Detox remedies are a waste of money, say scientists – The Guardian 5th January 2009
After the excess of New Year’s Eve and the Christmas season, the desire to detox is natural. But the burgeoning industry which caters for this demand makes claims which are frequently misleading or questionable, a group of scientists says today.
The charity Sense About Science has compiled a dossier of information on claims made about 11 products including drinks, patches, diet supplements and even a “detox brush”.
- Products offering an easy detox ‘are a waste of time’ – The Independent 5th January 2009
- Detox product claims ‘misleading’ – The Sunday Telegraph 4th January 2009
- Detox diets to kick-start the New Year are a ‘total waste of money’ say experts – Daily Mail 5th January 2009
- Scientists dismiss ‘detox myth’ – BBC Health News 5th January 2009
A-bomb diary bolsters compensation claims – The Observer 4th January 2008
Navy medical officer’s journal talks of the ‘omnipresent danger’ of nuclear radioactivity
Survivors of Britain’s cold war atomic bomb tests have received a major boost in their battle for compensation following the discovery of a secret journal written by a senior Royal Navy officer. The observations of the leading medical officer on a British warship ordered into the radioactive fallout of a nuclear bomb test reveal his profound concerns that the crew’s health was in grave danger.
Flu and sickness bug overwhelms schools – The Observer 4th January 2008
Thousands of teachers and pupils are expected to call in sick this week as widespread outbreaks of flu and the norovirus “winter vomiting bug” threaten to disrupt schools across Britain. Teachers’ unions warned that schools face a “tough time” when the new term starts tomorrow with flu cases up by 73 per cent on a year ago and the norovirus still rampant.
- Winter bugs could disrupt lessons – The Sunday Telegraph 4th January 2009
- Winter flu and vomiting bug set to overwhelm firms and schools – Daily Mail 5th January 2009
Health fears grow as fake drugs flood into Britain – The Observer 4th January 2008
Counterfeiting gangs based in China are producing sophisticated copies of the world’s bestselling pharmaceuticals. In 2008 an estimated 8m of these potentially deadly pills found their way to NHS patients. The health of millions of people is at risk
Editorial: Herd instinct and the government’s Change4Life health campaign – The Guardian 3rd January 2009
f the road to hell is paved with good intentions then the road to achievement must be carpeted with casualties. Academics estimate that about 80% of those who make solemn resolutions on January 1 will give up by Valentine’s Day. Some reading that statistic will marvel it is so high; others will merely ask, “What took them so long?” Even high achievers fall short: this month, the American chatshow host Oprah Winfrey appears on the cover of her O magazine charting an intractable fight to lose weight. At the last count she had piled on nearly three stone: “I didn’t just fall off the wagon,” she writes. “I let the wagon fall on me.”
Paramedics arrested after allegedly ‘neglecting’ dying man – The Guardian 3rd January 2009
A dying man who was allegedly neglected by ambulance workers after they noted his squalid living conditions was unable to clean his house because he had a crippling form of arthritis, it emerged last night.
Two paramedics have been arrested on suspicion of neglecting their duty to Barry Baker, 59, a civil servant who lived alone in Patcham, Brighton, after they were allegedly heard to say they could not be bothered to resuscitate him.
Nice ruling on drug funding gives hope to cancer patients – The Guardian 3rd January 2009
Expensive drugs to prolong the life of terminally ill cancer patients in England are to be provided free on the NHS, after a change of policy yesterday by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (Nice).
Nice issued fresh guidance to the medical committees which assess the cost-effectiveness of treatments, instructing them to be more liberal in the appraisal of drugs for people with incurable diseases. The charity Macmillan Cancer Support said 10,000 patients a year could benefit.
- Drug access hope for cancer sufferers – The Independent 2nd January 2009
- NHS end-of-life drugs rule change – BBC Health News 2nd January 2009
Why home is the new gym – The Independent 5th January 2009
It’s no coincidence that Mr Motivator is returning to our TV screens. As fitness club subscriptions decline, we are getting leaner in the comfort of our own living rooms, says Genevieve Roberts
‘Tick-box culture’ threatens Britain’s medical research – The Independent 3rd January 2009
World-beating medical research and Britain’s place as an international centre of excellence are being jeopardised by a crippling “tick-box culture” of bureaucracy, according to leading experts in the field.
Clinical research has declined dramatically since 2004, as researchers face a growing burden of forms, checks and multiple applications before even the simplest of patient studies is approved. The Association of Clinical Professors of Medicine (ACPM) warned yesterday that doctors are being deterred from getting involved in potentially life-saving research.
Fears of rise in breast cancer as more women decline screenings – The Independent 3rd January 2009
A worrying drop in women attending breast screenings is putting lives at risk, doctors have warned.
After 20 years in which the NHS breast screening programme is estimated to have detected more than 100,000 cancers, the number of women accepting their first invitation for screening has fallen below 70 per cent for the first time. A spokeswoman for the NHS Cancer Screening Service said one reason was the “inconvenience” of screening.
NHS paid up to £188 an hour to agency staff – The Independent 3rd January 2009
NHS organisations have been accused of paying agency staff hugely inflated rates of pay after new figures showed one consultant anaesthetist had been paid £188 an hour, the equivalent of a £366,000 salary.
The pay rates, secured by the Conservative Party under the Freedom of Information Act, also revealed large bills for managerial staff. A senior manager at Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust (PCT) was paid £157 an hour, the equivalent of a £306,000 salary.
Food firms may face regulation – The Independent 3rd January 2009
The Government is threatening to regulate the food industry to stop firms promoting unhealthy eating habits among the nation’s seven million schoolchildren, the Health minister, Ben Bradshaw, warned yesterday.
He described as “completely unacceptable” a claim promoted in a pack sent to schools by the European Snack Association – which is sponsored by Pringles, KP and Walkers – that a bag of crisps was healthier than an apple. However, speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, he said that at present it was up to schools whether or not they used the pack.
Jackpots and stakes doubled as gaming industry given boost by ministers – The Times 5th January 2009
Gamblers will be able to bet more and win bigger prizes on slot machines in pubs, clubs and amusement arcades after successful lobbying of the Government by the gaming industry.
Prizes will double from £35 to £70 and the maximum stake will rise from 50p to £1, the second rise in two years, under the plan authorised by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary.
Foreigner may deny my baby a life-saver – The Sunday Times 4th January 2009
The British parents of a dying child are left pleading for a Transplants donor as organs go overseas
- Outrage over organs ‘sold to foreigners’ – The Sunday Times 4 January 2009
- Foreign patients get NHS organs – The Sunday Telegraph 4th January 2009
- Organs of 50 NHS donors sold to foreigners who pay £75,000 each- Daily Mail 5th January 2009
Ministers struggle to combat shortages – The Sunday Times 4th January 2009
GORDON BROWN, Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer for England, and the British Medical Association have led the campaign to introduce a system of presumed consent for organ donation.
Under the arrangement, also known as an “opt-out” system, our organs would automatically be donated for transplant after our death unless we had specifically expressed an objection during our lifetime.
Chickenpox jab may be added to MMR- The Sunday Times 4 January 2009
ALL children and pregnant women could be routinely vaccinated against chickenpox under a shake-up of immunisation policy.
The government’s joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) is considering adding the new chickenpox vaccine to the MMR triple injection already administered to children.
Elite cosmetic surgery clinic hit by the credit crunch – The Times 3rd January 2009
A renowned cosmetic surgery clinic faces closure because people cannot afford vanity treatments during the credit crunch.
Operations have been cancelled at the Cambridge Private Hospital and almost 30 staff, ranging from consultants to cleaners, have not been paid since before Christmas.
Smokers pay twice as much for leaving cigarette butts – The Times 3rd January 2009
Smokers have paid £98,625 in fines in eight months for dropping cigarette butts on the city’s streets, almost twice as much as last year.
Campaigners such as Forest (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco) said the figure showed that councils such as Liverpool were at the forefront of “antismoking extremism” and were using the antismoking agenda to make money out of smokers.
Musician has had hiccups for 22 months – The Telegraph 5th January 2009
Musician Christopher Sands, who has had hiccups for 22 months, has said he is beginning to lose hope of ever being cured.
Size eight women have most sex – The Telegraph 5th January 2009
Researchers found that almost 60 per cent of ladies who are a size eight have had sex in the past week, compared to 50 per cent of size 12 women.
The figures emerged in a study of the bedroom habits of 3,000 Britons, which also revealed that more than one in 10 people classed as obese haven’t had sex for a year because they are so worried about being seen naked.
Baby girl given only 10 per cent chance of survival goes home for first time – The Telegraph 5th January 2008
A baby girl given a 10 per cent chance of survival after she and her twin were born at just 23 weeks has gone home for the first time.
New treatment for blood poisoning could prove instant hangover cure – The Telegraph 5th January 2008
A bloodstream ‘cleaner’ which could save thousands of lives a year by quickly disabling poisons has been invented by British scientists, and and may even provide an instant hangover cure.
Morning-after pills available to pupils in almost 1,000 schools – The Sunday Telegraph 4th January 2009
Emergency contraception is being handed out to pupils in almost 1,000 schools without the knowledge of parents, according to figures.
Downgrade ecstasy, say Government advisers – The Sunday Telegraph 4th January 2009
A recommendation to downgrade Ecstasy is expected to be put to the Home Secretary by her own drug advisers later this month
Golfers’ hearing at risk from ’sonic boom’ created by new clubs, doctors claim – The Sunday Telegraph 4th January 2009
Golfers face going deaf from the “sonic boom” created when their clubs strike the ball, doctors have warned.
Fiona Phillips: This time, it’s family first – The Sunday Telegraph 4th January 2009
Fiona Phillips has quit GMTV’s sofa – and may have to give up her own – as her father faces Alzheimer’s. It was the only possible choice, she tells Olga Craig.
Teenager died of brain haemorrhage… after doctors denied her a vital scan – Daily Mail 5th January 2009
When Jenna Lester’s parents told doctors she had been suffering severe headaches, bouts of fainting and vomiting, they might have expected their fears of a serious illness to be shared.
But medical staff thought the 16-year-old simply had a stomach infection and did not offer a brain scan.
A week later she died of a brain haemorrhage.
Miracle of woman who fell pregnant – despite having TWO reproductive systems- Daily Mail 5th January 2009
When Lindsay Hasaj found out she was pregnant, she and her husband Tony were thrilled.\n\nBut five weeks later, the 27-yearold received a bigger surprise – doctors told her she had a dual reproductive system, with the baby growing in one of her two wombs.
Asda offers customers blood tests to beat hospital queues- Daily Mail 5th January 2009
Patients are being offered blood tests at a supermarket in a bid to cut hospital waiting times.
The in-store clinic, funded by the Health Service, will carry out checks for a wide range of illnesses.
About 30 patients attend each session of the clinic at an Asda outlet in West Bromwich.
Why hard work leads to a healthier, happier you- Daily Mail 5th January 2009
All work and no play may make Jack a dull boy … but it seems his diligence will pay off in the long run.
Researchers have found that hard work and self-discipline are linked to a long life.
Those who are industrious and ambitious are likely to live up to four more years than the impulsive and free-spirited among us.
Feeling stressed? You ought to have a tantrum, scientists say – Daily Mail 5th January 2009
The end of the holidays, cold weather and economic gloom will make today one of the most stressful days of the year for returning to work.
But experts have come up with an unlikely remedy – throwing a tantrum.
‘Releasing tension through shouting and screaming is a really beneficial way to expel the negative energies caused by stress,’ said body language expert Judi James, the Big Brother psychologist.
Grim state of vulnerable young: One in ten youths think their life is ‘not worth living’ – Daily Mail 5th January 2009
They are at an age when life should be exciting and full of hope. But one in ten young people think their lives are ‘not worth living’, according to a report.
The survey of 16 to 25-year-olds paints a grim picture of a lost generation of youngsters crippled by a lack of career opportunities, low self-esteem and family breakdown.
Pub chain’s 99p pint under fire: Claims ‘irresponsibly’ cheap beer will lead to binge drinking – Daily Mail 4th January 2009
A decision by Britain’s biggest pub chain to slash the price of a pint of beer to 99p has led to fears that it will encourage binge drinking.
JD Wetherspoon last week announced a string of ‘indefinite’ price cuts – some to levels not seen for 20 years – at its 713 pubs, which led to rival chains promising to review their own prices.
Surgeons who leave equipment inside patients cost NHS £9m – Daily Mail 4th January 2009
Patients who leave operating theatres with surgical equipment accidentally left inside them are being awarded millions of pounds in compensation.
About two people a week find surgeons have left behind foreign objects such as surgical swabs, clips and screws, according to Government figures released after a Freedom of Information request.
THE FOOD DOCTOR: How to be a super-eater – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
In his new book, The Food Doctor, Ian Marber explores not just individual superfoods but super-eating. He believes we can maximise the value of nutrients in foods by understanding how they work together. Here he explains how, by improving diet, we can increase our energy levels – something we may all feel need a boost at the beginning of a new year.
Could LED light the way in the treating of Alzheimer’s? – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
The light in LED clock displays and other electronic gadgets could heal broken skin, help hair regrow and may even offer hope to sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease.
Infrared – light frequencies at the far end of the red spectrum – is used widely in medicine, particularly in lasers to heal scars and reduce wrinkles. But whereas lasers emit hot, high-energy light, low-level LED light is cooler and causes no pain.
‘It is thought to stimulate the growth of cells of all types of tissue,’ says Dr Abdel Ennaceur of the University of Sunderland, who is assessing whether infrared light could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
I was the first man to be treated by my surgeon for breast cancer – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
Breast cancer is all too common among women – one in nine will suffer from it at some point in their lives. And, although rare, men suffer from the disease, too. Here, JAMES THOMPSON, a 50-year-old HR manager from Cheshire, who is married with three children, talks candidly about what it was like to discover a lump in his breast – and how he is learning to love the colour pink.
When I see boys at my daughter’s school, all gangly limbs and scruffy hair, I wonder what my own son would have looked like. He would be nine now. He would have blond hair and blue eyes – his father and I shared that colouring.
He might have my prominent chin, definitely a grin all his own. But my son would also be unable to speak, walk or possibly even think for himself.
Bid to save the future of Braille – BBC Health News 4th January 2009
A £2m appeal has been launched to re-house the UK’s leading Braille printing press and protect its long-term future.
The Royal Blind’s Scottish Braille Press was built in the 1960s and needs to be rebuilt and fitted with state-of-the-art printing equipment.
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