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Cases of tuberculosis in the UK are rising despite government efforts to curb a disease synonymous with mass death in Victorian times. Doctors' leaders are calling for improved efforts to screen immigrants from the Indian and African continents for signs of TB, and more widespread use of the vaccine, BCG, in infants.
Contrary to 'Did my sick husband have to die in jail? (News, last week) Scotland will not be covered by the Mental Health Bill currently passing through the Commons, which is destined to cover only England and Wales. Scotland has already introduced its own mental health legislation.
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Cigarettes that stop burning within two minutes of being put down are to replace conventional brands in an attempt to reduce the number of casualties from fires started by smouldering butts. The European Commission is to ban traditional cigarettes by 2009-10, forcing smokers to buy 'fire-safe' cigarettes that need constant drags to keep them alight.
Chickens at the centre of a bird flu outbreak in Wales were bought at a market 70 miles away in Cheshire, it emerged yesterday. Four people have tested positive for the virus after it was discovered last week at a farm near Cerriydrudion, Conwy, in north Wales, and 30 chickens at the smallholding have been slaughtered.
Appalled by British food, the actor/musician Steven Seagal turns to apple pie. Dr John Briffa issues a starch warning
Responding to an article on the outsourcing frenzy, a reader lamented that managers had forgotten how to manage: their first reaction was to look for packaged solutions that offloaded responsibility for anything difficult on to someone else. This resonated with the observation by a council chief executive that young managers were so reliant on targets they had become incapable of managing without them. Confronted by the need to use judgment, they were at a loss.
A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA. The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
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E211 Revealed: Evidence highlights new fear over drinks additive - The Independent on Sunday 27th May 2007
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With almost half of Britons unaware that it will be illegal to smoke in public places from 1 July, new figures reveal there has been a dramatic slump in the number of smokers kicking the habit. Anti-smoking campaigners are now calling on the Government to capitalise on the ban by running stop-smoking adverts and increasing tobacco taxation.
Mobile phone companies and the Government's official regulator are keeping information about the siting of radiation-emitting masts secret, despite rising concern about effects they may have on health. The companies have stopped disclosing the sites of newly erected masts in what critics describe as "a fit of pique". And Ofcom, the communications industry regulator has refused to release information because it is afraid this might make the firms even more secretive.
Men and women could be denied Viagra or ovarian cyst operations, under draconian rules allowing fertility clinics to decide who is fit to be a parent and thus eligible for fertility and sexual health treatments. MPs are furious at a new code of practice for fertility clinics, which says that any medical treatment that might result in children - even unintentionally - could be denied if it was not considered to be in any resulting child's interest.
GRANDMOTHER did know best. Scientists have established that tea left to brew in a pot is better for your health. The traditional way of making a cuppa releases more cancer-fighting chemicals than simply dunking a tea bag in a mug of boiling water.
An increasing number of us are retiring abroad, drawn to warmer, sunnier climates where our pensions will stretch further, or to be united with children or grandchildren who have settled abroad. “The silver flight is the result of Britons being increasingly willing and able to spend their retirement in Adelaide, rather than Accrington,” says Danny Sriskandarajah, associate director of the Institute for Public Policy Research. He predicts that, by 2050, more than 3.3m Britons will live overseas.
Andrew Lawson, a consultant, has seen the NHS from the other side since being diagnosed with cancer three weeks ago
Few people like going to the doctor but at the same time everyone worries about their health now and then. And increasingly people are turning to the internet to attempt self-diagnosis. The problem for these so-called cyberchondriacs is that the internet is full of dodgy quacks pedalling suspect advice: symptoms for a common cold can quickly escalate online to be diagnosed as chronic pneumonia, while buying specialist medication is like playing Russian roulette. Last year, for instance, a 64-year-old woman from Sunderland lost her sight partly as a consequence of taking oral steroids she bought from an online pharmacy.
Respect. Empowerment. Personal responsibility. Independence. These are the words that new Labour spokesmen and women chant as the answer to every problem. Yet what they mean is precisely the opposite. Their true approach to the rest of us is one of disrespect, disempowerment, infantilisation and a growing dependence on the state.
WHEN the musical Grease opens in London’s West End this summer, and the teenage sweetheart Sandy draws on a symbolic cigarette, warning notices will be in place around the theatre alerting the audience to the danger she poses.
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Is it true that drinking red grape juice has the same beneficial effects as drinking red wine?
HOLIDAYMAKERS are being warned not to pick the cheapest travel insurance policies because many do not provide an adequate level of cover and may leave travellers stranded abroad. Some policies cost less than £6 for a week’s cover in Europe, according to a report from Defaqto, a financial research company. But they are “too cheap” to be able to offer sufficient cover and may have misleading small print, it said. It urges consumers buying cheap policies to consider whether their insurer could pay any claim made.
High blood pressure is the silent killer. There are no immediate symptoms, which means that of the estimated 16m people in the UK who have it one third are probably unaware of it. The only way to know is to be checked. Blood pressure is expressed as a fraction. The top number (the systolic) is the pressure in the arteries as the heart pumps blood. The bottom number (the diastolic) is the pressure as the heart rests.
DENTISTS on the National Health Service are turning away people with bad teeth because they say they are only paid enough to treat patients with a good dental health record. One surgery admitted that people who have not had a dental appointment for three years will be refused treatment. Others are employing more subtle methods to reject patients.
Want Hollywood teeth for a quarter of the price? We join the dental tourists for some incisor trading in Hungary
I suffer from vaginal soreness and wondered if aloe vera might be helpful. Could you suggest a natural vaginal lubricant for day-to-day use?
'Homeopathy is to medicine what astrology is to astronomy," observes Emeritus professor of surgery Michael Baum. "It is witchcraft, totally barmy, totally refuted." Professor Baum is particularly incensed at its availability on the NHS, and together with several other distinguished professors is campaigning, with considerable success, to close down the Royal Homeopathic Hospital by encouraging primary care trusts to "review" their arrangements for funding treatments "unsupported by evidence".
The growing use of home-testing kits to diagnose diseases and medical conditions is leading to deaths, a health watchdog has warned. Sales of DIY kits to test for pregnancy, monitor blood pressure and diagnose conditions such as flu, asthma and even sexually transmitted diseases and cancer, have soared. The industry is worth more than £160 million a year.
Amy Cook is 'a remarkable teenager' - for the past year the 17-year-old has been the main carer for both her 41-year-old mother and 16-year-old sister. She has done all the shopping as well as many of the household tasks for her mother Melanie, who has had two major and several minor strokes.
A hospital consultant is calling for widespread HIV testing for accident and emergency department patients. Dr Kaveh Manavi, a consultant in HIV medicine at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital, told the BBC everyone should be tested unless they opted out.
Heart checks via the telephone could save the NHS millions of pounds, the results of a six-month trial suggest. During the pilot in north west England, the telemedicine system reassured hundreds of people with chest pain, but spotted those who needed medical help.
A surgeons' leader has resigned from talks in the row over a new system for the training of junior doctors. Royal College of Surgeons president Bernard Ribeiro said the government was guilty of "a scandalous failure of duty to address this issue".
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Evidence on RSI 'urgently needed' - BBC Health News 27th May 2007
Research into the causes and treatment of repetitive strain injury is urgently needed for the millions of sufferers worldwide, say experts. Decades after RSI was first reported, evidence is still lacking to guide diagnosis and care, The Lancet reports.
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International News
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This is Agnes. In the past 30 years she has had unprotected sex with up to 2,000 infected men. Yet she and a small number of her fellow sex workers are still free from Aids. Stephanie Nolen travels to Majengo, a slum in Nairobi, to meet the extraordinary women and researchers who are changing the history of HIV
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Why the US is losing its war on cocaine - The Independent on Sunday 27th May 2007
America has spent billions battling the drug industry in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. And the result? Production as high as ever, street prices at a low, and the governments of the region in open revolt. Hugh O'Shaughnessy reports from La Paz, Bolivia
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
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Telephone heart checks a success - BBC Health News 27th May 2007
Heart checks via the telephone could save the NHS millions of pounds, the results of a six-month trial suggest. During the pilot in north west England, the telemedicine system reassured hundreds of people with chest pain, but spotted those who needed medical help.
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Greater Manchester News
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'Dettol Man' died of cleaning obsession - Manchester Evening News 26th May 2007
A MAN died after becoming obsessed with cleaning his home and himself with Dettol. Recluse Jacques Niemand, 42, used vast amounts of the disinfectant for keeping his home clean and washing himself, an inquest heard.
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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