Welcome to the Podcast of Another 15 Minutes, Health News from the Fade Library. Full links to the articles detailed can be found at www(dot) fade the blog 2 (dot)blogspot (dot)com
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National News
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Nurse and patient were killed by MRSA variant - The Guardian 19th December 2006
The two people who died after becoming infected with a lethal strain of bacterium not seen before in UK hospitals were a patient and a healthcare worker at the North Staffordshire NHS University hospital, it was confirmed yesterday. The hospital said the deaths occurred in March and September this year. Only after the second death, "which set alarm bells ringing", according to a spokesman, did the hospital discover that a variant of the "superbug" MRSA was to blame. This form of MRSA, which has been detected in the community and killed a young marine after a leg injury became infected, produces a toxin called PVL - panton valentine leukocidin - which kills white blood cells, damaging the body's immune system and making it unable to fight off other infections such as pneumonia.
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Nurse killed by new strain of superbug had just given birth - The Independent 19th December 2006
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More cases at MRSA hospital - The Times 19th December 2006
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Hospital workers and patients die from MRSA - The Telegraph 19th December 2006
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Hewitt paid visit to MRSA death hospital - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
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Epidemic warning on superbug that can kill in 24 hours - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
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Sit back, relax and do nothing - The Guardian 19th December 2006
When we're not toiling we busy ourselves with social commitments and exercise. What became of rest? We shouldn't feel guilty napping on the sofa this Christmas, writes Vicky Frost
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Minister admits U-turn on NHS database amid privacy fears - The Guardian 19th December 2006
The government gave a categorical assurance yesterday that NHS patients would have an absolute right of veto on any part of their medical records being uploaded to a national database. The health minister Lord Warner confirmed a report in the Guardian on Saturday that the government was abandoning an attempt to oblige GPs to provide a medical summary on every patient for a centralised electronic record.
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A question of consent - The Guardian 19th December 2006
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The Big Question: Should we fear plans to put medical records on a national database? - The Independent 19th December 2006
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Patients can keep their details secret after computer U-turn - The Times 19th December 2006
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Climb-down on NHS computer files records - The Telegraph 19th December 2006
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Do you trust the NHS to use online records correctly? - The Telegraph 19th December 2006
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Patients allowed to block NHS e-records - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
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Patient veto for e-care records - BBC Health News 18th December 2006
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'Is it a crime to want to be well?' - The Guardian 19th December 2006
For six years, Mark and Lezley Gibson supplied cannabis to sufferers of multiple sclerosis. The police knew what they were doing - but turned a blind eye. Now, however, the 'Canna-Biz Two' have been convicted of dealing. They talk to Patrick Barkham
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'DNA diets' under the microscope - The Guardian 19th December 2006
Scientists are warning internet users about web-based companies which offer tailored diets to counter genetic vulnerability to certain cancers and other illnesses. Some sites are charging up to £1,000 for genetic testing and a dietary plan. But top scientists in the emerging field say the claims of some websites are "pie in the sky". The rise in the marketing of "nutrigenomic" testing and diets on the internet is now the subject of an ethical inquiry funded by the Wellcome Trust.
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Plans for a world-class medical hub call for a different mindset - The Guardian 19th December 2006
In the spirit of festive giving, Tony Blair has thrown his support behind an adventurous new initiative aimed at making London and the south-east of England the place to be for biomedical research and development. At a meeting at No 10 last week, the prime minister said the proposed Global Medical Excellence Cluster (Gmec) will help the UK make the most of the world-class medical research and development being done in universities, by businesses and in the NHS. "With the rise of China and India, and competition from the US, developing science and technology and the links between academia and industry are of central importance to the economy," Blair said.
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Chocolate helps ME sufferers - The Times 19th December 2006
Eating 1½oz (45g) a day of a dark chocolate that contains 85 per cent cocoa solids and is rich in polyphenol flavonoids can combat the tiredness caused by chronic fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a study by Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust found. Steve Atkin, who conducted the study, said that those who took part did not gain significant weight. There is no cure for ME and treatment focuses on the symptoms.
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Are you an invisible fatty? - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
Although I've always been pretty happy about my body, I admit I'm no Adonis. I am one of those annoying people who can pretty much eat what they like, do no exercise, and never seem to gain weight (at 5ft 9in I weigh ten stone). And I hardly lead what you'd call a healthy lifestyle. I sit in front of a computer all day and the most exercise I get is the occasional trip to the deli five minutes down the road for a BLT.
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Are we really what we eat? - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
Do detox diets work? Are we what we eat? It's a question we put to the test with the help of the UK's leading scientists, setting up a number of experiments using the latest research techniques. To assess the effectiveness - or not - of detoxing, we took ten female volunteers between the ages of 19 and 33, who had been partying hard at a rock festival, and whisked them away to country cottages in Devon. Five were put on a detox regime designed by a group of eminent dieticians, including Nigel Denby from Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Hospitals in London. The other five acted as "controls" and followed a normal, healthy diet.
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A flexible friend to kick-start your heart - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
A thin, 2ft-long flexible tube that can be implanted in only 15 minutes looks set to revolutionise treatment for heart disease. The device, a radical new design of defibrillator, is inserted in the groin while the patient is awake and snaked through a vein until it gets to the heart. It is narrow enough to go through veins without impeding blood flow.
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'I don't drink or smoke - so why did I get mouth cancer?' - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
For several years after my father's death in 2001 from prostate cancer, I would pick up the phone to talk to him and it would hit me that he wasn't around. Even though I was an adult when he died, he's left a huge gap - the thought that my boys could lose me at their tender age fills me with sorrow. It all began in the early summer, when I was shaving. I could feel a lump on my neck and from certain angles I could see it. My glands tend to come up when I have a sore throat, so I wasn't too worried. But it kept growing and a couple of weeks later, when it was the size of a quail's egg, I went to my GP.
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GP's blunder forced me to have a leg amputated - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
This time two years ago, I had the world at my feet. It might sound like an unforgivable pun, but I had reached a point in my life where I was experiencing a great deal of contentment.
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Amy lost her first child at 22 weeks. Yet all it took to save her second baby was one single stitch - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
My miscarriage happened last year when I was 22 weeks' pregnant. Up until then my pregnancy had seemed to be going well - my 12-week scan and then 20-week scan, when we learned we were expecting a baby boy, had been fine.
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Depression: the great happy pill betrayal - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
The Christmas holiday period is the toughest time of year for many. More people commit suicide during the festive season, and the Samaritans helpline expects to receive a call every six seconds as people confront their loneliness or mounting debts. At this time of celebration, it is a sobering thought that, as a nation, we are becoming less successful at beating misery - and that's a year-round problem
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NHS funding for kids' braces slashed by 20 per cent - Daily Mail 18th December 2006
Parents are being forced to pay thousands of pounds for braces for their children's teeth after the Government slashed the number of youngsters eligible for free treatment. Rationing of orthodontic treatment means more than 7,000 children and teenagers with crooked teeth are being turned down for braces and other corrective dental work each month, orthodontists have warned.
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Most physio graduates out of work - BBC Health News 18th December 2006
Most physiotherapy graduates have struggled to get a job this year due to NHS cutbacks, industry leaders say. A Chartered Society of Physiotherapy poll found that seven out of every 10 physios who graduated in 2006 had not yet found a job.
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International News
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Hospital gives new mums five-star treatment - The Guardian 19th December 2006
Wealthy new mothers in Shanghai will soon be able to sing away the postnatal blues at a luxury hospital that boasts a karaoke room, a golf course, a swimming pool and tennis courts, the state-run media reported today. Dubbed China's first "five-star medical institution", the Xiyue Postnatal Hospital will open on Christmas Day and despite room charges of up to £660 per night, half the beds are already booked, according to the Xinhua news agency.
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Heady future for China's ancient potions - The Telegraph 19th December 2006
In the gleaming research facility at Pudong, Shanghai, the heart of China's booming biotech industry, a group of scientists is on the hunt for the next blockbuster cancer treatment. They are already enjoying some success: phase II clinical trials of their prototype drug, designed to help sufferers of head and neck cancer, are under way in the US.
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Alcohol 'may prevent arthritis' - BBC Health News 19th December 2006
Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol each day could protect against arthritis, a study of mice has found.In the Swedish study, mice whose water contained 10% alcohol had a lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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Bug closes hospital ward - Liverpool Echo 18th December 2006
FAZAKERLEY hospital is asking visitors to stay away after an outbreak of sickness and diarrhoea closed a ward. Last week beds on Ward 9 were closed to avoid spreading the bug around the hospital.
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Whistle-blower wins inquiry into GP cover - Liverpool Echo 18th December 2006
THE company which runs out-of-hours GP cover across Merseyside is under investigation after a former executive raised serious concerns about its standards. Whistle-blower Roy McNally has made a series of allegations against Urgent Care 24, including claims patients with life-threatening illnesses were not identified fast enough and performance figures were falsified.
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Hospitals to face fines for treating too many patients - Liverpool Daily Post 18th December 2006
HOSPITALS across Merseyside and Cheshire face multi-million pound fines if they treat patients too quickly, under shock new government plans. The punishments are designed to stop hospitals generating extra cash by performing more operations than agreed with community health organisations.
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Lung surgeon gets lifetime achievement accolade - Liverpool Daily Post 18th December 2006
ONE of Britain’s busiest lung surgeons, who once operated on around 600 patients a year, has been honoured for his lifetime of achievements. Ajab Soorae was one of the first to use keyhole surgery in Liverpool and helped perfect a technique to reduce the volume of cancer sufferers’ lungs in the mid- 1990s.
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Priory to open clinic - Warrington Guardian 18th December 2006
A MULTI-MILLION pound hospital for patients with mental health problems will create 300 jobs. The Priory Group has confirmed it is building a private, medium security hospital in Dans Road, near Fiddlers Ferry.
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Don't risk health - get flu jab - Warrington Guardian 18th December 2006
THE Health Protection Agency is urging people who are eligible for a flu vaccination to make sure they receive it. Uptake rates for flu immunisation are slightly down on last year, which is worrying health experts. The jab is still available and it is not to late to take up the offer.
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
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£1,000 raised for hospice - Carlisle News & Star 18th December 2006
JENNIFER Irving and friend Lynda Chandler raised £1,000 for the Eden Valley Hospice by doing what they are good at.
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Greater Manchester News
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£10m award lifts baby unit into the super class - The Bolton News 18th December 2006 - The Bolton News 18th December 2006
MILLIONS of pounds, extra specialist staff and new wards - these are just some of the benefits the Royal Bolton Hospital will see now it has been chosen as one of the region's maternity super-centres. An estimated £10 million has been awarded to the hospital to refurbish and extend its neo-natal ward, community services and other children's facilities.
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Woman sent death threats to doctor - The Bolton News 18th December 2006
A WOMAN who sent her father's ashes to the doctor she blamed for his death has been jailed indefinitely. A judge at Bolton Crown Court imposed an open-ended prison sentence on 48-year-old Jacqueline Szulimowski, who threatened to kill Dr Arnand Prasad in a letter sent from jail while she was serving a sentence for previous threats to him.
Full links to the articles detailed can be found at www(dot) fade the blog 2 (dot)blogspot (dot)com, This has been a Podcast of Another 15 Minutes ... Health News from the Fade Library.
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