Aggressive pancreatic tumours may be treatable with a new class of drugs, according to Cancer Research UK. Less than one in five people with this form of cancer are still alive a year after being diagnosed. A study, published in the journal Nature, showed that a gene was being switched off in the cancerous cells. The researchers’ said drugs were already being tested which had the potential to turn the gene back on, to stop the spread of the cancer.
Around 7,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year and it is the fifth most deadly cancer.
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THE NHS in Scotland paid their spin doctors £2.6million last year, new figures show.
NHS Lothian were the biggest spenders, paying the staff who fill their 13 public relations posts £508,000. Despite this, the board have suffered a series of PR blunders, including claims their waiting list figures were manipulated to hit targets.
NHS Grampian’s spin doctors earned an average of £58,000 each.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland’s biggest health board, spent just over £300,000 on their 7.5 PR positions. The basic salary of the most senior spin doctor for the board was between £64,104 and £87,366 – but this didn’t include pension contributions, social security and other employer costs.
NHS Lanarkshire spent £340,000 on seven staff and NHS Tayside £312,000 on eight.
Overall budgets varied greatly, with NHS Lanarkshire spending £646,000 on communications, marketing, advertising and PR – while NHS Lothian, who have 50 per cent more people within their boundaries, spent £666,000.
The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The average qualified nurse is paid about £33,000.
Margaret Watt, of the Scotland Patients Association, said: “This money would be far better spent on frontline nurses. “Some boards have clearly got their priorities wrong.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/health-news/2012/04/26/revealed-spin-doctors-cost-the-nhs-in-scotland-2-6m-86908-23837683/
A report from an independent health economist shows NHS boards plan to make £226.7m in planned cuts next year. The paper to Holyrood's health committee was prepared by Dr Andrew Walker, of the University of Glasgow. It examines what level of savings boards plan to make in 2012-13.
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Young people and women are identified as target groups to aim tobacco packaging at according to a new Cancer Research UK report The report – The Packaging of Tobacco Products – is published alongside a hard-hitting short film that illustrates children’s attraction to the slickly designed cigarette packs. The report and film launch Cancer Research UK’s The Answer is Plain campaign, which is asking people to sign a petition to remove all branding from tobacco packaging. The film shows powerful scenes of six to 11 year olds as they innocently discuss what attracts them to the brightly coloured and attractively designed cigarette packs*. Children’s reactions to the packs include: “It makes you feel like you’re in a wonderland of happiness”, “The pictures actually look quite nice. Ice cubes and mint.”, “It reminds me of a Ferrari”, “Is that the Royal Sign?” and “Yeah. Pink, Pink, Pink”.
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/2012-04-26-new-report-and-video-reveal-impact-of-tobacco-packaging-on-children?rss=trueSo you think the fight for the NHS is over. “Wrong”
On the afternoon of 24 April in London, a meeting took place under the title Citizens and CCGs: Exploring our Future. I always thought this was Andrew Lansley's true genius – not the dismantling of the NHS itself, not the dark hold he has over David Cameron, but the phrase "clinical commissioning group", or more ingenious still, "consortia". If you can jam three words together that all take a bit of unpacking, that's often enough to make anybody normal walk away. Pretty soon, it's become an acronym, the debating equivalent of an electric fence.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/25/fight-for-nhs-is-not-over
NHS Highland has apologised to a patient for a delay in diagnosing renal cancer and for the way it handled his complaint about the situation. The patient, who has not been named, complained that a small tumour found on his kidney in December 2005 was not regularly and properly checked. He told the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) that the cancer could have been prevented. The watchdog has upheld the man's complaints and NHS Highland said it had apologised to the patient involved.
Continue reading the main storyWhat's the five-a-day for your mind?
The UK is experiencing a quiet, unreported epidemic. Stress and depression look set to double in a generation, mental ill-health already costs the country around £77bn a year, and psychological and emotional health issues lie at the root of some of our most intractable social problems, from alcoholism and obesity to long-term unemployment, violent crime and consumer debt. We all have mental health, and actually, we can all do simple things to maintain it. Recent studies suggest that around 40% of our mental wellbeing is down to our outlook and activities: the choices we make, the actions we take. Mindapples encourages people to think positively about the health of their minds. I wanted to create a campaign that did for mental health what the five-a-day campaign has done for physical health: to make taking care of our minds a normal, natural thing for all of us.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/healthcare-network/2012/apr/04/mental-health-five-a-day-campaign
IT’S a new tax on the disabled - that’s the view from an angry pensioner after he was charged £20 to renew his blue badge. Lawrence Murray (74) was told he would have to pay the cash as an administration fee when he tried to renew his disabled parking badge with East Dunbartonshire Council. The Kirkintilloch pensioner, who has had his badge for 15 years, said: “They are taxing disabled people and I would ask all disabled people in East Dunbartonshire to write to their MP, MSPs and councillors about it.”
http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/disabled-parking-charge-1-2238758Woman first to have new keyhole surgery heart operation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17535744
EAST Dunbartonshire Council is being asked to back a campaign for chemotherapy to be delivered at Stobhill Hospital. Campsie and Kirkintilloch North councillor Charles Kennedy has tabled a motion for the next full council meeting calling on the local authority to ask the Scottish Government to ensure the delivery of chemotherapy services at Stobhill, similar to the service provided at the Victoria Infirmary. Councillor Kennedy has also called for a meeting with Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon and has submitted a Freedom of Information request to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde asking how many patients from the G66/G65 area and the wider community attend the Beatson for chemotherapy.
http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/call-to-back-chemo-campaign-1-1991798Clinics 'bullying' implant patients over extra surgery
The British Association for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) says some private clinics are trying to bully patients with PIP breast implants into having 'unnecessary' surgery. The president of BAAPS, says he's seen cases of people being offered other operations and spending more money than they wanted. "Medical treatment is not a business just like any other business - it's not a commodity". "Medical treatment should only be provided if it's in the interest of the patient and if the patient asks for the treatment.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17520628
Plastic surgeons and medical students have been taking part in an art course aimed at giving them a better sense of form and perspective. The University of Lincoln course, called the Art of Reconstruction, now in its second year, involves drawing and clay sculpture classes. It was devised and is taught by Prof Michael Esson, who teaches drawing at University of New South Wales and at Lincoln. The work is broken down into different sections, comprising self-portraiture, life drawing, and clay modelling. The emphasis is on the surgical applications, with the focus on head, neck, and breast reconstruction. "My job is just to introduce aesthetic principles and aesthetic judgements which may improve their perceptual and observational skills," says Prof Esson. "The idea is that they can maybe apply these principles to their surgical practice."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17755982Belatedly, breast surgeons back withdrawal of jab
Plastic surgeons in the UK have decided to withdraw a treatment used in breast enhancements. Macrolane, an injectable filler used for body-contouring and "lunchtime boob jobs", is to be discontinued for such purposes from this week. A survey by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) found that 25% of its members noticed patient complications from the filler. Experts warn that it may interfere with breast cancer screening. They are not recommending that it be used in other contexts, such as body-contouring.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17794288
Get ready for the Glasgow Dream Walk, get your pyjamas on and put your rollers in and you're all set to join the Dream Team. The Glasgow Dream Walk begins from the Winter Gardens on Friday 22nd June at 10pm.
It is an 8km walk open to any ladies over the age of 16.
http://www.roycastle.org/fundraising-and-events/dream-walk-entry-page/registration-GlasgowDreamWalk10 things not to say to someone when they're ill.
When I was diagnosed with cancer, the support of my friends was invaluable – but I also learned that there are 10 things you should never, ever say to someone when they're sick. What no one ever tells you about serious illness is that it places you at the centre of a maelstrom of concerned attention from family and friends. Of course it does. That's one of the nice things. It's actually the only nice thing. But it's also a rather tricky challenge, at a time when you may feel – just slightly – that you have enough on your plate. Suddenly, on top of everything else, you are required to manage the emotional requirements of all those who are dear to you, and also, weirdly, one or two people who you don't see from one year to the next, but who suddenly decide that they really have to be at your bedside, doling out homilies, 24 hours a day.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/18/10-things-not-say-when-ill
Medicare patients who have advanced non-small cell lung cancer appear to get no survival benefit from adding the drug Avastin to standard chemotherapy, researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report.
http://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/article/40_430.htm?c=NL20120418David Cameron faces pressure as NHS waiting times grow
PM's election pledge in jeopardy as report reveals patients waiting 6% longer and fewer receiving planned operations. Patients are enduring increasingly long delays before having some of the most common forms of surgery, according to official data that casts serious doubt on David Cameron's pledge to keep NHS waiting times low. New research by the Patients Association also shows that fewer patients are undergoing planned operations such as joint replacements, cataract removal, and hernia repairs, as the NHS tries to make £20bn of efficiency savings at a time when demand for healthcare is growing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/19/david-cameron-pressure-nhs-waiting-times
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