Friday, December 01, 2006

Contents

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National News


Living with cystic fibrosis - The Guardian 01/12/06

What is it like to know your child will never lead a normal life? As Gordon Brown comes to terms with his son's cystic fibrosis, Niki Shisler offers a personal perspective



Abortion drug can prevent breast tumours, says study - The Guardian 01/12/06

A chemical used in the abortion pill has been found to prevent the growth of breast and ovarian cancers, scientists report today. Mifepristone is licensed as an abortion drug in the UK and is given to women to terminate early pregnancies. But research published in the journal Science reveals that by shutting down the hormone progesterone in breast tissue cells, the drug can also prevent tumours from forming.



Ros Taylor on the 35-year-old refuge movement - The Guardian 01/12/06

Wife-beating was still being joked about at dinner parties when a squalid house in Chiswick opened its doors to women fleeing abusive partners. Ros Taylor looks at the refuge movement today as it marks its 35th anniversary



Smoking ban dates announced - The Guardian 01/12/06

The smoking ban for all enclosed public places and workplaces will begin in Wales from April and England from July, the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, announced yesterday. "Thousands of lives will be saved and the health of thousands more protected," she said.

Smoking ban to start on July 1st - The Telegraph 30/11/06

England smoke ban to start 1 July - BBC Health News 01/12/06



Cancer league tables planned - The Guardian 01/12/06

League tables showing the length of time patients at hospitals around the country survive cancer may be published by the government so they can make informed decisions about where to go for their care.

Survival tables to improve hospital care for patients aid fight against rise in cancer rates - The Telegraph 30/11/06



Four out of five July 7 victims still have trauma symptoms - The Guardian 01/12/06

More than 80% of the survivors of the July 7 London bombings are still suffering psychological symptoms of post-traumatic stress, according to the first study of the long-term effects of the attacks.

'Long-term scars' of London bombs - BBC Health News 30/11/06



False economy: hidden bill paid by poor for cut-price food - The Guardian 01/12/06

Britain's leading supermarket chains are strongly criticised today in a report which claims their low-cost or economy-range foods are much less healthy than their more expensive counterparts.



Cot deaths 'expert' Sir Roy may not have been wrong - The Independent 01/12/06

Findings of a cot death study that helped to discredit the paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow were challenged by a report published yesterday in the British Medical Journal.



Britain accused of sending HIV refugees to die - The Independent 01/12/06

Ministers have been accused of condemning failed asylum-seekers who are HIV-positive to death by deporting them to Africa.



The Big Question: What do we really know about Aids? - The Independent 01/12/06

Remind me, what exactly is Aids? Aids stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. This is a broad description of a variety of symptoms displayed by someone who has been infected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). It usually takes about a decade for someone who is "HIV positive" to develop full-blown Aids. Once they are infected, they are infected for life.



Why city life can bring on bulimia - The Times 01/12/06

Young women who grow up in cities or move there from rural areas are five times more likely to suffer from bulimia.

'I really looked ill, but all I saw was fat' - The Times 01/12/06

Moving to a city 'raises bulimia risk in young' - The Telegraph 30/11/06



'We must make our own bird flu jabs' - The Times 01/12/06

Britain would be dangerously reliant on other countries to supply life-saving bird flu vaccinations if a pandemic broke out, scientists and politicians said yesterday.



Supermarket brands are 'danger to health' - The Times 01/12/06

Shoppers who choose supermarket “economy” ranges may be risking their health.

Budget food ranges 'less healthy' - BBC Health News 01/12/06



Stop the aircraft scare stories - the risk is remote, doctors say - The Times 01/12/06

Medical experts say that ministers have triggered an unnecessary radiation scare that has led to thousands of people needlessly demanding checks for contamination.

Abdominal bleeding is not uncommon - The Times 01/12/06

Radiation found at 12 locations - BBC Health News 30/11/06

BA passengers in radiation alert - BBC Health News 30/11/06



Positions on back pain - The Times 01/12/06

To anyone with an appreciation of the effects of gravity, it is not surprising that there is less pressure through the lumbar discs in a reclined position than in an upright sitting position, as long as there is preservation of the lumbar curve — ie, not slumping (“Slouch — it’s the safest way to sit”, Nov 28).



The wine diet, day 5: how to keep off all the pounds you have lost - The Telegraph 01/12/06

It's not an impossible challenge to maintain your target weight, says Professor Roger Corder. It's a question of curbing the cravings



Victims' lawyers discover MRSA loophole - The Telegraph 30/11/06

Thousands of patients who have suffered injuries after contracting the MRSA bug in hospital were given hope of compensation yesterday as solicitors revealed they had discovered a legal loophole.



Prescott rubbished over North-South divide - The Telegraph 30/11/06

John Prescott's claim that the North-South divide is closing was denounced as "spin" last night by the academic he asked to investigate the problem.



NHS may close A&E units as deficits bite - The Telegraph 30/11/06

A total of 29 accident and emergency units are facing closure as NHS trusts struggle to cope with record deficits, new figures have revealed.

Labour makes you sick - The Telegraph 01/12/06



Don't have children late like me, says Harman - The Telegraph 30/11/06

Women should avoid having children in their late thirties and early forties if they want help from active grandmothers who "leap about", Harriet Harman, the constitutional affairs minister, said yesterday.



Success of abstinence in cutting teen pregnancies is a 'myth' - The Telegraph 30/11/06

Sexual abstinence as an effective tool in reducing teenage pregnancy is a complete "myth", the Government's advisory body on the issue claimed yesterday.

US sex-abstinence drive 'flawed' - BBC Health News 01/12/06



Patients 'fleeced' by hospital ban on mobile phones - Daily Mail 30/11/06

Patients are being banned from using mobiles in hospitals to force them to pay for expensive bedside phones.



Festive drink-drive curb launched - BBC Health News 01/12/06

This year's Christmas drink-drive crackdown has been launched in a bid to stem the recent rise in the number of alcohol-related road deaths.




HIV 'condemning many to poverty' - BBC Health News 01/12/06

Rising numbers of people with HIV are living in extreme poverty in the UK, according to a report by the National Aids Trust and Crusaid charities.



Model 'can predict tumour growth' - BBC Health News 01/12/06

Computer simulation could predict how a cancer tumour may spread in the body, according to scientists in Dundee.



Social dentist cure for shortage - BBC Health News 30/11/06

A new type of "social" dentist has opened in Derbyshire that organisers claim could solve the shortage of NHS dentists across the UK.



Stem cell cure hope for back pain - BBC Health News 30/11/06

A patient's own stem cells could soon be used to cure chronic back pain, say researchers.



Family chains 'offer junk food' - BBC Health News 30/11/06

Family restaurants are failing to offer enough healthy food choices to children, according to a new report.



NHS 'to get updated cancer plan' - BBC Health News 30/11/06

The government is to revamp its cancer plan in the new year amid criticisms the current strategy is out of date.



Drive to cut Asian heart deaths - BBC Health News 30/11/06

People from South Asia who live in the UK have a much higher risk of dying from heart disease - and are much less likely to ask for help.



Talks over £12m hospital legacy - BBC Health News 30/11/06

A debate is taking place by health watchdogs about what to do with a £12m legacy left to Cromer Hospital, in Norfolk, by a former patient.



Chemo drugs 'destroy brain cells' - BBC Health News 30/11/06

Drugs used to destroy cancer cells may actually be more harmful to healthy cells in the brain, research suggests.



Scots' alcohol habits cause alarm - BBC Health News 30/11/06

Many young Scots regularly wake up unable to remember how much they drank the night before, a survey has claimed.




International News


South Africa ends long denial over Aids crisis - The Guardian 01/12/06

South Africa is using World Aids Day today to launch a plan that turns away from years of denial and obfuscation over the disease by President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister, which critics say have cost hundreds of thousands of lives.



Carrying the fight against Aids - The Guardian 01/12/06

Much has been achieved by taking treatment into communities, writes MSF's Susan Sandars, but much remains to be done



Big mining companies join vaccine maker for HIV trials in South Africa - The Guardian 01/12/06

A small Australian biotech company has secured the help of the world's leading miners to fund clinical trials of its Aids vaccine in South Africa.



The suffering that betrays a world divided - The Independent 01/12/06

Today is World Aids Day. It was first marked in 1991, an attempt by the international community to alert humanity to the terrible scale of the threat posed by the disease.



RED campaign offers thousands of Aids sufferers the 'Lazarus effect' - The Independent 01/12/06

When Bono visited the paediatric ward of the central hospital in Kigali last May, eight-year-old Denyse Mushimiyimana was almost comatose. Newly diagnosed with HIV, her tiny skeletal frame lay motionless on her bed while her distraught father, who is also infected, sat at her bedside. She didn't utter a word. Three months later, Denyse was back at her Rwandan school in a neatly pressed uniform, laughing and skipping as usual with her friends. Her parents are naturally delighted.



Defeating prejudice: The red ribbon revolution - The Independent 12/01/06

For quarter of a century, campaigners have struggled to secure funding for the fight against Aids and HIV. Stars rally to the cause now, but it remains a tough battle.



Why scientists are still years from a vaccine - The Independent 01/12/06

The unique nature of HIV has hampered the search for an Aids vaccine and it remains a distant prospect, the world's leading experts say.



Zackie's story: The man who took on Mbeki - and won - The Independent 01/12/06

South Africa's record in dealing with its Aids epidemic is arguably the worst in the world. But that's now changing, thanks to one dedicated campaigner. John Carlin reports from Cape Town



Deborah Orr in Mozambique: A deadly silence - The Independent 01/12/06

Its economy is growing, its infrastructure's good, its people are positive and forward-looking. In the eyes of many, Mozambique is an African success story. But in its rural heartland, HIV/Aids has left communities shattered and orphaned a generation of children - while the stigma that surrounds the disease means that tens of thousands of cases remain undiagnosed and untreated. Now a courageous band of 'activistas' is determined to change attitudes - and shape the future



Zimbabwe's bad practice: 3,500 dead each week as meltdown looms - The Independent 01/12/06

The gap between HIV rhetoric and reality in Zimbabwe has become a chasm. And it is a chasm into which hundreds of thousands of people are falling.



Senegal's good practice: How music is key to turning tide in war on Aids - The Independent 01/12/06

Senegal is the poster boy of the struggle against Aids in Africa and is also the home of some of the continent's best music. The two facts are not unrelated.



How the world's drug firms sacrificed profits in the battle against Aids - The Independent 01/12/06

Being handed an HIV-positive diagnosis is no longer a death sentence in the West. HIV/Aids, though a chronic illness, is manageable. With varying combinations of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and careful monitoring by the medical profession, an HIV/Aids patient can expect to live for many years.



Fergal Keane: The spirit of resistance that has found a new voice in the struggle against Aids - The Independent 12/11/06

You could watch coffin follow coffin into the earth. Death was knocking on doors everywhere



Gordon Brown: The scandal of poverty and disease - The Independent 01/12/06

It can devastate an economy because, unlike other diseases, it strikes at the workforce



Beatrice Were: 'Women need education to fight this epidemic' - The Independent 01/12/06

In 1991, my husband Francis died of Aids. Four months later I was diagnosed with HIV and my life changed for ever. Francis knew he was positive but had not told me. Like most Ugandan men, he wanted a "pure" wife, and he got one, for all the good it did me.



Red Cross brings hope to Aids-ravaged land - The Times 01/12/06

The people of Lesotho once avoided talk of the condition wiping them out. Now, with help, they are fighting back



Prevention and support in the fight against Aids - The Times 01/12/06

The statistics on the world Aids crisis are so stark and so horrific that it is tempting to look away and ignore the problem. To take just a few from 2006 — 2.9 million people died of Aids-related diseases and 4.3 million people were newly infected. As of World Aids Day, today, around 15 million children are orphaned.



Condoms help to make Ugandan relations safer - The Telegraph 30/11/06

Ribbed and studded condoms that promote pleasure as well as protection could add to the success of safe sex campaigns, it was claimed yesterday.



Clinton launches child HIV drugs - BBC Health News 30/11/06

A foundation headed by Bill Clinton has negotiated a deal to make HIV/Aids treatment cheaper for children, the former US president has announced.



Cheshire and Merseyside News




Father may take action after death of daughter - Daily Post 01/12/06
THE family of a 12-year-old girl who died suddenly from viral heart condition have said they hope the health service can learn lessons from their experience.



Motorists pay a massive penalty for illegal parking on hospital visits - St Helens Reporter 30/11/06
POLICE have issued more than 500 penalty notices to people parking on roads around Whiston Hospital during the past three months.




Cumbria and Lancashire News




Have Your Say On Nhs Changes - Blackpool Citizen 30/11/06
People across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre can have their say on plans for the area's NHS trust gaining foundation status.



Hospitals Must Face Reality - Lancashire Telegraph 01/12/06
HOSPITAL staff in East Lancashire must learn to face difficult and uncomfortable facts if patients are to get better services, the area's health boss has warned.


Hospitals Must Raise Their Game - Lancashire Telegraph 30/11/06
HOSPITAL staff in East Lancashire must learn to face difficult and uncomfortable facts if patients are to get better services, the area's health boss has warned.




Greater Manchester News




Patient in hospital told to call for ambulance - Manchester Evening News 30/11/06
Derek Ogley A GREAT-grandfather suffering from severe stomach pains while in hospital was told he couldn't see a doctor because he had already been discharged.



Computer spy to beat back pain - Manchester Evening News 30/11/06
ARE you sitting comfortably? Because a Manchester academic has designed a computer programme to avoid back pain.



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