Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade
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Our children have never been fatter. Nor have they ever been so prone to eating disorders like anorexia. What can parents do? How do you steer your kids away from one danger without pushing them towards the other? Lucy Atkins has some practical advice
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Christopher Blum was four months old when he died. His father found him in his bedroom, rigid and cold in his Babygro, his hands bunched up beside his face, a tear of blood dried around his nose. The pathologist told the parents that their son had died of cot death. They didn't believe it, and they still don't. Hours before his death, Christopher had been given a triple vaccination.
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The trade union which represents senior civil servants - including Whitehall policy advisers, government lawyers, tax inspectors and NHS bosses - has been dumped by its financial advisers because its members aren't rich enough. Towry Law has provided financial advice to the FDA, formerly known as First Division Association, for five years, but it has suddenly terminated the contract. Towry Law said it wants to focus on individuals with £100,000 or more to invest - and it cannot find enough among the FDA's senior civil servants.
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Foods containing unnecessary and unhealthy amounts of salt are named and shamed today as Britain's shoppers are urged to boycott potentially dangerous processed foods. The worst offenders include staple items such as bread, crumpets and cereals as well as the popular meat snack Peperami Sticks, which have about 4g of salt per 100g.
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Watchdog calls for boycott on salty foods - The Telegraph 29th January 2007
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Oliver James (Comment, January 24) offers a seductive explanation for rising mental-health problems, but fails to synthesise a convincing argument. To scapegoat the New Labour establishment is simplistic. It is true that the severely mentally ill are now as marginalised as they have ever been and that this government has failed shamefully in this realm. It is also true that antidepressant prescribing is excessive. But if James thinks a love of Prozac is an Anglo-American phenomenon he should go to France.
Doctors will create British medical history this week when they give a patient a new heart valve through no more than a small hole in the groin, rather than traditional open-heart surgery. Cardiologists at the Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, will operate for just 10 minutes, and the patients will leave hospital after two days rather than several weeks. The procedure will also cost the NHS a lot less
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Pioneering valve surgery planned - BBC Health News 26th January 2007
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How can the government give processed foods the green light, but condemn the ingredients for a rustic Italian dish?
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What could be more natural than a 'walk in the park'? Today, few urban areas lack access to green spaces, while ministers have made local parks central to their public health agenda. Only last week, schoolchildren were given pedometers to take to the park in the battle against early obesity.
Drug users on methadone for heroin addiction should be given shopping vouchers and other rewards as incentives to stay clean, according to draft guidance published for consultation. Voucher schemes have worked well in the US, according to the guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Users should be given a prompt reward for a urine or blood sample that proves they are free of heroin or other illicit drugs, rising in value the longer they stay that way.
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Shopping voucher plan for addicts - BBC Health News 26th January 2007
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Researchers have linked stress experienced by pregnant women to higher incidences of mental and behavioural problems in their children. The research, presented yesterday at a Royal College of Psychiatrists conference in London, suggests high levels of the stress hormone cortisol in amniotic fluid in the womb could affect the development of the brains of foetuses, affecting their future social skills, language ability and memory.
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Stress 'harms brain in the womb' - BBC Health News 26th January 2007
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The call came at 4am. The voice was hoarse and feral. It was the way Luke often sounded when spiralling out of control. His father gripped the phone blearily. "Dad, I've got bad news. I'm in the locked ward and ... you remember Stevie, that nice charge nurse? I ripped out his eye.
A couple who supplied thousands of bars of chocolate laced with cannabis to ease the pain of multiple sclerosis sufferers escaped jail yesterday. Lezley and Mark Gibson, both 42, got nine-month jail sentences, suspended for two years, after being found guilty at Carlisle crown court of conspiring to supply the class C drug. Marcus Davies, 36, who ran a PO box and website for their organisation, received the same sentence.
Jowell to wage war on the 'cult of size zero' - The Independent on Sunday 28th January 2007Tessa Jowell is to join forces with leaders in the fashion world to wage war on the "tyranny of thinness", which she says is harming millions of young women. The Secretary of State for Culture, in partnership with Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer and chairman of the British Fashion Council, will set up a task force to deal with what she calls the "cult of size zero". Experts in eating disorders will also be on the panel, along with fashion industry representatives. They will talk to girls in schools about what needs to change, using the internet, and there may also be a poster campaign.
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Jowell to tackle 'cult of size zero' - The Sunday Telegraph 28th January 2007
Additional StoryTopshop boss to ban skinny models - The Telegaph 27th January 2007
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A leading Islamic doctor is urging British Muslims not to vaccinate their children against diseases such as measles, mumps, and rubella because they contain substances making them unlawful for Muslims to take. Dr Abdul Majid Katme, head of the Islamic Medical Association, says almost all vaccines contain un-Islamic "haram" derivatives of animal or human tissue, and that Muslim parents are better off letting childrens' immune systems develop on their own.
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Muslim urged to shun 'unholy' vaccines - The Sunday Times 28th January 2007
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The National Health Service is a bit like the Labour government - nobody's got a good word to say about it. In the past week we've heard about the scandal of GPs' pay and the Tories unveiled their Big Idea, which seemed to mean that health trusts could set their own budgets and abolish targets set by central government. Then on Friday we heard about the wheelchair-bound patient who went to the bathroom and returned to find her bed had been stripped ready for the next patient - the hospital in Devon was so short of beds it seemed they couldn't wait till patients had actually got dressed before they were evicted.
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The costs of educating children with special needs privately risk spiralling out of control, with little indication of whether the money spent represents good value, research from the Audit Commission suggests. Each year councils in England and Wales pay for about 11,000 children with special educational needs (SEN) to be educated in private or charit- able residential schools because there is no suitable local state provision. But fees have risen by 79 per cent in six years, a survey of the local authorities has found.
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A shortage of midwives is putting mothers and babies at risk, in spite of a Labour manifesto pledge to increase the numbers so that every pregnant woman would be cared for throughout by the same nominated midwife. Research shows that many baby units are failing to meet targets for the number of midwives and that Labour’s promise is far from being achieved.
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The health of thousands of newborn children will be in jeopardy by the end of the decade because more than a fifth of pregnant women will be obese, according to researchers. Obesity during pregnancy poses one of the biggest risks to an unborn child and is one of the most decisive factors in the development of heart, kidney and urinary tract defects. But an extensive study published today in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, suggests that the number of women who are obese when they become pregnant has risen from 9.9 per cent in 1990 to 16 per cent in 2004. Researchers say that if the trend continues, 22 per cent will be obese by 2010.
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Expectant mums 'getting too fat' - BBC Health News 28th January 2007
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The sentiments regarding healthcare expressed by your correspondent David Chandler (letter, Jan 24) remind me of the bitter objections raised in the mid and late 1940s against the basic concept of a National Health Service in which risks and costs were shared. The vast majority of the public enthusiastically supported the great social advance embodied in the NHS.
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THE government is to conduct the largest emergency exercise since the cold war on Tuesday to test whether it could cope in the event of a flu epidemic in Britain. Confidential plans have been circulated in Whitehall that will involve thousands of civil servants and officials from the emergency services. Some government advisers believe that a bird flu epidemic has overtaken terrorism as the biggest risk facing the country.
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BRITISH doctors had written “Joseph” off, saying he was too old to be treated on the National Health Service. But, at 72, he flew to Asia for a double-lung transplant and now claims to be the oldest man in Britain to have survived the operation. Joseph — not his real name — is one of a growing number of Britons who, frustrated with NHS waiting lists, are venturing into the murky world of organ brokers offering kidneys and livers harvested from the poorest quarters of the world, sometimes illicitly. Buying an organ is illegal in Britain, but generally not in Asia.
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THE article Rate your doctor, NHS asks patients (News, last week) lists “waiting too long for a liver transplant” as a possible reason for complaint, which suggests that waiting times for organs can be controlled by the NHS. Obtaining a donor organ — for which recipients are forever grateful — is dependent on the misfortune of others.
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SOCIAL workers are placing obese children on the child protection register alongside victims thought to be at risk of sexual or physical abuse. In extreme cases children have been placed in foster care because their parents have contributed to the health problems of their offspring by failing to respond to medical advice.
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Gordon Brown was accused yesterday of raiding dormant bank accounts to meet the increasing cost of holding the 2012 Olympic Games. The Conservative Party claimed that a Treasury e-mail disclosed proposals to distribute about £400 million of unclaimed assets to the Big Lottery Fund. The plans, expected to be published next week in a consultation paper on a new law on unclaimed assets, suggest that this could indirectly be used to fund the Olympics.
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Brown 'to raid social funds for Olympics' - The Telegaph 27th January 2007
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Work without pay, NHS ask - The Times 27th January 2007A debt-ridden Kent hospital has suggested that staff work a day without pay to ease its financial woes. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which reported a £16.7 million deficit last year, put the suggestion to staff in a letter from Terry Coode, director of human resources.
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What if the doc doesn’t recognise a broken leg? My hero of the week is Robert Moore. He’s 49 and lives with his partner and dogs in Roker, near Sunderland. They have a holiday place in Scotland and love going for long walks there. The trouble is, Robert had both his legs broken on Christmas Eve in a hit-and-run outside his own front door.
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Britain's army of alternative therapists is to be regulated by the Government under a crackdown on medical professionals who physically and sexually abuse their patients. A white paper on tackling rogue doctors, which is also expected to target alternative health practitioners, will be unveiled by health ministers next month.
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Crackdown on therapists who abuse vulnerable - The Observer 28th January 2007
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When Sophie Brodie fell ill a year ago, she blamed a 'bug'. Then she discovered that toxoplasmosis is not just a disease that affects pregnant women Bird flu may have the world in a flap, but it's a form of "cat flu", or toxoplasmosis, that's got my tongue.
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Exercising without much oxygen might have huge benefits, but Bryony Gordon didn't like the sound of it one bit… What do you do when your boss tells you that, for your next assignment, you are going to run on a treadmill while simultaneously being deprived of oxygen? Cry? Resign? Feel offended because you thought that she liked you, but now it seems she wants you dead?
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A boy of 12 is believed to have become the world's youngest sex change patient after convincing doctors that he wanted to live the rest of his life as a female. The boy - originally called Tim, but now known as Kim - has started to receive hormone treatment, in preparation for the operation that will eventually complete the sex change.
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The row between the Churches and the Government hides the grim truth about adoption in Britain: that tens of thousands of children are denied the chance to live in a loving home. Shockingly, some councils refuse to put children up for adoption because of the cost Stephen is 10 years old, a bright boy with a troubled soul. He was taken into care in London, two years ago, away from his alcoholic parents who, for the flimsiest of reasons, subjected him to almost daily beatings with sticks, belts and - his father's favourite - a bicycle chain.
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Global warming could have one very unexpected - and unpleasant-side effect for Britons - the birth of the never-ending, all-year-round cold. While catching a cold used to mean sniffling and shivering for a few days before making a recovery, new evidence suggests that the common cold is lingering longer and longer.
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Most NHS prescription charges in England should be scrapped and applied to 'ineffective treatments' instead, NHS public health chiefs say. The Association of Directors of Public Health said rising demands on the NHS will lead to more rationing.
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Reform is needed to ensure the UK copes with the burgeoning care demands of growing numbers of elderly people, an expert warns. By 2025, the number of over-85s will have risen by two thirds - increasing demand on health and social services.
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Braces 'may not boost happiness' - BBC Health News January 28th 2007Having braces to correct crooked teeth as a child does not improve mental well-being or quality of life in adulthood, a UK study suggests. A 20-year study found that orthodontic treatment had little positive impact on future psychological health.
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A woman is suing the NHS 24 helpline service for £750,000 over the death of her partner, BBC Scotland has learned. Father-of-two Steven Wiseman died in December 2004 at the age of 30 after complaining of flu-like symptoms.
The ways in which light can be used to diagnose and treat disease is the focus of an international conference. The Medical Photonics workshop, being held at St Andrew's University next week, will examine how light can be used for a variety of techniques.
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The NHS could claim back over £150m a year for treating employees injured at work, the government has said. The money would be recovered from insurance companies in cases where personal injury compensation has been paid to workers.
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Children vulnerable to eating disorders are being put under increased pressure by the government's school dinner reforms, a teachers' union has said. The healthy eating plan in England has given bullies "seeming justification" to target children about their size, warns the NASUWT.
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International News
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Japan's health minister did nothing to endear himself to female voters over the weekend when he described women as "birth-giving machines" and implored them to "do their best" to halt the country's declining birthrate. In a speech to Liberal Democratic party members in western Japan, Hakuo Yanagisawa said women of child-bearing age should perform a public service by raising the birthrate, which fell to a record low of 1.26 children per woman in 2005. Experts say an average fertility rate of 2.1 children is needed to keep the population stable.
Diane von Furstenberg, inventor of the wrap dress, is leading the resistance to new rules about skinny models on the catwalk. Jess Cartner-Morley meets the designer in Paris
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Exhausted and short of money, the world’s oldest mother is seeking a younger husband to be a father to her twins. In her first interview since giving birth last month, Carmela Bousada, a 67-year-old Spaniard, said that she had sold her house in Andalucia to raise the £30,000 to pay for fertility treatment at a California clinic, where she lied about her age. The clinic’s age limit is 55.
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Why do some people risk their lives for others? It’s all in the brain “UNDERGROUND hero” was the big headline this week, with the story of the firefighter Angus Campbell, who challenged an alleged Tube bomber to protect his fellow passengers.
A frightening little study from Finland last week rang an old-fashioned alarm bell among those of us who are naturally suspicious of technology. It found that people with a particular type of brain tumour who have regularly used mobile phones for more than 10 years are 39 per cent more likely to have the tumour on the side where they hold their phones.
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Too little fat 'can make children overweight' - Daily Mail 28th January 2007Children who eat too little fat can end up overweight, a new study has found. Researchers in Sweden discovered that eating the right sort of fat kept the weight of children down.
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Immune system 'brakes' found - BBC Health News January 28th 2007Scientists say they have learnt how the body controls the machinery it uses to fight infections and foreign invaders. The advance, published in the journal Nature, may one day help find ways to tackle unwanted immune reactions following transplant surgery.
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Men with gum disease have a 63% higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to US researchers. The Harvard-based study suggests mouth bacteria, and the body's attempt to fight them, may produce carcinogenic chemicals which trigger disease.
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Children will have access to improved treatment following changes to European laws, campaigners say. From this week, any new medicine licensed in Europe must be examined for its potential use for children.
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Impotence fears hit polio drive - BBC Health News 25th January 2007Health officials in Pakistan say they have failed to immunise over 160,000 children against polio due to rumours the vaccine causes sexual impotence. Parents in parts of northern Pakistan told the BBC news website they feared an "American conspiracy" to cut the fertility of the next generation.
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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EXECUTIVES at a debt-ridden hospital have gone against the team brought into overhaul their finances by refusing to cut cleaning costs. The “turnaround team” sent to Southport and Ormskirk Hospital to sort out its ailing finances told it to reduce the amount spent on the vital service to help wipe out its £15m debt.
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DETECTING and treating depression in cancer patients can improve their quality of life, tolerance of pain and give them a better chance of beating the disease, a University of Liverpool professor has revealed. Professor Mari Lloyd-Williams has devised a six-question survey to detect depression in cancer patients to help improve their ability to come to terms with their disease and overcome it.
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A LIVERPOOL mother today told of her heartbreak at losing her second daughter to cystic fibrosis. Pauline Sweeney watched as her 24-year-old daughter Rachael lost her fight for life. Rachel’s twin sister Rebecca died of the disease when they were just six months old.
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Pensioner Tony Hurst, 66, has to provide round-the-clock care for his 76 year old wife Betty, who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease. The only time he can afford for himself or to spend shopping and cleaning comes courtesy of the Lightfoot Lodge day centre and the respite care provided by a centre in Curzon Park.
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Barbara Buckley and her family have had their fair share of heartache over the years. Last year Barbara, 53, who suffers from heart disease, emphysema and has only one functioning kidney was told her condition had seriously deteriorated and she has only two years left to live. The organisation caring for her and her family, Care UK, decided to try and make her two last wishes come true.
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SOUTHPORT people have been urged to embrace the joys of home cooking if they want to lead healthy lives. That was the main finding of a food safety investigation carried out across Merseyside, which sampled levels of salt and sodium in a variety of fare looked at in premises from independent shops to supermarkets. Officers from Sefton Council’s environmental protection department were among those taking part.
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A DRUG screening company is being launched in Widnes to help employers tackle the problem of drug and alcohol abuse in the work place. David Coleman, the proprietor of Cheshire Screening Services in Waterloo Road, is expecting a busy opening week as companies in Widnes and Runcorn take advantage of his 'unique' new business.
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Go-ahead for care village for elderly - Ellesmere Port Pioneer 25th January 2007A NEW development for the elderly in Ellesmere Port has been approved. The extra-care village, with 71 self-contained residential units, will be built at New Grosvenor Road in the Westminster area of town.
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
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CUMBRIANS with experience of learning disabilities are being urged to get involved in the largest audit undertaken in England. The Healthcare Commission, which is running the audit looking at services available in each area, wants to hear from people with learning disabilities, their family members, carers and health workers.
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COUNTY council chiefs have drawn up an action plan to get sick and disabled people back into work. They want to make it easier for people to find employment after a survey revealed Cumbria lagged behind the national average for the proportion of disabled people with full-time jobs.
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THREE people who supplied thousands of chocolate bars laced with cannabis to multiple sclerosis sufferers walked free from court today. Mark Gibson, his wife Lezley, both 42, who has multiple sclerosis (MS), from Alston, and Marcus Davies, 36, were each given a nine-month jail term, suspended for two years.
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Couple escape jail over MS cannabis bars - The Guardian 26th January 2007
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YOU live in a house where sensors monitor what time you get up, when you go to bed, whether you remembered to turn off the cooker. It sounds like a scene from Big Brother but this is daily life for 76 elderly people in north Cumbria. And it could be part of the future for many of us.
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A WHITEHAVEN man who died after taking a drugs overdose in hospital would still be alive today if he’d been kept in the A&E department, a court heard. Handyman Peter Weighman had taken an overdose of 50 co-praxamol tablets on the Yewdale ward at the West Cumberland Hospital in September 2002 and then made his own way to the A&E department.
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BLACKBURN and Darwen health bosses have spent £470,000 in four-and-half years on drugs that stop obese people feeling hungry, it has been revealed. The spend, by the borough's primary care trust, has been labelled "phenomenal" and a "waste of money".
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WHEN Keith Ditchfield was told he had a cancerous tumour on his right kidney his reaction was, unsurprisingly, one of utter devastation. Yet he said he took for granted that the NHS would do all it could to help him, bringing some comfort that whatever the outlook, he was in the best care.
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GPs asked to open longer to help A&E - Lancashire Telegraph 27th January 2007FAMILY doctors have been asked if they will stay open until 9pm to take the pressure off struggling A&E departments. A letter has been sent to surgeries in Blackburn with Darwen asking if they will consider the move.
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Greater Manchester News
Hospital bosses have no problem with parking - The Bolton News 28th January 2007AS a Bolton resident and a member of hospital staff, I found the parking fine for the nurse in The Bolton News (Tuesday, January 23) very disturbing. The staff pay £10 per month with no promise of a parking place.
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Call to save maternity unit - The Bolton News 26th January 2007SALFORD Council chiefs are continuing their fight to save the city's hospital maternity ward. They have called on Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt to review the decision to close the unit at Hope Hospital.
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Blears stays clear of Hope demo - Manchester Evening News 25th January 2007
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