Revealed: death rates in your local hospital

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Friday, 11 July 2008

One hundred and fifty years after Florence Nightingale identified the importance of measuring survival rates, NHS trusts throughout England are publishing details of deaths following four common operations.

The move signals a shift from the delivery of care – measured in waiting times – to its outcome – measured in death rates – as called for in last week’s NHS Review by Lord Darzi as a means of driving up standards.

It is the first time any government has exposed the mortality rates of surgical teams in different hospitals to public scrutiny. But, while Britain’s most famous nurse marked her patients “dead”, “relieved” or “unrelieved”, her descendants are still struggling to find an accurate way of measuring the effects of treatment.

Read Full Post »

Typhoid carriers detained for life in mental hospital …

By: PA, The Independent
Monday, 28 July 2008

Many British people were locked up for life at a mental hospital because they were typhoid carriers, it was reported today.

At least 43 women were detained at Long Grove asylum in Epsom, Surrey, between 1907 and the facility’s closure in 1992, according to the BBC.

Despite having recovered from the disease, they were held because they still carried the bacterium, deemed to be a public health risk, the corporation’s Newsnight programme claims.

After antibiotic treatments emerged in the 1950s, the women continued to be detained but on mental health grounds, it is claimed.

Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, told the BBC: “They (the detained women) certainly were infectious; they had the potential to spread the infection to others if they had poor hygiene and they were preparing food and all that type of thing. But as a public health risk, I think they were basically targeted and there was a lot of over-exaggeration about the threat they posed.”

1. Typhoid fever is transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with faeces from an infected person.
2. The disease is characterised by a prolonged fever, as high as 40C, sweating, gastroenteritis, and diarrhoea.

Read Full Post »

‘Unacceptable’ levels of violence on mental wards

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Wednesday, 23 July 2008

Thousands of seriously-ill mental patients are enduring “unacceptable” levels of violence on overcrowded NHS wards where they are vulnerable to sexual predators, an investigation has found.

The most comprehensive survey of mental health hospital care in England, published today by the Healthcare Commission, paints a picture of a dysfunctional service where patients feel threatened and unsafe with:

1. high levels of drug and alcohol abuse,
2. a lack of therapeutic activities
3. and a heavy dependence on temporary staff.

Almost 5,000 patients reported being physically assaulted in 2006-7 – 15 per cent of the total – and one in six trusts had levels of violence “significantly above” this average. “This is simply not acceptable in a 21st-century service and would not be tolerated in other walks of life,” the report says.

Read Full Post »

Soya products can cause infertility

By: PA, The Independent
Thursday, 24 July 2008

Too much tofu may affect a man’s fertility, according to a study linking soya and low sperm count.

Scientists found that even modest consumption of soya products, such as meat and dairy substitutes and bean curd, can have a significant impact on sperm count.

Men who ate an average of half a serving of soya food a day had lower concentrations of sperm than those who did not.

Read Full Post »

Skin cancer toll soars among affluent young

By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Affluent families who take their children on foreign holidays where they are exposed to intense sunlight are contributing to soaring rates of malignant melanoma among the young.

The severest form of skin cancer, which causes 1,800 deaths a year, is rising fastest in people in their teens and twenties and is most common among the better-off, doctors said.

Severe sunburn in childhood is a key trigger for the cancer and the growth of foreign holidays, in winter and summer, is increasing the incidence of sun exposure in children.

Professor Birch said: “The simple conclusion is that it is down to excess sun exposure in childhood. But in these very young people there is likely to be something else going on. We are probably looking at a combination of sun exposure and genetic susceptibility.

“It is not just Mediterranean holidays but skiing holidays, sunbeds and other elements of the affluent lifestyle. The message is sun protection. Use a sunscreen but, even more important, cover up and keep out of the midday sun.”

Read Full Post »

Guillain-Barré syndrome: a clinical review

BMJ, 17 July 2008
By: John B Winer, consultant neurologist, University Hospital Birmingham, UK.

What are the clinical features?

1. All types of Guillain-Barré syndrome present with acute neuropathy, defined as: progressive onset of limb weakness that reaches its worst within four weeks.
2. Typically there are sensory symptoms but few sensory signs.
3. Reflexes are usually lost early in the illness.
4. The respiratory system is affected in a third of cases, but this may not be associated with clear dyspnoea, which makes it more difficult to assess.

Summary points:

• Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare but important disease that can lead to life threatening respiratory failure. (Guillain-Barré syndrome is a peripheral neuropathy that causes acute neuromuscular failure).
• Misdiagnosis is common and can be fatal because of the high frequency of respiratory failure, which contributes to the 10% mortality seen in prospective studies).
• Structural similarities between a triggering infectious organism and peripheral nerve tissue are important in its pathogenesis
• Treatment consists of rapid administration of intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange, which shortens the time to recovery
• Around 10% of patients die from respiratory failure, pulmonary emboli, or infection
• Around 20% of patients have residual disability, with weakness or persistent sensory disturbance.

Read Full Post »

Cardiovascular evaluation, including resting and exercise ECG, before participation in competitive sports

By: Francesco Sofi, clinical researcher, Andrea Capalbo, specialist in sports medicine et al, University of Florence, Italy.
BMJ, 3 July 2008

Participants: 30 065 (23 570 men) people seeking to obtain clinical eligibility for competitive sports.

Exercise ECG showed cardiac anomalies in 1227 athletes with normal findings on resting ECG. At the end of screening, 196 (0.6%) participants were considered ineligible for competitive sports.

Follow-up studies are needed to show if disqualification of such people would reduce the incidence of CV events among athletes.

(Age >30 years was significantly associated with an increased risk of being disqualified for cardiac findings during exercise testing.)

Read Full Post »

Drink red wine for a better life – but not a longer one

By: Steve Connor, Science Editor, The Independent
Friday, 4 July 2008

The secrets of a healthy life may lie at the bottom of a glass of red wine – but scientists have warned that such a life may not necessarily be a long one.

A study has shown that a substance found in the skin of red grapes has anti-ageing properties that protect the heart, bones and eyes from the ravages of old age.

Resveratrol, an organic compound found in grapes, nuts and a variety of other plant foods, significantly slows down the rate of ageing in laboratory mice when given in large enough doses over a long period, although it did not actually prolong their lives.

Read Full Post »

Fears over internet sales of DIY abortion pills

By: James Watson, PA, The Independent
Friday, 11 July 2008

Women living in countries where abortion is restricted – including Northern Ireland – are using the internet to buy medication enabling them to perform an abortion at home, it emerged today.

Women in more than 70 countries, including Northern Ireland, have used the internet site Women on Web to purchase the drugs for £55 a time.

Women on Web is available in five languages and offers the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. It says a combination of the pills causes the non-surgical termination of a pregnancy and can be used up to the ninth week.

But the BBC reports a study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that 11% of 400 customers went on to need a surgical procedure – either because the drugs had not completed the abortion or because of excessive bleeding.

Of 200 women who answered questions about their experiences, almost 60% said they were just grateful to have been able to have an abortion in this way, and 30% said it had been stressful but they found the experience acceptable.

Read Full Post »

Things you can do to reduce the risk of dementia

Seven ways to a healthy brain

People are living longer so Alzheimer’s disease is becoming more common. But there are things you can do to reduce the risk of dementia;

By: Amy Fenton, The Independent
Tuesday, 27 May 2008.

It is estimated that, by 2025, more than a million people in Britain will suffer from Alzheimer’s. Its symptoms include memory loss, confusion and language breakdown, and it is incurable.

Train your brain
When it comes to retaining brain agility, the “use it or lose it” principle holds true. Games such as Brain Age on Nintendo DS can help us to increase brain flexibility and activity

Keep fit
There is good evidence that keeping fit can help to keep your brain in shape. A Swedish study showed that regular exercise can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 50 per cent.

Relieve the pain
According to a study by the University of Washington, cholesterol-lowering drugs may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by almost 80 per cent.

Work at your social life
Having plenty of friends is another factor.

Work by the Alzheimer’s Society has shown that the chances of inheriting the disease from a parent or relative could be moderately low.
“We know that there are a small number of families where there is a very clear inheritance of dementia from one generation to the next,” Sorensen says.

Read Full Post »