Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade
Another 15 Minutes is currently experiencing navigation issues as a result of software changes, as soon as we identify a solution the navigation menu will return, we apologise for any inconvenience this causes.
New Section
Listen to Another 15 Minutes...Health News from the Fade Library
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 29th May 2007
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 28th May 2007
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 27th May 2007
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 26th May 2007
New Section
National News
New Story
NHS cutbacks leave £500m unspent - The Guardian 29th May 2007The NHS has underspent by half a billion pounds as a result of the aggressive cuts imposed by the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, a Guardian analysis of health authority figures has revealed. The size of the underspend caused fury among health union leaders yesterday, who said it was generated by an unnecessarily harsh squeeze on spending during the winter months when many NHS trusts economised by closing wards, axing jobs and delaying operations until the start of the new financial year in April.
New Story
Maternity care flaws may put patients at risk, says report - The Guardian 29th May 2007NHS trusts could be risking the safety of mothers and babies by using maternity support workers to do the work of trained midwives, a report says today. The independent study for the Department of Health found a number of trusts across England were converting midwife positions into posts for lesser-qualified maternity support workers (MSWs).
Additional Story
Babies 'at risk from untrained workers acting as midwives' - The Times 29th May 2007
Additional Story
Babies 'at risk from use of stand-in midwives' - The Telegraph 29th May 2007
Additional Story
Midwives cut by stealth despite Hewitt's pledge - The Telegraph 29th May 2007
Additional Story
Case Study - The Telegraph 29th May 2007
Additional Story
Midwife cutbacks 'putting mothers and babies at risk' - Daily Mail 28th May 2007
New Story
The therapy minefield - The Guardian 29th May 2007Doctors and patients agree that our only chance of stemming the tide of antidepressants is to make the alternatives more accessible. But what exactly are the drug-free options?
New Story
This drugs TV could wreak havoc on our health service - The Guardian 29th May 2007Four of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies are proposing to launch a television station called Pharma TV featuring "health news and features", your article reports (Coming soon: the shopping channel run by drug firms, May 21). The same source admitted that this medium would provide an opportunity for "detailed information from drug companies about their medicines". This move can only be described as QVC for patients - far from a benevolent information service. To claim otherwise is an insult to consumers' intelligence.
New Story
Zoe Williams: Being pregnant and receiving unscientific advice go hand in hand - The Guardian 29th May 2007Last week the government announced that pregnant women should abstain from alcohol. Was there any scientific reason for this change in guidance? Well no, says Zoe Williams, but then much of the advice she has been bombarded with since getting pregnant has been completely unscientific ...
Additional Story
Someone tell the alcocops where to put their labels - The Times 29th May 2007
New Story
The most significant advance in the understanding of breast cancer for a decade was announced last night with the identification of a new group of common genetic markers for the disease. Scientists have discovered four genes which, if faulty, can increase a woman's chance of developing breast cancer - by up to 60% in the case of two of the genes. This helps explain why women with a close relative with breast cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease, and offers the hope of a test in the near future. The scientists also believe the techniques used will help them unravel other cancers.
Additional Story
Additional Story
Additional Story
Ministers should be stripped of the power to approve or reject NHS hospital closures, a leading thinktank with close links to the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, says in a report today. The Institute for Public Policy Research says such "reconfiguation" decisions should be referred to an independent panel by local authorities. Since 2003, local authority scrutiny committees have protested to the Department of Health about 23 NHS reconfiguration proposals. Ms Hewitt and her predecessors referred only four cases to an independent reconfiguration panel set up to review the merits of change.
Gordon Brown must put improving relations with health service staff at the top of his agenda as prime minister, Labour deputy leadership candidate Hazel Blears says today. Ms Blears, the party chair, said the premier-elect was right to identify the health service as his most important immediate challenge. The number one priority was "first and foremost a better dialogue with the people that work in the NHS", Ms Blears said in an interview with the Guardian.
Additional Story
New Story
Rampton patient fights smoking ban at high security hospital - The Guardian 28th May 2007
Patients at Rampton high security psychiatric hospital, which houses some of the country's most dangerous criminals, are challenging a smoking ban in a test case which claims the refusal to permit cigarettes in the hospital's buildings or grounds violates their human rights. The case, due for hearing in September, is being brought by Terrence Grimwood, a patient who has been given legal aid to contest the no-smoking policy, imposed at the end of March.
All alcoholic drinks will carry new warning labels by the end of next year under a government scheme announced yesterday. The labels, the result of a voluntary agreement between ministers and the drinks industry, will give the number of units of alcohol per glass or bottle and the recommended safe drinking levels. They will be accompanied by a new campaign to raise awareness of unit measurements.
Additional Story
Plan for alcohol health warnings - BBC Health News 28th May 2007
Britain's lowest-paid workers have enjoyed a bigger improvement in their standard of living since 2003 than those in any other European country, according to research by the European Trade Union Confederation. It shows that Gordon Brown and Tony Blair's decision to introduce a minimum wage has transformed the country from a laggard to a leader in the EU in combating poverty wages.
Just a few days before Labour swept to power in 1997, Tony Blair was visiting a health centre in Brentford when a Sikh man approached him and asked: "What about us Asians?" Had Blair stopped to listen, as my colleague Jonathan Freedland did, he would have learned that the man was concerned about a possible EU directive that would have stopped him from wearing his turban under his motorbike helmet. If ever there was an ideal opportunity to triangulate, this was it. So long as the turban did not violate British safety laws, why should the EU interfere? With racial sensitivity he nods to the left, with a well-placed jab at Europe he nods to the right. But Blair had an entirely different audience in mind. "You're part of Britain," he snapped. "We'll treat you the same as everyone else."
Cases of tuberculosis in the UK are rising despite government efforts to curb a disease synonymous with mass death in Victorian times. Doctors' leaders are calling for improved efforts to screen immigrants from the Indian and African continents for signs of TB, and more widespread use of the vaccine, BCG, in infants.
Contrary to 'Did my sick husband have to die in jail? (News, last week) Scotland will not be covered by the Mental Health Bill currently passing through the Commons, which is destined to cover only England and Wales. Scotland has already introduced its own mental health legislation.
New Story
Cigarettes that stop burning within two minutes of being put down are to replace conventional brands in an attempt to reduce the number of casualties from fires started by smouldering butts. The European Commission is to ban traditional cigarettes by 2009-10, forcing smokers to buy 'fire-safe' cigarettes that need constant drags to keep them alight.
Chickens at the centre of a bird flu outbreak in Wales were bought at a market 70 miles away in Cheshire, it emerged yesterday. Four people have tested positive for the virus after it was discovered last week at a farm near Cerriydrudion, Conwy, in north Wales, and 30 chickens at the smallholding have been slaughtered.
Appalled by British food, the actor/musician Steven Seagal turns to apple pie. Dr John Briffa issues a starch warning
Responding to an article on the outsourcing frenzy, a reader lamented that managers had forgotten how to manage: their first reaction was to look for packaged solutions that offloaded responsibility for anything difficult on to someone else. This resonated with the observation by a council chief executive that young managers were so reliant on targets they had become incapable of managing without them. Confronted by the need to use judgment, they were at a loss.
New Story
Out-of-hours GP failures led to patient's death - The Guardian 26th May 2007 A "major system failure" in a GPs' out-of-hours service led to the death of 41-year-old Penny Campbell, according to an official report published yesterday which suggested patients should have more access to their doctors in the evenings and at weekends. This is one of the changes suggested by Gordon Brown as a priority of his new government, but doctors' leaders have already indicated that any adverse changes in their contracts will be resisted.
Additional Story
Care trust apologises for fatal failure of out-of-hours GP service - The Independent 26th May 2007
New Story
More details emerged last night of the way government advisers handled the haemophilia scandal which saw thousands of patients infected with imported blood. Yesterday the Guardian revealed that the Department of Health was warned of the HIV danger from US blood products in 1983, but its advisers on the Committee on the Safety of Medicines decided not to ban imported blood for fear the UK would not have sufficient supplies.
Additional Story
New Story
I am worried that my 12-year-old daughter is experimenting with cigarettes. She has come home from school smelling of smoke, and we have found a cigarette butt under her window. We have asked her directly and she has denied it, but we are still suspicious. Any advice?
Are we healthier now than we were in the 70s? It depends on how you define health. In the 70s, the Queen sent around 1,000 centenarian telegrams a year - today, the figure is closer to 20,000. However, I doubt that will continue. Look at the crowds at Wembley for the famous (I'm a Scot), or notorious (if you are English), football match in 1977, when the Scots (who won 2-1) brought down the crossbar and took home a smidgen of turf - there's not a fat fan to be seen. Now look at football crowds today - at some matches there are 40,000 beer bellies. That is a huge change, and will lead to early deaths from strokes, heart attacks and diabetic complications. We also see a lot of liver disease in young women - unheard of even 10 years ago. That's due to new drinking habits.
What it's all about? The hula hoop had its heyday during the 50s, although it dates back to ancient Egypt, where hoops were made from grapevines or stiff grasses. These days, many hoopers make their own from polyethylene tubing and the activity influences a range of exercise classes, among them Hulaerobics, a new body toning class in which you learn to hoop on your torso, arms and legs. Hoop dance classes are more aerobic and Beyonce is said to be a huge fan.
At least 140 people in London were contaminated with radioactivity as a result of the assassination of the former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, according to government health advisers. Several hotel staff and guests were exposed to polonium-210, the radioactive isotope which was used to poison Mr Litvinenko, along with police officers, hospital staff, and a number of his relatives and friends.
My mother gets endless summons from NHS outposts. There's the diabetic clinic, the audiology clinic, the podiatric clinic. We dutifully take her but often they don't know who she is or why she's there. By comparison, trips to the psychogeriatric unit, the supposed controlling intelligence of her care, are pretty good. The consultant, who is Iraqi and looks like a short Peter Sellers, once visited her flat. Now she calls him "my friend Al Jazeera".
New Story
Sex-offender computer system hits delay - The Independent 29th May 2007Moves to help police track sex offenders across the country have been delayed because of computer problems, prompting claims that public safety could be endangered as a result. The Bichard Inquiry into the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by a school caretaker, Ian Huntley, called for a change to how detectives swap information about criminals.
New Story
A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA. The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
New Story
With almost half of Britons unaware that it will be illegal to smoke in public places from 1 July, new figures reveal there has been a dramatic slump in the number of smokers kicking the habit. Anti-smoking campaigners are now calling on the Government to capitalise on the ban by running stop-smoking adverts and increasing tobacco taxation.
Mobile phone companies and the Government's official regulator are keeping information about the siting of radiation-emitting masts secret, despite rising concern about effects they may have on health. The companies have stopped disclosing the sites of newly erected masts in what critics describe as "a fit of pique". And Ofcom, the communications industry regulator has refused to release information because it is afraid this might make the firms even more secretive.
Men and women could be denied Viagra or ovarian cyst operations, under draconian rules allowing fertility clinics to decide who is fit to be a parent and thus eligible for fertility and sexual health treatments. MPs are furious at a new code of practice for fertility clinics, which says that any medical treatment that might result in children - even unintentionally - could be denied if it was not considered to be in any resulting child's interest.
New Story
‘I was truly frightened on behalf of our patients’ - The Times 29th May 2007When he first saw the results of his study two weeks ago, Steven Nissen said that he felt sick and was unable to sleep. “It was very striking,” he said after the publication of his report on Avandia, the diabetes medicine that is GlaxoSmithKline’s second-bestselling drug. “When you see a signal this strong, I was truly frightened on behalf of our patients.”
New Story
First ladies’ model knee implant - The Times 29th May 2007A golf-loving pensioner is the first woman in Britain to have a knee implant designed especially to fit females. Margaret Lowe, 72, from Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, was struggling to complete 18 holes because of arthritis in her knees. She made medical history when she was fitted with a Zimmer Gender Solutions knee implant.
New Story
Specialist firms get a chance to shine - The Times 29th May 2007TO COUNTER allegations that management consultants in the public sector do little except spend taxpayers’ money constructing PowerPoint presentations, there has been a move towards public sector organisations wanting – and consultants providing – more specialist tailored services. Philip Geiger, the chairman of Xayce, says: “The private sector demands specialist skills from its providers and most consultancy services are structured by industry. The public sector should demand the same but we have to realise that the public sector is not just one industry but many; local government, for instance, is very different from health.”
Additional Story
Smarter working - The Times 29th May 2007
New Story
Sarah Burnell was 43 when breast cancer was diagnosed in November 2005. Despite having had the all-clear after a mammogram a year earlier, she had developed 11 tumours and had to have a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Because of a family history of breast cancer – her mother had the diagnosis at 51 – she had insisted on annual mammograms from the age of 38. They probably saved her life.
New Story
Batches of fresh basil sold at Asda, Sainsbury’s and Somerfield have been contaminated with salmonella. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) alert came after a survey found that samples from two Asda stores, two Sainsbury’s branches and one Somerfield shop had tested positive for the bug, which can cause diarrhoea and sickness.
Additional Story
Salmonella alert issued over supermarket basil - Daily Mail 28th May 2007
New Story
The Government has secretly set up a VIP “stalker” squad to identify and detain terrorists and other individuals who pose a threat to prominent people. The unit, staffed by police and psychiatrists, will have the power to detain suspects indefinitely, using mental health laws.
Additional Story
Stalker squad to keep VIPs from harm - The Telegraph 28th May 2007
Mr Justice Goldring has declared the process of junior doctor appointments to be disastrous and flawed. Yet no one in authority will admit responsibility or offer a remedy, least of all the Chief Medical Officer (CMO). The medical royal colleges and the new postgraduate medical training board (PMETB) should have acted, but most have been silent, or worse. We salute, then, the courage of RemedyUK, a Prague Spring among junior doctors. Our report (letter, May 14) of a democratic ballot among 3,500 doctors showed 80-95 per cent votes of no confidence in the new appointments and training schemes, and in those responsible for them.
The Government has failed to collect up to £200 million in tax from Britain’s dentists after the botched introduction of a change to their contracts with the NHS last year, The Times has learnt. Andrew Murrison, a Conservative health spokesman, called the new dental contracts a “catastrophe” yesterday. He has written to Dawn Primarolo, the Paymaster-General, demanding answers about what he said was a simple failure by Britain’s tax authorities to enforce the law.
The Department of Health does its best to encourage the public, and especially youngsters, to play more sport of the type that used to be known as “games”. There are campaigns to persuade people to make better use of playing fields, tennis and squash courts, swimming pools, bicycle tracks and gyms. This is excellent advice, but if the general aim is to improve the nation’s health then there are better ways of taking exercise that would help to protect the hearts and arteries of middle-aged and older citizens. Such exercise might help them to avoid both atherosclerosis (furring up of the arteries) and the metabolic syndrome with its attendant complications of obesity, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and heart failure.
New Story
Let it brew - strong tea may cut cancer risk - The Sunday Times 27th May 2007
GRANDMOTHER did know best. Scientists have established that tea left to brew in a pot is better for your health. The traditional way of making a cuppa releases more cancer-fighting chemicals than simply dunking a tea bag in a mug of boiling water.
An increasing number of us are retiring abroad, drawn to warmer, sunnier climates where our pensions will stretch further, or to be united with children or grandchildren who have settled abroad. “The silver flight is the result of Britons being increasingly willing and able to spend their retirement in Adelaide, rather than Accrington,” says Danny Sriskandarajah, associate director of the Institute for Public Policy Research. He predicts that, by 2050, more than 3.3m Britons will live overseas.
Andrew Lawson, a consultant, has seen the NHS from the other side since being diagnosed with cancer three weeks ago
Few people like going to the doctor but at the same time everyone worries about their health now and then. And increasingly people are turning to the internet to attempt self-diagnosis. The problem for these so-called cyberchondriacs is that the internet is full of dodgy quacks pedalling suspect advice: symptoms for a common cold can quickly escalate online to be diagnosed as chronic pneumonia, while buying specialist medication is like playing Russian roulette. Last year, for instance, a 64-year-old woman from Sunderland lost her sight partly as a consequence of taking oral steroids she bought from an online pharmacy.
Respect. Empowerment. Personal responsibility. Independence. These are the words that new Labour spokesmen and women chant as the answer to every problem. Yet what they mean is precisely the opposite. Their true approach to the rest of us is one of disrespect, disempowerment, infantilisation and a growing dependence on the state.
WHEN the musical Grease opens in London’s West End this summer, and the teenage sweetheart Sandy draws on a symbolic cigarette, warning notices will be in place around the theatre alerting the audience to the danger she poses.
New Story
Is it true that drinking red grape juice has the same beneficial effects as drinking red wine?
HOLIDAYMAKERS are being warned not to pick the cheapest travel insurance policies because many do not provide an adequate level of cover and may leave travellers stranded abroad. Some policies cost less than £6 for a week’s cover in Europe, according to a report from Defaqto, a financial research company. But they are “too cheap” to be able to offer sufficient cover and may have misleading small print, it said. It urges consumers buying cheap policies to consider whether their insurer could pay any claim made.
High blood pressure is the silent killer. There are no immediate symptoms, which means that of the estimated 16m people in the UK who have it one third are probably unaware of it. The only way to know is to be checked. Blood pressure is expressed as a fraction. The top number (the systolic) is the pressure in the arteries as the heart pumps blood. The bottom number (the diastolic) is the pressure as the heart rests.
DENTISTS on the National Health Service are turning away people with bad teeth because they say they are only paid enough to treat patients with a good dental health record. One surgery admitted that people who have not had a dental appointment for three years will be refused treatment. Others are employing more subtle methods to reject patients.
Additional StoryNHS dentists turn away patients with bad teeth - The Telegraph 28th May 2007
Want Hollywood teeth for a quarter of the price? We join the dental tourists for some incisor trading in Hungary
I suffer from vaginal soreness and wondered if aloe vera might be helpful. Could you suggest a natural vaginal lubricant for day-to-day use?
New Story
Surgeons have lost patience with the Department of Health over the failed system for selecting doctors for training posts. The President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), Bernie Ribeiro, withdrew yesterday from the review group set up by the department to find a solution to the problems caused by the Medical Training Application Service.
Additional Story
Out of Time - The Times 26th May 2007Summer is a’coming. The first swallow has been sighted, the smell of freshly cut grass is all around and the evenings are full of the sound of millions of hay fever victims sneezing. Reacting swiftly to this seasonal snotfest, the tabloid press has decided that unemployed junior hospital doctors have had more than enough time in the media spotlight and are again illuminating the pitiful shortcomings of everyday NHS GPs.
New Story
The Government advised women not to drink at all during pregnancy. But are the new rules sensible or just an example of the nanny state gone mad?
I often have oral sex with my husband but we’ve heard that there is a link to throat cancer. We both had several partners before we met; am I at risk?
On paper Kim Noble sounds scary. His shows, which are part comedy, part performance art, have a reputation for challenging and even annoying audiences, as well as being ground-breaking. While his work is sometimes classed as comedy – his double act with his regular stage partner Stuart Silver won the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe’s Perrier Award for best newcomer – he prefers to describe himself as an artist.
7. Longevity means looking after your heart WHO SAYS? It’s a given that the male heart is his Achilles’ heel, as many charities and most doctors will tell you. HOW WRONG IS IT? Depends on how you look at the stats. True, heart disease strikes blokes at a younger age than women. But crunch a few numbers and things get more interesting.
OK, for a start don’t call it a “slop bucket”. The Department for Environment (Defra) is quite upset about The Times’s use of this phrase, which conjures up brimming pails of pigswill or penal chamber pots. Instead, the small vessel to be kept in your kitchen, into which you must scrape your fish-heads, leftover tikka masala, chicken gizzards etc is a “caddie”. Which has pleasant associations with where your granny stored her tea or a stoical bloke frowning behind Tiger Woods.
With BBC’s Panorama this week pointing to the supposed dangers of wi-fi technology, back experts are pointing to a much more immediate danger from laptop computers. They say that they are creating a nation of slouch potatoes. While most British scientists believe that the risk of harm from wireless technology is theoretical, the risk laptops pose to our backs, shoulders and necks as we lean over them on the train, at home and at work is very real. Because they encourage bad posture, they’re causing an epidemic of musculoskeletal problems.
New Story
Drink firms wary of health labels on alcohol - The Telegraph 29th May 2007Plans to put detailed health warnings on bottles of alcohol have been undermined by disagreements between drinks companies and the Department of Health. Caroline Flint, the public health minister, announced yesterday a "voluntary agreement" between the Government and the drinks industry that would see all alcohol packaging have health warnings by the end of next year.
Additional Story
Drinks makers snub plans for alcohol warning labels - Daily Mail 28th May 2007
New Story
Children given Tamiflu in Wales outbreak - The Telegraph 29th May 2007More than 140 people may have been exposed to avian flu after an outbreak in north Wales, health officials said yesterday. At least 12 children aged nine and 10 and two teachers are also being given Tamiflu treatments as a precaution after it emerged they had spent time with an infected child.
New Story
Walk your way to a great rear view - The Telegraph 29th May 2007There's no better way to feel confident in summer clothing or on the beach than to be able to show off great legs and a toned bottom. As I stressed yesterday, it's important to follow a healthy eating programme in order to shed unnecessary body fat around the hips, thighs and bottom.
New Story
Cleanliness caused death of 'Dettol Man' - The Telegraph 29th May 2007A recluse died because his phobia for cleanliness drove him to using large quantities of antiseptic. Jacques Niemand, 42, became so well known for his obsession that children living near his flat in Didsbury, Manchester, nicknamed him the ''Dettol Man''.
New Story
Keep 'emotional' hunger at bay - The Telegraph 29th May 2007One of most important things you need to learn if you want to lose weight is to identify the difference between actual physical - what I call "stomach" -hunger, which is caused by the body's need to restore blood sugar levels to normal, and "emotional" hunger, which is caused by a psychological need.
Additional Story
Seven steps to breaking free of bad habits - The Telegraph 29th May 2007
New Story
Binge drinking can more than double the risk of breast cancer, a study has shown. Women who consume between 16 and 21 alcoholic units over a weekend - the equivalent of two bottles of wine - increase their risk of developing the disease by 151 per cent, while the danger still grows by 55 per cent for those who drink excessively on just one day each week.
The secret of the No Diet Diet lies in breaking the old habits that keep you fat. Our scientific research - we've spent over 20 years studying behavioural flexibility in British universities and for the Medical Research Council - has discovered that overweight people have certain habits in common and, surprising as it seems, it's not overeating.
Additional Story
New Story
Reducing the waistline and toning the abdominal region are Herculean tasks at the best of times, but with summer fast approaching - and the annual squeeze into beachwear not far behind - most of us can no longer afford to ignore this area of the body.
New Story
Professors would love to proscribe homeopathy - The Sunday Telegraph 27th May 2007
'Homeopathy is to medicine what astrology is to astronomy," observes Emeritus professor of surgery Michael Baum. "It is witchcraft, totally barmy, totally refuted." Professor Baum is particularly incensed at its availability on the NHS, and together with several other distinguished professors is campaigning, with considerable success, to close down the Royal Homeopathic Hospital by encouraging primary care trusts to "review" their arrangements for funding treatments "unsupported by evidence".
The growing use of home-testing kits to diagnose diseases and medical conditions is leading to deaths, a health watchdog has warned. Sales of DIY kits to test for pregnancy, monitor blood pressure and diagnose conditions such as flu, asthma and even sexually transmitted diseases and cancer, have soared. The industry is worth more than £160 million a year.
New Story
The trend towards ever larger families is selfish and can inflict lasting damage on the children, says Janine di Giovanni When I read the news about Helena Morrissey, a city high flier who has just given birth to her eighth child, I had a memory from early childhood.
New Story
Births on television always mean crisis. If it's a period drama, there are shouts for hot water and towels. If it's an American production, the whole episode might as well be entitled Primal Scream.
Airbags are damaging children's ears and lungs, according to new research. Children involved in crashes where the bags go off are five times more likely to suffer breathing problems and seven times more at risk of damaging their hearing.
The popular perception of teenage eating habits is that we are raising a generation of children who are either obese junk-food addicts or media-manipulated anorexics. We put five girls aged between 13 and 17 to the test by asking them to keep a food diary for a week. Sally Williams looks at the results
Recovery from whiplash injuries may take longer if patients undertake sustained chiropractic treatment, researchers have found. The authors of the study concluded that visiting a chiropractor more than six times or receiving chiropractic care from a GP was associated with a slower recovery time. A chiropractor treats diseases by adjusting a person's joints, especially those in the back.
New Story
Calcium and vitamin D 'cut breast cancer risk by a third' - Daily Mail 29th May 2007Younger women can cut their risk of breast cancer by more than a third by eating extra calcium and vitamin D, researchers claim. Foods rich in the nutrients - including milk, oily fish and green vegetables - could be the latest weapon in the fight against the disease.
New Story
Parents give children Ritalin at exam time - Daily Mail 29th May 2007Pushy parents are giving healthy children Ritalin bought on the Internet in an attempt to boost their exam performance, a leading psychologist claimed. They believe the potent hyperactivity drug will prolong their children's concentration at school, while studying at home and in the exam hall itself.
New Story
Dyslexia 'is just a middle-class way to hide stupidity' - Daily Mail 28th May 2007Dyslexia is a social fig leaf used by middle-class parents who fear their children will be labelled as low achievers, a professor has claimed. Julian Elliott, a leading educational psychologist at Durham University, says he has found no evidence to identify dyslexia as a medical condition after more than 30 years of research.
New Story
MPs back nurses' call for a proper pay rise - Daily Mail 28th May 2007Nearly 200 MPs have backed calls for the Government to give nurses a proper pay rise instead of the below-inflation increase it is proposing. It comes as the Royal College of Nursing is taking the unprecedented step of balloting 300,000 NHS nurses on whether they would be prepared to support a vote for industrial action.
Additional Story
MPs join call to give nurses full pay award - The Telegraph 29th May 2007
New Story
Zapper that can end an embarrassing problem for women - Daily Mail 28th May 2007Scientists have invented a remotecontrol bladder that could help millions of women who suffer urinary incontinence. A valve implanted near the neck of the bladder can be opened and closed with a TV-style handset.
New Story
High speed healing with a gel made from your own blood - Daily Mail 28th May 2007A gel made from patients' own blood cells dramatically speeds up the rate at which wounds heal after surgery. The DIY gel could slash the risk of life-threatening hospital infections by shortening the recovery process.
New Story
Parents were warned to limit their children's consumption of soft drinks amid fears over the safety of a commonly-used preservative. Research shows that E211 - found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max - can switch off vital parts of DNA, causing serious damage to cells.
A teenage musician hanged himself in his bedroom after viewing websites showing how to commit suicide. Christopher Gray, 15, strangled himself with a belt after his parents told him to stop watching TV and do his homework.
Children face years of ill-health because they are not active enough, researchers say. Scientists claim there is an epidemic of 'mini-couch potatoes' at risk of chronic health problems in later life.
Women face a huge postcode lottery for breast cancer screening with one in three NHS units failing to offer check-ups within three-year intervals. The worst units are screening just one in 14 women inside the recommended target time of 36 months, figures reveal.
Peppermint could offer hope to millions of migraine victims. Levomenthol, which is found in the Mentha piperitaherb – also called Black peppermint – has long been known to have healing properties.
When Palak Vyas went into labour she expected a long and painful delivery. But she was amazed when she gave birth just two minutes after her waters broke. The delivery was so quick Mrs Vyas, 30, had no pain relief and barely had time to return to her bed at West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth.
New Story
Nearly 200 MPs, including the leaders of both main opposition parties, have backed calls for nurses to get a full 2.5% pay increase this year. Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been offered a 1.5% rise followed by another 1% in November.
Could Snack the dog, Professor Foodsmart and the Great Grub Club Gang be the answers to helping cut childhood obesity? The World Cancer Research Fund hopes that by using the health conscious characters on its new website it can encourage better eating and a more active lifestyle among its target audience of four to seven-year-olds.
New Story
Officials investigating two possible cases of bird flu in north Wales have now traced 36 people who may have been in contact with the disease. The figure has risen from 26, and 11 have shown flu-like symptoms, but none is said to have been seriously ill.
A hospital consultant is calling for widespread HIV testing for accident and emergency department patients. Dr Kaveh Manavi, a consultant in HIV medicine at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital, told the BBC everyone should be tested unless they opted out.
Heart checks via the telephone could save the NHS millions of pounds, the results of a six-month trial suggest. During the pilot in north west England, the telemedicine system reassured hundreds of people with chest pain, but spotted those who needed medical help.
New Story
Evidence on RSI 'urgently needed' - BBC Health News 27th May 2007Research into the causes and treatment of repetitive strain injury is urgently needed for the millions of sufferers worldwide, say experts. Decades after RSI was first reported, evidence is still lacking to guide diagnosis and care, The Lancet reports.
New Story
'I couldn't watch my family suffer' - BBC Health News 26th May 2007
Amy Cook is 'a remarkable teenager' - for the past year the 17-year-old has been the main carer for both her 41-year-old mother and 16-year-old sister. She has done all the shopping as well as many of the household tasks for her mother Melanie, who has had two major and several minor strokes.
New Story
Top surgeon quits training talks - BBC Health News 26th May 2007
A surgeons' leader has resigned from talks in the row over a new system for the training of junior doctors. Royal College of Surgeons president Bernard Ribeiro said the government was guilty of "a scandalous failure of duty to address this issue".
New Story
Dentists are warning people may be getting complacent after figures showed more than one in 10 people do not brush their teeth each day. The number of non-brushers is eight times higher than last year, according to the British Dental Health Foundation poll of over 1,000 people.
Hypnotherapy could help people with severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), researchers say. Doctors should consider using this and other "psychological" treatments such as antidepressants to help sufferers, King's College London experts say in the British Medical Journal.
The colourful jazz singer and art expert, George Melly, is embarking on his final series of concerts. He is 80, and has been determined to continue appearing on stage - despite having lung cancer and vascular dementia, which affects the brain after small strokes.
Four people have tested positive for a mild strain of bird flu which was first detected at a north Wales smallholding, the Health Protection Agency has said. A 1km restriction zone remains in place around the farm in Conwy after the "low pathogenic" H7N2 strain of bird flu was found in chickens which died there.
A doctor hailed as an expert in transsexualism has been found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC). Dr Russell Reid, 63, had denied rushing five patients into hormone treatment and sex-change surgery without properly assessing them.
A firm providing phone and TV services to hospital patients has been accused of pressurising vulnerable people. Ex-employees of Patientline, which has deals with 160 NHS trusts, said they were forced to approach ill patients to get them to sign up to the services.
New Section
International News
New Story
This is Agnes. In the past 30 years she has had unprotected sex with up to 2,000 infected men. Yet she and a small number of her fellow sex workers are still free from Aids. Stephanie Nolen travels to Majengo, a slum in Nairobi, to meet the extraordinary women and researchers who are changing the history of HIV
New Story
Antibodies from survivors could combat human strain of bird flu - The Independent 29th May 2007Scientists say they may have found a way of combating the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu that has claimed dozens of lives around the world. The partly UK-funded research successfully used antibodies from survivors of the virus to stop the full-blown disease from developing in mice.
Additional Story
Bird flu survivors’ blood the key to vaccine, say scientists - The Times 29th May 2007
Additional Story
Bird flu antibodies 'copied from survivors' - The Telegraph 29th May 2007
New Story
Why the US is losing its war on cocaine - The Independent on Sunday 27th May 2007America has spent billions battling the drug industry in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. And the result? Production as high as ever, street prices at a low, and the governments of the region in open revolt. Hugh O'Shaughnessy reports from La Paz, Bolivia
New Story
Go to India: get better in a jiffy - The Times 29th May 2007Typhoid, Dr Gupta declared, with something of a flourish. As the sweat poured off my brow, I stared up from the hospital bed with relief and, to be honest, a hint of pride. Of all the lurgies he’d been testing for over the last three days, typhoid was by far the most glamorous. “How Victorian!” commented one friend. I imagined myself lying under a mosquito net in a canvas tent, military uniform unbuttoned at the chest, Bible clasped to my heart. Fortunately – if less romantically – I found myself clutching an Indian Hello! magazine in an immaculate, air-conditioned private room at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi.
New Story
Nigerians follow US lead in suing tobacco companies for health costs - The Times 26th May 2007 British American Tobacco is being sued by Nigeria’s two largest states, which are hoping to recover the costs incurred in treating smoking-related diseases in cases inspired by American state lawsuits of the 1990s, which led to a multi-billion-dollar settlement by the tobacco industry. Kano and Lagos, joined by another state, Gombe, and a nonprofit organisation, have also accused BAT of targeting young and underage smokers by sponsoring events such as pop concerts and of promoting the sale of individual cigarettes, which they claim reduces the effectiveness of mandatory health warnings.
New Story
When Michael Moore, the former attorney-general of Mississippi, said in 1994 that the state was suing big tobacco companies, he said: “This lawsuit is premised on a simple notion: you caused the health crisis, you pay for it.” For the past 40 years, the tobacco industry had successfully defended every lawsuit brought by sick smokers. One internal memo by RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company said: “The way we won these cases . . . is not by spending all of Reynolds’ money but by making the other son of a bitch spend all of his.”
Smokers in England who are cast on to the pavements on July 1 when the tobacco ban comes into effect will at least be able to puff away with im- punity on holiday in Spain. Amid much fanfare, Spain introduced a smoking ban on New Year’s Day 2006 — an ambitious measure in a country where 50 per cent of people believe that smoking is an in- alienable right. It has one of the highest rates of smoking in Western Europe.
New Story
It has been the fantasy of science-fiction writers for decades. Now researchers claim they are close to the breakthrough that will enable them to put astronauts into a state of suspended animation to make deep space voyages to faraway planets. Human trials are planned this year to chill volunteers so they go into 'induced hibernation' and sleep safely, possibly for months.
New Story
'Brainy' mice may hold key to Alzheimer's - Daily Mail 27th May 2007Scienstists have bred 'bright mice' in a breakthrough which could lead to new treatments for illnesses such as Alzheimer's. The mice were genetically engineered to lack the enzyme Cdk5, which is blamed for the death of brain cells in Alzheimer's patients.
Mobile phones do not cause headaches despite claims by some consumers, a scientific study has found. Instead, people experience such symptoms because they expect them to occur. Dr Gunnhild Oftedal and his team at Norway University in Trondheim recruited 17 subjects who "regularly experienced pain or discomfort in the head during or shortly after mobile phone calls lasting between 15 and 30 minutes."
Researchers say they have developed the most detailed model of a human yet, a movable "4D" image that doctors can use to plan complex surgery or show patients what ailments look like inside their bodies. Called CAVEman, the larger-than-life computer image emcompasses more than 3,000 distinct body parts, all viewed in a booth that gives the image height, width and depth. It also plots the passage of time - the fourth 'dimension.'
New Story
Drinking four or more cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of having a painful attack of gout, say Canadian scientists. A University of British Columbia team found blood uric acid levels - which are linked to the condition - were lower in people who drank more coffee.
A critical shortage of doctors and nurses means people are dying unnecessarily from HIV/Aids in southern Africa, according to a report. In some areas, drugs are available but there is nobody to administer them, the Medecins sans Frontieres report says.
"If a politician declares that the United States has the best health care system in the world today, he or she looks clueless rather than patriotic or authoritative." So says Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, an ethicist at the US National Institutes of Health.
A man is suing his former employer for $5m after being fired for visiting "adult" internet chat rooms while at work. James Pacenza claims he suffers from "sex addiction", and that his bosses should have shown him sympathy, rather than the door.
A US woman has been added to the list of those killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, after dying from dust generated by the towers' collapse. New York's chief medical examiner said he was certain the dust contributed to Felicia Dunn-Jones' death from a rare lung disease five months after 9/11.
New Story
Killer banana rumour grips China - BBC Health News 25th May 2007A rumour spread by text message has badly hit the price of bananas from China's Hainan island, state media say. The messages claim the fruit contains viruses similar to Sars, the severe respiratory illness which has killed hundreds of people worldwide.
New Section
Cheshire and Merseyside News
SIR David Henshaw is the new star of a podcast urging people to look after their health. The ex-Liverpool council chief executive stars in the download, which says north west people need to take respons-ibility for being more healthy.
THE closest bird flu case to Merseyside has been confirmed. A case in north Wales has been verified by experts. Ten chickens have died at the farm near Corwen, on the border of Conwy and Denbighshire, and the rest were being slaughtered yesterday.
NOT far off a million pounds was wasted by Warrington PCT through inefficient drug prescriptions, the National Audit Office has claimed. The NAO studied spending in Warrington and across the country and found more than £300m of £1.5bn expenditure was going to waste annually.
THE hospital radio station is opening its doors to the public this week. Radio General is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is inviting staff, patients and residents to see how it works.
PLANS for a new medical centre in Knutsford could draw vital trade away from the town centre. Ken Andrew, who owns Hal Whittaker's in Princess Street, said opening a pharmacy in the medical centre could put existing chemists out of business.
New Section
Cumbria and Lancashire News
TWO cancer victims have spoken out about the insensitive and obstructive way travel insurance companies have treated them. Despite being cancer-free since 2004, 54-year-old Joyce Pape, of Crofton, near Thursby, struggled even to get a policy for a bus trip to Torquay.
A GROUP from Wigton will help get a desperately-needed health centre up and running in northern Uganda – while staying in the mud huts they helped to build on their last visit. The Dedicated Women in Development (DeWoDe) group has been helping women in Kobulubulu to build and equip the centre over the last five years – in an area which has no electricity or running water.
THE Cathedral in Blackburn is being forced to display no smoking signs in a move branded "lunacy". From July 1 the grade II listed building, parts of which date back to the 19th century will have to put up A5 sized signs as public buildings go smoke free.
MORE than 4,600 people have quit smoking in East Lancashire over the last 12 months, according to the latest figures. In the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale areas, 1,905 smokers gave up the habit during the 12 month period to the end of March.
New Story
Help us enjoy our meal out - Lancashire Telegraph 25th May 2007A WOMAN who has an intolerance to gluten has urged East Lancashire restaurants to do more to help people with the disease. Eileen Marsden, 57, has coeliacs disease, an auto-immune condition triggered by eating the protein, which is found in wheat, rye and barley.
New SectionNew Section
Greater Manchester News
MENTAL health services in Manchester have been placed on the government's critical list. Cash-strapped Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust which started the financial year £4.5m in debt, will have to report its financial progress to regional health bosses every fortnight.
A WOMAN who aborted a foetus at 34 weeks has been given a 12-month suspended sentence. Campaigners welcomed the outcome of the trial after the horrific background to Maisha Mohamed's life was revealed.
A WOMAN has been spared jail after being convicted of aborting a seven-and-a-half month old unborn baby. Maisha Mohammed, 22, is the first expectant mother in Britain to have been convicted of child destruction - which carries a maximum sentence of life.
New Story
Cases of superbug soar at hospital - The Bolton News 25th May 2007THOUSANDS of patients at the Royal Bolton Hospital will be fast-tracked through tests for superbugs after bosses missed national targets. As many as 9,000 patients, who are deemed at high risk from contracting either MRSA or Clostridium Difficile and have been admitted from planned surgery, will be screened.
New Section
Podcast
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 29th May 2007
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 28th May 2007
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 27th May 2007
Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade 26th May 2007
