National and International News
Abortion: more than a moral choice
A teenage girl's decision to have an abortion depends much more on factors such as the availability of family planning clinics and female GPs in their area than her own moral preferences, according to a new survey.
The Observer 20/06/04
Adopting the missionary position
There's a song in the heart of every NHS nurse, doctor and administrator as they go to work these days because they finally know what they're doing.
The Observer 20/06/04
Ambulances 'missing targets'
Almost two-thirds of England's ambulance services are failing to meet government targets for fast responses to calls, figures show.
BBC Health News 17/06/04
Antibody: The meadow vole
Naughty Mr Meadow Vole has given men a very bad name this week — for playing the field.
The Times 19/04/06
Anyone for cold turkey?
Deprived of a smoke for just a few hours last week, Big Brother's Nadia went into meltdown. Does it have to be that way? Jo Ellison reports
The Independent 21/06/04
Australians rush to delay births
Doctors in Australia say pregnant women are asking for help to delay their babies' arrivals until after 1 July.
BBC Health News 18/06/04
Babies that live after abortions are left to die
MIDWIVES have revealed that babies are being born alive after botched abortions by doctors and allowed to die without receiving life-saving medical treatment.
The Times 20/06/04
Benjamin Fry: What's wrong with your ... wine list
I went out to dinner in Dijon once on the way back from holiday. I was with some friends in a car and that’s where we got to at dinner time. We chose a restaurant from a guide book and sauntered in fresh from a day on the road. The place was a paragon of dignity and our late arrival didn’t grace it too well. Along with our prix fixe menu we asked the sommelier to lend his gravitas to a few well-chosen wines.
The Times 19/06/04
Better diet 'would save millions'
Malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than half of all child deaths, experts have warned.
BBC Health News 17/06/04
Binge-drink culture 'costs the country £1bn a year'
Excessive drinking is crippling the NHS and costing Scotland £1 billion a year, experts will warn this week.
The Observer 20/06/04
Calorie review
As employees' waist sizes expand, productivity and attendance drop. So, says Kate Hilpern, businesses are realising that it is in their interests to help their staff lose weight.
The Guardian 21/06/04
Candles 'can smoke out bacteria'
The traditional candle could become the latest weapon against harmful bacteria.
BBC Health News 19/06/04
Child abuse experts facing review
A high level review of the way expert witnesses are used in child abuse cases in family courts is to take place.
BBC Health News 17/06/04
Children 'can open pill bottles'
Up to one in five toddlers can open medicine bottles and chemical containers, even if they have child-resistant tops, safety experts warn.
BBC Health News 20/06/04
Cot deaths 'peak at the weekend'
The largest ever study of its kind has found that cot deaths peak at weekends.
BBC Health News 20/06/04
The Guardian 21/06/04
Demystifying male myths: A load of old...
Skim through any article on men’s health and you’ll read a familiar tale. Men are medical morons who don’t know their RSI from their tennis elbow; they’re unhealthy because of puerile doctor-avoidance; and they spend time that could be devoted to health checks and lifestyle makeovers in the pub boozing and eating crisps. So frequently and vociferously are these points made that they have assumed the status of undeniable truths. Closer scrutiny reveals that much of the men’s health mantra is mythical.
The Times 19/06/04
Domestic gods
Three blokes; three ‘healthy-eating’ options — from microwave, to ready-to-cook, to start from scratch. When you weigh cooking convenience against taste and price, who will come out on top?
The Times 19/06/04
Dr Copperfield: Inside the mind of a GP
One thing blokes never want to hear is that their doctor has no idea what’s wrong with them. So as soon as the doctor is happy that he is not being presented with anything significant, he will drop into “There’s a lot of it about” mode to bring the consultation to a satisfactory conclusion.
The Times 19/06/04
Drink boosts schizophrenia drugs
A specially-designed drink can enhance the effectiveness of schizophrenia drugs, scientists say.
BBC Health News 19/06/04
Drugs cut severe arthritis pain
Two studies have raised hopes that medication will be able to reduce the crippling pain of rheumatoid arthritis more effectively.
BBC Health News 18/06/04
Europe's five worst child killers
Five killer conditions account for one death in three among young Europeans, the World Health Organization says.
BBC Health News 18/06/04
Finding our feet
If there is one thing that ought to need no intervention by the government it is getting people to walk more.
The Guardian 21/06/04
Focus: How a new test for the menopause will change the lives of these women
A revolutionary technique will reveal reproductive life-span. Laura Tennant reports
The Independent 20/06/04
Food firms angry over salt claims
One of the companies "named and shamed" over salt levels in food has accused the government of "mudslinging".
BBC Health News 18/06/04
Glaxo changes tack after Spitzer assault
GlaxoSmithKline yesterday undertook to publish the results of all its clinical trials on the internet in an attempt to rebuild its reputation in the face of damaging allegations that it suppressed evidence of the dangers to children of its Seroxat antidepressant drug.
The Guardian 19/06/04
Going to extremes: Tour de France
There’s a place for amateurs in cycling’s top race — but it hurts
The Times 19/06/04
Gym mistress: Amanda Platell: View from the exercise bike
“No, I will not keep my voice down. I don’t care what you say, I did not spend £2,750 on membership to an exclusive North London gym to share it with, with, with women wearing Asda leggings. Leggings! Only Polish nannies in Gospel Oak wear leggings. It’s a disgrace. She probably is a nanny.”
The Times 19/06/04
Have a heart
It is sobering to note that several hundred heart transplant patients attended last week's celebrations of the operation's 25th anniversary in Britain.
The Observer 20/06/04
Health Secretary vows to win MPs' support for reforms to NHS
John Reid, the Secretary of State for Health, believes the Government has not done enough to explain the merits of NHS reform to Labour MPs and must work harder to "carry people with us" to prevent another damaging revolt.
The Independent 21/06/04
How the fat and fabulous stay that way: Johnny Vegas, 34
Entertainer Johnny Vegas, 34, sleeps off his hangovers, loves basques - and doesn't do stress
The Times 19/06/04
How to cheat at ... drinking lager
With the summer sports and barbecue season in full swing, lager is top of many shopping lists. But compared with other alcoholic drinks, it’s packed with calories — for example, a bottle of premium lager may contain three times as many calories as a single gin and slimline tonic. Our savvy slimmer puts three brands to the test and finds that you need to sacrifice taste if you want to swap a beer belly for a toned tum.
The Times 19/06/04
IBM fights to suppress cancer probe
Scientists have voted to boycott an international journal after its owners blocked publication of a paper claiming large numbers of IBM workers have died prematurely of cancers and other diseases.
The Observer 20/06/04
Interview: Paulo Coelho: Simply the bestseller
Paulo Coelho’s stripped-down style of writing — and spiritual message — have won him millions of fans worldwide. Giles Whittell meets the author who went through hell to find the meaning of life
The Times 19/06/04
Key protein clue to breast cancer
Scientists believe two interacting proteins may hold the key to stopping the spread of breast cancer.
BBC Health News 19/06/04
Labour to cut waiting times with boom in private surgery
THE government is to commission hundreds of thousands of extra hospital operations from the private sector in an effort to cut all National Health Service waiting times to a maximum of three months, leaked cabinet documents have revealed.
The Times 20/06/04
Labour promises to cut waiting time for hospital to 18 weeks
The Government is to fight the general election pledging to cut the time that people wait from seeing their GP to getting hospital treatment from a maximum of 13 months to 18 weeks by 2008.
The Times 18/06/04
Living wills to get legal backing
The government wants to introduce a law to give people a clear legal right to draw up so-called "living wills".
BBC Health News 18/06/04
Locum doctors for sale in e-auctions
AUCTIONS for the services of locum doctors will begin this week as part of a new NHS attempt to cut costs — although in this case the lowest “bid” wins.
The Times 21/06/04
Make mine a pint
My grandson is two years old and hardly eats a thing. He will have perhaps two teaspoonfuls of Coco Pops in a day. He does drink a lot though, mainly milky tea and drinking chocolate. We have tried cutting down his drinks, but he still refuses to eat. He has been prescribed iron for anaemia. Despite this he has lots of energy, loves to play with his football and his weight is average. My daughter keeps asking the doctor if there is anything we can do, but we are told that many children are like this. What is your advice?
The Times 19/06/04
Mark Henderson: Junk medicine: Men's life expectancy
Your sex, it was claimed this week, could be the death of you. According to Alan White, of the European Men’s Health Forum, “being a man is like having a terminal disease that will prematurely end your life”.
The Times 19/06/04
Medical briefs
The Times 18/06/04
Mencap alleges poor care
GP surgeries and hospitals are failing to give people with learning disabilities as high a standard of healthcare as the rest of the population, and in some cases, this has led to premature death, according to a report published today.
The Guardian 21/06/04
Men's health special: Happy truth behind the doom and ditziness
Welcome to a special men’s edition of Body&Soul, to coincide with Men’s Health Awareness Week and Father’s Day tomorrow.
The Times 19/06/04
Mental capacity bill to punish abusers
Carers who neglect or ill treat people with dementia or severe learning disabilities will commit a new crime carrying a maximum five-year prison sentence under provisions in the mental capacity bill, published yesterday.
The Guardian 19/06/04
More deadly in the male: Cancer graphic
Of the ten most common cancers that afflict both sexes, only one appears more often in women, according to new figures released for National Men’s Health Week. Even the exception, malignant melanoma, is more lethal for men. Scientists point to three factors for this divide: biological reasons, which are as yet poorly understood; the fact that testosterone is linked to male-specific cancers, such as prostate, though its link with others is unclear; and lifestyle, which plays a big part — men smoke and drink more than women and are less likely to follow a healthy diet.
The Times 19/06/04
MPs check drug firms' influence
An inquiry into the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on the NHS by the Commons select committee on health will begin this autumn.
The Guardian 19/06/04
Nature's way to beat the burn
Sun creams are the subject of new safety fears. Can natural products - and even diet - protect your skin just as well?
The Independent 21/06/04
New hospital 'risked' killer bugs disaster
A major public health disaster was avoided only 'by luck' after Labour's flagship hospital treated patients suffering from deadly contagious diseases in isolation facilities that did not work.
The Observer 20/06/04
NHS bosses 'are lacking vision'
The NHS could be doing much more to improve patient care, the leader of the country's GPs says.
BBC Health News 17/06/04
NHS funding for supply of drugs
Sir, In my specialty we have suffered the problems of postcode prescribing with the new, and expensive, tumour necrosis factor blockers for rheumatoid arthritis.
The Times 19/06/04
NHS to open walk-in clinics at stations
Health clinics could be sited at every large railway station under proposals, unveiled this week, to make the health service more convenient for many people.
The Independent 20/06/04
Nurse tried to kill two patients
A nurse has been jailed for five years for trying to kill two elderly patients at a Cheshire hospital.
BBC Health News 17/06/04
The Guardian 19/06/04
One in 10 patients 'shouldn't be in hospital'
Managers float bed closures and hi-tech treatments at home in pared back NHS
The Observer 20/06/04
Patient 'funds stem cell study'
A heart patient from London is working to ensure others benefit from the treatment which has "turned his life around".
BBC Health News 18/06/04
Psyche: Hooray for boys
When I was about 12 and growing up in my Hull suburb in the 1970s, my friends and I liked to while away the evenings filling balloons with water and hurling them at unsuspecting passers-by. We’d almost always miss, then run away. Once, we attacked the same bus driver at the same bus stop three nights in a row. He’d stop, we’d appear out of the shadows lugging these huge distended wobbly missiles which we’d then heave through the open door of the bus. On the third night, as the balloons exploded around him, saturating the step of the bus but not much else because, as usual, we’d made the schoolboy error of overfilling our water balloons, the bus driver said this. “Oh no lads, come on, no, not again, no.” I can hear his lugubrious tone even now, over a quarter of a century later.
The Times 19/06/04
Put that fag out - there's still hope
The world's most extensive survey into the effects of smoking will prove this week that even smokers who quit in their fifties will dramatically cut their chances of dying from their habit.
The Observer 20/06/04
A Question of Health
Can hot drinks give me cancer? And could my unstoppable nosebleed happen again?
The Independent 21/06/04
Rise of the new neurotics
A male model feels too ugly to go out, a Porsche owner seeks his second penis extension. David Rowan finds modern life is making men as insecure as women
The Times 19/06/04
Sex? Take a deep breath
Love really could be in the air if a drug-maker’s new alternative to Viagra makes it on to the market — it is an asthma-type inhaler that is claimed to give men erections in an average of eight minutes.
The Times 19/06/04
Sex with Dr Thomas Stuttaford and Suzi Godson: Men and the hood
Q: I am a 31-year-old with a nice penis that gives me no problems. My doctor says I don't need circumcising. But I really fancy the idea of having it done. I've looked at pictures and 'high and tight' with frenum removed looks wonderful. Lots of the youngsters I see at rugby or in the gym are circumcised. Why shouldn't I go ahead?
The Times 19/06/04
Smokers ‘will die 10 years earlier’
SMOKERS will die 10 years younger on average than non-smokers, according to the largest study on the consequences of tobacco addiction.
The Times 20/06/04
SNP plans fitness checks for pupils
A plan to introduce annual fitness tests for pupils will be unveiled by the Scottish National Party today as one way of tackling the growing childhood obesity crisis.
The Observer 20/06/04
Sorted: Fitness gizmos
These cool gadgets will give any workout routine a boost - but you will still have to do the hard work, says techno fan Stuart Miles
The Times 19/06/04
Strawberries, cream and the broad of beam
Wimbledon, with its strawberries and cream (and tennis) is as much part of the British summer as rain on bank holidays. Crowds reading their papers in the ticket queue and salivating at the thought of the cream may be surprised to read that there is dispute about whether there really is an obesity epidemic — much of the argument is about the definition of an epidemic.
The Times 18/06/04
Superbug deaths 'set to double'
Deaths from the hospital superbug MRSA could double over the next five years, experts have warned.
BBC Health News 18/06/04
Surgeon admits killing a patient
A surgeon who denied the manslaughter of two female patients has changed his plea and admitted killing one.
BBC Health News 17/06/04
Survival of the maddest
Why does schizophrenia exist all around the world, albeit that its prevalence varies as much as sixteenfold?
The Observer 20/06/04
Tales from the Therapist's Couch
People come to analysis to tell their stories. Yet homing in on what a patient chooses to speak about is only part of the therapeutic process.
The Independent 21/06/04
Time to get fit?
As fitness centres cut exercise sessions to suit lifestyles, the question is, can it work?
The Times 18/06/04
Top classes 'dominate medicine'
Just 1% of UK medical students come from unskilled backgrounds, according to a report.
BBC Health News 21/06/04
Watchdog slams UK's Aids policy
The UK government's efforts to fight the spread of Aids in developing countries have been slammed by the National Audit Office.
BBC Health News 18/06/04
With prejudice
A good relationship between doctor and patient must be founded on trust
The Times 19/06/04
X-ray beam boosts cancer therapy
X-rays could kick-start genes into fighting cancer, research suggests.
BBC Health News 19/06/04
Yoga for strength: day 5
With such rare occasion to bend backwards, most people develop a slight forwards stoop, which is made worse by the nature of our lives and work, Penny Wilson, a champion windsurfer turned remedial yoga teacher, says. Being so stiff makes many of us feel weak, but yoga can bring some relief. “Stretching properly makes you feel stronger,” Wilson said. If the nerves are stretched out, the blood supply to them is better, whereas if they are knotted, our circulation is restricted. “The body is like a plumbing system. If the system is not working properly a lot of blockages will develop,” Wilson said. “Yoga can help to remove them.”
The Times 18/06/04
Cheshire and Mersey News
CALL THIS NHS CARE?
THIS picture shows the horrific injuries sustained by 87-year-old John Parr while he was a patient under assessment at Hollins Park Hospital.
Warrington Guardian 18/06/04
City hospital will open a Diana garden
A ROSE garden will be opened in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, for staff and patients at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Chester Chronicle 18/06/04
Hospital apology over care
A HOSPITAL says it has tightened up procedures after a patient fell off a trolley twice while in its care.
Daily Post 18/06/04
NURSE JAILED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDERS
A NURSE has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of the attempted murder of two elderly patients at Leighton Hospital.
Winsford Guardian 18/06/04
Woman claims she was bullied by GP
THE row over allegations of bullying by a prominent Warrington GP has intensified this week after one of his former staff members agreed to speak to the Warrington Guardian.
Warrington Guardian 17/06/04
Cumbria and Lancashire News
Action as 3,000 hospital slots are wasted
MORE than 3,000 of all East Lancashire hospital appointments are being wasted by patients who don't bother to turn up, shock new figures have revealed.
Blackburn Citizen 19/06/04
ARTISTIC APPROACH TO MENTAL ILLNESS
MENTAL illness isn’t all about gloom and doom, according to a group of creative Cumbrians who hope to put a positive spin on their illness.
News & Star 19/06/04
Blame labour for lack of hospital beds
NOW that the hospital staff have had their say about the continuing financial crisis at The Royal Bolton Hospital and fiddled target figures, it is time to hear the patients' points of view.
Bolton Evening News 18/06/04
Bupa puts its coast hospital up for sale
BLACKPOOL'S only private hospital has been put up for sale.
Blackpool Gazette 21/06/04
FIREFIGHTERS RAISE £250 FOR THE AIR AMBULANCE
FIREFIGHTERS from across Britain came to Cumbria to help raise cash for the county’s air ambulance appeal.
News & Star 19/06/04
GPs in drug alert
GPs in East Lancashire have been advised not to prescribe a controversial anti-depressant to teenagers amid fears it prompts suicidal thoughts.
Blackburn Citizen 17/06/04
Heart attack victims stand better chance
HEART attack sufferers at Fairfield General Hospital are more likely to be treated with clot-busting drugs than those at North Manchester.
Bury Journal 19/06/04
Hospital delays killed my daughter, says dad
A grieving father has told a court how he believes hospital delays in treating his former model daughter led to her death.
Lancashire Evening Post 21/06/04
Is NHS in this much trouble?
ACCORDING to a recent memo, all milk, bread, drinks etc issued to wards at Fairfield Hospital are for the use of patients only. Visitors are to be directed to vending machines or the restaurant.
Bury Journal 18/06/04
Pensioner died of infection after fall
AN ELDERLY woman died from an infection in hospital after being admitted after a fall, an inquest heard.
Bolton Evening News 17/06/04
Pre op phone scheme hailed a success
A GROUNDBREAKING health scheme has proved so successful at reducing cancelled hospital operations, it will be extended across the country.
Bolton Evening News 18/06/04
Strutting, arrogant, bungling
THE former Blackpool surgeon dubbed Dr Death was today facing a jail term – in a move welcomed by those who lost relatives or were maimed at his hands.
Blackpool Gazette 21/06/04
Watch children in hot sun, parents are told
PARENTS in the borough are being urged to be "doubly vigilant" when it comes to protecting their children from sunburn.
Bury Journal 19/06/04
Young pupils walk for health
NEARLY 200 children are taking part in a Walk for Health around their school grounds to raise money for new playground equipment.
Bolton Evening News 19/06/04
Greater Manchester News
Gift of hope for Ellie
ONE family tragedy could help little Ellie Sixsmith - suffering from a rare brain condition - in her brave battle with the illness.
Manchester Evening News 21/06/04
Hospital riddle of missing drug
AN investigation is underway at a hospital after it emerged a heroin substitute had been watered down and quantities of the drug went missing.
Manchester Evening News 21/06/04
