Despite lung disease killing 4 million people every year, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) revealed alarming data showing that most people are ignorant about lung disease, which kills more people than any other disease
worldwide. Market research agency, YouGov's study cross four continents demonstrated that regardless of the high prevalence of lung disease, people are far more concerned about cancer, heart disease and stroke.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247293.php NHS 'too quick to resuscitate acutely ill people'
Some of the most frail elderly patients are suffering "distressing" deaths because hospitals wrongly try to resuscitate them, a watchdog says. The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death reviewed the care given to 585 acutely-ill patients who ended up having a cardiac arrest. It said assessing if resuscitation was necessary should become standard.The review, which looked at patients with an average age of 77, also looked at the standards of care given to these patients.
It found that staff were not properly assessing their condition and were failing to spot the warning signs of an impending cardiac arrest. Details of whether or not to give CPR were recorded in the notes of only 122 patients in the study of hospitals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of these, there were 52 cases where doctors had performed resuscitation on patients who had explicitly said they did not want it. The experts said performing CPR in inappropriate cases could result in a distressing and undignified death. They gave the example of an elderly patient with severe dementia who had CPR performed on them for 10 minutes until a senior doctor stopped the team. The report said resuscitation should not have taken place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18278110
Volatile food prices and a growing population mean we have to rethink what we eat, say food futurologists. The growing population and environmental concerns are just a few issues that have organisations - including the United Nations and the government - worrying about how we will feed ourselves in the future.
In the West many of us have grown up with cheap, abundant meat," says food
futurologist Morgaine Gaye. In the UK, meat prices are anticipated to have a huge impact on our diets. Some in the food industry estimate they could double in the next five to seven years, making meat a luxury item. "
Foods we used to eat
· In ancient Greece breakfast was bread dipped in wine
· In ancient Rome they liked garum, a sauce made out of fish entrails and fermented for a long time in the sun
· In Tudor times spit-roast dolphin was on the menu
· Henry VIII's banquets would include peacock, heron, porpoise and seagull
"Rising prices mean we are now looking for new ways to fill the meat gap."
Insects, or mini-livestock as they could become known, will become a staple of our diet. It's a win-win situation. Insects provide as much nutritional value as ordinary meat and are a great source of protein. According to researchers in the Netherlands. They also cost less to raise than cattle, consume less water and do not have much of a carbon footprint. Plus, there are an estimated 1,400 species that are edible to man.
Gaye is not talking about bushtucker-style witchetty grubs arriving on a plate near you. Insect burgers and sausages are likely to resemble their meat counterparts. "Things like crickets and grasshoppers will be ground down and used as an ingredient in things like burgers."
The Dutch government is putting serious money into getting insects into mainstream diets. It recently invested one million euros (£783,000) into research and to prepare legislation governing insect farms.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18813075
Scientists in the US have developed a laser that can locate, map, and then precisely destroy cancer tumours non-invasively. Using a "femtosecond laser" that pulses at speeds of one-quadrillionth of a second, the new "seek and destroy" device focuses on a specific tissue region to find and precisely map a tumour.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248298.php Secrets of Lung Cancer Drug Resistance Revealed
People with lung cancer who are treated with the drug Tarceva face a daunting uncertainty: although their tumours may initially shrink, it's not a question of whether their cancer will return -- it's a question of when. And for far too many, it happens far too soon. Now, a team of researchers has discovered that a human protein called AXL drives resistance to Tarceva, which suggests that blocking the protein may prevent resistance to the cancer drug. The discovery, described this week in Nature Genetics, may lead to better treatments involving precision medicines that would combine Tarceva with new drugs designed to block AXL. "If we block AXL activation in the laboratory we can overcome resistance to Tarceva," said Trevor Bivona, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of haematology and oncology. "This paves the way for novel and more effective therapies." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120701202153.htm
http://www2.lifewithlungcancer.info/coverflow.faces?id=138How social networks enable patients to be more involved in their
healthcare
There is a quiet revolution happening in the way patients and medical professionals communicate, interact and relate to each other and it's a revolution only made possible by online social networks, new forms of social media and mobile technologies. This sharing of information creates a more informed and empowered patient and can lead to a radical reconfiguring of the doctor/patient relationship. The
health professional can be challenged. No longer are they the only source of
information – and this means relationships become more equal and collaborative.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/healthcare-network/2012/apr/17/patients-social-networks-new-technologies
NHS cuts mean there are 4,500 fewer nurses in the health service than two years ago, according to official figures. The figures show that there were 349,219 nurses, midwives and health visitors in April 2012 despite government pledges that front line services would not be hit. The figures were released as a study by Southampton University, it found that nurses were caring for 13 to 14 patients each and three quarters said there were not enough staff to get their work done. On average they worked 13 hour shifts with half working more than their contracted hours. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9423559/Thousands-of-nurses-cut-from-the-NHS-official-figures.html
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NHS staff who don't agree to pay
cut face sack NHS paying £1,600 a day for
agency nursesNHS needs to close wards and hospitals to centralise care, says doctors' leader
Prof Terence Stephenson says it is wasteful to have hospitals a few miles apart providing exactly the same services. Many hospital wards need to be closed and whole departments moved elsewhere so the NHS can improve care for the most seriously ill patients, the new leader of the UK's 200,000 doctors has warned. Professor Terence Stephenson, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), wants ministers and NHS bosses to downgrade the status of some hospitals and push through major rationalisation of key services such as major surgery or intensive care, despite local campaigns to save units. The academy is the voice of the UK's medical royal colleges and represents groups of specialist doctors such as GPs, hospital physicians and surgeons. Speaking to the Guardian in his first interview since being elected, Stephenson said it was "wasteful" of NHS resources that so many hospitals, often only a few miles apart, provide exactly the same services. Acute medical services should be concentrated in fewer, bigger, more centralised units, so that care teams would increase their skills by treating more patients, even if that means some entire hospitals closing as a result, he added. "We do try to deliver care too broadly across too many centres. We're trying for that aphorism that everybody wants open heart surgery in a cottage hospital. It's just not deliverable. I don't think it's possible in quite a small country of 60 million people to have 200 to 300 24/7 acute centres offering every single discipline", said Stephenson. The NHS is hamstrung by having many of the same hospitals it had when it was created in 1948 and the plethora of hospitals providing identical services explains why patient outcomes are not as good for certain types of NHS care as in European countries such as France and Germany, despite significant extra investment since 2000, he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jul/24/nhs-hospitals-need-to-close
Aspirin use appears to reduce the risk of Barrett's esophagus (BE), the largest known risk factor for esophageal cancer, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association."The protective effect of aspirin use
appears robust because the analyses suggests a dose-response relationship
in which high-dose aspirin was significantly associated with decreased Barrett's
esophagus risk," said Chin Hur, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts General Hospital
Institute for Technology Assessment and lead author of this study. "It would not be advisable at this time for patients to start taking aspirin, particularly at higher doses, if preventing Barrett's esophagus is the only goal. However, if additional data confirms our findings and an individual at high risk for development of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer also could derive additional benefits, most notably cardiovascular, aspirin could be a consideration."
Dr. Hur and his team of researchers analyzed characteristics of 434 BE patients for factors that might be used in screening and management. In addition to finding that those taking aspirin were 44 percent less likely to have BE, they also found that men were more than three times more likely to develop BE than women.
The incidence of esophageal cancer has been increasing at an alarming rate during the past few decades; current attempts at targeted screening for this type of cancer focus on identifying BE. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), particularly aspirin, have been associated with reduced esophageal cancer incidence. Although there have been many studies analyzing NSAID and aspirin chemoprevention for esophageal cancer or BE progression to this cancer, few have explored NSAIDs for BE prevention.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/248201.php
Doctors and nurses need to“bust the myth” that cancer patients should simply rest to recover. Macmillan Cancer Support has found only a fifth of patients who have been through treatment are told of the “wonder drug” type benefits of exercise. Frequent exercise like brisk walking or gardening can halve the chance of bowel cancer returning and reduce the risk of recurrent breast cancer by more than a third, studies show. It has also been shown to reduce fatigue, muscle wasting and depression in cancer survivors, as well as keep them more mobile. But a You Gov poll for Macmillan found 37 per cent of cancer patients said they were not physically active as all. Chief medical officer for the charity, said: “As a cancer specialist it's hard to
encourage people to think about fitness during and after gruelling cancer treatment. It’s easier to tell people to rest. But increasingly, many patients will need our help to bust the myth that resting up is always the right thing to do, so they do not miss out on the ‘wonder drug’of exercise, which can make all the difference to recovery.” “This new research shows that the message is still not being passed on to cancer patients about just how important it is for them to keep active. “We know that people going through gruelling cancer treatment tend to feel out of control and it can be a very frightening time. Knowing what you can do to help yourself and your recovery is both encouraging and helpful. “It is crucial that health professionals encourage people living with cancer to stay physically active and Macmillan will continue to work with and support them to ensure that this happens.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9398774/Myth-that-cancer-patients-only-need-rest-Macmillan.html
Sun protection is one of the main issues in good skin care.
Looking younger for longer is a popular obsession but what's the scientific truth about younger looking skin. Plastic surgeons are not exempt from ageing or the concerns of ageing. We really are all in this together, but I was in for a nasty surprise recently when I agreed to be photographed using a camera which reveals the underlying but as yet unseen wrinkles developing in the skin. I love the warmth and soporific feel of the sun on my face through the car window when I'm driving, but the test clearly showed the effects of accumulated hours of driving. There was significantly more damage to the skin on the right side of my face from the many extra hours of extra exposure to sunlight. I had sort of suspected it. I just hadn't realised the damage would be that marked. I use sun cream with full UVA and full UVB protection. The UVB radiation is what causes sunburn, but protection from UVA radiation is also important. UVA radiation penetrates deeper, damaging our DNA and causing the release of an enzyme, which degrades the collagen that gives skin its elastic quality. Although I've been vigilant about sun protection for the past several years now. I may have learnt late, but I have learnt and I'll keep up the effort - It's absolutely worth it!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18924204#U-M offers new skin cancer mobile app
A new free app developed at the University of Michigan Health System allows users to create a photographic baseline of their skin and photograph suspicious moles or other skin lesions, walking users step-by-step through a skin self-exam. The app, UMSkinCheck, sends automatic reminders so users can monitor changes to a skin lesion over time, and provides pictures of various types of skin cancers for comparisons. The app is designed for iPhone and iPad and is available to download on iTunes. "Whole body photography is a well-established resource for following patients at risk for melanoma. However, it requires a professional photographer, is not always covered by insurance, and can be an inconvenience. Now that many people have digital cameras on their hones, it's more feasible to do this at home," says Michael Sabel, M.D., associate professor of surgery at the U-M Medical School, who was the lead physician involved in developing the app.
More than 2 million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer each year, and some
50,000 will be diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious kind. Regular skin checks can help people discover melanoma in its earliest stages.
The app, a collaboration of the University of Michigan's technology and clinical
expertise, guides users through a series of 23 photos, covering the body from head to toe. Photos are stored within the app and serve as a baseline for future comparisons. The app will create a reminder to repeat a skin self-exam on a regular basis. If a mole appears to be changing or growing, the photos can then be shared with a dermatologist to help determine whether a biopsy is necessary. "We recommend skin self-exams for everyone in order to detect skin cancer at the earliest stages, when treatment is less invasive and more successful. If you have fair skin or burn easily, have had sunburns in the past or used tanning beds, or have a family history of melanoma, you are considered high-risk, and so it's even more important, Sabel said.
Not sure if you're at high risk of skin cancer? The app includes a risk calculator that allows you to input your personal data to calculate your individual risk.
http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/news/skin-cancer-mobile-app-2012.shtml
Asthma inhalers will go on sale in supermarkets for the first time this month, allowing sufferers to get the medicine without seeing their doctor. Asda said it would start selling blue reliever inhalers over the counter without prescription from Tuesday. Customers over 16 will be able to buy two inhalers for £7 instead of the normal prescription charge of £7.65. The Department of Health said medicines must be dispensed "in line with all legal requirements". There are two different types of inhalers, "reliever" and "preventer" ones, available to the 5.2 million people in the UK who suffer from asthma. Blue reliever inhalers - the ones Asda will be selling - contain the drug salbutamol and are used if someone is feeling wheezy or suffering an attack. Preventer inhalers are taken twice daily to help keep asthma under control. Faisal Tuddy, deputy superintendent pharmacist at Asda, said the service was designed to be easy and convenient but would be closely monitored. "All of our pharmacists have been trained and know they mustn't sell the inhalers without due care," he said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18936197
The majority of smokers and ex-smokers – 85 per cent – regret ever starting the potentially deadly habit in the first place, show new data from Cancer Research UK published today (Saturday). The YouGov survey of 4099 (including 1746 current and ex-smokers) men and women in the UK also showed that over three quarters of these smokers (77 per cent) took up smoking regularly when they were still only teenagers –some as young as 13. And a third chose to smoke the same brand of
cigarettes as their family and friends when they first started buying a specific brand regularly.This data adds to the growing evidence of support behind Cancer Research UK’s campaign, The Answer is Plain, to remove all glitzy, glamorous branding from cigarette packets while keeping the health warnings.
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/2012-07-21-most-regret-ever-starting-smoking?rss=true
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