 miles (20km) west of Norwich.
Junk food child-ad rules 'a sham' - BBC News 27/04/06
Plans to curb food advertising aimed at children have been dismissed as a "total sham", by consumer group Which?. Media regulator Ofcom is consulting on restricting junk food ads but has ruled out banning their broadcast before 9pm.
Healthy fats 'halve risk of MND' - BBC News 27/04/06
Eating a high amount of polyunsaturated fats and vitamin E may halve the risk of developing motor neurone disease, a study suggests. Polyunsaturated fats include omega 3, in certain vegetable oils and omega 6, in fish and green leafy vegetables.
Heart op survival rates unveiled - BBC News 27/04/06
Hospital heart surgery survival rates are being published for the first time. The Healthcare Commission has produced a website listing performance for 30 of the 33 hospitals with heart units.
Fury after Down's girl refused bank account - the Daily Mail 27/04/06
An 18-year-old girl with Down's Syndrome was refused an account at a High Street bank, after it declared she was "mentally incompetent". Student Charlotte Rusher and her mother Wendy from Ipswich, were appalled at the treatment from staff at the town centre branch of Barclays.
Cervical cancer vaccine 'will protect older women' - The Guardian 27/04/06
The cervical cancer vaccine that is expected to be launched within the year will protect not only young girls but also older women against the disease, the manufacturer said yesterday.
Hand on heart, who is the best surgeon? - The Times 27/04/06
PATIENTS needing heart operations can discover from today how good their local unit — and, in many cases, their local surgeon — actually is.
Will APMS Change The Face Of Primary Care? New BMA Guidance For Gps, UK - Medical News Today 27/04/06
APMS (Alternative Provider Medical Services) - a new type of contract for providing GP services - has the potential to alter radically the face of primary care in the UK. This message from the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC) is contained in new guidance for practices published today (Thursday 27 April 2006).
Scottish Patients Benefit From New GP Contract - Medical News Today 27/04/06
In Scotland more than 800 potentially life threatening cardiovascular events will be prevented by effectively controlling hypertension over five years as a direct result of measures in the new GP contract. The figures, published today (Thursday 27 April 2006), come as GPs gather in Clydebank for the Annual Conference of Scottish Local Medical Committees.
NICE Says Yes To ‘no Wait' Oral Bowel Cancer Treatment Xeloda® (capecitabine), UK - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Bowel cancer patients are to be given access to the ‘smart pill' Xeloda (capecitabine) that could save financially-stretched NHS cancer services £22 million[[i]] annually and benefit patients from 20 fewer visits for drug administration, fewer hospitalisations and fewer costly medications for the treatment of side effects as a result of today's announcement by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE).
NICE Issues Guidance On Immunosuppressive Therapy For Young Kidney Transplant Patients, UK - Medical News Today 27/04/06
NICE has today issued guidance on the use of immunosuppressive therapy for renal (kidney) transplantation in children and adolescents.
International News
Taking Aspirin, Cholesterol Drugs And Blood Pressure Drugs Results In Less Severe Strokes - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Taking the "triple therapy" of aspirin, cholesterol drugs, and blood pressure drugs to prevent stroke also reduces stroke severity if one occurs, according to a new study published in the April 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Clues To Breast Cancer Hidden Inside Stem Cells - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Stem cells and how to boost them is hot on the research agenda. But stopping them could be critical too, as evidence implicating stem cells in cancer is mounting.
Circumcision, Fidelity More Effective HIV Prevention Methods Than Condoms, Abstinence, Researchers Say - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Promoting male circumcision and fidelity to one partner seems to be more effective at curbing the spread of HIV than promoting abstinence and condom use, USAID researcher and technical adviser Daniel Halperin said last week, the Chicago Tribune reports. As Halperin and other researchers analyze 20 years of studies on HIV/AIDS throughout Africa, they have tried to "put aside intuitions, emotions, ideologies and look at the evidence in as coldhearted a way as we can," Halperin said.
Minority Women Less Likely Than White Women To Receive Mammograms, Study Finds - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Minority women are less likely to receive mammograms than white women, according to a study published on April 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Knight Ridder/Charlotte Observer reports. For the study, led by University of California-San Francisco radiologist Rebecca Smith-Bindman, researchers examined the medical records of more than one million women ages 40 and older who had received mammograms between 1996 and 2000 from seven mammography registries -- Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, San Francisco, Seattle and Vermont.
Video To Reduce Young Women's HIV Sexual Risk Behavior - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Rutgers College of Nursing faculty member, Rachel Jones, will premiere her video vignettes for hand-held computers aimed at reducing young women's HIV sexual risk behavior before community members, AIDS experts and caregivers at John Cotton Dana Library on the Newark campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in April.
Chemotherapy Gel May Fight Breast Cancer And Reduce Breast Deformity - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Women who undergo surgery for breast cancer followed by radiation therapy often experience breast deformities that can only be corrected through reconstructive surgery. Researchers at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, in collaboration with bioengineers at Carnegie Mellon University, have developed a polymer-based therapy for breast cancer that could serve as an artificial tissue filler after surgery and a clinically effective therapy. Their findings, based on studies with mice, were presented in April at the World Congress on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, at the Westin Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
Testes To Incubate Stem Cells - Could Help Young Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Men may cringe at the idea, but sperm-producing stem cells found in testicles could be extracted, grown in the lab, and frozen for future use. A team in the Netherlands has successfully harvested spermatogonial stem cells from cows and cultured them inside mouse testes. The hope is that the same thing could be done for men. "This is a very promising route to help young cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy," Dirk de Rooij of Utrecht University, Netherlands, told participants gathered at the first EuroSTELLS conference in Venice last month.
HEBE: Detection Of Falls And Monitoring Of The Elderly - Medical News Today 27/04/06
HEBE is an EU-funded joint research project involving Com&Media Projects and Services S.L., Fatronik, Ingema (the MatÃa Gerontological Institute) and Icavi - Bikain from within Spain; i know how, Zenon and Net Technologies from Greece; and the French companies, Wany Robotics and Lirmm.
Vacuum-Assisted Closure Device May Be Beneficial In Penile Skin Graft Reconstruction - Medical News Today 27/04/06
UroToday.com - Skin defects of the penile shaft pose a significant reconstructive problem. The split-thickness skin graft (STSG) has been the mainstay for penile skin coverage. The application of large and circumferential skin grafts and skin grafts on concealed penises in obese individuals has been technically difficult with the use of conventional bolsters for many surgeons. The main reason for graft failure has been graft shearing and movement and fluid accumulation under the graft. To alleviate these problems, Alex Senshenov, Ajay Nehra and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota have been using a modification of the vacuum-assisted closure device (VAC). Their experiences using this device are reported in a recent review in the February 2006 issue of Urology.
Treatment Preferences For End-of-Life Care Changes With Time And Declining Health - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Over time, older people change their preferences for end-of-life care and are more willing to accept treatment resulting in physical disability than treatment resulting in cognitive disability, researchers at Yale School of Medicine report in the current Archives of Internal Medicine.
Renal Function And Urine Drainage After Conservative Or Operative Treatment Of Primary (Obstructive) Megaureter In Infants And Children - Medical News Today 27/04/06
UroToday.com - Tröbs et al examined renal function and urinary drainage of children with primary obstructing megaureter (POM) in regards to conservative or operative treatment. They retrospectively reviewed their patient population between 1994 to 2000. They combined the patients to look at the number of POM. The age ranges were between newborn to 7 years with a total of 35 POMs in the group. Ultrasonography, MAG3 renography as well as GFR were used to assess the drainage and the renal function of each moiety.
Protein Inhibits Neurotoxins In Alzheimer's Disease - Medical News Today 27/04/06
An international research team led by the University of Toronto has uncovered a protein that inhibits the accumulation of a neurotoxic protein responsible for the onset of Alzheimer's disease - with no side effects to other brain signalling functions.
More Than Meets The Eye: Launch Of Important Campaign In Ireland For Parkinson's On May 1st - Medical News Today 27/04/06
April 24th-30th is Parkinson's Awareness Week, and an important week for the Parkinson's Association and for people with Parkinson's throughout Ireland, because, two days later, on May 1st, we are launching our first ever Parkinson's Patient Information Pack in a campaign entitled "More than Meets the Eye"!
Locked Door Psychiatric Units Have More Disadvantages Than Advantages Say Staff - Medical News Today 27/04/06
The disadvantages of locking the front doors of psychiatric units outnumber the advantages by more than two to one, according to a study published in the latest Journal of Clinical Nursing.
Hewitt Announces Full-Scale Clinical Audit Of Independent Sector Treatment Centres, UK - Medical News Today 27/04/06
UK Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt today announced a review of the quality of care provided by NHS treatment centres run by the independent sector.
General Dental Council Invites Dentists To Step Forward For Election, UK - Medical News Today 27/04/06
The General Dental Council (GDC) is writing to all registered dentists in England, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands to encourage them to stand for and vote in an election to the Council.
FDA Approves First Generic Pravastatin, USA - Medical News Today 27/04/06
The Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic version of Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pravachol (Pravastatin Sodium Tablets), an important step in the agency's effort to increase the availability of lower-cost generic medications.
Effective Malaria Medications Not Getting Through To People Who Need Them Most - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Alarmingly few African patients with malaria are getting existing effective treatment that could cure them in a few days, says Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Four years after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global recommendation for countries to switch from old malaria treatments to artemisinin-based combination therapies, or ACTs, and two years after the Global Fund decided to fund ACTs, MSF teams are witnessing government-run health facilities still giving patients old malaria medicines instead of a treatment that works.
Consistent Calcium Supplement Intake Can Reduce Risk Of Bone Fractures In Women Over 70, Study Says - Medical News Today 27/04/06
Calcium supplements can reduce the risk of bone fractures in women older than age 70 only if the pills are taken consistently, according to a study published in the April 24 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, the Wall Street Journal reports (Parker-Pope, Wall Street Journal, 4/25).
Healing plants found in Borneo forest: WWF - Reuters 27/04/06
GENEVA (Reuters) - Plants thought to help treat or cure cancer, AIDS and malaria have been found in the rainforests of Borneo, a report from the Swiss-based global conservation group WWF said on Thursday.
Vaccine is first treatment for Ebola-like virus - Reuters 27/04/06
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A vaccine that protects monkeys against the highly deadly Marburg virus, a relative of Ebola, may also provide the first known treatment for the infection, researchers reported on Wednesday.
Cheshire and Merseyside News
MPs fight to take top NW health job off Henshaw - Daily Post 27/04/06
TWO Merseyside MPs are calling for the Government to overturn Sir David Henshaw's appointment as the head of Merseyside and Cheshire's health service. The former chief executive of Liverpool council was yesterday made chairman of the new North West Strategic Health Authority.
Henshaw to run Mersey health - Liverpool Echo 26/04/06
Heart centre surgeons top league for surgery success - Daily Post 27/04/06
PATIENTS undergoing serious heart surgery in Liverpool enjoy some of the best survival rates in the country. Out of 3,871 operations at the city's cardiothoracic centre in the last three years, just over 90 people died following surgery, figures published yesterday reveal.
Greater Manchester News
New probe into pylon cancer link - Manchester Evening News 26/04/06
A NEW inquiry into the possible link between overhead power lines and childhood leukaemia is underway.
1,000 docs face axe over rule change - Manchester Evening News 26/04/06
UP to 1,000 doctors across Greater Manchester could lose their jobs because of a change in immigration rules, a top consultant has claimed. Under new regulations, doctors who graduated outside the EU but work in British hospitals will have to apply for work permits to continue.
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