13 May 2008, The Independent.
He laughs and plays like any one-year-old. But a rare condition means Ceri Hughes won’t see her son’s face light up with joy.
“Moebius syndrome was first described in 1888 by a German neurologist called Paul Julius Moebius. It is a rare condition and although it is always obvious from birth, it [...]
Archive for May, 2008
Moebius syndrome: The boy who will never smile
Posted in CHILDREN, Practice, Science, chronic disease, diagnosis, health, life on May 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Prolapsed intervertebral disc
Posted in Editor, Orthopaedics, RISKS, Research, bmj, chronic disease, diagnosis, health, life on May 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
BMJ, published 27 May 2008.
Editorials.
By: Jeremy Fairbank, professor of spinal surgery, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford OX3 7L
Prolapsed intervertebral disc is common.
Disc prolapse is genetically driven—twin studies indicate that at least 60% of the variance can be explained on genetic grounds and not by the commonly assumed environmental factors (work, trauma, exposure to excessive driving, smoking, [...]
Cigarettes: the last gasp
Posted in ASTHMA, CHILDREN, HEART, Men's health, RISKS, Respiratory disease, Vascular disease, Women's health, chronic disease, health, life, news on May 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The last gasp: Health Secretary signals new smoking curbs
By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent, The Independent.
Monday, 26 May 2008
Cigarettes will be banned from public display in shops and vending machines are to be scrapped under dramatic new plans designed to curb smoking among young people.
Packets of 10 cigarettes will also be outlawed under proposals to be [...]
Coca-Cola to phase out use of controversial additive after DNA damage claim
Posted in CHILDREN, RISKS, Science, cancer, diagnosis, health, life, news on May 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Soft-drink giant to do away with sodium benzoate ‘where technically possible’, in the wake of IoS story that highlighted the potential dangers
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The Independent
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Coca-Cola, the world’s biggest soft drinks company, is phasing out a controversial additive that may cause hyperactivity and DNA damage. By August, no [...]
Food additives and hyperactivity
Posted in CHILDREN, Editor, RISKS, Research, bmj, chronic disease, diagnosis, health, life, news on May 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
BMJ 2008;336:1144 (24 May).
An increasing number of children are taking drugs for hyperactivity.
Removing colours and preservatives is a relatively harmless activity, so a properly supervised and evaluated trial period of eliminating them should be part of standard treatment, says an editorial by Andrew Kemp, professor of paediatric allergy and clinical immunology at the [...]
ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) for depression remains controversial
Posted in Men's health, RISKS, Women's health, chronic disease, diagnosis, health, life, mental health, news on May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Using electroconvulsive therapy for depression remains controversial. Dr Max Pemberton examines the evidence.
Depression kills. Suicide in the UK constitutes nearly one per cent of deaths from all causes every year.
It is the single biggest killer of young men after road traffic accidents, and the 2001 Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths found that suicide was the [...]
DOCTORS are more at risk to commit suicide …
Posted in Politics, RISKS, Science, chronic disease, diagnosis, health, life, mental health, news on May 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
CHICAGO – There’s a grim, rarely talked-about twist to all that medical know-how doctors learn to save lives: It makes them especially good at ending their own. An estimated 300 to 400 U.S. doctors kill themselves each year — a suicide rate thought to be higher than in the general population, although exact figures are [...]
TWO year old boy with DEMENTIA …
Posted in ALZHEIMER, CHILDREN, RISKS, chronic disease, diagnosis, health, life, news on May 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Taylor Smith, from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, has been diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C, also known as Children’s Alzheimer’s.
Stephanie O’Hara, 22, Taylor’s mother, described the disease as like “living with a timebomb”.
She said:………….
The disease means that the toddler is likely to develop signs of dementia before he becomes a teenager, although the symptoms can appear at [...]
Management of Crohn’s disease
Posted in Clinical review, Gastric problems, Science, bmj, chronic disease, diagnosis, health, life on May 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
BMJ 2008;336:1062-1066 (10 May).
Clinical Review
By: J R Fraser Cummings, specialist registrar, Satish Keshav, consultant gastroenterologist, Simon P L Travis, consultant gastroenterologist (Gastroenterology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford)
Summary points
Biological therapies have radically changed the management of Crohn’s disease but must be used judiciously with great awareness of possible adverse events
Treatment strategies for the disease are [...]
Effect on smoking quit rate of telling patients their lung age
Posted in RISKS, Research, Respiratory disease, bmj, chronic disease, health, life on May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
BMJ 2008;336:598-600 (published 6 March 2008)
Research
Gary Parkes, general practitioner, Trisha Greenhalgh, professor, Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, University College London; Mark Griffin, lecturer in medical statistics, and Richard Dent, consultant chest physician department of chest medicine
Conclusion: Telling smokers their lung age significantly improves the likelihood of them quitting smoking, but the mechanism [...]
