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Secret report prompts call for more open NHS - The Guardian 8th January 2007
A Guardian investigation has led to calls for greater transparency in the NHS after it emerged that heart surgery patients at an elite teaching hospital were exposed to "serious clinical risk", according to a report that was not made public. The hitherto confidential report by Sir Bruce Keogh, one of the most eminent cardiothoracic surgeons in Britain, said facilities for heart patients at St Mary's hospital trust in Paddington in west London, were "almost certainly the worst in the country".
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'If the report had been published, he wouldn't have gone to St Mary's' - The Guardian 8th January 2007
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Coroners urged to back vCJD tests to track spread of disease - The Guardian 8th January 2007
Tens of thousands of bodies subjected to postmortem examinations each year will be tested for signs of variant CJD, the human form of BSE, under proposals being drawn up by government advisers. Postmortems routinely undertaken to establish cause of death will be widened to include checks for evidence of the deadly and incurable disease in the spleen and possibly brain as early as next summer, if coroners back the scheme. Experts who are anxious to establish just how many people may be unwittingly incubating the disease believe this is the best way to establish whether vCJD will continue to cause a public health threat for years to come. Reliable blood tests are still some years away and examining the bodies of those who have died from other causes but span all ages should help provide vital information.
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Organic farmers hit back after minister casts doubt on healthier food claims - The Guardian 8th January 2007
The organic food industry rounded on a government minister yesterday after he said there was no proof that organic produce was healthier than ordinary food. David Miliband, the environment, food and rural affairs secretary, said that buying organic food was a "lifestyle choice", and produce grown with the use of pesticides and other chemicals should not be regarded as second-best.
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Eating organic food is just a lifestyle choice, says minister - The Times 8th January 2007
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Organic food is no better, says minister - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
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Inefficient hospitals have too many beds, claims think-tank - The Observer 7th January 2007
Thousands of hospital beds could be axed if the NHS were to become more efficient, according to a new report from the government's favourite think-tank. It found that the number of beds being unnecessarily occupied is equivalent to 26 hospitals. The verdict is likely to fuel a growing political row over hospital closures and mergers, which has seen cabinet ministers protesting in their constituencies, even as the Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, argues that reorganising services will benefit the sick.
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Shorter stays in hospital could save the NHS £1bn - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
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Many hospital stays 'waste money' - BBC Health News 7th January 2007
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Hardship and homelessness - a sting in the tail for cancer patients - The Observer 7th January 2007
If you have cancer, the last thing you want to think about is money problems. But recent research by Macmillan Cancer Support shows that 6 per cent of people diagnosed with cancer have lost their homes, and a further 18 per cent have difficulties keeping up their mortgage or rent payments. Macmillan found that 91 per cent of cancer patients' households suffer a loss of income or increased costs as a direct result of the disease. Among the under-55s, seven out of 10 suffer a fall in household income, with an average deficit of 55 per cent. Income can be affected by patients being forced to give up their jobs before or shortly after the commencement of treatment, or by partners of sufferers cutting their working hours in order to devote more time to providing care.
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Lost health, lost home, lost job - and no one to help - The Observer 7th January 2007
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Danger of the websites that promote anorexia - The Observer 7th January 2007
Websites that describe anorexia as a lifestyle choice rather than a deadly disease could be killing people, a leading charity has warned. Steve Bloomfield, from the Eating Disorders Association, said the sites, that carry slogans such as 'thinspiration' and 'hunger hurts but starving works', could be persuading sufferers to refuse treatment.
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Pro-anorexia websites 'are killing people' - The Independent on Sunday 7th January 2007
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Warning over pro-anorexia sites - BBC Health News 6th January 2007
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Millions of children 'play almost no sport' - The Observer 7th January 2007
Almost a third of schoolchildren play little or no sport, adding to fears about unhealthy lifestyles causing obesity, a new report reveals. One in five pupils aged five to 16 play games for only an hour or less per week, and a further 12 per cent never play, according to the latest research from youth marketing experts Childwise.
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Here's looking at you - The Observer 7th January 2007
One day Lucy Davies feels happy, the next suddenly 'dipped in depression'. 'It sounds really stupid, but I have two sides to me,' she explains. 'Sometimes I'm very confident, but at other times I feel very miserable and I just can't see a way out. I feel as if I've made some bad decisions in my life, done things the wrong way round and made things difficult for myself. It's strange because while I have achieved a lot in my life and have friends and family to whom I'm very close, I feel I still have a long way to go. I also think I should be more grateful for what I have - there are loads of people in similar situations to me who are far worse off.'
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Bird flu drug carries a lethal threat - The Observer 7th January 2007
Britain faces an ecological catastrophe that could wreak havoc on wildlife populations when the first outbreak of Asian flu hits the country. Scientists say they fear that tons of the anti-viral agent Tamiflu - taken by Britons trying to combat the disease - would be flushed down sewers into rivers and lakes.
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Doctors rue career choice as jobs are cut - The Observer 7th January 2007
Morale amoung Britain's junior doctors has plunged to a new low. Almost half of them think they chose the wrong career, a survey has found. The findings are alarming because they indicate that the National Health Service crisis is now demoralising its most important professionals: the men and women who will diagnose and treat the nation's illnesses in the near future.
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Letters: The big issue: GP salaries - The Observer 7th January 2007
Nick Cohen may be right in saying there has been overspending and financial mismanagement in some areas of the NHS ('Labour's NHS is a real tonic for the Tories', Opinion, last week), but paying GPs a reasonable rate for the job is not one of them. Your GP costs the NHS an average of £20 for a consultation. Compare that to seeing another professional or taking your car for a routine check.
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Too few fish in the ocean to keep humans in good health - The Observer 7th January 2007
The official advice that Britons should eat more fish as a health benefit may be altered amid growing fears that the policy is threatening efforts to conserve diminishing stocks of cod and other popular species. The Food Standards Agency currently recommends that everyone should eat at least two portions of fish a week, including one of oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines as the omega-3 fatty acids and minerals found in fish can help combat heart disease.
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Constant danger - The Observer 7th January 2007
How should society deal with sex offenders once they have been released from jail? The Observer was given unprecedented access over several weeks to top police and probation officers managing paedophiles in the community. The results will shock and disturb. They give a frank insight into the lives of violent criminals, many of whom admit that they are continually on the brink of reoffending
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Thank you 60,000 times over - The Observer 7th January 2007
Generous Observer readers have responded to the call to help young people with mental health problems, writes David Smith
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Mind the gap - poor priced off the Tube as bosses earn six figures - The Observer 7th January 2007
TfL's boss has joined the capital's commuters, but on a £320,000 salary he is less likely than most to feel the recent fare hikes.
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Superbug 'apocalypse' warning - The Guardian 6th January 2007
An expert in infection control warns today of a looming healthcare apocalypse as MRSA and other superbugs spread and the world runs out of antibiotics to treat those infected. Richard James, director of a new national research centre dedicated to the fight against spread of infections, launched at the University of Nottingham yesterday, says there is an impending crisis on the horizon.
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Actress opens new superbug centre - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
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Doctored information on celebrity nutritionist - The Guardian 6th January 2007
It's just not cool to anonymously edit your own Wikipedia page. It's an online encyclopaedia, free to access, a tribute to the powers of the hive mind, and anyone can edit any page. This makes it a valuable resource in the hands of those who know its limitations, but it has certain vulnerabilities, certain rules, and certain moral codes. It's even less cool to get your hip young PR agent to anonymously edit your Wikipedia page for you. Patrick Holford is a self-styled "nutritionist," and probably the second most famous of the bunch: flattered on ITV last night, starring on GMTV next Wednesday, feted by the media. He writes plausible, reference-laden, sciencey-looking books, and is used as an "authority." Since anyone can use the title, I am a nutritionist too, so take this as one nutritionist to another, Patrick: You have been the subject of justified public criticism - in my case, with references to back me up - and for a long time.
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Hospitals refuse to warn of bone contamination - The Guardian 6th January 2007
Three hospitals are refusing to inform patients that they may be contaminated with bone illegally harvested from cadavers in the United States, including the body of the late BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke. The Guardian has learned that the hospitals are refusing to notify patients who had orthopaedic procedures with the controversial bone products after deciding that their risk of being contaminated with HIV or other serious diseases was "negligible".
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Polonium-210 traces found in West End restaurant - The Guardian 6th January 2007
Traces of the poison that is believed to have killed the former Russian agent, Alexander Litvinenko, have been found in a London West End restaurant as detectives continue their investigation into his death. Staff at the restaurant are being tested as a precaution but members of the public who might have visited it were told that there was "no significant risk" to their health.
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A life without Mum - The Guardian 6th January 2007
At 16, Clover Stroud's idyllic childhood was shattered when a riding accident left her mother severely brain-damaged. Now, 15 years on, funding for her care is being withdrawn. Can that be right?
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Doctor in MMR controversy drops Channel 4 libel action - The Guardian 6th January 2007
The doctor who sparked the controversy over the safety of the MMR vaccine has dropped a two-year libel action against Channel 4, a fortnight after a high court judge ordered the disclosure of confidential documents to his opponents. Andrew Wakefield sued Channel 4, 20-20 Productions, and reporter Brian Deer over a November 2004 Dispatches programme MMR: What They Didn't Tell You.
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MMR doctor drops libel action - The Times 6th January 2007
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Landmark case could bring refunds to families who fund nursing care - The Guardian 6th January 2007
This week's £50,000 award could pave the way for thousands of relatives whose homes were sold to make claims. Miles Brignall reports
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The scandal of Britain's free food - The Guardian 6th January 2007
Tristram Stuart can find a good meal for nothing whenever he wants - in supermarket bins. It is, he says, a national disgrace
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Free after 36 years: the man who was left to rot in Broadmoor - The Independent on Sunday 7th January 2007
Bill Collins tells the 'IoS' how his four-year prison sentence for assault turned into a life wasted in a secure hospital
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The age revolution: How to live to be 150 - The Independent on Sunday 7th January 2007
Experts believe that the first person to live half way through their second century has already been born. Jeremy Laurance, health editor, reports on the stunning breakthroughs that science promises, while Sarah Harris outlines 10 ways to extend your life
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Doctors warn against food fad dangers - The Independent on Sunday 7th January 2007
Nutrition experts 'massively concerned' over unqualified and unregulated diet gurus
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The celebrity guide to detox: Pass out, check in, and dry out - The Independent 6th December 2006
If you're going to own up to drink dependency or a painkiller problem, you might as well do it in style. As Britney Spears checked into an exclusive resort in Arizona with 'exhaustion', Helen Brown sneaks a peek at the rehab elite
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Puppy fat at 9 could lead to heart disease at 29, say scientists - The Times 8th January 2007
Girls as young as nine show an increased risk of heart disease as a result of being overweight. Higher blood pressure and unhealthy changes in cholesterol and triglycerides in the bloodstream suggest that the long-term consequences of puppy fat could be serious. They also show that the years between 9 and 12 are a crucial period for becoming overweight and that once the weight is on it is hard to shift.
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Pregnancy test gives doctors more time to detect condition that kills - The Times 8th January 2007
A simple test for pregnant women could predict a serious complication weeks in advance. A team led by British scientists has developed the test for pre-eclampsia, which causes 22,000 maternal deaths worldwide every year. Until now the first signs of the condition were the symptoms: large increases in blood pressure, headaches, blurred or altered vision, abdominal or shoulder pain, nausea and vomiting, confusion, shortness of breath and excessive swelling of the hands and feet.
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Ward close on Hewitt's doorstep - The Times 8th January 2007
The financial crisis in the NHS has forced the closure of two mental health wards in the constituency of Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary. The closures, described as temporary, have been forced on Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust by a deficit of a little under £2 million.
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Chimera embryos require debate, not prohibition - The Times 8th January 2007
We are very concerned that an important avenue of stem-cell research may be shut down based on a consultation that focused on reproductive technologies, rather than the use of leading-edge techniques to develop potential treatments for neurological conditions. (“Medicine faces ban on rabbit-human embryos”, Jan 5).
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Food firms snub 'red light' warnings on labels - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
A NEW government-backed labelling system designed to give consumers the “red light” on foods high in fat, sugar and salt is only being used by two food manufacturers, it emerged this weekend. The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) “traffic-light” scheme was intended to be a standard nutritional guide on many best-selling foods. While some supermarkets are backing it, just two manufacturers, McCain Foods and New Covent Garden Soup Company, have so far agreed to the scheme.
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Shoppers face confusion in battle of food health labels - The Times 6th January 2007
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Sportacus to the rescue of roly-poly kids - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
HE sports a dastardly moustache and a blue Lycra suit, his best friends are covered in latex and he is coming for our children. Magnus Scheving, creator and star of a television show called LazyTown, plans to mount a nationwide campaign to save 3m British youngsters from obesity. As the superhero Sportacus he has already won the hearts and minds of many children, aged four to seven, by battling Robbie Rotten, a junk food-eating villain, on his show. The Bafta award-winning series — part live action, part puppetry, part animation — is shown on the BBC and satellite channel Nick Jr and is screened in 105 other countries.
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Health tourists may deny NHS patients kidneys - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
HEALTH tourists are receiving free National Health Service kidney treatment worth about £30,000 a year, and potentially competing with British patients for scarce transplants, according to new data. The information, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that one hospital is spending up to £1m a year on dialysis for nearly 40 non-British residents; another has placed two asylum seekers on its waiting list for transplants and a third has recovered only 2% of its costs from overseas patients.
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We should eat less to show solidarity with the poor, says cardinal - The Times 6th January 2007
The Archbishop of Westminster has called upon Roman Catholics to practise fasting as a sign of solidarity with the world’s poor. Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O’Connor, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is urging his flock to return to the “simple life” to counter the culture of consumerism.
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NHS needs fresh ideas, not more cash - The Times 6th January 2007
It is clear from Nigel Hawkes’s report (“Operations cancelled as NHS runs out of money”, Jan 4) that the “tractor production is rising” view of the NHS is finally running out of fuel. As our nationalised healthcare system implements swingeing cuts and delays countless operations, it is increasingly clear that nurses should no longer sign up for careers in public sector healthcare only to find they are unable to access the resources and autonomy they need to do their chosen work.
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Celebrity big bother - The Times 6th January 2007
Why we could all benefit from a scientist inside that house. THE 11 Z-LISTERS who stormed into the Big Brother house were not the only celebrities under scrutiny this week. Sense about Science, a charity that promotes the importance of scientific evidence, took Joanna Lumley, Melinda Messenger and others to task for not checking facts before backing theories and campaigns.
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Struggling midwives left feeling the pain - The Telegraph 8th December 2007
Midwives are struggling to cope with an increase in births while suffering redundancies, job freezes and financial crises, their professional body says today. At the same time, according to the Royal College of Midwives, more maternity assistants - who are not qualified midwives - are being used in maternity units.
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German doctors fly in for £650 a day - The Telegraph 8th December 2007
The NHS is flying in doctors from Germany to provide out of hours cover for GPs, at a cost of up to £650 a day. The news comes a week after it was revealed that a health board hired a doctor from Italy to cover a remote practice over Christmas.
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Are you suffering from affluenza? - The Telegraph 8th December 2007
We're all sick, says psychologist Oliver James, with a middle-class virus brought on by material envy. If Oliver James is suffering from what he calls "affluenza" – a depressive middle-class sickness brought on by social and material envy – then he has the symptoms well under control.
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Forget class, wealth, the North-South divide - being fat or thin is the only thing that matters - The Telegraph 8th December 2007
Weight is the new divide in society with the vast majority thinking the rich tend to be slim and clever while the poor are overweight and less intelligent, claims a survey today. Such is the pressure to be slender that only 6 per cent of 2,000 women polled - average age 31 - had never dieted.
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Navajo on the war path over gay rights charter - The Sunday Telegraph 7th January 2007
The days of smoke signals and beating drums may be long gone, but the ancient Navajo nation is incensed with a collection of bureaucrats 5,000 miles away in Britain. Councils, police, health trusts and the probation service are all using the tribe's name to promote the "well-being" of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals.
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Britain tops premature baby league table - The Sunday Telegraph 7th January 2007
British women are giving birth to more premature babies than anywhere else in Europe, a new study will reveal. The findings will fuel concern that the combination of mothers-to-be in the UK working until late in their pregnancies and high levels of stress are leading to an increase in early births.
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Abstain in moderation: too little of what you fancy does you harm - The Sunday Telegraph 7th January 2007
No doubt those New Year resolutions – a couple of months of self-denial and regular exercise – are all for the good. But there seems little point in denying oneself the good things of life for no purpose: pleasure too has its reward. This might be difficult to prove, but a clue lies in the differences in health between the social classes. As is well known, the semi-skilled and unskilled have a higher rate of virtually all illnesses than professors, doctors, lawyers and the landed gentry. This is usually attributed to genetic differences, cultural habits (smoking, mainly) and "poverty". But perhaps, as Dr Bruce Charlton of the University of Newcastle points out, it is the other way round, and the professional classes' greater leisure and enjoyment of "the good things" accounts for their better health.
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Nish Joshi's Q&A - The Sunday Telegraph 7th January 2007
I am 38 and have two children. I have always had painful periods and was diagnosed with endometriosis aged 28. I had laser surgery and hormone therapy, and when I had children the severe pain gradually went. Recently, I've noticed that around my period I have bouts of incredible tiredness - about one week in every month. I am a vegetarian and eat mainly vegetables, pasta, rice and soya-based foods (I'm dairy intolerant) but do succumb to cheese and chocolate now and again.
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Too-posh-to-push women 'should pay for their own caesareans' - The Telegraph 6th January 2007
Women who have caesareans as a "lifestyle choice" rather than for medical reasons should have to pay for their treatment, a leading public health expert said yesterday. NHS money would be better spent on expensive cancer treatments than on mothers who choose the procedure because they are afraid of the pain of labour, Dr Tim Crayford, president of the Association of Director of Public Health, said.
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Sir Gerry Robinson: How I would fix the NHS - The Telegraph 6th January 2007
If 2006 was the "best year ever" for the NHS, according to Patricia Hewitt – a statement that made millions of us wonder if we inhabited the same universe, let alone planet, as the Health Secretary – then the start of 2007 hints at this being one of the grimmest. A week into the new year and hospitals are being told to delay surgery for as long as possible to ease budget problems; a leaked government report is predicting 37,000 health service jobs will be lost as hospitals battle to manage deficits, while also warning of a drastic shortage of doctors and nurses by 2010.
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Battle for Alzheimer's drugs goes to court - The Telegraph 6th January 2007
The agency which sanctions drugs for the NHS is to be challenged in the High Court on its decision to limit the use of treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Eisai which holds the licence for one of the drugs, Aricept, supported by Pfizer, which markets it, confirmed yesterday that it had formally applied to the High Court requesting a judicial review.
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Testing 1,2,3 - The Telegraph 6th January 2007
Fitness gadgets: six devices to help you keep in trim, reviewed by Claudine Beaumont
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Class action - The Telegraph 6th January 2007
David Marshall, a fitness guru known as the Bodydoctor, has created a system for schools that has children exercising with a smile. One London school swears by it; the only problem is getting the politicians to listen. Year Six are wagging their tails. I know all about 'wag your tail': roll on to your back like a puppy, feet in the air, knees bent, put your hands behind your head, lift your shoulders, engage core muscles and wag your hips/tail as hard as you can. This and other exercises from the Bodydoctor, alias David Marshall, cured my long-standing lower-back problem, so I know how to do it and I know how tough it is, but to Year Six at Barrow Hill Junior School in St John's Wood, London, it appears to be a breeze.
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NHS 'on track' to balance books - BBC Health News 6th January 2007
The NHS is "on track" to break even within three months but jobs will be cut, the health secretary has said. Patricia Hewitt did not specify how many redundancies there would be, but said reports of 18,000 job losses this year was a "statistical projection".
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Adult ADHD 'not treated properly' - BBC Health News 7th January 2007
A leading psychiatrist says many adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not getting the treatment they need. Professor Philip Asherson, from London's Maudsley Hospital, wants sufferers to be recognised and treated.
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Hewitt urges NHS 'transformation' - BBC Health News 6th January 2007
The NHS must be transformed to ensure its survival, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said.
A series of radical reforms being pushed through by the government would deliver faster, more effective care, she told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.
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Dawn machine 'beats winter blues' - BBC Health News 6th January 2007
A simulator that mimics the atmosphere of dawn may reduce depression linked to lack of winter sun, say scientists. They claim the machine, which boosts light levels during sleep, is an effective treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
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Hearing aid pledge 'may not work' - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
Moves to cut waiting lists for the hard of hearing could result in even longer queues for hearing aids, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf fears. Research by Conservative MP Grant Shapps found waits of up to five years for new digital hearing aids.
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NHS waiting lists are lowest ever - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
NHS waiting lists in England have fallen to an all-time low according to Department of Health figures. Between October and November 2006, NHS inpatient waiting lists dropped by 8,000 to 769,000.
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GP launches YouTube health films - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
A GPs' surgery in mid Wales has launched a series of health education films on YouTube, better known as a website featuring home videos. Advice about flu vaccination and cervical screening are two of the topics covered by Builth and Llanwrtyd Medical Practice in Powys.
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Additives lurk in everyday diets - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
People in Britain consume on average 20 different food additives every day, with some eating up to 50, a study has suggested. Yet many people are unaware of this figure, with nearly half of the 1,006 people surveyed thinking they ate only 10 additives each day.
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Skin bleaching cream couple fined - BBC Health News 4th January 2007
A couple believed to have earned £1m selling toxic skin lightening creams were ordered by a court to pay nearly £100,000 in fines and costs. Yinka and Michael Oluyemi sold banned bleaching concoctions from their two cosmetics shops in south-east London.
International News
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Mothers' wombs could provide source of stem cells, without the ethical controversy - The Guardian 8th January 2007
Scientists have found a new source of stem cells that does not involve destroying embryos. The cells can be harvested easily from the fluid surrounding developing babies in the womb and could help overcome ethical concerns. It has been known for decades that the placenta and the amniotic fluid in the womb contain important cells. "We asked the question: is there a possibility that within this cell population we can capture true stem cells? The answer is yes," said Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest, who led the research.
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Stem cells from womb fluid could end ethical concerns - The Times 8th January 2007
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'New stem cell source' discovered - BBC Health News 8th January 2007
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Parents of disabled children ask doctors for 'Ashley treatment' - The Guardian 8th January 2007
Doctors in Seattle who treated the severely disabled girl Ashley with surgery and hormones to keep her at the size of a six-year-old child have received requests from parents of other disabled children to repeat the treatment. Dan Gunther, an associate professor of paediatrics at the University of Washington who devised Ashley's treatment with the blessing of her parents, said four sets of parents had contacted him to ask that their children be considered.
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The courage to defy 'ethics' - The Times 8th January 2007
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Horrible truths around the Pillow Angel - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
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Football tackles schizophrenia and depression - The Guardian 8th January 2007
An Italian psychiatrist is obtaining startling results with patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression by enlisting them in a competitive football team. Mauro Raffaeli trains his players, many of whom cannot work and are on psychiatric medication, twice a week on a pitch on the outskirts of Rome. Of the 80 who have passed through the ranks since the team formed in 1993, over half have cut down their drug intake, but more importantly, more than half have returned to work. "Drugs you can often never get rid of, but reintegrating into society is as important," he said.
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The thin gene: Breakthrough links bulimia to testosterone - The Independent on Sunday 7th January 2007
Scientists have established that the eating disorder that plagues young women could be genetic, and treated by the contraceptive pill.
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Spain takes lead in closing down the websites that tell girls it's good to be anorexic - The Times 8th January 2007
Health authorities in Madrid have acted to close a pro-anorexia website, accusing it of endangering the lives of teenage girls. Four months after the city led the world in the Size 0 debate by banning ultra-skinny models from its catwalks, health officials are shining the spotlight on the growing number of “pro-ana” websites that glorify starvation diets.
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Cheer up, girls – antidepressant pill could be a female Viagra - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
TRIALS have begun on a sex drug that works directly on the pleasure zones of a woman’s brain to restore flagging libido. If successful, flibanserin — developed by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim — could become the “female Viagra”.
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Caffeine addiction fear over soft drinks - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
SOFT drinks manufacturers are adding caffeine to their products, increasing the likelihood that children will become mildly addicted to them, scientific research has suggested. Russell Keast of Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, and his team conducted more than 1,000 tests — in which participants tasted various drinks and laboratory-made concoctions — and found that they could detect no difference in taste whether or not there was caffeine in the drink.
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Report shows class divide in contraception - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
WOMEN in professional and managerial jobs are more likely to use contraception than their working-class counterparts, according to research. “Among women not intending to become pregnant, those in semi-skilled and unskilled manual working-class groups were significantly less likely to have used contraception on the last occasion of sex and over the last year when compared with professional and managerial women,” says the report, due to be published in the European Journal of Public Health in April.
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Comment: Sarah Carey: We need more sex, not detox - The Sunday Times 7th January 2007
I have a theory that the world is in dire need of more sex. “More sex?” you cry. “Aren’t columnists supposed to rail against the gross oversexualisation of society?” Yes, we are, so bear with me. I started out wondering about the obsession with detoxing. At this time of year I am supposedly full of toxins. How can that be? I take an occasional drink, don’t smoke, and drink water from my reverse-osmosis-filtered tap until my pee runs clear. Chocolate is a once-a-month treat. I drink three cups of tea a day, but since tea has antiseptic properties, that can’t be bad. My only vice is a liking for sausage sandwiches.
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Kremlin threatens to call time on festive boozing - The Sunday Telegraph 7th January 2007
Their fellow drinkers in the West may have staggered back to their working routines a week ago, but for Katya Morozova and millions of other Russian revellers, the festive period still has plenty of hangovers ahead. Having already drunk steadily over the European Christmas and New Year, she and her friends are busy welcoming in Russian Orthodox Christmas this weekend, followed by Old New Year the next.
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New test for HIV drug resistance - BBC Health News 8th January 2007
A test to detect drug-resistant HIV strains in patients could allow more effective treatment of the virus. It is more sensitive than existing methods, meaning resistant viruses can be detected at very low levels in patients' blood.
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'Modified' skin cells resist bugs - BBC Health News 8th January 2007
US scientists say they have made germ-resistant skin that could one day save the lives of severe burns victims. The genetically modified skin cells, when added to cultured skin substitutes, killed more bacteria than normal skin in the lab.
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Concern over anti-obesity drugs - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
Better data on the long-term effects of anti-obesity drugs is needed before more widespread use of the therapies, a Canadian study says. Researchers said such drugs would become more important in the future to combat the growing obesity crisis.
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Toys 'could help 200m children' - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
Programmes using basic toys could boost educational achievement of 200 million developing world children not reaching their potential, a report says. Poverty, a lack of stimulation and malnourishment leaves millions unable to benefit from schooling even if it is available, the Lancet study says.
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WHO chief issues bird flu warning - BBC Health News 5th January 2007
The new chief of the World Health Organization has taken office, warning that bird flu remains a global threat. Margaret Chan, a bird flu expert from Hong Kong, is the first Chinese citizen to become the head of a UN agency.
Cheshire and Merseyside News
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Bone marrow recruitment drive launch - Liverpool Echo 6th December 2007
THE first lifesaving bone marrow clinic of 2007 takes place next week. A worldwide search for a donor for Southport siblings Ella and Sam Wright continues, but time is running out for the youngsters whose only chance of survival is a transplant.
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Mum's fears realised in cot-death tragedy - Liverpool Echo 6th December 2007
A BABY, whose mother was so terrified of cot death she used a special alarm everytime he slept, died when she fell asleep comforting him. Mum Charlene McCarthy knew her baby sister and cousin had both died from Sudden Infant Death syndrome.
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We'll save our nurses - Liverpool Echo 5th January 2007
INDIAN embassy officials have met Merseyside police to find a way to stop yobs racially abusing nurses. After the ECHO revealed NHS nurses in Fazakerley were coming under attack from young thugs, the Indian High Commission discussed the problem with local officers.
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100 homes and a mental care unit for hospital site - Liverpool Echo 5th January 2007
MULTI-million pound plans for a mental health centre and new homes are set to go ahead on the site of Southport general infirmary. The last few doctors and nurses are due to leave the old hospital in the next few weeks to make way for redevelopment.
New Story
Patients’ praise - Southport Visiter 5th January 2007
PATIENTS have been known to pass impromptu messages on to the catering staff after a meal, sometimes on the back of a serviette. Here is a selection of them:
- Being in a side room has its perks. Nobody can see you licking the plate clean
- That was the best goulash I have ever eaten.
New Story
Tough choice ahead over care budget - Southport Visiter 5th January 2007
VITAL decisions regarding Sefton’s social care provision will be made at cabinet next week, as officers battle to avoid a council tax increase in 2007. The result of a pay review and the Single Status Agreement, a national scheme to deliver equal pay for equal work, will add up to £2million in costs when the new tax year starts on April 1.
Cumbria and Lancashire News
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Navajo on the war path over gay rights charter - The Sunday Telegraph 7th January 2007
The days of smoke signals and beating drums may be long gone, but the ancient Navajo nation is incensed with a collection of bureaucrats 5,000 miles away in Britain. Councils, police, health trusts and the probation service are all using the tribe's name to promote the "well-being" of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals.
New Story
120 teen boozers are hospitalised in a year - Carlisle News & Star 6th January 2007
MORE than 120 teenagers in north and west Cumbria were hospitalised due to alcohol abuse in 12 months. Between October 2005 and September 2006, 83 people under the age of 20 were admitted to the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven and 43 in the same age bracket were admitted to the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, due to alcohol-related illnesses, totalling 126 within the year.
New Story
Group to meet at hospital - Carlisle News & Star 6th January 2007
ORGANISERS of a new support group for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis are hoping for a good response at their first meeting in west Cumbria next week. More than 100 people flocked to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle when the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society held its inaugural meeting last autumn.
New Story
Surgeons slam bid to create private clinics - Carlisle News & Star 6th January 2007
A GROUP of top north Cumbrian consultants have condemned government plans to bring in privately-run clinics to ease local waiting lists. The four ear, nose and throat surgeons say the proposals will disrupt existing services and have dire consequences for patients across the area.
New Story
Dental charity’s helpline - Carlisle News & Star 6th January 2007
A LEADING dental charity is reminding Cumbrian patients that a dedicated helpline is available to those suffering from toothache and jaw pain. It follows news that these complaints were among the top 10 reasons people called NHS Direct this Christmas.
Greater Manchester News
New Story
'Chaotic' hospital faces threat of new probe - Manchester Evening News 6th January 2007
TROUBLED Tameside Hospital could still be the subject of an independent investigation into a Greater Manchester coroner's criticism of the way it is run - despite carrying out a major internal inquiry. Last October coroner John Pollard called the standard of care at the hospital 'despicable and chaotic' after he carried out four inquests on the same day on elderly patients who had died there.
New Story
Contest to score a medical knockout - Manchester Evening News 5th January 2007
AN academic from Manchester is to champion a distant relative in a contest to find the greatest medical breakthrough in more than 150 years. Researcher Stephanie Snow, from Manchester University, is making the case for John Snow, whose work on anaesthetics in the 1840s led the way for huge advances in surgery.
New Story
Bug shuts down two wards at hospital - The Bolton News 6th January 2007
TWO hospital wards have been closed because of a winter virus just days after a care home re-opened following an outbreak of the bug. Eight patients and four members of staff on a cardiology ward at the Royal Bolton Hospital have been struck down with the Norwalk virus, which causes diarrhoea and vomiting.
New Story
Digging in for the children - The Bolton News 6th January 2007
THE Royal Bolton Hospital's specialist children's casualty department came one step closer yesterday. The first sod of the £1.2 million department was cut by Lauren Coulson.
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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