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The internet is full of travel advice, but until recently most of it felt like a public service missive - well meaning (but often boring) sites by the Foreign Office (fco.gov.uk/travel) and the NHS (fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk) with helpful tips about visas and vaccinations. While sites with independent-minded advice, like the earnest material at travel-journal.org, still have the feel of something you ought to be reading, rather than actually want to.
I like short stories with happy endings. Last week we saw how the mightily eminent pharmacologist Professor David Colquhoun (FRS) was having his witty and informative "Improbable Science" quackbusting blog quietly banished from the UCL servers. He had questioned claims made by a herbal medicine practitioner called Dr Ann Walker over, for example, the "blood cleansing" properties of red clover (also a "cleanser of the lymphatic system", apparently) and criticised her for making public statements about the benefits of vitamin supplements in an academic journal, without disclosing her role as spokesperson for the Health Supplements Information Service, a lobby group for the multibillion-pound supplements industry. Walker complained.
Simon Jenkins (I went in for a fishfinger, but all I could see were flavonoids and lycopenes, June 15) misses the point about Whole Foods by finding high standards of food quality "obscene". No columnist takes half a page to criticise nice handbags or historic houses just because the poor have cheap carrier bags and live in shacks. Why criticise food, which we put inside our bodies, for being organic, artisanal and nutritious instead of cheap? What's "semi-mystical" about preferring good food that gives pleasure and nourishes without damaging our health through the presence of flavouring and colouring additives, hydrogenated fats and other technological trickery?
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Anne Karpf: So there's a miracle pill for fertility - how about one for employment? - The Guardian 16th June 2007
"I have tasted the obsessive longing for a baby, and the equally obsessive feeling you might be denied one" 'Pill To Delay the Menopause' screamed the headline, to which I screamed back "No!" An oddly vociferous reaction, considering that I had my second child about as late as you can without medical intervention. Is it a case of "me, but not you", like those women who climb into positions of power and then promptly bolt the door behind them? Or are my feelings about the drugs currently being developed that could, according to Robert Winston earlier this week, prolong women's fertility, something different altogether?
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The woman who anticipated disease - The Guardian 16th June 2007
Jacqueline and Susan Donachie were always close, sisters who looked strikingly similar; both were tall and willowy, striding out together among other, usually shorter, Glaswegian women. The fact that Jackie's eyes were her mother's blue and Susan's were her father's hazel would have been negligible had there not been a more insidious genetic distinction to set them apart. They were pregnant together - Jackie, aged 30, with her first; Susan, aged 33, with her second - when they came across the fork in the road. Susan was induced early. The doctors said the baby had problems due to more than being premature, and that these came from the mother. They sprang from a disease that ran in families, so Jackie would have to be tested, too.
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One of the most gratifying recent developments in infertility treatment has been the way it has lost its social stigma. It is not long ago that IVF mothers worried about confessing even to close friends that a new arrival was a test-tube baby. Today, celebrities such as Gabby Logan and Julia Roberts share their experiences in the lifestyle pages. IVF is commonplace in dinner-party conversation, and any outrage is more likely to be aimed at appalling NHS provision than at women defying nature. One big taboo, though, still remains. While infertility is both a male and a female problem, with each accounting for roughly half the total burden (one couple in six is affected by infertility), this balance is not reflected in popular culture. Women talk to their friends about their biological clocks, but infertility is not something men discuss much, even with their best mates.
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School truants are costing society £800 million a year, while the annual costs associated with excluded pupils are now £650 million, research suggests. At least a third could be saved if schools provided appropriate support for persistent offenders, the research organisation New Philanthropy Capital says.
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From beefier pecs to perkier bums, it’s not just women under pressure to look good. Hilary Freeman reports When the American clothing company Aber-crombie & Fitch launched in the UK earlier this year, Londoners were treated to the sight of muscular male torsos on the sides of buses. The ad featured no heads or legs, just a close-up of a toned, tanned male physique to get the women drooling and the men aspiring. That male bodies could be so objectified is a sign of our times. It’s no longer women who are judged on their looks. Men are under immense pressure to attain a “perfect” body, to be young-looking and clear-skinned. It may be a far cry from the original intention of feminism, but women have achieved a strange kind of gender equality.
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Father's Day - The Times 16th June 2007
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Father's Day - The Times 16th June 2007
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You can run from the men’s health police. But you can’t hide. According to their stereotyping, you can’t even run. Because being a fag-toting, binge-drinking piece of lard, you’re too unfit. This week we have two innovations aimed at saving men from themselves. First, to raise awareness of prostate cancer, computer wizardry is resurrecting Bob Monkhouse so that he can crack jokes about the big C that killed him.
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Even as a non-smoker I cannot wholly agree with Melanie Reid about the civilising effect of the smoking ban in Scotland (comment, June 11). I live in an area with several pubs, and also work in the night-time economy. Having smokers standing on the street near your front door all day and night isn’t exactly what I’d call civilised, not to mention the associated shouting, swearing and spitting. Then there’s the blocked and litter-strewn pavements. Hardly “sophisticated” and “inching upmarket”.
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Cinven set to win £1.5bn BUPA hospitals auction - The Times 16th June 2007
The British private equity firm Cinven is set to win the £1.5 billion contest for BUPA’s UK private hospitals, The Times has learnt. It is understood that Cinven and CVC were the final bidders on the shortlist but CVC was told last night that it was out of the race. Sources said Cinven was in the final stages of contract negotiations last night and that an announcement could come as soon as this weekend, although they cautioned that the deal could yet fall apart. It also needs the approval of the Department of Health.
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Last-gasp effort can save £1,000s as well as your life - The Telegraph 16th June 2007
New restrictions on smoking which take effect in England on July 1 will give smokers additional good reasons to quit - but there are already plenty of strong arguments to do so, based on wealth as well as health, says Faith Archer
Making arrangements to obtain legal authority to deal with the financial affairs of a loved one suffering from mental incapacity will become much more complicated following a change in the law later this year, a leading solicitor said yesterday. The enduring power of attorney (EPA) is a simple document which allows someone, usually a family member, to sign cheques and pay bills on behalf of someone who has become incapable of doing so. However, from October, this will be replaced in England and Wales with a new document called a lasting power of attorney (LPA).
Teenagers are in the grip of a sexual health crisis fuelled by a "celebrity culture" that condones alcohol abuse, drug addiction and promiscuity, government-funded advisers warn today - 'The Daily Telegraph', June 15 2007 'Two jolly fine tents, four groundsheets, four sleeping bags - I say, what about Timmy the dog? Isn't he going to have a sleeping bag too?" said Anne, with a grin. "I don't suppose Timmy cares one way or the other!" exclaimed George. "He's totally out of his head on drugs!" "Wooooooooooof! Wooooooooooooooooof!" drawled Timmy, agreeing. They all looked at Timmy. A wide grin stretched his hairy mouth, and his tongue hung out for all to see.
A council is to hide a camera in a bin bag to catch residents who do not follow new rules about putting out the rubbish. Householders in a seaside town have been told to put their bins out at the front of their homes and not in an alleyway to the rear.
At present I'm angry with myself for not having started writing this earlier. Every week I reproach myself in the same way. What makes me leave things too close to a deadline? What makes me so incompetent? And so on.
The government is to fit air monitoring equipment on board aircraft amid increasing concerns that passengers, pilots and cabin crew are being exposed to highly toxic contaminants through the cabin air supply. At the same time, 1,500 pilots will take part in the first major health study designed to establish how extensive the problem may be.
Lucy Atkins experiences a painless way to lose aches I am lying fully clothed in my own front room on a gurney, eyes shut, rocking and wobbling this way and that beneath layers of white blankets. It sounds like something from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but I am, in fact, experiencing The Trager Approach, a form of therapeutic body work named after its American founder Milton Trager, an American doctor whose technique took off in the 1970s in California.
Ever since an anonymous village was depicted in academic research as a place where bigotry is rife, its likely location has been the subject of speculation in rural pubs and corner shops up and down the land. Today the inhabitants of a picturesque corner of Oxfordshire are beginning to wonder if the report, which maligned a real village under the pseudonym Stoneycroft, could actually be referring to them.
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So are we the nastiest people in the world? - The Telegraph 16th June 2007
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How the Tooth Fairy could save your life with stem cells - Daily Mail 15th June 2007
Parents are being offered the chance to store stem cells from their children’s milk teeth as an "insurance policy" against diseases. They can pay to store the precious cells in Britain’s first tooth cell bank until such time as they can be used to treat illnesses ranging from Alzheimer’s to cancer.
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The new apartheid - Daily Mail 15th June 2007
Fancy a better life? Then move north of the border. Awash with cash provided by English taxpayers, Scotland now provides a range of public sector handouts and perks for its citizens that are not available in the south - no tuition fees, free personal care for the elderly, free central heating, free bus and train travel for over 60s, and a range of life-saving drugs denied to patients in England.
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Drivers warned: one drink and you're over the limit - Daily Mail 15th June 2007
A massive cut in the drink drive limit is being considered by ministers. Motorists would find themselves over the limit after just one drink under plans to bring UK law into line with Europe. The plan was disclosed by Road Safety Minister Stephen Ladyman, who told a seminar that a formal consultation would begin this year.
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Total smacking ban looms as ministers order fresh review of laws - Daily Mail 15th June 2007
The row over smacking children has been reopened today as the Government announced a review of the law less than three years since MPs rejected an outright ban. Children's minister Beverley Hughes said parents and professionals would be consulted this summer over how present rules were working.
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Smacking law to be reviewed - The Guardian 16th June 2007
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Ministers to review ban on smacking - The Independent 16th June 2007
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A 49-year-old man died moments after his mother's funeral while an ambulance sent to treat him crashed into the crematorium. Allan Betts collapsed after leaving the chapel at Teesside Crematorium where a service had just finished for his mother, 74-year-old Alice Trainer.
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Hospital set death-threat patient free to stab his social worker - Daily Mail 15th June 2007
A psychiatric patient who was about to be released from hospital, warned doctors he wanted to kill his social worker. He was released from hospital anyway – and then he tried to murder her. Medics had discharged Graham Burton after deciding he was just frustrated and did not really intend to harm the woman.
A website where women can raise cash for breast implants using personal photos is unsafe and degrading, say UK cosmetic surgeons. The implants are paid for by male "benefactors" who, for a fee, can access the women's personal profiles, pictures and contact details.
Nick Gall-Tomassen, aged 31, has bone cancer and needs to spend weeks in hospital having chemotherapy. But a specially designed backpack now means Nick can spend his recuperation time away from the ward.
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Tomlinson honoured with CBE - BBC Health News 15th June 2007
Terminal cancer sufferer Jane Tomlinson has been made a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. The 42-year-old from Leeds who became an MBE in 2003, has raised over £1.5m for charity through several marathons and epic bike rides.
Cadbury has pleaded guilty to three offences under food and hygiene regulations in connection with a salmonella scare last summer. Birmingham City Council alleged the firm put "unsafe" chocolate on the market for a period in 2006, which led to one million bars being recalled.
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Cadbury admits hygiene failures over salmonella in chocolate bars - The Times 16th June 2007
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Tracking babies' life chances - BBC Health News 15th June 2007
The first newborn babies and expectant mothers to take part in a pioneering health study will meet on Friday for the first time. The research is called Born in Bradford and parents and newborns in the city are being recruited to help researchers understand which factors can affect health and wellbeing.
A weight loss drug used by thousands of Britons has been rejected by US safety officials because of an increased risk of suicide. Rimonabant, launched in the UK last summer, has been shown to aid weight loss by reducing appetite.
A hormone therapy treatment used to tackle breast tumours has also proved successful in combating ovarian cancer, according to research. An Edinburgh University study found an anti-oestrogen drug could help prolong patients' lives by up to three years.
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Men suffer from phantom pregnancy - BBC Health News 14th June 2007
Expectant fathers can suffer from pregnancy symptoms, UK research shows. Morning sickness, cramps, back pain and swollen stomachs were all reported by men whose partners were pregnant.
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International News
The new flights where you can light up at a cocktail bar that is serving caviar Smokers who are upset at the upcoming ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces will like the sound of a new airline about to begin in Germany. Smokers International Airways (SMINTair) is due to fly from Düsseldorf to Nagoya in Japan from October using Boeing 747 aircraft with 138 business and first-class seats – plus a bar and two lounges.
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Breakthroughs, tips and trends - The Times 16th June 2007
THEY’RE a hormonal, moody bunch, men, say Canadian scientists who are exploring why chaps often get weird pregnancy symptoms when their partners are expecting. Canadian Institutes of Health Research scientists are investigating Couvade syndrome, in which men put on weight when their wives are pregnant. They suggest that there’s a hormonal shift that may exist to turn male brains on to fatherhood. Using saliva samples, Dr Katherine Wynne Edwards has found that dads-to-be develop raised levels of nurturing female hormones, notably oestrogen and the milk-stimulating prolactin, as well as a drop in the male hormone testosterone.
Elderly men with even slightly abnormal red blood counts have a higher risk of dying after major surgery, according to US research. The study, published in Jama, examined data from 310,311 men aged 65 or older.
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Drink headache plagues Russia - BBC Health News 15th June 2007
"Drink up and shut up," was the way cynics summed up the Soviet "era of stagnation". Do not complain about your lot. A few glasses of vodka and all will seem right with the world. Alcohol has been the cure for - and the cause of - social ills in Russia throughout its sometimes troubled history.
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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A TERMINALLY-ill father who claims his disabled daughter has been let down by social services today pleaded: “Find Laura a home before I die.” Bill Garvey, 50, from Huyton, has been told there is nothing doctors can do for him after nine attempts at chemotherapy failed.
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RONALD Murrell, 64, has been awarded an MBE for services to disadvantaged people in Merseyside. Mr Murrell, from Liverpool, has had a 24-year career in the mental health and drugs field.
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MORE than 60,000 homes and businesses were left without power yesterday morning following an explosion at an electricity sub-station. Properties in Childwall, Woolton, Broadgreen, West Derby and Huyton were affected. Alder Hey hospital was forced to activate its major incident plan during the black-out and operate on generator power. The hospital said no patients were affected.
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MPs back disabled workers in campaign to save factory - Liverpool Daily Post 16th June 2007
A DELEGATION of Mersey-side MPs visited an Aintree factory threatened with closure in a bid to save the jobs of 70 disabled workers. Peter Kilfoyle, George Howarth, Joe Benton and Maria Eagle went to the Remploy factory on Wearing Road to meet employees.
THE smoking ban has helped business boom for one Liverpool firm. Cigarette Bins UK makes shelters, ashtrays and signs for businesses – and its customers even include the Queen. Founder Paul Garrett has increased turnover of some items by 2,000% since new smoking legislation was introduced.
IT COULD be a scene from any school trip. A group of happy youngsters with smiling faces are given a VIP view of the Merseyside Police helicopter. But behind their beaming smiles, these children from Chernobyl have a story to tell. The group of 27 youngsters are staying with host families across the Southport area as they battle rare blood disorders, heart and kidney conditions and thyroid problems.
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Trust lags behind as deadline looms - Midweek Visiter 13th June 2007
SOUTHPORT and Ormskirk Hospitals Trust is lagging in its progress towards meeting a looming deadline for treating everyone within 18 weeks, new figures reveal. The local Trust was outperformed by all its regional counterparts in snapshot statistics taken in March, as hospitals prepare to try to ensure all patients are treated within the new limit by the end of 2008.
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
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SPIRALLING costs have left the Eden Valley Hospice facing a potential cash crisis, with less than six months reserves now in the bank. Bosses say daily running costs will soon total £6,500, when the new children’s unit opens in Carlisle this summer.
A FAMILY from Whitehaven blamed a medical blunder for causing a grandmother to die during a routine operation. Relatives of Jean Rogers, 76, of North Road, Egremont, were told there had been “a mistake” during an operation to restore blood supply to her legs. But a surgeon blamed language difficulties and said he had only meant “a complication”.
AN RAF squadron leader has written a book on his devastating battle with depression in a bid to help others. In Ice on My Wings, John Farron MBE gives a humorous and sometimes heartbreaking account of how he fell into the depths of depression, struggled to understand his illness and how he made a gradual recovery.
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Botched operation doctor struck off - Lancashire Telegraph 15th June 2007
AN anaesthetist who botched his role in an operation on a nine-year-old girl has been struck off by his professional body. The General Medical Council (GMC) panel has determined that Dr Mariyappan Balasubramanian be erased from the medical register. He now has 28 days to appeal the decision, but has been suspended and cannot practice during that time.
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Greater Manchester News
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A MOTHER from Greater Manchester has been arrested after the body of a premature baby was found in a hotel room in Majorca. Vanessa Heywood, 41, from Mossley, near Ashton under Lyne, was questioned on suspicion of manslaughter through negligence after giving birth to the child - thought to be two months premature - in a bath.
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HUNDREDS of young cancer doctors are suffering high levels of stress with some even considering suicide. A quarter of junior specialists are struggling to cope with demanding workloads and the distress of patients and families, according to a survey by Manchester medical experts.
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PATIENTS and health campaigners in Prestwich and Whitefield can now access a new resource offering news, information and contacts. For the Patients' Council, an independent group of people with long-term health conditions, has launched its new website.
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BURY is to become the second area in the country to launch a new system that allows doctors to access patients' basic medical details online. Health chiefs believe the scheme could save lives by allowing doctors to check crucial information at a glance. Doctors working at Fairfield Hospital or for the borough's out-of-hours service will be able to view information currently only available to patients' regular GPs in detailed medical records.
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VICTIMS in same-sex abusive relationships are being urged to seek help from the police and support organisations. Research suggests that domestic abuse is as common and as severe among same-sex couples as among heterosexual couples. Now Greater Manchester Police (GMP) wants to let those who are living in an abusive relationship know they can receive help and that it is being taken seriously.
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Food safety weather warning - The Bolton News 15th June 2007
DESPITE the wet weather health bosses are advising people to stay safe and avoid food poisoning this summer. The Health Protection Agency has issued tips for keeping bugs at bay, especially during the barbecue season.
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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