Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade
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National News
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The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, battled for her political reputation, if not her survival, yesterday in a packed Commons debate on a Tory motion of no confidence. It came at the end of a day which featured severe criticism from a high court judge over the junior doctors debacle, and angry scenes at the annual conference of NHS midwives . Ministers were out in force to support their colleague as she defended her record in the face of taunts from Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health spokesman, who said she had "no credibility left" and had "lost the confidence of the NHS".
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Blair 'hanging Hewitt out to dry' - BBC Health News 23rd May 2007
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What will more research on Wi-Fi's health effects show? - The Guardian 24th May 2007
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Blair 'hanging Hewitt out to dry' - BBC Health News 23rd May 2007
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What will more research on Wi-Fi's health effects show? - The Guardian 24th May 2007
If it's anything like the outcome of the further research on the health effects of mobile phones that was called for in 2000, then it'll probably show that we need ... more research. In both cases, the man calling for that little bit more investigation has been Sir William Stewart, who headed the eponymous inquiry which reported in May 2000 on the available scientific evidence about phones. That said there was no evidence that mobiles were harmful; but no proof they were harmless.
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Sexual healing - The Guardian 24th May 2007
I am on medication to reduce high blood pressure. Among some tolerable side effects, it is preventing ejaculation. I now find sex fun but ultimately frustrating and stressful. Should I abandon it for a while? The doctors I have seen are generally dismissive of sexual problems.
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Sexual healing - The Guardian 24th May 2007
I am on medication to reduce high blood pressure. Among some tolerable side effects, it is preventing ejaculation. I now find sex fun but ultimately frustrating and stressful. Should I abandon it for a while? The doctors I have seen are generally dismissive of sexual problems.
No one disputes the notion that patients need and deserve high-quality information in order to make wise healthcare decisions (Coming soon: the shopping channel run by drug firms, May 21). But direct-to-consumer advertising is the wrong model of information provision for both individuals and the public health. Direct-to-consumer advertising came about in the US via pressure from advertising and media lobbyists, and free-speech thinktanks. This advertising, however, has left information gaps by emphasising the benefits of blockbuster drugs, with little discussion of their risks, or of other equally or more valid treatment options. The subsequent rapid, wide diffusion of new drugs with relatively unknown risk profiles has also brought about public-health crises.
Great scientific discoveries sometimes happen by chance. A process that promises to transform the treatment of cancer patients and save the NHS millions of pounds came about as the result of a conversation 10 years ago between two friends, David Gearey and David Woolley. Gearey and Woolley, both scientists at Manchester University, were talking about Gearey's wife, who had died of cancer, and whose suffering had been made worse by the chemotherapy she was given in her final months.
Children as young as 12 are being treated in a new specialist addiction unit set up to deal with those hooked on alcohol and drugs. The Priory hospital, which is famous for its celebrity patients, set up the unit to meet what it says is mounting demand from worried parents. The unit, based at its acute psychiatric hospital in north London, will deal with drug and alcohol problems, eating disorders and behavioural issues such as an obsession with the internet or computer games.
A reader from Bedfordshire has followed up on the question last week about the advantages to mother and baby of fish meals, or fish oil, during pregnancy and the baby’s early life. The reader asked why I hadn’t discussed other foods of value. What else should she be taking to improve the health of her unborn child?
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Prostate cancer is the commonest male cancer in Britain, with nearly 32,000 cases diagnosed each year. One man dies every hour from the disease. Yet most men are ignorant of the signs and symptoms, according to a survey of more than 2,500 men carried out by the Everyman Campaign.
Almost one in three maternity units in England could close because of expected cuts in doctors’ working hours, the Conservative Party claims. Figures released yesterday suggest that 50 out of 176 consultant-led maternity units across the country are under threat of being downgraded or closed if guidance being used in some NHS trusts is applied nationally.
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A third of maternity units 'face closure' - The Telegraph 24th May 2007
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Maternity units will close down, says Hewitt - Daily Mail 23rd May 2007
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A judge yesterday described the new online doctors' recruitment scheme as a flawed system with disastrous consequences. Remedy UK, a junior doctors' group, lost their High Court attempt to have changes to the controversial Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) declared unlawful.
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Junior doctors lose legal challenge over controversial training posts - Daily Mail 23rd May 2007
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'Morale has been irreparably damaged' - BBC Health News 23rd May 2007
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Junior doctors lose legal challenge over controversial training posts - Daily Mail 23rd May 2007
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'Morale has been irreparably damaged' - BBC Health News 23rd May 2007
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Ted Cantle is looking for firms ready to help break down community barriers, writes Martin Baker After a long career that encompassed senior positions in the public and private sectors, the events that shot Prof Ted Cantle onto the national stage in 2001 were the racially aggravated riots in Burnley, Bradford and Oldham, and his subsequent official report.
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Specialists ignore guidance on how to monitor breast cancer patients in the years after treatment, a survey says. The National Cancer Research Institute found many consultants failed to transfer patients' care swiftly back to GPs, citing safety concerns.
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The fall in waiting times for cataract surgery has gone too far, with the NHS now spending too much on the operations, eye doctors have claimed. Huge resources were poured into the area in the 1990s to meet a predicted surge in demand.
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Researchers in Dundee are set to trial a new treatment for children struck with a deadly skin disorder. Youngsters who suffer from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) will be invited to attend a treatment centre in Ninewells Hospital.
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NHS urged to reject homoeopathy - BBC Health News 23rd May 2007New Story
A group of leading scientists are stepping up their campaign to get the NHS to turn its back on homoeopathy. The experts, led by Professor Gustav Born, of Kings College London, have written to NHS managers urging them not to fund the complementary therapy.
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Oops, look what's happened... - BBC Health News 23rd May 2007
Like most things in life, when the smoking ban comes in force in England on 1 July, it will have unintended consequences. So who and what are the unexpected winners and losers? The law of unintended consequences is always at work, in every area of daily life. The results can be good, bad and just plain odd.
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International News
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Magnetic stimulation of the brain could improve memory, according to new research that holds promise for treating Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Experiments on mice have suggested that coils generating magnetic fields can strengthen brain circuits in ways that enhance learning and the animals’ ability to remember.
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Doctors hope that jump-starting the brain's electric circuits can slow Alzheimer's - Daily Mail 23rd May 2007
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Magnets 'help regrow brain cells' - BBC Health News 24th May 2007
A new over-the-counter diet pill from Britain's biggest drugs company, GlaxoSmithKline, is to be specifically targeted at the high proportion of overweight people in the US's black and Hispanic communities. At a ceremony in New York yesterday, Glaxo launched Alli - the only weight-loss treatment to be approved by the US food and drug administration for use without a prescription.
Working out at the gym can reverse the ageing process in the muscles of pensioners, a study has shown. Scientists in Canada studied a group of 25 pensioners, with an average age of 70. Not only did they get stronger, but the molecular machinery powering their muscles became as active as those found in much younger people.
Eating too much salt can give you an ulcer, research suggests. Salt, which is already blamed for raising the risk of heart attacks, nurtures the bacteria behind most stomach ulcers.
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High-salt diet link to ulcer risk - BBC Health News 22nd May 2007
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Millions of men who suffer from prostate problems could find their symptoms ease with just a single injection of Botox. Although normally used as an anti-wrinkle treatment, a study has found the product can also improve the quality of life for men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.
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US scientists have developed "super-oxidised" water which they say speeds up wound healing. Oculus, the Californian firm which developed the water - made by filtering it through a salt membrane - says it kills viruses, bacteria and fungi.
The first birth control pill designed to stop monthly periods has been approved for use in the US. The Food and Drug Administration backed continuous use of the pill, Lybrel, which is manufactured by Wyeth.
Public toilets and the bathrooms in restaurants have never been so popular in Nakuru, Kenya's fourth largest town as they are today. At lunchtime most cubicles are jam packed and on occasions people have to queue to access them, but most though are there for the wrong reason - smoking.
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The World Health Organisation says it has reached a framework agreement to ensure all countries share samples of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. Indonesia and China have been reluctant to provide samples, fearing the vaccines produced may be too expensive.
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Elaine Riddick is a petite woman in her early fifties with a warm smile. Today she lives in a comfortable home on the outskirts of Atlanta, but this wasn't how she spent her childhood.
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Having her virginity regularly tested makes South African Nsomawethu Tshobeni feel good. "At 31 I'm very proud to be a virgin, and when I attend the test regularly it gives me self-esteem as a woman," said the nurse who works in the coastal city of Durban.
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Hepatitis C drugs provide 'cure' - BBC Health News 22nd May 2007
People infected with hepatitis C can be cured with existing treatments, researchers have discovered. Standard therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin removed all detectable virus in 99% of patients for up to seven years.
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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THE Linda McCartney Centre has won its long-running battle to take control of Liverpool’s breast cancer care. After public meetings, two independent consultations, thousands of questionnaires and a four-hour meeting, Liverpool PCT’s board voted to stick with its original decision.
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HUNDREDS of staff at two of Merseyside’s biggest hospitals will strike next month. Six hundred porters, catering staff, cleaners and other members of staff from the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals begin two days of action on June 6 after a breakdown in pay talks
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Hospital’s workers on brink of pay strike - Liverpool Echo 22nd May 2007
STRESS-busting comedy comes to Liverpool next week to raise funds to tackle breast cancer. The Tickle Me Pink tour will be in the city on Thursday, May 31.
THERE is still time to vote on plans to move GPs' surgeries under one roof in Knutsford. The town's three practices in Toft Road, Manchester Road and Annandale could be transferred to a new medical centre. But most voters in an online Knutsford Guardian poll are still against the idea.
GP practices are set to remain in Culcheth after a public consultation by Warrington Primary Care Trust revealed most people were against super surgeries'. Clr Keith Bland told a meeting of the parish council last Tuesday that he had received a letter from PCT chairman John Gartside confirming this.
TODAY (Wednesday) is Tackling Drugs Day and the public are invited to nominate Wirral drug workers and teams for a national award. The accolades, organised as part of the Home Office's changing lives making communities safer campaign, aims to recognise and reward those unsung heroes who change lives on a daily basis.
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A WOMAN died after being given the wrong blood in a transfusion at a Merseyside hospital. Cancer patient Margaret Davies, 67, had caught an MRSA-type bug and needed the transfusion to treat the effects of dehydration.
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Police are investigating allegations a woman died after accidentally being given the wrong blood type during a transfusion in hospital. Margaret Davies, 67, died after receiving the transfusion at Whiston Hospital in Merseyside last month.
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
CUMBRIA’S dental crisis is easing following the official opening of a new NHS practice in Penrith yesterday. Last week it was announced that the waiting list in Carlisle had been virtually wiped out in the past 12 months following a recruitment drive.
AN ELDERLY couple’s prayers have been answered after they were given a trial supply of a new cancer drug following an appeal in the News & Star. Harry and Jean White, of Westfield Drive, Workington, were trying to raise £2,500 for a seven-week trial of Tarceva, which is free on prescription in Scotland but has not been approved for use in England.
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Plans to make Lakes more accessible for disabled people - Carlisle News & Star 23rd May 2007
A MEETING is to be held this month to help National Park officials in the Lake District provide better access for people with disabilities. The authority is looking at how its facilities impact on users in terms of race, gender, religious belief, sexuality and trans-gender.
AMBULANCE 999 calls in Lancashire could be routed across the North West as part of a major control room shake-up. East Lancashire 999 calls to the newly-created North West Ambulance Service are currently routed to the main county control room at Broughton, near Preston.
A CARDIAC rehabilitation programme for people who have suffered heart problems in Blackburn with Darwen has been recognised nationally. Active Living was "Highly Commended" in the North West Public Health Awards for offering safe, effective and enjoya-ble physical activity sessions, aimed at improving the patients' heart health, along with their muscular strength and stamina.
HEALTH bosses have admitted that hundreds of staff in East Lancashire are still to undergo criminal records checks. New research by BBC Radio Five Live showed that six out of 10 NHS Trusts nationally had not finished checking out the backgrounds of staff employed before 2002, when the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) was formed.
POLICE are investigating claims that a gunman fired a rifle and smashed a window at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven. Witnesses saw a gang of youths hanging around before the incident at the outpatients’ unit at 7.30 last night.
PLUCKY Whitehaven youngster Russell May has achieved his dream of swimming with a dolphin in Florida. Russell, 13, of Moresby Parks, has fought leukaemia, and an associated bone disease since the age of eight.
YOUNG people with illnesses are being let down by East Lancashire's councils, a charity has claimed. The Association of Young People with ME (AYME), says that many of the country's Local Education Authorities (LEAs) are not providing sick children with learning support needed when their illness prevents them from attending school full time.
A MINOR injury service will be available permanently in Darwen after a successful trial. From June 4 the service will be available Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 6pm to offer assessment, treatment and advice for a wide range of minor injuries.
VISITORS and patients took advantage of the new free bus service between the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital. The half-hourly bus service, which connects the two sprawling sites, was launched yesterday following a plea from patients and visitors.
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Greater Manchester News
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A HEALTH watchdog has upheld claims that an elderly patient at the Royal Bolton Hospital died in agony and was left wearing soiled clothes and without drinking water. The Healthcare Commission is now demanding hospital staff undergo training in "basic care" and that bosses carry out a "review of the fundamental elements of care".
WEIGHING a hefty 21 stone, Ben Borowy ate too many crisps and chocolate and did very little exercise. Aged just 18, the Farnworth born student was in terrible shape when he started an applied science course at Bolton Sixth Form College. His teacher was shocked by Ben's lack of fitness after he failed to complete a basic exercise test.
Great scientific discoveries sometimes happen by chance. A process that promises to transform the treatment of cancer patients and save the NHS millions of pounds came about as the result of a conversation 10 years ago between two friends, David Gearey and David Woolley. Gearey and Woolley, both scientists at Manchester University, were talking about Gearey's wife, who had died of cancer, and whose suffering had been made worse by the chemotherapy she was given in her final months.
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Cancer scientist 'not academic' - Manchester Evening News 23rd May 2007
DISABLED workers across Greater Manchester discovered their jobs were being axed during a video presentation. The news was broken to staff, who have physical and learning difficulties, at Remploy factories in Stockport, Wythenshawe and Wigan.
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EDUCATION chiefs in Bolton are to study a TV programme which claimed wireless computer networks give off greater levels of radiation than a mobile phone mast. BBC1's Panorama said the radiation signal strength from a classroom Wi-fi laptop is three times greater than the peak signal from a mast.
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Bank Top Brewery Bans Smoking - The Bolton News 22nd May 2007
A BOLTON brewery is setting an example to the pubs it supplies by banning smoking before the national legislation is introduced on July 1. The Bank Top Brewery has forced staff to stub it out in a bid to improve their health and make the business more efficient.
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