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Private treatment will no longer bar patients from NHS care - The Guardian 5th November 2008
Patients are to be allowed to pay privately for treatment with expensive drugs without losing their entitlement to NHS care, the health secretary, Alan Johnson, announced yesterday. But he denied that the government was presiding over a dilution of the founding principles of the NHS, which promises healthcare for all, free at the point of delivery. Any patient who wants to pay for drugs the NHS does not provide must get their course of treatment privately.
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Editorial: Health reforms are buying time - The Guardian 5th November 2008
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Health minister Alan Johnson lifts NHS ban on top-up treatment - The Guardian 4th November 2008
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Government to announce decision on ‘top-up’ healthcare - The Guardian 4th November 2008
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Q&A: NHS top-up care - The Guardian 4th November 2008
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Row over two-tier health service as ban on ‘top-up’ cancer drugs lifted - The Independent 5th November 2008
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NHS medicine ‘top up’ scheme confirmed - The Independent 4th November 2008
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NHS lifts ban on ‘top-up’ medicine -The Sunday Times 2nd November 2008
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A patient-friendly NHS - The Telegraph 5th November 2008
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Thousands of cancer patients who pay privately for drugs WILL get free NHS care, say ministers - Daily Mail 5th October 2008
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Cancer patients get right to buy ‘top-up’ drugs - Daily Mail 3rd November 2008
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Mental illness cases in British forces neared 4,000 last year - The Guardian 5th November 2008
Almost 4,000 new cases of mental illness were diagnosed among the UK’s armed forces last year, with those returning from Iraq or Afghanistan the most likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental health statistics released by the Ministry of Defence yesterday showed that soldiers were more likely than members of the RAF or Royal Navy to have mental health problems, and women and “other ranks” were more at risk than their male counterparts or officers.
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Afghan veterans more likely to suffer from mental illness - The Independent 5th November 2008
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Post traumatic stress rises among war zone soldiers - The Independent 4th November 2008
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British troops returning from Afghanistan are 10 times more likely to suffer from mental illness, MoD figures reveal - Daily Mail 4th November 2008
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Vitamin pill that may slow Alzheimer’s goes on trial - The Guardian 5th November 2008
A vitamin pill that could slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease is to enter human trials after scientists found it protected animals from memory loss associated with the condition. High doses of vitamin B3 will be given to 70 people who have recently been diagnosed with the disease as part of the trial due to begin in the new year, which is open to volunteers over the age of 50.
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Mental health champion Melba Wilson on tackling discrimination - The Guardian 5th November 2008
Ten years after ‘Rocky’ Bennett’s death, progress is now being made to tackle discrimination against people from black and minority ethnic communities, the undaunted mental health champion tells Mary O’Hara
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Pupils growing too big for their chairs, survey finds - The Guardian 5th November 2008
Schools need to upgrade their furniture because today’s children have outgrown the tables and chairs designed to meet the needs of 1960s pupils, experts said yesterday. Pupils are generally so much bigger - in height as well as girth - that many no longer fit into standard school furniture.
‘Couch potato school pupils so fat they need stronger desks and chairs’, report states - Daily Mail 4th November 2008
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How regulators have improved performance in the public sector - The Guardian 5th November 2008
In a quiet basement room in Clerkenwell, on the fringe of the City of London, public scrutineers gather over a few plates of sandwiches to talk about what they do. Normally, this meeting to discuss the role of the professional scrutiny officer would be unlikely to set the world on fire - but we live in strange times.
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Back in the Chamber, MPs were on health questions. The audience was small but passionate. Like many people who concentrate on a speciality, they have their own language which is not always accessible to the rest of us. What, for example, is a “single referral pathway”? They seem to know. Much of it is very aggressive. Everywhere you look there are “stakeholders” (who would also be unwelcome in Castle Dracula). “Infant mortality is down in spearhead areas!” one minister told us with pride. If a relative had mental health problems, would you be reassured to learn the government is “talking to key shareholders about the New Horizons project for mental health services”? And if you had diabetes, how happy would you be that Diabetes UK is running “the Silent Assassin campaign”?
New StoryWhat, no puree? - The Guardian 5th November 2008
The new move towards baby-led weaning promises to make your child a happy eater. Joanna Moorhead finds out how it’s done
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Common drug may slow brain disease - The Guardian 3rd October 2008
British doctors are to launch a major clinical trial to investigate whether a common anti-depression drug could be a cheap and effective treatment for the devastating condition motor neurone disease. The trial, which is due to start in January, will follow more than 200 patients with motor neurone disease over 18 months to see if those given daily lithium pills live longer. Lithium is already licensed for treating manic depression and other mental disorders, and is extremely cheap, costing just 48p for a packet of 20 pills.
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Pupils earn just reward for healthy eating - The Guardian 3rd October 2008
A Scottish council which pioneered locally sourced and organic school meals is to offer all its 16,500 pupils the chance to earn “ethical” reward points for overseas aid by eating healthy school dinners. From today, schoolchildren in East Ayrshire will earn points to help buy farm animals, food supplies and medical supplies and equip classrooms for projects run by development charity Save the Children.
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Letters: Mental illness, the law and rudeness - The Guardian 3rd October 2008
Psychiatric units are experiencing major problems with implementation of the NHS smoking ban. Although this was implemented in other parts of the NHS last year, there was a delay until July 1 this year for psychiatric units in recognition that they would face specific difficulties.
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We must change the law on assisted suicide and let the terminally ill choose where, when and how to die
Additional StoryLetter: Overcoming fears on assisted dying - The Guardian 4th November 2008
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Caffeine warning for pregnant women- The Observer 2nd November 2008
Pregnant women should limit their caffeine intake to two cups of coffee a day, a report by the Food Standards Agency will warn this week. The FSA is changing its advice on the recommended daily amount after a new study linked caffeine intake to underweight babies. The recommended daily limit is now 200mg, down from 300mg, and equivalent to two cups of coffee or four cups of tea a day.
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Women told to limit caffeine during pregnancy - The Sunday Times 2nd November 2008
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‘Road map’ test can predict when the menopause will start - The Observer 2nd November 2008
A test to predict when a woman will go through the menopause has been developed by scientists who believe it will provide a ‘road map’ of fertility for older would-be mothers. The breakthrough will also help women prepare mentally for losing their fertility and allow those in their late 30s and 40s who are considering trying for a baby pinpoint just how long they have left to conceive.
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Disease on rise as food use-by dates ignored - The Observer 2nd November 2008
Health experts are blaming a serious rise in the potentially deadly disease listeriosis on people consuming chilled ready-to-eat food products that have been in their fridges for too long. Concerns about the spread of the disease have become so acute the government is planning a major food hygiene awareness campaign next year encouraging consumers to observe use-by dates and to ensure that their fridges are maintained at the correct temperature.
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Postnatal depression ‘in the genes’ - The Observer 2nd November 2008
Fresh medical research suggests the serious mental illness which bedevils new mothers may be due to nature, not nurture
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30,000 sent to slimming clubs by NHS - The Observer 2nd November 2008
GPs open new front in obesity battle by referring their overweight patients to private clubs
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The effects of addiction can lay whole families to waste. So why aren’t we doing more for the relatives? Ursula Kenny meets the ‘kin carers’ picking up the pieces
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I am exhausted at the moment by a late-night schedule of work and study. I’ve heard that the hours of sleep before midnight are more regenerating than those after. If so, should I alter my sleeping hours to increase my brain power?
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Haunted by my aborted son - The Guardian 1st November 2008
Nine years ago, Victoria Lambert terminated a much wanted pregnancy after a test showed chromosomal abnormalities. She has always regretted it. Is it time, she asks, to stop seeing abortion as the only solution when a foetus is not ‘perfect’?
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Drum craftsman dies after catching anthrax from skins - The Independent 3rd November 2008
A drum maker who inhaled anthrax spores while working with imported animal skins died yesterday. Fernando Gomez, 35, from Hackney, east London, had been treated at the Homerton University Hospital since being taken ill last week. Mr Gomez’s flat was sealed off by the Health Protection Agency for examination and his workshop will be checked to identify from where the anthrax originated.
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Bongo-maker dies after getting anthrax from African drum skins - Daily Mail 3rd November 2008
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Man dies after inhaling anthrax - BBC Health News 3rd November 2008
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Cancer drugs: ‘patients face postcode lottery’ - The Independent 3rd November 2008
Cancer patients are facing a “postcode lottery” with some primary care trusts spending more than twice as much as others on prescription cancer drugs, the Tories claimed today. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said that figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed that on average PCT’s in England spent £390.17 per patient.
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Time-lag in training specialists to meet growing demand means that diagnoses and life-saving treatment are dangerously delayed. Government promises to improve cancer survival rates and reduce hospital superbugs are under threat because of a lack of pathologists, medical experts claimed yesterday. Seriously ill patients are missing out on life-saving treatments because of a shortage of highly trained specialists in some areas, according to the Royal College of Pathologists (RCoP).
New StoryThe pink pound finances new surge in plastic surgery - The Independent on Sunday 2nd November 2008
Economic slowdown or not, for some there’s always the money for self-improvement. While some 60 per cent of US plastic surgeons may be complaining of a slowdown, their British counterparts are confident that the pink pound will see them through the recession – as new research reveals that nearly a quarter of gay men in Britain have gone under the knife.
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Millions at risk from fake medicines smuggled into UK - The Independent on Sunday 2nd November 2008
Packets of fake pills are being smuggled into high-street chemists and sold as real medicines that prevent heart attacks or fight cancer, putting the lives of millions of British patients at risk. Criminal gangs that cut their teeth selling fake Viagra on the internet and went on to push dummy drugs in poor countries are now suspected of infiltrating the supply of medicines in the developed world.
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Binge-drinking culture may cause dementia epidemic, experts warn - The Independent 1st November 2008
Britain could be heading for a dementia epidemic caused by heavy drinking, according to research. The alcohol-fuelled revelry of the young and middle-aged will rack up brain damage, impairing their mental faculties in later life, it is claimed. The study by the psychiatrists Dr Susham Gupta and Dr James Warner, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, has shown that excessive alcohol consumption can cause the loss of brain tissue, and binge-drinking is associated with an increased risk of dementia.
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Binge drinkers face increased risk of dementia -The Times 1st November 2008
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The dementia timebomb facing binge drinkers, as doctors call for warning labels on bottles - Daily Mail 1st November 2008
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Hundreds of motor neuron disease sufferers are to be given a daily lithium pill in a clinical trial of a possible treatment for the devastating condition. Scientists will test whether lithium carbonate, a cheap drug already prescribed for depressive illnesses, can slow the deterioration of patients who often survive little more than a year after diagnosis.
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Lithium tested for impact on MND - BBC Health News 3rd November 2008
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Briefing: Patients put at risk - The Sunday Times 2nd November 2008
A new NHS computer system is costing billions. But after it failed last week in the first London hospital to try it, the whole scheme is in doubt
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Why heart pumps could kill off the transplant - The Sunday Times 2nd November 2008
There are no rejection problems, and they cost a lot less than transplants. The new, smaller heart pumps could save thousands of lives. So why are they still treated as the poor relation?
New StoryCommission inherits billions in unpaid child support -The Times 1st November 2008
THE Child Support Agency (CSA) will hand over its powers - and billions in unpaid child support - to its successor. The newly-formed Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission (CMEC) today said it is unlikely to recover all of the £3.8bn its predecessor owed to single parent families.
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Sharp rise in hospital car park fees ‘a tax on the sick’ - The Times 1st November 2008
The cost of parking at NHS hospitals and clinics has risen by more than a quarter in four years, leading campaigners to condemn the fees as a tax on the sick. The health service in England earned nearly £112 million from car parking charges last year, an increase of 27 per cent compared with 2003-04, when revenue totalled £81 million.
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Women and drug addiction - The Sunday Telegraph 2nd November 2008
The most shocking thing about the modern drug user? That she could be someone like you. Anna Moore talks to three ‘ordinary’ women about their struggles with addiction. Andrea Mackenzie 57, a divorced mother of three from Newquay, was first prescribed valium for back pain as a trainee teacher in 1969. She became addicted and continued to take it for almost 40 years.
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An electrician wired an MRI scanner so badly that it could have electrocuted patients, an employment tribunal heard. Gary Smith, whose work was described as “shoddy”, tugged a wire so hard when running it to the £1million scanner that it split and could have become live and endangered human life.
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Tories: Thousands of cancer patients missing out on treatment - The Telegraph 31st October 2008
Thousands of cancer patients are not getting radiotherapy to treat their condition, the Conservatives have claimed.
Nine out of ten preventable deaths in the NHS are not reported - The Telegraph 31st October 2008
Nine out of ten preventable deaths in the NHS are never reported to officials, it has emerged.
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Kidney cancer patients face delay in drugs decision - The Telegraph 31st October 2008
Kidney cancer patients will have to wait months for the NHS drugs rationing body to decide if they can have new drugs after guidance was delayed.
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Rise in early morning admissions to A&E - The Telegraph 30th October 2008
Round-the-clock drinking has led to a rise in early morning hospital admissions, a study shows.
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A mother-of-three died from a brain haemorrhage just days after being sent home from hospital with headache pills following a car crash.
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Warburtons bread ‘has highest salt content’ - The Telegraph 30th October 2008
Britain’s biggest baker, Warburtons, has been warned it is putting customers at greater risk of heart disease after research showed it is selling bread with up to 20 per cent more salt than rivals.
Coroner blasts Binge Britain after student drowns in river - Daily Mail 5th November 2008
A coroner has warned about the dangers of binge drinking after a student left a party and drowned. Gavin Terry, 19, had been drinking heavily with fellow students in a hall of residence at Leeds Metropolitan University in January this year.
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Lighting up the night’s sky as they do every year, firework displays are supposed to be enjoyable events. But for Andy Latham a rare neurological disease means he is literally scared stiff when they explode into life. The 33-year-old is believed to be the only person in the UK to suffer from a condition known commonly as Startle Disease.
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Popular fish oil supplements fail ingredient tests - Daily Mail 4th November 2008
More than half the brands of popular cod liver oil and omega 3 supplements do not contain the amount of active ingredients they claim on the label, according to the results of new tests. Fish oil capsules are one of the UK’s most popular nutritional supplements and have been shown by a number of studies to help maintain joint flexibility, keep the heart healthy and aid brain development.
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A new birth unit run by midwives is at the centre of NHS investigations after the deaths of two babies in three months. One infant is understood to have been stillborn in a birthing pool and a second is believed to have died shortly after delivery. Resuscitation equipment is alleged to have malfunctioned after the stillbirth.
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A couple prevented from adopting a baby girl because they once slapped another child for swearing won a court’s backing today when a judge branded the ban ‘bizarre’. The ‘caring and sensitive’ couple had been told by a council they could not take in the half-sister of a little boy they adopted five years ago.
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Marshmallow test - how resisting a sweet can lead to a better life - Daily Mail 2nd November 2008
He linked a child’s academic success to whether they can resist eating a sweet at the age of four. Now Professor Walter Mischel wants to use the original subjects of his 1960s ‘marshmallow test’ to determine why the ability to delay gratification turns children into successful adults.
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Pregnant women will be warned this week not to drink more than two cups of coffee a day to cut their risk of giving birth to dangerously underweight babies. Safety watchdogs say the recommended daily caffeine limit is too high, with too great a risk of low birth weight.
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Former model turned novelist Annabel Giles, 49, married Midge Ure, 55, the lead singer of pop band Ultravox, in 1986. They separated in 1991 and have one daughter, Molly, now 21. Annabel’s second child, Ted, ten, is her son by a former partner from whom she is estranged. Ted was born with XYY syndrome, a chromosomal disorder, and here she provides, with extraordinary candour, an account of her life as the single parent of a special needs child.
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As Britain spends £75m a year on Vitamin C, are we overdosing? - Daily Mail 1st November 2008
As the season of colds begins, many of us reach for megadose Vitamin C supplements in the belief that they will stave off infection. But is the theory right - or are we, in fact, overdosing? In 1970, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling proposed in his book, Vitamin C And The Common Cold, that taking a dose of 1,000mg a day could help fight the virus. The current recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C is only 40mg.
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In the world of crime novels, the annual Audible Sounds of Crime awards are a pretty big deal and I was thrilled to be shortlisted for my fifth novel in my bestselling Nic Costa series. But I turned down the invitation to attend. Much as I would have loved to get together with other crime writers and readers, since losing my hearing suddenly four years ago I find crowded places too much to handle. Although I’m deaf in only my left ear, when there is noise all around I’m unable to distinguish sounds and can’t hear anything.
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How I discovered the finer points of acupuncture - Daily Mail 1st November 2008
With growing clinical evidence of its effectiveness in treating everything from post-operative pain and nausea to backache, acupuncture has gained acceptance in mainstream medicine. But to those who have never tried it, the treatment, in which the skin is pricked with needles at key points of the body, may still seem strange and mysterious.
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Phobias. They’re infuriatingly irrational things. Clowns send a burly 6ft male friend of mine into a hyperventilating panic. One woman I know faints if she sees tomato ketchup. My last boss insisted staples were inserted at a precise 90-degree angle into paper to make them ’safe’. But what exactly are phobias - and why do we have them?
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C. diff deaths in care homes triple in two years - Daily Mail 1st November 2008
he number of elderly people killed by the superbug C. diff in care homes has tripled in two years. Last year, Clostridium difficile was mentioned on the death certificates of 438 care home residents - up from 144 in 2005. However, the true toll is certain to be higher as superbug infections are not identified in many cases concerning older people.
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A teenager may have hanged herself while sleepwalking after becoming ‘spooked’ by stories of a recent suicide in her flat, an inquest heard. Carissa Glenn, 18, told her family she was having repeated nightmares about a woman who had apparently hanged herself in the rented apartment.
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A woman bled to death following a routine NHS operation after doctors said they were too busy to assess her. Kathleen Doherty, 29, screamed for help after a procedure to remove gallstones, crying: ‘I need water, I’m dying.’
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Cancer patients ‘not taking drug’ - BBC Health News 4th October 2008
Many breast cancer patients are risking their lives by failing to take the tamoxifen they are prescribed, University of Dundee research suggests. The British Journal of Cancer study found 50% of women failed to finish the five year course of the drug needed to maximise their survival chances.
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Left-hand people ‘more inhibited’ - BBC Health News 4th October 2008
People who are left-handed are more likely to get anxious or feel shy or embarrassed about doing or saying what they want, according to new research. Those involved in the Abertay University study were given a behavioural test that gauges personal restraint and impulsiveness.
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Forces mental illness figures out - BBC Health News 4th October 2008
Nearly 4,000 new cases of mental health disorder were diagnosed among armed services personnel last year, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Statistics showed there were 3,917 new cases of disorder in 2007, amounting to 4.5 per 1,000 forces members.
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Gay blood donor appeal rejected - BBC Health News 4th October 2008
The blood transfusion service has rejected calls from gay men’s groups to lift the ban on them donating blood. It has told the Scottish Parliament petitions committee HIV is rising in gay men and donor selection is the only way to keep blood products safe.
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Married inmates’ suicide analysed - BBC Health News 4th October 2008
Being married makes you more likely to commit suicide in prison, according to an Oxford University study. Researchers who looked at almost 4,800 cases from 12 countries also found that white males were more likely to take their own lives while in jail.
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Award for sleeping sickness work - BBC Health News 4th October 2008
A Ugandan scientist based at Glasgow University has won this year’s £65,000 Royal Society Pfizer Award. Biomedical researcher Dr Enock Matovu, 40, won the prize for groundbreaking work into sleeping sickness, which kills about 50,000 people each year.
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Weight worry sees child in care - BBC Health News 3rd October 2008
A six-year-old Derby boy taken into care was overweight, it has been revealed. It is the first time obesity has been listed by social services in the city as one of the reasons for taking a child away from its family. The case emerged as figures showed one in four 10 and 11-year-olds in Derby are classified as obese or overweight.
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Tougher mental health rules begin - BBC Health News 3rd November 2008
A controversial reform of mental health laws allowing compulsory treatment in the community has been launched. Patients released from hospitals in England and Wales could be forced back if they do not take their medication.
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Brain receptor schizophrenia clue - BBC Health News 3rd November 2008
Scientists say they may have found why people with schizophrenia have abnormal electrical waves in their brains. The Newcastle University team believes schizophrenics lack the vital brain receptor cells which control them.
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Cancer patients ‘need fuel help’ - BBC Health News 3rd November 2008
The Winter Fuel Allowance should be given to all cancer patients in the UK, a charity has said. Macmillan Cancer Support says 40% of people who come to it for financial aid need help to pay their fuel bills.
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C. diff testing ‘is often wrong’ - BBC Health News 1st November 2008
Many carriers of the potentially lethal Clostridium difficile bug are missed by unreliable tests, researchers say. Analysis of 18 studies by St George’s, University of London, found one test had wrongly given the all-clear to a quarter of those infected.
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Children’s brain tumour discovery - BBC Health News 1st November 2008
Scientists at Cambridge University have made a major breakthrough researching brain tumours in children. For the first time a sequence of DNA present in around two-thirds of the most common tumour has been pinpointed.
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Inside medicine: Breast surgeon - BBC Health News 1st November 2008
In a series focusing on medical specialties, the BBC News website meets breast surgeon Hisham Hamed. His speciality is treating patients, women and men, with breast problems ranging from cancers to benign conditions.
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Shape shift rules cancer spread - BBC Health News 31st October 2008
UK scientists have worked out how cancer cells change their shape to spread around the body. They found that melanoma cells rapidly alternate between a round shape and a more stretchy “elongated” shape to help them move in different environments.
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Halloween anti-smoking ad launch - BBC Health News 31st October 2008
A Halloween-themed TV advert aimed at “spooking” parents into giving up smoking has been launched. The Department of Health ad is based on a child claiming she is not frightened of things such as spiders. But then at the end she admits she is scared of something - her mother dying from smoking.
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Rethink call on organ donor move - BBC Health News 31st October 2008
A Scottish nurse who overruled her dying husband’s organ donation wishes has said the government should think twice before changing the law. A UK-wide taskforce has been debating whether to have an opt-out system - where everyone is a potential donor unless they state their wish not to be.
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Clegg warns of ’stress epidemic’ - BBC Health News 31st October 2008
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has warned of an “epidemic of mental distress” if Britain is plunged into a recession. It could “dramatically increase” the numbers of people suffering stress and depression, he said in a speech.
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International Health News
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GM soya bean could prevent heart attacks and save fish stocks - The Telegraph 3rd November 2008
A genetically modified soya bean that could help prevent heart attacks should be available within four years following successful trials. The crop has passed the first phase of testing in America which could lead to it being used in spreads, yogurts, cereal bars and salad dressings.
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Doctor barred from Australia because of Down syndrome son - The Telegraph 31st October 2008
A German doctor has been refused permission to settle permanently in Australia because his son has Down syndrome.
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The red wine weight loss wonder drug that lets you eat junk food - Daily Mail 5th November 2008
For dedicated couch potatoes, it sounds almost too good to be true. A drug inspired by red wine could allow them to eat as much junk food as they like without putting on a pound. It could also provide the benefits of exercise without moving a muscle. And if that were not enough, the pill - which mimics the action of resveratrol, the ‘wonder ingredient’ in red wine - may also prevent diabetes.
Drug ‘tricks body to lose weight’ - BBC Health News 5th October 2008
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Health news: Unknown benefits of tea tree oil, shockwaves and massage - Daily Mail 4th November 2008
Health stories from around the world this week include a 12-year-old Irish girl whose warts disappeared after 12 days of using tea tree oil. Also, tests show shockwave therapy could cut the risk of heart attacks by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels and a U.S. study reports the benefits of couples massaging each other for 90 minutes a week, resulting in reduced stress levels
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Women who regularly sleep six hours or less a night may be raising their risk of breast cancer by more than 60 per cent, say researchers. A major study suggests burning the candle at both ends dramatically increases the risk of developing a potentially life threatening tumour. Scientists believe sleep disruption interferes with production of a vital hormone called melatonin, which could play an important role in protecting against cancer.
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TV shows link to teen pregnancies - BBC Health News 4th October 2008
Teenage girls who watch a lot of TV shows with a high sexual content are twice as likely to become pregnant, according to a study. Boys watching similar programmes, like Friends and Sex and the City, were also more likely to get a girl pregnant, the research in Pediatrics found.
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Rainfall autism theory suggested - BBC Health News 4th November 2008
Increased rainfall, or something linked to it, may be connected to the development of autism, scientists say. The theory is based on child health and weather records from three US states, but has been greeted cautiously by a UK research charity.
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Women’s hands ‘harbour more bugs’ - BBC Health News 4th November 2008
Women have a greater range of different types of bacteria on the palms of their hands than men, US research suggests. The study also found that human hands harbour far higher numbers of bacteria species than previously thought.
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Activity cuts breast cancer risk - BBC Health News 31st October 2008
Vigorous exercise seems to protect against the development of breast cancer in normal-weight postmenopausal women, US research shows. Regular activity such as running, aerobics or even heavy housework was associated with a 30% reduced risk of developing the disease, a study found.
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Cheshire and Merseyside Health News
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ONE of Liverpool’s long-serving NHS workers has been recognised for her extraordinary contribution to the local community. Dorcas Akeju, OBE, a specialist midwife at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, was chosen from hundreds of nomina-tions to appear in Extraordinary, a book celebrating the NHS’s 60th birthday, launched today.
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Health fears mount over Mersey measles epidemic - Liverpool Daily Post 3rd November 2008
AN OUTBREAK of measles has been reported in Liverpool according to health officials who say an epidemic could result, because of low MMR vaccination uptake. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has reported eight current cases within the city, three of which have been confirmed by laboratory testing and five are probable cases, with further test results pending.
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Merseyside tops paramedics’ danger homes list - Liverpool Daily Post 2nd October 2008
Merseyside has more homes deemed ‘too dangerous to enter’ by the ambulance service than anywhere else in the country. Northwest ambulance crews are frequently warned to wait outside a residential properties across the region until a police escort can accompany staff inside the building.
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Region ‘still ill-prepared for any serious emergency’ - Liverpool Daily Post 31st October 2008
THE region is still not properly prepared for a major catastrophe, despite a £330m nationwide programme to transform fire services, a watchdog warned today. The New Dimensions programme – to cope with threats ranging from terror attacks to floods – has failed to provide adequate planning for “regional and national-scale incidents”, the National Audit Office (NAO) concluded.
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We pay £4m for alcoholics - Liverpool Echo 1st November 2008
ALCOHOLICS are costing taxpayers up to £4m by going “on the sick”. Figures obtained by the ECHO show 590 people in Merseyside receive incapacity or disability handouts because of their chronic drink problem. The government says the actual sum paid out cannot be revealed.
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New moves to tackle borough’s booze crisis - Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News 30th October 2008
DAMAGE done by alcohol to Halton’s health will get worse before it gets better, according to a senior NHS director. Sue Milner, NHS Halton and St Helens deputy director of public health, was responding to a Government report which slammed NHS trusts for not preventing booze related disease, death, and hospital admissions which cost the NHS £2.7b a year.
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SEFTON NHS is launching a major three-month public consultation, called ‘Better Health, Better Life.’ Everyone who lives and works in Sefton is being invited to comment on the five year plan to significantly improve health and health services across the borough.
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Care home’s pride at gaining best status - Chester Chronicle 31st October 2008
A HELSBY care home has been awarded the country’s highest possible social care rating by independent government inspectors. Charitable care home Loxley Hall, on Lower Robin Hood Lane, Helsby, was awarded the three-star – “excellent” – rating by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
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Cumbria and Lancashire Health News
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County spends big on cancer treatment - Carlisle News & Star 4th November 2008
PATIENTS in Cumbria have more cash spent on them for prescription cancer drugs than other areas of the country, new figures show. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said that figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed that on average primary care trusts in England spent £390.17 per patient on prescription cancer drugs.
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Gym members keep abreast of cancer issues - Carlisle News & Star 4th November 2008
EFFORTS of a women-only gym in Carlisle to raise awareness about breast cancer appear to have worked.
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Carlisle boy in coma after contracting meningitis - Carlisle News & Star 1st November 2008
A boy of 12 is in a coma in hospital after he contracted the potentially-deadly meningitis bug. At one stage Connor Tyson, of Carlisle, a Trinity School pupil, was given just 40 per cent chance of survival and had to undergo emergency brain surgery.
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The family of an 87-year-old woman who died after a fall at Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital is considering legal action against the NHS. Partially sighted Mary Marshall, known as Marie, fell down a step after being left unattended in the outpatients’ lounge.
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Greater Manchester Health News
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Hospital bosses silent over job - Manchester Evening News 5th November 2008
HOSPITAL bosses have refused to answer questions after axing their chief executive before she had even started her new job. The M.E.N. revealed yesterday that Trafford Healthcare Trust chiefs have withdrawn their offer of the £140,000 job to Jane Perrin.
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Health boss axed before starting job - Manchester Evening News 4th November 2008
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Trafford health trust does a U-turn over its top job - Altrincham Messenger 4th November 2008
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Coma boy’s miraculous recovery - Manchester Evening News 3rd November 2008
WHEN football fanatic Haseem Ahmed fell into a coma with a mystery virus, doctors feared he would never kick a ball again. The 14-year-old had gone to bed with severe tonsillitis and did not wake up the following morning. His elder brother Hamzah, 19, had to give him emergency mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
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Twelve point plan tackles mental health - Altrincham Messenger 4th November 2008
MENTAL health care in the region has been hit with 12 key recommendations to improve its service following a year-long review. The North West Commission on Mental Health was set up in July 2007 by the NHS North West board. Its report, A Better Future In Mind, is based on the views of those who use mental health services as well as the teams who care for them.
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