Many smokers do not drop the habit after being diagnosed with colorectal or lung cancer. The study involved 3,063 patients with colorectal cancer and 2,456 with lung cancer. The patients were seen at the time of diagnosis, and also five months later. The researchers set out to determine what was driving them to continue smoking. Those diagnosed with lung cancer said they had smoked at the time of their diagnoses, and 14.2 percent were still smoking 5 months later. On the other hand, 13.7 percent of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer had been smoking at the time of their diagnoses, but only 9 percent were still smoking 5 months later.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240702.php'Plain packs will make smoking history' Simon Chapman, the anti-tobacco activist whose success in Australia has rattled the industry, makes a rallying visit to the UK. Stripping cigarette packs of their colourful exteriors and forcing them to be sold in plain packaging could prove fatal for the global tobacco industry. Who says so? No less an authority than Tobacco Journal International, the self-styled "leading international trade publication for executives in the world of tobacco". One of its front covers said simply. "Plain packaging can kill your business.” Back in 2008, plain packs were just an idea; now they are about to become a reality in Australia at the end of this year, with other countries set to follow suit, possibly including the UK.
Read the full story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jan/24/simon-chapman-plain-cigarette-packaging-activist
The commercial arm of Cancer Research UK has today launched Acublate Limited, a spin-out company which will develop a next-generation High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) surgery device to treat a range of solid tumour types. HIFU is a highly precise non-invasive type of surgery which uses ultrasound energy to heat and destroy tumours while leaving surrounding healthy tissue intact. The treatment works with immediate benefit and has the potential to reduce side effects compared with current alternative treatments.
“We hope to have the first set of data from clinical trials using the equipment to treat bowel cancer that has spread to the liver, within two years.”
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/2012-01-25-acublate-crt-spinout?rss=true
Denmark's health care system is state run, meaning health care services are funded by taxes with no out-of-pocket costs to patients. Many similar health care systems in western counties are plagued by long waiting times for cancer surgery and radiation therapy, which can lead to significant tumour progression. A national fast track system reduced the waiting time between a patient's initial meeting with a health care provider and their first treatment by four weeks
In 2008, a new fast track program was implemented, where cancer patients and potential cancer patients were given the highest priority in the Danish health care system. Also, telephone hotlines, reserved slots in ENT and radiology, faster pathology reporting, and twice weekly multidisciplinary tumour boards and clinics were implemented and paper referrals eliminated to curb the increasing wait times.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240845.phpCarers 'missing out on support', says charity People looking after someone with cancer are missing out on "vital support and benefits", a charity has warned. An Ipsos MORI survey of 386 carers for Macmillan Cancer Support suggests 49% have no support of any kind.
Rebecca Guyott, who is 19, became a carer for her mother when she was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2010. I didn't even know we could have been entitled to a Carer's Assessment or benefits, it was never mentioned."
Continue reading the main story
Doctors are being told they can no longer sign contracts that contain gagging orders, in new guidance issued by the medical regulator. The General Medical Council advice states medics should not enter contracts or deals that seek to stop them raising concerns about poor care. The guidance also makes clear that doctors have a duty to act if they believe care is being compromised. It is the latest in a series of attempts to encourage whistle-blowing. Evidence has been emerging in recent years of trusts restricting the ability of staff to raise the alarm about bad practices.
Nurse Margaret Haywood was struck off in 2009 after filming examples of neglect at Brighton's Royal Sussex Hospital for a BBC Panorama programme. She has since been reinstated.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16729289 NHS must back Genetic testing
Putting genetic testing at the heart of the NHS could herald a "revolution" in diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease, according to the government's genetics adviser. Prof Sir John Bell has been presenting a report on how the NHS should prepare for advances in the field. He said missing out would come at a high cost to patients. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced plans to speed up the introduction of genetic cancer tests. Innovation in any setting has to deliver a much better product or lower cost, or both, and genetics may be one of the things that does both”
LOCAL NEWS
TWO Catholic midwives have taken a health board to court – for failing to recognise their objection to assisting staff in abortions. During a grievance procedure, Mary Doogan and Concepta Wood asked their bosses for confirmation that they would be excused – on religious grounds – from delegating, supervising, or supporting staff in terminations. But NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board turned down their application and the pair have taken their case to the Court of Session in Edinburgh. They claim the health board’s refusal to recognise their conscientious objection was unreasonable and violated their human rights. Mary, 57, and Concepta, 51, who are both midwifery sisters at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, worked in the labour ward. Mary, of Garrowhill, Glasgow, has been off sick since 2010 as a result of the dispute. Concepta, of Clarkston, also Glasgow, has been transferred to maternity assessment work. At court, David Johnston QC told Lady Smith that although the women were long-standing employees, assisting staff with abortions only became an issue for them in 2007 following procedural changes in labour wards. Management ruled that staff exercising a right to conscientious objection were allowed to withdraw from administering abortion-inducing drugs but were required to provide care for patients through abortions. The midwives then began their grievance procedure, which is being contested by the health board.
The hearing continues.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/health-news/2012/01/18/catholic-midwives-take-nhs-greater-glasgow-to-court-for-having-to-help-with-abortions-86908-23705551/
They may not appear natural allies at first glance but telehealth and nursing have similar aims. Telehealth – by definition – is the delivery of care while physically remote from the patient. Though only a few thousand patients benefit currently from telehealth services in the UK, this number is likely to rise quickly and substantially. A Department of Health announcement on Thursday suggested that telehealth could bring significant benefits, and advocated the use of health and social care technologies to enhance "three million lives" in the UK. As the largest element of the healthcare workforce, nurses are at the frontline of any changes to the way in which care is delivered. The profession therefore needs to be aware of the impact it can have, and ensure that it plays a part in shaping the inevitable scaling-up of this approach to healthcare delivery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/healthcare-network/2012/jan/20/nurses-needed-at-telehealth-forefrontDrug that turbo charges the immune system could fight off colds and flu
A drug that turbocharges the immune system to fight off infections from viruses such as the flu is being developed by scientists. Researchers have found a way of increasing the effectiveness of natural killer cells, a type of white blood cell that patrols the body in search of tumours and cells that have become infected by viruses. They have identified a drug that boosts the ability of these cells to recognise and kill diseased cells, which could provide new treatments to help patients fight off viruses that cause diseases such as the flu, the common cold, and cold sores. It could also be used to help patients who have weakened immune systems, such as those who have undergone bone marrow transplants or cancer chemotherapy. The researchers have already shown it is effective at protecting mice against influenza and herpes-like virus infections. They are now working with pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for treating cancers and viral infections in humans.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9029814/Drug-that-turbo-charges-the-immune-system-could-fight-off-colds-and-flu.html
What happens when life becomes a horrendous continuing existence rather than a purposeful privilege?
A British woman who travelled to Switzerland to die has condemned the "cowardice of politicians" which forced her to spend her last hours away from home. Geraldine McClelland, 61, a former BBC producer who was diagnosed with lung and liver cancer, said she was relieved she would not be forced to suffer any longer, and said her dying wish was for people to talk about her death. In a letter published just hours after her death at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich yesterday, Ms McClelland, from west London, said she was not sad, but "angry that because of the cowardice of our politicians I can't die in the country I was born in". "I would like to be able to choose to take medication to end my life if my suffering becomes unbearable for me, with my family and friends around me," she wrote. She urged readers of the letter not to feel sad for her, but to "turn it into a fight to change the law so that other people don't have to travel abroad to die".
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/righttodie-suicide-letter-angry-at-mps-cowardice-6273833.htmlIndependent MSP Margo MacDonald is to launch a fresh attempt to give terminally ill people in Scotland the right to choose when to die. Ms MacDonald's previous End of Life Assistance Bill fell in a free vote at Holyrood just over a year ago. The Lothian MSP, who has Parkinson's disease, claimed there was wide public support for the legislation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-16692686The court case of a severely disabled man seeking permission for a doctor to "lawfully" end his life should not go ahead, the Ministry of Justice says. At the High Court, the ministry's lawyer said only Parliament can decide such a request - not a court.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16692351The government must not visit indignity on the terminally ill. The coalition should not declare assisted dying a matter of 'individual conscience' while leaving it subject to criminal law. Various surveys indicate that roughly a half of all doctors have been asked to help someone die, and a third of these claim to have consented. Those who want and can afford to die of their own volition can go to Switzerland.
http://www.nursingtimes.net/assisted-dying-would-provide-dignity-in-death/5040112.articlehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/05/assisted-dying-indignity-terminally-illhttp://www.dignityindying.org.uk/
The number of emergency hospital admissions for people with lung conditions in Wales is at a 10 year high, NHS figures show. The British Lung Foundation Wales said patients with conditions like emphysema needed to be helped earlier. Its chairman warned that figures could rise for years as more people who smoked 20 years ago - when smoking was at a peak - become ill.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16631926WHAT IS CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD)?COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is a term used for a number of conditions; including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD leads to damaged airways in the lungs, causing them to become narrower and making it harder for air to get in and out of the lungs. The word 'chronic' means that the problem is long-term.
The most common cause of COPD is smoking. Once you give up smoking, you gradually reduce the chances of getting COPD - and you slow down its progress if you already have it.
http://www.lunguk.org/you-and-your-lungs/conditions-and-diseases/copd.htm?gclid=CN-Xl93m5a0CFYgmtAodq3L6VA#1
Tayside can boast one of the best centres for lung cancer treatment in the UK, a professor said this week. Elaine Rankin, consultant and professor of medical oncology, was speaking on Thursday as she retired from NHS Tayside after 13 years' service. She did a BSc at St Andrews University and worked in Manchester, Glasgow, and Amsterdam before coming to Dundee as head of the division of cancer medicine. Prof Rankin said: ''In my inaugural address, when I took up post, I bemoaned the poor standards of care for patients with lung cancer in Scotland. With the help of many colleagues in the NHS, we have been able to build up a centre which is second to none in the UK.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/Community/College-and-University/article/20430/retiring-professor-elaine-rankin-hails-progress-in-lung-cancer-care.htmlReview of staff checks at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
A health board has demanded an urgent inquiry after it emerged checks on staff working at a hospital may not have been properly carried out. It is understood the situation at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary came to light when NHS Lothian asked private firm Consort Healthcare to look at the background of a staff member. NHS Lothian said it was "disappointed" the necessary checks had not been performed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-16668127
From the cherry red tip of a lighted cigarette through the respiratory tract to vital lung cells, the havoc created by tobacco smoke seems almost criminal, activating genes and portions of the immune system to create inflammation that results in life-shortening emphysema. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre, described the track toxic smoke takes through the tissues, and how it accomplishes its destructive work. It is a complicated story that took more than four years to unravel.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120118143622.htmIs it too late to stop the NHS overhaul?
Health staff, it is fair to say, have given the government's NHS reforms a pretty big thumbs down. The Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Midwives have both joined the British Medical Association in moving from critical friend to outright opponent. The 151 primary care trusts, which are losing control of the NHS budget to GPs under the plans, have been merged into about 50 clusters, shedding thousands of jobs in the process. The 10 strategic health authorities, which effectively kept an eye on the system, have also joined forces too to create four super hubs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16632291
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