Man who raped schoolgirl after fleeing hospital sent to Broadmoor - The Guardian 9th September 2008
A mentally ill man who raped a schoolgirl after escaping from a low-security psychiatric hospital had previously been allowed to amass a collection of pornographic and horror DVDs, a court heard yesterday.
Darren Harkin, 21, who attacked the 14-year-old girl the morning after absconding, was also taken by staff to the cinema to see horror films and had been allowed unsupervised leave.Controversial surgery for treating obesity that involves reducing the patient's stomach to the size of a thumb should be more widely available on the NHS, according to researchers. They say a lack of resources and prejudice from some doctors is preventing many morbidly obese patients from receiving life-saving surgery.
Joanna Moorhead on - The Guardian 9th September 2008
For many people with serious illnesses, blogging offers a way to cope and share their stories.
Darian Leader on cognitive behavioural therapy - The Guardian 9th September 2008
The government is promoting cognitive behavioural therapy as a cost-effective, no-nonsense remedy for our psychological ills. It's the triumph of a market-driven view of the human psyche, says Darian Leader
A confidential report reveals Manchester University staff were using contaminated labs.
Radiation left over from 100-year-old experiments by Ernest Rutherford, the father of modern nuclear physics, may be responsible for the recent deaths of two Manchester University lecturers. Hundreds more former lecturers and students at Manchester University could be at risk from nuclear materials they were exposed to. At least as late as 2006, there was still contamination in the building in which Rutherford worked, known as the Rutherford Building. This included materials such as polonium, which killed Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian dissident.A dangerous psychiatric patient who escaped from hospital and raped a teenage girl had been taken to see violent horror films by staff, a court was told yesterday.
Darren Harkin, 20, who was originally detained for the murder of his six-month-old stepbrother, had also built up a large collection of horror movies and pornography on DVD while in the low-security Hayes hospital unit in Bristol.Children ‘are much less active than parents think’ - The Times 9th September 2008
Children in England take less exercise than their parents may think, according to a study.
Only 2 to 3 per cent of a group of six and seven-year-olds achieved recommended levels, it found. The study, published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, monitored 130 children over seven days. The amount of physical activity they did was estimated using an accelerometer device attached to their belts. The results were compared with information supplied by their parents for the Health Survey for England.Risk of emotional problems for premature babies - Times Online
Children born extremely prematurely are four times more likely to have emotional problems or behavioural disorders later in life, according to a study led by the department of psychology at the University of Warwick and Warwick Medical School.
Lib Dems back ‘top-up’ payments for cancer drugs by NHS patients - The Times 9th September 2008
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, will set out today why he believes patients should be allowed to pay privately for drugs to “top up” NHS care.
The Liberal Democrats will seek to outflank both Labour and the Tories after patients who bought life-extending cancer drugs privately were refused further treatment by the NHS.Dentist to open at supermarket checkout - The Times 8th September 2008
Supermarket shoppers will soon be able to get their teeth polished, or pay for that all important filling, when out buying their groceries.
Sainsbury's, whose advertising slogan is “Try something new today”, will unveil the nation's first in-store dental surgery in Sale, near Manchester, next week. The private surgery will offer check-ups from £16 on a first come, first served basis, along with other general and cosmetic dentistry.A mother drowned her four-year-old daughter in the bath because she was embarrassed by the girl's disability, a court heard.
Half of nursing home residents wrongly drugged, study shows - The Telegraph 9th September 2008
Half of all nursing home residents in Britain are being wrongly drugged, a new study suggests, twice as many as previously thought.
A psychiatric patient who was allowed to watch pornography films raped a 14-year-old girl after escaping from hospital.
An investigation is under way to discover why Darren Harkin, 21, was being kept at a low-security institution.
A mother drowned her daughter in the bath because she was embarrassed by the girl's disability and could not cope, a court has heard.
Joanne Hill, 32, had tried to persuade husband Simon to have their four-year-old daughter Naomi, who suffered from cerebral palsy, adopted. But when the devoted father refused, Hill hatched a plan to murder the child instead, it is alleged.An injection that cures obesity could be available within five years, leading scientists claimed today.
Researchers at University College London are developing drugs to control a patient's hormone levels and effectively stop them feeling hungry.
At 15 Zara Hovelsas started using sunbeds every day. Now 27, you would think she should know better. Especially as she has been diagnosed with skin cancer.
But Miss Hovelsas insists she can't help herself. Six months after having her cancerous moles removed, she is back on a sunbed once a week - despite doctors warning it could result in the cancer returning.High heel horrors! The hidden costs of the extra inches - Daily Mail 9th September 2008
More women are wearing higher heels, and for longer, and experts are increasingly concerned about the longterm damage they are doing to their feet.
Recent research suggests that up to a third of women suffer permanent problems as a result of their prolonged wearing of 'killer heels', ranging from hammer toes and bunions to irreversible damage to leg tendons.Premature lifeline: The baby saved by milk from another mother - Daily Mail 9th September 2008
After the Kate Garraway breast-milk storm, another mother tells of the gratitude she will always feel for the donor of her baby's breast milk
The 'slinky' drug dispenser that will 'banish eyedrops' - Daily Mail 9th September 2008
A tiny coil which is implanted in the eye could mean an end to the injections and drops used by thousands of patients with common eye complaints.
The spiral-shaped coil, so small it can be inserted through a hollow needle, can be loaded with drugs to treat conditions such as glaucoma and diabetic macular edema.The NHS is very good at stopping you dying - not so great at helping you live. OK, it may not have a 100 per cent record at stopping people dying, but it's up against the awkward statistic that 100 per cent of people will die, so I like to cut the NHS some slack. Sometimes.
Esther Rantzen: The deadly conflicting messages on heart disease - Daily Mail 8th September 2008
Despite the health warnings, we're all eating too much fat - which is linked to heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. Just why so many people are getting it wrong is the subject of a major debate tomorrow, chaired by John Humphrys. Here, Esther Rantzen blames the conflicting health messages.
Alzheimer's and marriage: 'Where did my lovely wife go?' - Daily Mail 8th September 2008
When Hilary, his beloved wife of 30 years, developed Alzheimer's, there was never any doubt in Jim Wild's mind that he would look after her. And so he became one of the estimated 240,000 people who are full-time carers for Alzheimer's sufferers.
When her 11-year-old son Sam was suddenly violently sick one morning, Kirstine Sykes-Drinkell assumed he'd picked up a stomach bug.
'I kept him off school and thought he'd bounce back the next day,' says the 36-year-old housewife from Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. 'But the same thing happened every day for the next month.Do YOU want your medical secrets on a plastic card? - Daily Mail 8th September 2008
Keen to be involved in the management of his health, diabetes sufferer Simon Benson is one of the first UK patients to use a Health eCard.
This looks like a credit card, but it is loaded with a patient's entire medical records from their GP, allowing them access to their records through a computer anywhere in the world.Women who count calories during pregnancy could be condemning their unborn children to a lifetime of obesity, scientists have warned.
It is thought that a lack of food in the womb alters the programming of the baby's fat cells, leading to weight problems in later life.Mental care escapes 'horrifying' - BBC Health News 9th September 2008
There were at least 116 escapes from medium and low secure psychiatric hospitals last year, a BBC investigation has found.
Some of those units held patients who committed serious and violent crimes.Vitamin linked to brain shrinking - BBC Health News 8th September 2008
A vitamin found in meat, fish and milk may help stave off memory loss in old age, a study has suggested.
Older people with lower than average vitamin B12 levels were more than six times more likely to experience brain shrinkage, researchers concluded.Child exercise estimates 'wrong' - BBC Health News 8th September 2008
Parents vastly overestimate the amount of time their children spend exercising, research suggests.
On average they claimed their offspring took more than two hours exercise a day - while the truth was less than 30 minutes for both boys and girls.Money worries 'may harm health' - BBC Health News 8th September 2008
The economic downturn could be bad news for our bodies, as well as our pockets, suggest specialists.
Britons are cutting back on expensive fruit and vegetables, and gym membership, claims a report by the Blood Pressure Association.The NHS spends far more on treating people with diseases like cancer and heart disease in some areas of the country than in others, a study has found.
The King's Fund, which has carried out the analysis, says that after adjustment for the age and the health of the population, there is little explanation for the striking variation on spending from one primary care trust to another, and it probably cannot always be justified.Table: Local variations in NHS spending priorities - The Guardian 8th September 2008
What PCTs spend per head, adjusted for need, age, costs and distance from allocation target, according to King's Fund data
A weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes has proved safe and effective for patients in a trial involving 259 volunteers.
The formulation is a version of a previously available treatment called exenatide, which mimics one of the body's hormones. The existing version must be self-injected by patients twice daily. The trial showed that the slow-acting form was more effective than the original at keeping glucose levels in the blood under control, and more convenient to use.Scenes from the battle to staunch flow of stab deaths - The Observer 7th September 2008
Yesterday another teenager was stabbed to death. As knife crime soars, hospitals across the UK are dealing with record numbers of victims. Through last week The Observer was given unprecedented access to the A&E unit at King's College Hospital, London, which admits more stab victims than any in England. This is the story of how the hospital staff cope
Healer to stars in court battle to save reputation - The Observer 7th September 2008
The man hailed as the 'eighth wonder of the world' for his natural approach to healthcare is facing a lawsuit from a patient whose legs were amputated after treatment in his clinic
Diabetics left at heart attack risk - The Observer 7th September 2008
A quarter of Britain's diabetics are not being given the basic medicines they need to ward off cardiovascular illnesses and heart attacks. This is the conclusion of researchers who have studied the treatments being prescribed for patients aged over 40.
Study finds huge differences in cancer health spending - The Independent 8th September 2008
Cancer patients in the metropolitan borough of Knowsley, near Liverpool, can count themselves fortunate in one respect. Unlucky though they are to have the disease, they live in the area with the highest spending on cancer treatment in the country.
Raise taxes to stub out smoking by 2025, say doctors - The Independent 8th September 2008
Britain's oldest and most powerful medical college today calls on the Government to set a target to eliminate smoking by 2025.
The Royal College of Physicians says radical measures are needed to curb smoking: swingeing increases in tobacco tax; tougher penalties for tobacco smugglers; and promoting alternative forms of nicotine. The college says the approach "has the potential to end tobacco smoking in the UK within the next 20 years".Schizophrenia patients denied talking therapies - The Independent on Sunday 7th September 2008
Mental health services are failing to comply with national guidelines, relying instead on potentially risky drugs
Thousands of people with mental health problems are being denied the best and most effective treatments, years after they were approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, according to experts.Diabetics not offered vital drugs - The Independent on Sunday 7th September 2008
One in four people with diabetes are not taking the right medicine, according to a study by pharmacists.
Scores of diabetics are not being prescribed life-saving drugs, placing them at greater risk of heart disease and stroke, the British Pharmaceutical Conference will be told this week.Trials start on flu vaccine that could end yearly jabs - The Independent 6th September 2008
Clinical trials of a new universal flu vaccine that could offer long-term protection against strains including human mutations of bird flu are starting at Oxford University.
If successful, the jab would overcome two problems – at the moment, doctors can only vaccinate against certain strains of flu and have to change the formulation every year in response to the developments of new variants.A global shortage of radioactive imaging agents vital to the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases threatens to delay treatment for hundreds of patients in Britain.
Lord Winston to farm pigs for transplants - The Sunday Times 7th September 2008
Lord Winston, the fertility expert and Labour peer, is to begin breeding genetically modified pigs in the next three months to produce hearts, livers and kidneys for transplanting to humans.
Winston has pioneered a simplified technique to create pigs with “humanised” organs that will not be rejected by the patients’ immune systems.Maternity units' missing £330m funding - The Times 6th September 2008
Funding promised by the Government to improve poor standards of care for mothers and newborn babies is failing to reach maternity units, The Times has learnt.
A survey of NHS trusts has showed that nine out of ten cannot identify their share of the £330 million pledged by ministers.Case study: Waiting in pain - The Times 6th September 2008
For women like Clare Payne, who experience complications during pregnancy, childbirth can be an agonising experience.
Mrs Payne, 23, gave birth to her first son Harry in 2006 with few problems, but his brother Finley’s birth last September was delayed repeatedly owing to a shortage of staff and beds.Chris Moyles radio show 'encourages binge drinking' - The Times 5th September 2008
The BBC's Chris Moyles has been highlighted in a government-funded report as encouraging binge drinking with some of his on-air dialogue.
Research into 1,200 hours of radio output found that many DJs use language that celebrates excessive drinking and one show was entitled “The Morning After” with the jingle “If you’re hungover from the night before, listen to Tim and Kate”.
UK Health News 09/09/2008
Tuesday 9 September 2008
Posted by Kieran at 11:31
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1 comments:
Really nice to know about the health news. I think that medical patient record is essentially a history of each patient and contains documentation regarding the patient’s former symptoms, diagnosis and treatments.
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