'Remote nurse' aids home patients - BBC Health News 19th August 2008
A "remote nurse" system which allows patients to monitor their own health at home is being tested in Cornwall.
Participants enter their data into the equipment using a touch screen. The information is then sent to community nurses to be analysed.Rise in free prescriptions issued - BBC Health News 19th August 2008
The number of prescription items dispensed in Wales rose by 2.9m in the first year of free prescriptions, official figures show.
The number of dispensed items rose 5% from 59.1m in 2006/7 to 62m in 2007/8, the equivalent to 20 items per person.Tag for aggressive bowel cancer - BBC Health News 19th August 2008
UK scientists say they have found a marker for aggressive bowel cancers needing the most treatment.
Patients most likely to develop a more virulent strain of the disease could be pinpointed by a test which looks for a marker protein called Lamin A.Putting percentages in context - BBC Health News 19th August 2008
Percentages might make news stories stand out, but without a connection to the human experience, can become meaningless. Wouldn't it be good to have the mental agility to separate the wheat from the chaff? In his third lesson of a weekly series, author Michael Blastland gives some hints for percentages.
Back pain eased by good posture - BBC Health News 19th August 2008
Long-term back pain can be relieved through encouraging sufferers to adopt good posture through the Alexander technique, say UK researchers.
The technique teaches patients how to sit, stand and walk in a way that relieves pain by focusing on their coordination and posture.Gaps in NHS diabetes care remain - BBC Health News 20th August 2008
Diabetes care is improving, but there is still a long way to go before the NHS is providing top quality services, according to a government report.
The Department of Health study analysed progress made since its diabetes plan was published five years ago.Superdoctors - one small step - BBC Health News 20th August 2008
You could call him the Indiana Jones of surgery. Steve Mannion, an orthopaedic surgeon, has devoted his life to working in far-flung and under-resourced corners of the world.
"Part of my reason for going into medicine was to work overseas. I was a bit of an adventurer. As a student, I did an elective on the Afghan-Pakistan border."More teens surviving with cancer - BBC Health News 20th August 2008
Cancer survival rates for teenagers and young adults in the UK have risen by a sixth over two decades, figures show.
The first national report into survival rates by Manchester University looked at over 30,000 young people aged 13 to 24 diagnosed between 1979 and 2001.A simple test that could save the lives of thousands of bowel cancer victims is in development.\n\nThe test, which could be on the market in as little as five years, would allow doctors to work out which patients have the most lethal tumours soon after diagnosis.\n\nCaught early, the cancer could be more effectively treated, increasing survival chances.
The great diet pill lie - Daily Mail 20th August 2008
Fed up with being fat? Desperate to lose your love handles before that late summer holiday? Forget doing the sensible thing of eating less and moving more, all you need to do is pop down to your nearest slimming clinic, hand over around £60 for a supply of appetite-suppressing pills and the weight will fall off in days... Or so the glossy magazines would have you believe.
The family of a student who died after waiting 42 minutes for an ambulance blamed the 'disgraceful' delay for her death.
Rebecca Wedd, 23, was hit by a silver BMW as she walked with a group of college friends to her summer ball.Commercial testing for food intolerances is 'feeding on fear' and could endanger people's health, a major inquiry says.\n\nIt found 'highly inconsistent' results from tests costing up to £275 that experts condemned as having no diagnostic value.
Food allergy diagnosis firms 'may be risking clients' health' - The Telegraph 20th August 2008
Companies that offer to diagnose food allergies may be putting people’s health at risk by giving unreliable results, claims Which?, the consumer group.
NHS diabetes care 'still has mountain to climb', experts warn - The Telegraph 20th August 2008
The NHS still 'has a mountain to climb' in the treatment and prevention of diabetes despite Goverment boasts of good progress, experts have said.
Alexander Technique effective for back pain - The Times 20th August 2008
An alternative therapy used to improve posture and to help women to cope with labour pain can be more effective at treating backache than conventional treatments, a study suggests.
Combining exercise with practising the Alexander Technique could significantly reduce back pain and improve mobility, researchers found.Stroke of luck for accident victim reborn as artist - The Times 20th August 2008
A former engineer left disabled and living on benefits has turned his life around after a stroke rewired his brain and turned him into an artist.
Ken Walters, 51, suffered multiple spine fractures and severe internal injuries when he was crushed against a wall by a fork-lift truck when a driver lost control in 1986. The accident left him wheelchair-bound and jobless, and triggered a 19-year depression as he scraped a living on disability benefits. Two serious heart attacks deepened his gloom.Stop smoking adviser Harry Singer pocketed £90,000 with bogus quitters - The Times 21st August 2008
Harry Singer had single-handedly helped 2,017 people to stop smoking in six months, receiving £45 from the health service for each successful case.\n\nHis efforts with patches, gum and willpower allowed the NHS trust to shatter its local target and earned him a nomination for a national Stop Smoking Supporter award.
Thousands of NHS operations cancelled - The Times 21st August 2008
Thousands of NHS operations were cancelled last year, many because of shortages of staff, beds or equipment, figures suggest.
One in three hospital trusts cancelled surgery for the same patient at least three times, and up to 7,014 patients had operations cancelled or rescheduled more than once, data obtained by the Conservatives shows.Expensive allergy tests could damage your health - The Times 21st August 2008
Some popular tests for food allergies are a waste of time and money and could even end up damaging the health of those who undergo them, according to Which?.
Four researchers took “alternative” tests ranging in price from £48 to £275. The tests routinely failed to detect a severe peanut allergy in one researcher and an intolerance to lactose in another but suggested a total of 183 intolerances. Medical tests confirmed the correct diagnoses.More than 7,000 NHS operations cancelled more than once last year - The Independent 21st August 2008
More than 7,000 patients had an NHS operation cancelled more than once in the past year, figures from the Conservatives reveal today.
One patient had an operation cancelled 21 times and around a third (34 per cent) of trusts cancelled an operation for the same patient three times or more.The battle against hospital superbugs has encountered an unexpected enemy - street drinkers and homeless people are stealing the 70%-proof alcohol hand sanitiser from hospital wards in London to make potentially lethal cocktails.
Health: Alexander technique 'does ease back pain' - The Guardian 20th August 2008
Chronic back pain, which causes probably more disability and days off work than any other health condition, can be eased through teaching better posture via the Alexander technique, doctors say.
Back pain is notoriously difficult to treat and many people suffer from it for years. It is the biggest cause of sickness absence in the UK and some people are unable to work at all. Lower back pain affects seven in 10 people at some time in their lives.Baldy Blogger journalist Adrian Sudbury loses battle with leukaemia - The Guardian 20th August 2008
Adrian Sudbury, the 27-year-old journalist turned blogger who chronicled his battle against leukaemia, lost his battle against the disease early today.
The Nottingham journalist's Baldy Blogger website has already been flooded with tributes.Sue Blackmore: We're emotionally squeamish about death - The Guardian 20th August 2008
Revulsion at news of a dead body left on a hospital ward says more about our emotional squeamishness than standards of care
Three-quarters of young people now survive cancer - The Guardian 20th August 2008
The first national report on survival rates shows an 11% increase since 1979, but tailored treatment could drive rates higher
Boots opens UK's first drive-through pharmacy - The Guardian 20th August 2008
Store in Essex allows customers to order a prescription from one window and collect it from another within minutes
Private lives: I can't cope with my child's diagnosis - The Guardian 21st August 2008
I am haunted by the shocking discovery that our daughter, three, has a condition that may cause her to die in her teenage years. How can I come to terms with this and learn to enjoy the time we have?
Should crack be available to everyone? If not, there'll always be a thriving black market, says Ian Oliver
According to Julian Critchley, the former civil servant responsible for coordinating the government's anti-drug policy, the legalisation of drugs would be less harmful than the current strategy - and an "overwhelming majority" of professionals share his view (Ex-drugs policy director calls for legalisation, August 13).No-smoking adviser jailed for 18 months for fraud - The Guardian 21st August 2008
A judge yesterday criticised the government's "target-driven culture" as he jailed a no-smoking adviser for 18 months for pocketing £90,000 from the NHS for claims based on bogus clients.
Judge John Hillen said the health scheme, designed to convince addicts to stop smoking, relied on members of the public with little training and was distinctly amateurish and cavalier.Is use of celebrity endorsements a good move by the government - the Guardian 20th August 2008
Is using celebrities to front government campaigns the best way to help cut crime and boost public health? The government is certainly keen to give it a try.
England footballers David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and David James are backing a campaign urging people not to carry knives. Earlier this summer, Blur bassist Alex James was on hand to lend his support when the government launched a crackdown on teen cocaine use.
UK Health News 08/21/2008
Thursday 21 August 2008
Posted by Kieran at 11:30
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