Kira Cochrane: Kids in crisis? Women must be to blame . . . – The Guardian 3rd January 2009
You can say many things about the new report, A Good Childhood, commissioned by the Children’s Society, but you could never accuse it of limited scope. Prepared over three years by 11 leading experts, it includes the views of more than 30,000 children, adults and professionals, and touches on an eye-popping range of issues. In exploring how we can create the best society for our kids, it considers everything, from the notion that parents are too scared to let children play outside, to the idea that the advertising of high-fat foods is making kids too large. And then there are the prospective remedies. It suggests making personal, social and health education statutory; introducing non-religious civil birth ceremonies; and building a high quality youth centre for every 5,000 young people. The report is fairly fizzing with ideas.
Additional Stories
- Richard Layard: Schools should help the young find a sense of purpose – The Guardian 3rd January 2009
- Good Childhood Inquiry: Watching too much television damages mental health – The Telegraph 2nd Febrary 2009
- Too much television can make children ‘mentally ill’ – The Telegraph 2nd February 2009
Robert Rees on suffering from osteoporosis – The Guardian 3rd January 2009
Robert Rees was out dancing on holiday when, without warning, his spine disintegrated. He was 43 – but doctors told him he had the bones of an old man
Hospital services stretched after falls and road accidents in snow – The Guardian 2nd January 2009
The NHS has cancelled planned operations to devote maximum resources to keeping emergency services running after heavy snowfall.
Hospitals and ambulance services across the south of England were stretched as people reported falls and an increase in the number of road accidents.
Lives ‘put at risk by lack of new X-ray facilities’ – The Independent 3rd February 2009
Patients are dying unnecessarily because hospitals fail to provide modern X-ray facilities that enable the safest treatments to be delivered, Britain’s most senior radiology specialist has warned.
Nine out of 10 hospitals lack round-the-clock access to staff and equipment capable of providing interventional radiology, which has been shown to save lives, even though the facilities are cheaper and less risky than conventional surgery, Professor Andy Adam, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, said.
Affair doctor denies conflict of interest – The Independent 2nd February 2009
A tearful husband told today how his family doctor began an affair with his wife.
The father-of-two later confronted his GP, Dr Henry Kinch, at his surgery after finding about the infidelity, the General Medical Council (GMC) heard.
He found out after the married GP and his wife returned from a weekend in Paris, allegedly to attend a conference.
Additional Stories
- Family doctor ‘wrecked marriage’ through affair with receptionist – The Telegraph 2nd February 2009
- GP told depressed patient: I’m in love with your wife – Daily Mail 3rd February 2009
Every hospital in England to get senior dementia specialist – The Times 3rd February 2009
A senior doctor is to be put in charge of overseeing dementia care in every hospital in England as part of a government drive to improve diagnosis and treatment of the condition.
Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, and Phil Hope, the Care Services Minister, unveiled yesterday the long-awaited National Dementia Strategy to address clinical and care shortfalls.
Additional Story
- Every hospital and care home to have a dementia ‘tsar’ – The Telegraph 3rd Febrary 2009
- ‘Memory clinics’ plan on dementia – BBC Health News 3rd February 2009
- Dementia: Facts and figures – BBC Health News 3rd February 2009
Blood test ‘could predict post-natal depression’ – The Telegraph 3rd Febrary 2009
A simple blood test could soon be used to predict if a woman will suffer from post-natal depression, according to scientists.
Additional Story
New ‘once a day pill for impotence’ – The Telegraph 3rd Febrary 2009
A new once-a-day pill, called cialis, to help men suffering from impotence has been launched in Britain – which its makers claim remove the forward planning needed for Viagra.
Mother and her twin girls all need heart transplant – The Telegraph 2nd February 2009
A mother and her twin daughters all suffer from a rare condition, which has left all three needing heart transplants.
Woman blind in one eye since teens can see again after more than 70 years – The Telegraph 2nd February 2009
A woman who has been blind in one eye since she was a teenager has had her sight restored after more than 70 years by an operation to remove cataracts.
Was student’s nightclub death triggered by Red Bull binge? – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
The death of a student in a nightclub may have been triggered by drinking too much Red Bull, an inquest heard yesterday.
Chloe Leach, 21, had drunk about four cans of the energy drink and ‘a couple’ of vodka-based alcopops, all containing caffeine, when she collapsed on the dance-floor.
Computers and TV harmed mental health of whole generation – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
Computers and television have pushed a generation of children towards violent behaviour, early sex and mental illness, a large-scale study said yesterday.
It cited celebrity culture, advertising and peer pressure among the reasons why girls often have sex as soon as they reach the age of consent.
Controversial human-animal hybrid embryos ‘will not deliver medical benefit’ – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
Controversial attempts to create human-animal hybrid embryos for medicine may be doomed to failure, scientists say.
Tests suggest that combining human DNA with an egg cell taken from a female rabbit or cow does not work.
Nurse who was suspended for offering to pray for a patient is lifted by a wave of support – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
A wave of support for the nurse suspended for offering to pray for a patient gathered pace yesterday as medical and religious bodies rallied behind her cause.
As health chaplains called for new NHS guidelines over spiritual care, the Christian Medical Fellowship said Caroline Petrie’s removal amounted to ‘religious discrimination’.
Why is my shoulder hurting so much? – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
About six weeks ago, I woke up with pain in my right shoulder. My doctor diagnosed tendonitis and prescribed Diclofenac (an anti-inflammatory) which I’ve taken for two weeks. But the pain is no better and I can’t sleep. I am 69 and until now have been fit. What do you advise? I also take Ramipril tablets for high blood pressure, and statins.
JANE CLARKE: Ban meat from hospital meals? That’s just tripe! – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
What better health present can you give yourself than looking after what you eat? Britain’s leading nutritionist JANE CLARKE on how to eat your way to health.
Camera that talks to patients could help lighten dementia burden – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
A computerised device which interacts with and talks to patients could help dementia sufferers become less dependent on their carers.
The device, known as COACH, is being developed by scientists in Canada and Scotland.
Caesarians much more common in women with vitamin D deficiency – Daily Mail 3rd January 2009
Pregnant women who are deficient in vitamin D are four times more likely to have a Caesarean.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, said the reasons why a deficiency could cause problems in childbirth is unknown. One theory is that low levels of vitamin D have been associated with muscle weakness, leading to an inability to give birth naturally.
My little girl lost both legs to meningitis because our GP refused to make a home visit – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
Jodie Cross looked on in despair as her daughter Lydia was violently sick again. She knew the two-year-old was seriously ill, but she was facing an uphill battle to prove it.
Lydia had appeared unwell three days earlier, on a Friday evening. When her father Tony, a policeman, took her to see an out-of-hours doctor, he diagnosed a virus and said there was nothing to worry about.
So which diet pills CAN trim your tum? Our expert put top brands to the test – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
A slimming pill that boosts weight loss by up to 50 per cent
- that’s the claim being made for Alli, a drug that will soon be available without prescription.
The downside is that only people with a Body Mass Index of 28 or above (a normal BMI is between 20 and 25) will be allowed to buy the £1-a-day pill.
Ghostly faces and visions of ‘little people’: The eye disorder that leaves thousands of Britons fearing they’ve lost their senses – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
Following his wife’s death six years ago, David Stannard has become accustomed to spending quiet evenings alone at his home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
So it came as a surprise to the 73-year-old when he looked up from his television one evening to discover he was sharing his living room with two RAF pilots and a schoolboy.
‘The pilots were standing next to the TV, watching it as if they were in the wings of a theatre,’ he says.
‘Boiling my blood cured my painful varicose veins’ – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
Millions of Britons suffer from varicose veins. Conventional laser treatment can be painful and cause major bruising, but Mark Lewis, 31, a writer from London, was one of the first to have a new improved procedure. He tells ISLA WHITCROFT his story and his surgeon explains what was involved.
Magnets stop the nightmare of tinnitus, researchers say – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
Brain stimulation is being used to ease symptoms of tinnitus.
A study has found that all patients given the treatment experienced some improvement; a year afterwards, some patients were still tinnitus-free in one or both ears.
Is your manuka honey really worth the money? – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
Over the past few years, manuka honey from New Zealand has earned a reputation as a bit of a wonder treatment.
Research has shown that the honey – produced by bees who feed off the manuka bush – has powerful antibiotic properties and can help combat MRSA, fight infections, reduce wound inflammation and help with skin conditions such as acne and eczema.
Patients offered chemotherapy close to home from Britain’s first mobile cancer unit – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
Patients are to be offered chemotherapy close to their homes after the launch of the country’s first mobile cancer unit.
New 45-foot long vans will take cancer treatment, support and advice to local communities, so people do not have to trail into hospital – and pay exorbitant car parking charges.
Woman in assisted suicide appeal – BBC Health News 3rd February 2009
A woman with multiple sclerosis who lost her High Court case to clarify the law on assisted suicide is set to appeal against the decision.
Debbie Purdy, 45, from Bradford, is considering going to a Swiss clinic to end her life, but fears her husband may be charged on his return to the UK.
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