Friday, May 25, 2007

Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade



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National News

Women should abstain from alcohol altogether when pregnant or trying to conceive, according to the government's latest advice. The guidance, published today, replaces previous advice that pregnant women should drink no more than two units a day once or twice a week. It comes as research in the US has found a link between smoking during pregnancy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.


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No alcohol at all during pregnancy, doctors say - The Independent 25th May 2007


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Rising level of teenage diabetes alarms researchers - The Guardian 25th May 2007


The rise of diabetes among teenagers and their poor adherence to treatment programmes is creating a serious public health problem, scientists have said. Research published in the Lancet today highlights the need to address type 2 diabetes among young people, which goes hand-in-hand with obesity.


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Teenage diabetes is a 'time bomb' - The Independent 25th May 2007


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Rise in diabetic teenagers is a 'time bomb' - The Telegraph 25th May 2007


Two adults were last night tested for bird flu after Welsh authorities confirmed an outbreak on a remote smallholding in north Wales. However, they reassured the public that this was not the H5N1 strain, which is potentially deadly to humans and which resulted in 160,000 turkeys being slaughtered this year in Norfolk.


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Bird flu pandemic is inevitable, expert says after new outbreak - The Times 25th May 2007


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Couple tested after 'low risk' bird flu kills their chickens - Daily Mail 24th May 2007


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Bird flu case confirmed at farm - BBC Health News 24th May 2007


Anyone who cares about local democracy should be worried by the local government and public involvement in health bill currently going through parliament. The bill includes a clause that will enable parish councils to appoint new councillors on the basis of their "specific role in the community". The new power is in addition to existing measures allowing parish councils to co-opt members to fill vacant seats.


The government's advisers on medicine knew that patients were at risk of contracting Aids from imported blood products as early as 1983, but ruled against a ban because of fears it would cause a shortage of supply. Minutes obtained by the Guardian of a meeting held on July 13 1983 reveal that the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) knew that "patients who repeatedly receive blood clotting-factor concentrates appear to be at risk" of Aids.


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Officials 'knew of Aids risk' in US blood imports - The Telegraph 25th May 2007


Danny Kushlick argued that the government should view drugs as a social rather than a criminal problem (Increment of harm, May 16). I share his commitment to reducing the harm caused by illegal drugs, but I don't agree with his approach. Too often the drugs debate is characterised by polarised viewpoints: those arguing for harm reduction versus those arguing for greater prohibition and tougher punishments for dealers and drug users.


Many in the UK trans community have been watching the Russell Reid case closely (Mistaken identity, May 23) and are tired of the media fascination with a tiny minority who have undergone gender transition and then regretted it. The nine or 10 cases in the glare of the media need to be seen in the context of the 2,100 people who have successfully applied for legal recognition in their acquired gender in the UK.


An investigation into the sudden death of a 41-year-old womenhas branded the out-of-hours care she received as "not fit for purpose" and the investigators have told Gordon Brown he must end the chaos and confusion surrounding cover for GPs at nights and weekends.


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Mother died after eight GPs failed to spot septicaemia - The Times 25th May 2007


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Mother died after consulting eight GPs - The Telegraph 25th May 2007


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Mum died after being seen by EIGHT doctors in four days - Daily Mail 25th May 2007


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Death inquiry slams stand-in care - BBC Health News 25th May 2007


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The number of alcohol-related deaths that could have been prevented has more than doubled in men since 1993, figures show. In 1993, 1,776 men died from alcohol-related disease that could have been avoided, rising to 3,884 in 2005. In 1993, 1,049 women died from alcohol-related disease, rising 67 per cent to 1,873 in 2005.


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Steady rise in deaths from heavy drinking - The Times 25th May 2007


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Talking about travel is a common pastime – but there is no one palliative for its side-effects


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Keira Knightley accepted £3,000 libel damages yesterday over “deeply offensive and embarrassing” suggestions that she had an eating disorder and bore responsibility for the death of a 19-year-old anorexic.


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Ignaz Semmelweiss demonstrated in Vienna in the mid-19th-century why it was that women in hospital who were delivered by midwives who hadn’t seen other patients in the hospital, didn’t develop infections during childbirth.


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Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, promised 200 extra training posts for young doctors yesterday as she attempted to recover lost ground over the crisis in medical training. Despite winning a court case brought against her by doctors, Ms Hewitt is still under pressure. The judge in the case, Mr Justice Goldring, suggested that doctors had “an entirely justifiable sense of grievance” and may consider pursuing their cases through employment tribunals.


A Citizens Advice Bureau adviser who was dismissed after she broke confidentiality rules to help to save the life of a suicidal caller has won her claim for unfair dismissal. Terri King, 58, of Southampton, had acted after a distraught client called the service to say she had taken an overdose of pills because she could not deal with her debt problems. Rather than following the time-consuming procedure of contacting her manager, who would then have had to consult a committee for advice, Mrs King immediately alerted the caller’s GP, who was able to get to the woman and treat her.


Sales of fresh fruit and vegetables increased by almost 8 per cent last year, the highest annual rise for the past 20 years. The figures, in the Government’s family food survey, show that official messages encouraging healthy eating appear to be getting through to consumers.


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The number of babies born prematurely has risen to one in every 13. Experts believe rising levels of obesity, later motherhood and wider use of IVF are behind the rise in women giving birth before 37 weeks.


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One in 13 babies is premature, new figures reveal - Daily Mail 24th May 2007


England has a rubbish crisis, producing more than 25 million tonnes of waste a year of which 63 per cent ends up in landfill sites. Room for our rubbish is running out and the way we dispose of it is bad for the environment. Emissions from landfill sites now account for three per cent of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions - giving Britain the reputation of the "dirty man of Europe".


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A widower whose wife died after giving birth to triplets yesterday accepted £700,000 in settlement of his compensation claim over her death. The High Court heard Richard Harding's 36-year-old wife, Helen, died in September 2002, six weeks after the delivery of Rhianna, Daniel and Madelaine.


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Jamie Oliver's crusade to make school meals healthier is driving youngsters to local fast-food outlets instead, a survey showed yesterday. More than a quarter of pupils have stopped having school dinners every day since the celebrity chef campaigned to banish junk food.


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Going abroad for a relaxing holiday before trying for a baby may not be a good idea, fertility experts say. Officials at the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridgeshire say soaking up the sun in tight trunks may be one of the worst preparations for fathering a child.


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UK doctors fear public safety could be compromised by the growing interest of world governments in using drugs for law enforcement. A report by the British Medical Association points to the example of the Moscow theatre siege of October 2002 where over 120 hostages died.


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Midwives ponder industrial action - BBC Health News 24th May 2007


Midwives are to consider industrial action for the first time in their history over a pay offer in the latest sign of unrest among NHS staff. Midwives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been offered a 1.5% pay rise followed by an extra 1% later.

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International News

Children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy are up to nine times more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, scientists say. US researchers found smoking acts as a trigger for the disorder when children are already genetically predisposed to ADHD.


Eti Khuman's face is cradled on her mother's shoulder. Eti is beautiful but poorly: her breathing is heavy, and Mina Khuman has the distracted look of a worried mother. Eti's illness - first vomiting, then diarrhoea - struck without warning. Like all mothers in Bangladesh, Mina knew to fear diarrhoea: in this country it can kill. She wasted no time in bringing her eight-week-old daughter to the main diarrhoea hospital near her home in the capital, Dhaka.


Scientists have found a gene that could shed light on many unexplained cases of inherited breast cancer. A study published today focuses on a gene called Rap80 which plays a crucial role in the DNA-repair mechanism that normally keeps cancer in check.


Babies of four months can tell when an adult has started to speak in a different language by watching mouth shape and facial expressions alone, scientists have discovered. Research in Canada has shown that very young infants do not need to listen to speech to determine which language is being spoken in a bilingual environment. Older infants can retain this skill if they are brought up in a bilingual family where they use it regularly, but it is lost by the age of eight months if only a single language is used around them.


Scientists have created a form of water which can zap hospital superbugs and speed up wound healing. Dermacyn – dubbed "miracle water" – is effective against infections ranging from MRSA to TB and has just been approved for sale in the UK.


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Cheshire and Merseyside News

PIONEERING surgery by video-link is being trialled at a Mersey-side hospital, enabling specialists from across the globe to direct operations from thousands of miles away. A team from University Hospi-tal Aintree is using the Live Inter-national Otolaryngology Network (LION) to share techniques and information with surgeons operating across Europe as part of the Merseyside Ear Course.


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A SENIOR Wirral doctor is being investigated by the General Medical Council. Dr Phillip Barnard, who is a partner at the Park Medical Centre in West Kirby, has had a raft of restrictions placed on him while he is being investigated.


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TWO of Merseyside’s biggest hospitals were today trying to find cover for hundreds of striking workers. Around 600 porters, cleaners, caterers and other staff from the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals will strike.


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CARERS who look after Liverpool’s most vulnerable residents fear losing their jobs under a town hall shake-up. Almost 400 people work for the council’s home care service, assisting the elderly, disabled or terminally ill with daily tasks including washing, dressing and cooking.


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BEDS are being axed at Halton Hospital as health bosses press ahead with controversial changes. A total of 14 beds will be cut from Ward B4 in the latest round of cuts due to begin at the end of May as the North Cheshire Trust works towards an overall target of reducing 90 beds throughout the hospital.


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A MASSIVE period of change that damaged staff morale is coming to an end at Warrington Hospital, a meeting of the trust that runs it heard on Monday. Staff posts have been reduced and teams reformed in an attempt to save money. More than 100 beds and four wards were marked for closure.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News


A DISABLED former Carlisle student has won £2,500 compensation after a tattoo parlour turned her away, saying they did not do “people like that”. Rachael Monk, 24, of Kirkpatrick Fleming, near Gretna, was on holiday with her family in Blackpool when she went to the shop.


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MATRONS and NHS staff whose jobs are under threat should be given a fresh start when the private sector takes on operations from the NHS. That's the view of Coun Tony Humphrys, former chairman of Blackburn with Darwen council's health scrutiny committee, amid concerns over redundancies and redeployments, affecting a number of medical posts.


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Hospital staff stars of TV - Blackpool Citizen 24th May 2007


Lifesaving staff from Blackpool's Victoria Hospital are to star in a real-life ER' style documentary. Blackpool Medics will air for four successive evenings on BBC1, beginning on June 11. The 30 minute shows will feature the true stories of how patients are treated in several departments of the hospital.

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Greater Manchester News

AS Andy Crane describes the operation to fix his broken hip, it sounds more like a DIY project. "What they do is get a very long screw and hold the two pieces together," he says, more breezy than a man should be, so fresh from the surgeon's knife.


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VOLUNTEERS are being sought to help run a Thursday afternoon trolley service at Fairfield Hospital. The Hospital Patients' Voluntary Services Committee operates three trolleys, allowing patients to buy sweets, chocolates, drinks, stationery and stamps.

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1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the nice post.