Monday, April 30, 2007

Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade



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National News


Tony Blair will mark his decade in office this week with "big regrets" at his inability to move more quickly to reform Britain's public services, one of his closest cabinet allies has claimed.


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A new breed of genetically modified crops could provide cheap drugs and vaccines for the developing world. Only one problem: what if they get into the food chain? Environment correspondent David Adam reports on 'pharming', the new GM front line


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What's the first thing you did when you arrived in the office this morning? Before even checking your email or launching into a 10-minute rant on how two-day weekends just aren't long enough, you probably made yourself a cup of tea. Around 165m cups of tea will be consumed today in the UK, accounting for 40% of the nation's fluid intake. Given our long working-hours culture, that means an awful lot of tea is drunk in the office. And according to dietician Dr Carrie Ruxton, who has studied the impact on health of the consumption of black tea, this is no bad thing.


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ISoft, the troubled software developer at the heart of the NHS's multibillion pound IT upgrade, said this morning that talks over a possible takeover have reached an "advanced" stage.


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Four in 10 black and Asian people in Britain live in poverty, twice the rate among white people, research has revealed. Despite improving academic performance and qualifications, they still face prejudice in job interviews and are paid lower wages than their white counterparts.


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Ethnic minorities 'have double poverty rate' - Daily Mail 29th April 2007


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Dentists may have to pay back millions of pounds to the NHS because they have failed to reach their targets in the first year of a new contract. Some dentists face repayments of tens of thousands of pounds, and in a few cases more than £100,000. The impact on dental practices will be even greater because their income next year will be reduced, and it is feared that the problems may lead to even more dentists leaving the NHS.


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Nobody disputes that what a woman eats in pregnancy can affect her baby. But research shows that mothers who want to give their offspring the best chance in life need to start preparing long before the bump appears. There is growing evidence that how young women eat and behave can affect the health of any children they go on to have – and possibly the health of future generations, too.


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Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, said yesterday that it was "perfectly legitimate" for NHS trusts to refuse some treatments to heavy smokers or patients who are obese. The Health Secretary said it was 'perfectly legitimate' for NHS trusts to refuse some treatments to heavy smokers or patients who are obese Miss Hewitt defended the right of doctors and managers to draw up local guidelines on treatment after a survey revealed that some trusts are already banning operations.


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Millions too fat for NHS surgery - Daily Mail 30th April 2007


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The rate of new mothers suffering postnatal depression has doubled to 20 per cent. The rise is being blamed on the distressing experiences suffered by many women during labour at overstretched NHS maternity units all over the country.


More than half of English dentists have closed their doors to NHS patients, a survey reveals. The research found 51 per cent of dentists were only taking on patients if they agreed to go private.


Smokers can no longer light up in bars across Northern Ireland as the new smoking ban has come into force. It is now illegal to smoke in workplaces, most enclosed public spaces and on public transport. The ban will be enforced by local councils.


An 83-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease is at the centre of a landmark legal case to be heard by Law Lords. The woman, known only as YL, is threatened with eviction from the private care home she lives in.


Kieron Norton is a bright intelligent young boy. He loves taking pictures and reading books. But six-year-old Kieron has cerebral palsy and has to rely on others to do even the simplest of things.


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In a series focusing on medical specialisms, the BBC News website meets nurse Kate Latus. Her work in London in nuclear medicine involves the use of radioactive material to create images of the body and treat disease.


Complaints about helpline NHS Direct have risen by 50% since the end of 2006 as it struggles to answer calls and offer speedy advice, its figures show. In March the 24-hour health helpline had 1.89 complaints for every 10,000 calls - over twice the target level - after four successive monthly rises.


Teaching, health and consumer groups have written to the government urging it to tighten up the rules on food adverts that target children. They said a revised code for non-broadcast adverts, such as those on the internet, did not go far enough.


The "great majority" of hospitals which were in serious deficit last year have improved their position, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt says. She told Sky's Sunday Live that fewer than 10% of hospitals still had serious debts and the NHS overall would be "in balance".


It was not until Jay Fletcher first had sex that she realised there was something wrong - the pain was excruciating. Friends and family said a little pain was not unusual the first time, but 17-year-old Jay knew this was different.


Porters, cleaners and other ancillary health workers are threatening strike action after talks with employers ended without agreement. Their unions are unhappy with the government's decision to stagger a 2.5% pay rise, which they say reduces the value of the award to 1.9%.


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Experts clash on powerline safety - BBC Health News 27th April 2007


Experts have clashed over whether or not it is safe to build houses and schools near powerlines. The government had asked them to look at cutting exposure to emissions from the lines - but they could not agree if there should be a ban on new builds.

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International News

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American scientists have discovered an "exercise pill" that switches on a gene that tells cells to burn fat. The un-named drug, which is in the early stages of development, could offer an answer to the obesity crisis. Researchers who have tested it in mice say that it prevented the mice putting on weight even when they were fed a high-fat diet. The drug triggers the same fat burning process that occurs during exercise, even when the mice are not active. By kickstarting the metabolism, more calories are burnt than are consumed.


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Mental stimulation and drug treatment could help people with degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's recover their memories, a study says. Scientists found mice with a similar condition to Alzheimer's were able to regain memories of tasks they had previously been taught.


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An escalation in violence in Somalia has left many too frightened to seek treatment for cholera, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has warned. It says there could be a "humanitarian crisis" as people flee fighting between Ethiopian-backed troops and Islamist insurgents in the capital Mogadishu.


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Pain drugs dementia hope dashed - BBC Health News 27th April 2007


Commonly used painkillers which had been thought to prevent Alzheimer's have no effect, research suggests. Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) did not protect memory or prevent dementia, two US studies found.
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Thursday, April 19, 2007

Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade



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National News

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Dentists were yesterday ordered to stop reusing instruments in root canal treatments after fears that they could spread the infection of variant CJD. The chief dental officer, Barry Cockcroft, issued the edict after evidence that vCJD could hypothetically survive the sterilisation techniques used between surgeries. He emphasised that the move was precautionary, and there had been no reported cases of anyone contracting vCJD from dental procedures.


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Use instruments once to avoid vCJD risk, dentists are warned - The Times 20th April 2007


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Science minister Malcolm Wicks yesterday defended his suggestion that satellite technology could be used to track vulnerable older people, but said the government had no plans to pursue the idea. His comments on Wednesday, when he was questioned by the Commons science select committee about potential uses of satellite technology, attracted immediate criticism from charities. Help the Aged said the proposal smacked of Big Brother. Speaking at a meeting of specialists on ageing at the Royal Society yesterday, Mr Wicks said he had been surprised by the severity of some of the criticisms, and called for a public discussion.


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Tag elderly people, says science minister - The Independent 19th April 2007


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Tag dementia sufferers - minister - BBC Health News 19th March 2007


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he inquiry into contaminated blood is very welcome. Maybe we will find out why the government failed to act after advice from the World Health Organisation and others (Widow accuses doctors over donor blood risks, April 19). I received contaminated blood during a bone-marrow transplant in 1986. The effect of this has devastated not only my life, but friends and family as well. Health minister Caroline Flint informs us she's glad the introduction of HIV therapy has kept some of us alive. Taking medication may have kept us alive, but it is also a constant reminder of what has happened to us.


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Hospitals were yesterday ordered to assess every patient on admission to hospital for their risk of developing deadly blood clots, in an attempt to prevent the 25,000 deaths a year from clots. The risk of developing a fatal blood clot rises eightfold when people are admitted to hospital and doctors could prevent many of the deaths if they were on the look out for those most at risk, according to a high level report ordered by the chief medical officer.


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Blood-clot checks would save ‘thousands’ of lives - The Times 20th April 2007


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'Test every patient for clotting that kills 25,000 every year' - The Telegraph 20th April 2007


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Plan to tackle deadly blood clots - BBC Health News 19th April 2007


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Abortion: Medics and morals - The Guardian 19th April 2007


A growing number of doctors are voicing their opposition to abortions. David Batty investigates why, and what it might mean for patients


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The NHS was bitten by another of those ferocious Whitehall watchdogs yesterday when the National Audit Office sank its teeth into the consultants' juicy new contract. The consultants' 25% pay rise has cost £150m over budget without delivering promised efficiency gains. As she auditions to keep her job under prime minister Brown the NAO's report couldn't have come at a much worse time for the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt. Jobless junior doctors and striking nurses, angry midwives and dentists, budget cuts - all that is left to go wobbly is the NHS's £12bn new IT system. Ah, it just did.


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Many women who have late abortions do so because they had not realised they were pregnant, according to the first in-depth research into the issue. The study, by researchers at Southampton and Kent universities, set out to examine the reasons for the one in ten abortions that are carried out between 13 and 24 weeks into a pregnancy - known as the second trimester.


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The decision to withhold nurses' pay rise is shameful, and must be reversed or nurses will take industrial action, says Dr Peter Carter


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Why NHS nurses may back action - BBC Health News 19th April 2007


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Slack financial management at the Department of Health allowed NHS consultants in hospitals across England to get a 25% pay increase for doing less work, parliament's spending watchdog reveals in a critical report today. The National Audit Office said a revised contract - approved by John Reid when health secretary in 2003 - was supposed to give hospital managers more control over how 32,000 consultants organised their time.


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NHS consultants 'work less for 25% more pay' - The Independent 19th April 2007


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Consultants given 25% pay rise for fewer hours - The Times 19th March 2007


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NHS consultant pay soars as workload falls - The Telegraph 19th March 2007


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Another NHS pay blunder - Daily Mail 19th March


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NHS consultant contract attacked - BBC Health News 18th March 2007


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Government scientists in the 1970s and 1980s tested plutonium levels in tissue samples taken from the organs of Sellafield workers to establish whether they were being exposed to the highly radioactive material, the Guardian has learned. Details of the tests - designed to establish whether nuclear workers were receiving potentially dangerous doses compared with local people - emerged amid an outcry about claims that the dead workers were examined without consent of next of kin.


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My teenage daughter has put on a lot of weight and I'm worried that it's going to make her unhappy. I've tried offering advice and I've tried leaving her to her own devices, but neither strategy seems to work


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Disquiet over pay to 'bird flu farmer' - The Independent 20th April 2007


Jack Straw, the Leader of the Commons, said he was "uncomfortable" with the payment of £589,000 in compensation by the taxpayer to Bernard Matthews, the turkey products company at the centre of the bird flu outbreak. Some 159,000 turkeys were culled at Bernard Matthews' Suffolk farm to prevent the H5N1 virus spreading. The firm will be reimbursed between £3 and £4 per bird, depending on their age, by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).


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Bird flu deal for Bernard Matthews criticised - The Telegraph 20th April 2007


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A terminally ill woman has been forced to abandon a ground-breaking bid to end her own life, it was announced today. Kelly Taylor, 30, had begun a court case to force doctors to give her a massive morphine dose which would lead to her death, but asked for the case to be postponed while she investigated alternatives.


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I've changed my mind, says woman in right-to-die case - Daily Mail 19th March


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Euthanasia woman withdraws case - BBC Health News 18th March 2007


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Family fears that Sellafield burnt body parts of father - The Times 20th April 2007


The daughter of a former Sellafield worker wept yesterday after learning that organs and bones were removed from her father’s body and taken away for testing after his death at the age of 36. Angela Christie, 47, is hoping that the inquiry announced by Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, will establish what happened to her father’s lungs, liver and vertebrae. She fears that they have been incinerated and the ash stored with radioactive waste at Drigg complex, near Sellafield, on the Cumbrian coast.


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Sellafield organ removal inquiry - BBC Health News 18th March 2007


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Women were advised yesterday to think “very carefully” about taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after evidence was published showing that it has killed 1,000 women in Britain since 1991 by increasing their risk of ovarian cancer. HRT increases the risk of the disease by 20 per cent, the biggest investigation of links between HRT and cancer has found. Although the absolute risk is low, millions of women took HRT in the 1990s and so the total impact is large: an extra 1,300 cases of the disease and 1,000 deaths between 1991 and 2005, according to the Million Women Study.


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A pensioner who won a campaign for NHS provision of treatment to save his sight has died after contracting an infection in the hospital assessing him for the treatment. Ron Roberts, 81, a Second World War veteran and former military code-breaker, had wet age-related macular degeneration diagnosed after Christmas last year. His wife Olive, 79, had had the same condition diagnosed days earlier.


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Patients are at risk of malnutrition because of a shortage of nursing staff to feed them properly, a survey suggests. Almost half of the 2,000 nurses questioned by the Royal College of Nursing said that they did not have enough time to make sure that patients got their meals and were able to eat them because they were too busy. The findings come six years after the Government spent £40 million to improve nutrition in hospitals.


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Busy nurses can't monitor patients' food - The Telegraph 19th March 2007


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Lack of nurses 'nutrition fear' - BBC Health News 18th March 2007


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I am travelling to Thailand in May. In the past I have been found to have a duodenal ulcer and IBS, so my GP has warned me that I shouldn’t take aspirin. Is there any other preparation that I can take instead? Incidentally, my father suffered a DVT ten years ago after a long flight to Australia.


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Rates of family breakdown, domestic violence, crime and juvenile delinquency will rise if the Government goes ahead with plans to liberalise gambling, public health experts said yesterday. Medics and leading nurses condemned ministers for their "blinkered and pig-headed" attempts to allow the building of Britain's first Las Vegas-style super-casino in Manchester and 16 other casinos. Ministers are expected to amend plans for new gaming laws following their defeat in the House of Lords.


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Doctors attack gambling policies - BBC Health News 19th April 2007


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David Cameron was under pressure last night to review his opposition to tough new mental health laws following the Virginia Tech shootings. Concerns were raised over the mental state of the killer before the attacks.


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Letters to The Daily Telegraph - The Telegraph 20th April 2007


Recently, I came up against the full might of our proud nation's new NHS computer system (Letters, April 19). We all, our dear leader tells us, want choice. I was offered "Choose and Book", which is supposedly a part of the system that is actually beginning to work.


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Letters to The Daily Telegraph - The Telegraph 19th March 2007


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A family GP who killed a grandmother after injecting her with six times the correct dose of morphine was spared jail yesterday. Dr Michael Stevenson, 54, confessed to the manslaughter of Marjorie Wright, 58, after he accidentally gave her a 30mg dose of Diamorphine instead of 5mg. Stevenson, who had 25 years experience as a doctor, said he had worked an average of two double night shifts each day for the two weeks before Mrs Wright's death.


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Overdose killing GP spared jail - BBC Health News 18th March 2007


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A row broke out last night over the state of Britain's hospitals after a retired consultant complained that his wife received far better treatment in India. Opposition parties accused Labour of running down the NHS and failing to put patients first.


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Drug-related crime costs England and Wales more than £13 billion a year and damages the health of hundreds of thousands of addicts, according to a report. The UK has the highest levels of addiction and multi-drug consumption and the second-highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, the document claimed.


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Labour's ten-year drugs war has achieved nothing but lower street prices, says experts - Daily Mail 19th March


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Two cups of a tea day may slash the risk of skin cancer, according to new research. Scientists found tea-drinkers were at least 65 per cent less likely to get certain types of tumour.


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Tea 'could cut skin cancer risk' - BBC Health News 19th April 2007


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Ambulance services are being stretched to "breaking point" because GPs have opted out of out of hours care, a union has claimed. The debt-ridden NHS is facing a shortfall of around 2,000 ambulance workers - with remaining staff having to work extra shifts to take up the burden, according to public sector union Unison.


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A shortage of specialist care for post-natal depression could drive more and more women to commit suicide, nurses warned yesterday. Suicide is the leading cause of maternal death and every year a small number even kill their own children.


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Making the morning-after pill more readily available does not cut teenage pregnancy rates, a leading healthcare organisation has warned. Despite the use of emergency contraception doubling in the past six years, research shows it has failed to cut unplanned pregnancies or make a difference in the levels of sexually-transmitted diseases and abortions.


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Hayfever and asthma sufferers were warned today to prepare for what could be the worst summer on record for allergies. Met Office experts say there is an unusually high risk for sufferers because of predicted high temperatures and the heat and an increase in storms and smog could cause major problems for people with respiratory conditions.


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Road traffic accidents, not Aids, cancer or any other disease, are the biggest killer of young people worldwide, experts warn. Nearly 400,000 young people under the age of 25 are killed in road traffic crashes every year. Millions more are injured or disabled.


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Missed and cancelled hospital outpatient appointments cost the health service in Northern Ireland more than £11m, an Audit Office report has said. It said about one in 10 outpatient appointments does not take place.


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Crematoria are struggling to deal with spiralling rates of obesity. Expanding waistlines are forcing many councils to spend thousands widening their furnaces, the Local Government Association has warned.


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A mobile phone that gives its owner a health check is being developed by experts at Leeds University. The device can be used to check vital signs, glucose and blood oxygen levels. The results are then sent straight to a remote computer where a nurse or doctor can analyse them and contact the patient if anything is wrong.


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The Welsh NHS is continuing to get into debt, with managers forecasting a £33m overspend for the last 12 months, according to research by BBC Wales. The debt was calculated from a survey of all Welsh NHS Trusts, local health boards and Health Commission Wales.


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Women are being let down by a lack of services for those with postnatal mental health problems, nurses say. Health visitors that help women with post-natal depression are being cut, the Royal College of Nursing said.


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Sally's husband had been drinking heavily and her son was always asking for money. One day she turned around and said: "You're just like a drug addict!"

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International News

Biotechnology company Antisoma, which specialises in cancer treatment, yesterday signed a deal worth up to $890m (£445m) with Swiss drug group Novartis to develop its experimental lung cancer drug. AS1404 is in phase-two trials. It is aimed at stemming the flow of blood to tumours to kill them off. If successful, it could become a blockbuster as it would be the first drug on the market to work in this way. Swiss drug group Roche has a similar drug, Avastin, but it stops the growth of new tumour blood vessels, not existing ones. AS1404 is expected to go into phase-three studies, the last stage before market approval, next year.


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High-stress lifestyles fuelled by alcohol and fast food that leave no time for exercise are leading to more cases of high blood pressure and threaten an epidemic of heart disease across the globe. Known as the "silent killer" because it is symptomless but deadly, high blood pressure can damage major organs and lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and dementia.


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'Stress threatens epidemic of heart disease' - The Telegraph 20th April 2007


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It all began five years ago with a chance conversation over dinner during a relaxed holiday in the Eastern Cape. The publisher John Brown, who made his name and fortune through Viz magazine, was on holiday with his family, staying with friends in the small and disarmingly beautiful town of Hamburg. He spent a relaxed week, walking on the beach, swimming and eating at the beach-shack restaurant Dorrigo's, a laid-back sort of place run by a Portuguese from Mozambique. Setting up an Aids charity was not on his agenda. But midway through his stay, he and his wife, Claudia, had a meal with a remarkable couple, Carol and Justas Hofmeyr.


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US troops are fighting a high-tech war. Yet, as in the mud of the Somme, soldiers are suffering from the effects of fear and bombs


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Eating less salt reduces the chances of suffering a heart attack or stroke, the first long-term study of salt’s impact on health confirms today. The findings, from a 15-year study, offer the clearest evidence yet that cutting salt consumption saves lives by reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease. People who ate less salty food were found to have a 25 per cent lower risk of cardiac arrest or stroke, and a 20 per cent lower risk of premature death. The results, published in the British Medical Journal, underline the need for population-wide salt reductions in the diet, the scientists conclude.


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Cutting salt 'reduces heart risk' - BBC Health News 19th April 2007


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Strawberries are good for you but having them in a cocktail may make them even healthier, a study suggests. The fruit contains compounds that can protect against cancer, heart disease and arthritis.


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Strawberry daiquiris can 'help fight cancer' - Daily Mail 18th March


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Drinking just two cups of tea per day could cut the risk of developing skin cancer, a study suggests. The US research compared the tea-drinking habits of 1,400 people with skin cancer and 700 who had not developed the disease.


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The US supreme court signalled a shift towards a more conservative approach to abortion yesterday as it upheld a nationwide ban on a procedure that pro-life activists regard as infanticide. The court ruled by five votes to four to allow to stand a law passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in 2003 which bans the type of termination of pregnancy which is known by anti-abortionists as "partial-birth abortion".


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Catching flu increases the risk of dying from a heart attack by a third, say researchers. A major study has shown epidemics trigger a rise in sudden coronary deaths thought to be caused by inflammations that destabilise "silent" clots in the arteries.


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Strong demand for Herceptin and other cancer treatments have boosted sales at Swiss drugmaker Roche. Roche said sales rose 16% to 11.4bn Swiss francs (£4.7bn) between January and March, prompting it to raise its profit forecast for the current year.


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Caterpillar robot 'treats hearts' - BBC Health News 18th March 2007


A robotic caterpillar has been designed which can crawl across the surface of the heart to deliver treatment. New Scientist reports a prototype of the HeartLander device, created by US researchers, has been tested on pigs.

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Cheshire and Merseyside News

WARRINGTON Hospital - which covers Runcorn and Widnes - is one of the worst-affected areas. The figures count the number of people admitted with alcoholic liver disease, mental and behavioural disorders due to the use of alcohol and because of the toxic effect of alcohol


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A FORMER assistant manager at a Widnes care home has been struck off the nursing register after being found guilty of a catalogue of cruelty towards vulnerable patients. Nurse James Snow, 55, who was at the Bankfield Road Home from 1991-2003, refused to appear in person before a committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in London.




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AN EXPLOSION in hospital admissions for drink-and-drug-related illnesses in Cheshire and Merseyside has been revealed. The number of people treated in casualty departments after drinking too much alcohol has leapt by 26% in just five years, Government figures show.


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HALTON residents looking to make the change to a healthier lifestyle are to be offered places on a free ten-week course. The Fresh Start programme is a joint effort between Halton's Healthy Living Programme and the Dietetics Department of North Cheshire Hospitals, and will include nutritional advice, cooking and tasting workshops, and two sessions of exercise a week.


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Warrington Hospital radio has picked up three awards from the Hospital Broadcasting Association. The 35 volunteers were overwhelmed' - though it is the third year in a row they have been honoured.


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A GRANDFATHER was saved from cancer after sending off for a free test kit in the post. Roy Thompson, 63, ordered one of the screening packs despite suffering no symptoms.


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THE UK charity for people with diabetes has cautioned against giving false hope to people with Type 1 diabetes in light of a new study.


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A LIVERPOOL family was the first called to testify at an independent public inquiry into what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. Nearly 2,000 haemophiliacs, who were exposed to fatal viruses in contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 80s, have since died and many others are said to be terminally ill. The tragedy should never have happened, victims and their relatives told day one of the inquiry yesterday.


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WITH the continual expansion of the population in the Vale Royal area and the prospect of further increases with the urban village project at Winnington, is it not time a major appraisal of Northwich Infirmary is due? I feel it is ludicrous for the people in this area to be referred to Leighton Hospital when our hospital could be upgraded to account for this prospective rise in patient numbers.


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Cuppas back on menu thanks to Guardian - Northwich Guardian 18th March 2007


CUPS of tea will be flowing regularly once more at Victoria Infirmary Northwich thanks to a little help from the Guardian. Earlier this month, the tea bar at the Winnington hospital was in desperate need of volunteers to keep up its vital service, which provides more than just refreshments to the hundreds of patients who visit.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News

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A FAMILY doctor who was warned about over-working has admitted killing a patient in Cumbria after giving her a massive overdose of painkiller while treating her migraine. Dr Michael Stevenson, 54, was given a suspended 15-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Workington woman Marjorie Wright by injecting her with 30mg of diamorphine – six times the normal amount.


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A PERVERT who prompted a judge to call for urgent action after he flouted a community order by refusing medication for tuberculosis is now receiving treatment. Shahfasal Pervez, 20, was given a three-year community punishment, after pouncing on a woman as she walked to work in Ormerod Street, Accrington, in January last year.


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I'VE just read that the NHS is unlikely to be free at the point of use within 10 years according to doctors. A BMA poll of 964 young GPs and hospital doctors found 61 per cent thought some patients would have to pay for some treatment by 2017.


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The daughter of a former Sellafield worker wept yesterday after learning that organs and bones were removed from her father’s body and taken away for testing after his death at the age of 36. Angela Christie, 47, is hoping that the inquiry announced by Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, will establish what happened to her father’s lungs, liver and vertebrae. She fears that they have been incinerated and the ash stored with radioactive waste at Drigg complex, near Sellafield, on the Cumbrian coast.


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Sellafield organ removal inquiry - BBC Health News 18th March 2007

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Greater Manchester News

A SUPPORT centre which offers patients with cancer the chance to enjoy complementary therapies as they fight the disease, had a special guest when MP David Chaytor visited. The Bury North MP fulfilled a promise to visit the Bury Cancer Support Centre, based in St James Church Hall in Walshaw, after he was unable to accept a previous invitation for a tour of the facilities.


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A CAMPAIGN has been launched to dramatically cut the number of bowel cancer deaths in Greater Manchester. The Don't Be A Cancer Chancer campaign urges people to visit their GP early with possible cancer symptoms.


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A FORMER haemophiliac who told an inquiry how his liver was irreparably damaged by a contaminated blood transfusion has said all he wants is an apology. David Fielding, from Farnworth, was diagnosed with haemophilia as an infant. The condition is usually inherited and occurs when the blood cannot clot properly because it has low levels of clotting factors eight or nine, causing bruising and internal bleeding.


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Parents tell of heartache after baby died in sleep - The Bolton News 19th April 2007


A COUPLE say their heartache continues after an inquest could not find a reason why their baby died in her sleep. Kodi Lei Christian-Somers, who should have been celebrating her first birthday today, died suddenly at her home in Cobham Avenue, Great Lever, on November 16, 2006.

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade



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National News

The government will announce an independent inquiry today into claims that body parts of workers who died in suspicious circumstances at Sellafield and other nuclear plants were secretly taken for medical examination without their families' consent for more than 30 years. It was not immediately clear whether skin samples only or limbs and tissues were taken for laboratory examination from the 1960s until the practice was stopped in the early 90s but there are suggestions that almost 70 bodies may have been affected.


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Sellafield workers' body parts 'removed for tests' - The Independent 18th March 2007


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The Royal College of Nursing voted overwhelmingly yesterday to take industrial action over pay throughout the NHS if the government does not back down within a month to rescind a decision to postpone part of this year's award. Delegates at the union's annual conference in Harrogate voted by a 95% majority for the first nationwide action since it was founded in 1916.


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Nurses threaten action over pay award - The Independent 18th March 2007


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Thousands of schools built before the mid-1970s have potentially lethal levels of asbestos in the fabric of their buildings, teaching unions warn today. Parents will be asked to join teachers' campaigns to speed up the removal of the dangerous substance. Petitions and letter-writing campaigns "organised responsibly so as not to cause panic" might help tackle the threat to staff and pupils, the National Union of Teachers says in a briefing for health and safety representatives.


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Once British tourists were happy to return home from their holidays with a suntan and a cheap bottle of the local hooch. But today's holidaymakers are looking for much more - a greater sense of well-being, a cleansed mind, relaxed body and soul and, increasingly, a new look, thanks to the surgeon's knife.


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Stressed Britons opt for 'well-being' breaks - The Independent 18th March 2007


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Throughout his life Terry Riley kept detailed diaries chronicling his long struggle with depression and mental illness. After he eventually took his own life in 2004, his wife Lynne handed the diaries to actor Steve Huison and asked if the words could be used to illustrate the terrible consequences of a lifetime battling with mental health problems.


I want to make it very clear that trainee nurses must be directly or indirectly supervised at all times on NHS wards (NHS leaving students in sole charge of patients, April 17). Patient safety is of paramount importance to the department and NHS staff, and we would expect nurses immediately to report any incident they feel compromises patients in their care. All NHS trusts are expected to operate a no-blame reporting system.


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Some 2,000 haemophiliacs died after British doctors tested new blood products on them, having ignored safety warnings for the sake of "scientific kudos," it has been claimed. From the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, 4,500 haemophiliacs were exposed to lethal viruses. Around 2,000 have since died of Hepatitis C or HIV, the BBC's Newsnight programme said.


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'Government knew of Factor 8 dangers' - The Telegraph 18th March 2007


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Contaminated blood inquiry begins - BBC Health News 17th March 2007


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A cheap and simple alternative to the £12 billion (£20 billion?) NHS computer project (report, April 17), which also complies absolutely with the Freedom of Information Act is to buy each person in Britain a USB memory stick.


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It sounds like the stuff of science fiction: a new generation of drugs that make people more intelligent. But they are precisely the kind of mind-altering substances that students and businessman could be taking in the future to pass exams and boost work performance.


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Fears over drugs that can boost your brain - Daily Mail 17th April 2007


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Britain could face food shortages within 25 years as a result of growing demand for biofuels and a rising world population, a leading adviser to industry and the Government said yesterday. Competition for land between fuel and food crops, expanding populations in developing countries, and climate change were all going to put pressure on world food supplies, said Prof Bill McKelvey, chief executive of the Scottish Agriculture College in Edinburgh.


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Treatments using stem cells from embryos are flawed on medical as well as ethical grounds, leading scientists claimed yesterday. Research on the use of such cells to provide a 'repair kit for the body' has been controversial as their harvesting typically results in the death of the embryo.


You've broken your leg. You're in agony. You dial 999. Expect an ambulance? Think again. In fact, it's a man in a car with a few days' training. Health trusts call this efficient- paramedics call it crazy When 15-year-old Jonathan Rigby broke his left leg in a PE lesson, his school immediately dialled 999.


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More than half a million people in Britain have glaucoma - a build-up of fluid in the eye. It is usually treated with eye drops, or sometimes surgery to unblock the tubes. But Andrew Coleman, 21, a singer/songwriter from Liverpool, had a new treatment where a tiny 'drain' was stitched into his eyeball. He tells CAROL DAVIS his story, while his surgeon explains the procedure.


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Omega-3 fish oil can help children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, a study published today suggests. Results from "the largest, clinical-based omega-3 and omega-6 trial of its kind" bolstered views that fatty acids relieve aspects of the condition.


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It's going to be one of the worst summers ever for hay fever. Even if you’ve never had it before, YOU may fall victim. Here, two of Britain's top allergy experts tell you how to cope Experts are predicting this summer will be the worst for hay fever sufferers - even people who’ve never suffered before are likely to succumb to the characteristic itchy eyes and ears, and streaming or stuffy nose.


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Pernilla hatter, a 35- year-old solicitor from Northamptonshire, has endometriosis, a debilitating disorder of the womb. "The pain was so severe I could barely stand up - and I felt so sick I couldn't eat." Two million women in the UK have the condition - many suffer such excruciating pain that work, let alone a social life, becomes impossible. Its cause is unknown.


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A simple antibiotic used to fight gum infections could offer pain relief to people with chronic low back pain. Up to one in five cases of low back pain might be due to a bacterial infection of a spinal disc that occurs after patients brush teeth, according to some researchers.


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George Melly, jazzman, art expert and writer, has been given only months to live after refusing treatment for lung cancer. When diagnosed two years ago, it was early enough for George to have had surgery, but he decided he would have a better quality of life with no treatment at all. His greatest fear was that after time off for surgery and any other therapy, he would never return to the stage with his band, Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen.


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The UK has an unusually severe drugs problem and the government's strategy has had a very limited impact on drug use, a new watchdog body has been told. The report for the independent UK Drug Policy Commission said more addicts were being treated.


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Footballers and nurses are world's apart. The highest-earning Premiership players take home in excess of £100,000 a week - it takes the average nurse four years to earn that.


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A centre to undertake the largest study into the genetic and environmental causes of disease has opened its doors in Manchester. The Biobank will take DNA samples from people aged 40 to 69 and track their health over a number of years.


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Hospital asks people not to visit - BBC Health News 16th March 2007


People have been asked not to make visits to Southampton's hospitals if they have experienced diarrhoea or vomiting in the last 72 hours. The appeal by Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust follows a series of outbreaks of the highly contagious Norovirus in Hampshire's hospitals.

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International News


Bishen Swarup gingerly fries slices of potato in a large shallow pan before picking up the hot pieces with his bare hands. The 71-year-old then ladles on tamarind sauce, drops in some ginger and adds salt and a few slices of fruit. Around his stall, just off Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk market, customers line up for the 15 rupee (18p) bowls of Mr Swarup's tangy fruit chaat. The Swarup family have run their street kitchen business for more than 80 years. But perhaps not for much longer. The purveyors of Delhi's hot, spicy snacks could be pushed off the pavements thanks to a government drive to clean up the Indian capital ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010.


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Two million people in poor countries are now being kept alive by Aids drugs, but children still lose out and more money will be needed to reach all those in need, according to a UN report. The report from UN-Aids and the World Health Organisation says there has been a 54% rise in those treated over the last year. In sub-Saharan Africa, the worst-hit region, 1.3 million are now on antiretroviral drugs, which represents coverage of 28% compared with 2% in 2003.


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Flu can trigger a potentially fatal heart attack in those with heart disease and thousands of lives could be saved if all those at risk were vaccinated every winter, scientists said today. Researchers in Texas are urging doctors to ensure that anybody with risk factors for heart disease has a flu jab each winter. One in three people with heart disease does not realise flu is potentially dangerous to them and fails to go for vaccination, they said.


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Flu vaccine could prevent heart attacks - The Times 18th March 2007


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Flu jabs 'could stop thousands of heart deaths' - The Telegraph 18th March 2007


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A widely used herbal supplement taken to aid digestion has been found to have powerful anti-cancer properties. Triphala, made from the dried and powdered fruit of three plants, is the most popular Ayurvedic remedy in India. It is used to stimulate the appetite, treat intestinal disorders and act as a laxative. Indian scientists have claimed for years that Triphala has value as a detoxifying and anti-cancer agent. Now researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute say they have shown that it can prevent or slow the growth of pancreatic cancer tumours implanted in mice.


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Indian herbal remedy cancer hope - BBC Health News 17th March 2007


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People who are overweight and claim they have 'heavy bones' or 'a slow metabolism' are often jeered at for making excuses. Now it looks as if they may be right. Last week, scientists announced they'd found the gene that puts one in six of us at increased risk of obesity. If you have this gene - called FTO - you are 70 per cent more likely to become overweight.


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Ethanol vehicles may have worse effects on human health than conventional petrol, US scientists have warned. A computer model set up to simulate air quality in 2020 found that in some areas ozone levels would increase if all cars were run on bioethanol.


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Just 28% of poor people with HIV have access to the antiretroviral drugs that could save their lives, a study shows. The report is published by the World Health Organization, UNAids and Unicef.


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Eating large quantities of cured meats like bacon could damage lung function and increase the risk of lung disease. A Columbia University team found people who ate cured meats at least 14 times a month were more likely to have COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.


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Bullet removed 39 years after war - BBC Health News 17th March 2007


Doctors have removed a bullet from the heart of a Vietnamese soldier 39 years after he was shot by US troops. Le Dinh Hung, 60, is said to be recovering well after surgery in Hanoi to remove the 2.5cm (1 inch) bullet and replace a damaged heart valve.
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Cheshire and Merseyside News

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THE North West’s Centre for Spinal Injuries has been able to buy vital equipment thanks to a £19,000 donation. The funding, supplied by Southport-based law firm Fletchers, has provided the centre, at Southport and Formby General Hospital, with much-needed machines.


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Call for Tories to reduce care costs for the elderly and disabled - Crewe Guardian 17th April 2007


AFTER months of Tory rhetoric in the press about the cuts to health facilities locally, in particular the Accident and Emergency Unit at Leighton Hospital.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News

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AN inquiry into claims that staff at the Sellafield nuclear plant who died in the 1960s and 70s had body parts removed for medical tests without permission is to be announced. Trade and Industry secretary Alistair Darling will appoint a leading QC to lead an independent investigation into claims that up to 70 people may have had tissue, bones and body parts taken for medical examination without their family’s knowledge.


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Limit on hospital milk is poppycock - Lancashire Telegraph 17th April 2007


YOUR headline on March 30 about patients being limited to milk is absolutely disgraceful, and the NHS Trust officials' reply that they were trying to ensure that its consumption was reasonable is totally unprofessional poppycock, and I would ask the question of what they consider is reasonable.

Greater Manchester News

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IDENTICAL twins Amanda Firth and Debbie Crowder have defied huge odds to both beat breast cancer - twice. Experts at Withington Hospital say the 38-year-old sisters had significant chance of developing the killer disease because they carry a defective gene.


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Genetic study centre is launched - BBC Health News 17th March 2007


A centre to undertake the largest study into the genetic and environmental causes of disease has opened its doors in Manchester. The Biobank will take DNA samples from people aged 40 to 69 and track their health over a number of years.

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