Damning verdict on health trusts’ out-of-hours emergency care

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Friday, 26 September 2008

Almost one in five health trusts are delivering poor quality care outside normal office hours, the most comprehensive investigation into urgent and emergency services has concluded.

The Healthcare Commission also found that proportion of out-of-hours calls categorised as “urgent” varied from under 4 per cent to more than 32 per cent between services, “raising questions” over consistency.

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ADHD: Ritalin over-prescribed to children

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Wednesday, 24 September 2008

The controversial drug Ritalin is being over-prescribed to children to control their unruly behaviour and should be avoided in those aged under five, the Government’s drugs watchdog said yesterday.

Instead of reaching for the prescription pad when confronted with a child who is inattentive, undisciplined and constantly on the move, doctors should refer parents for training in how to handle their children and alert teachers to provide support.

An estimated 3 per cent of children and 2 per cent of adults are affected by the condition. The guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) says children suspected of having ADHD should be assessed by specialist teams to determine the most appropriate treatment.

The guidelines say parent training and education programmes should be offered first for ADHD – not drugs.

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Cost of treating cancer: Because I’m worth it

Source: BMJ, 17 September 2008.

Before Robert Mayer, a GP and family therapist, died earlier this year of pancreatic cancer, he wrote about the cost of treating cancer on the NHS and why patients should be allowed to co-pay for expensive drugs. Read his personal view, as well as extracts from a diary he kept in the last few months of his life.

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Mobile phone use ‘raises children’s risk of brain cancer fivefold’

By: Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor, The Independent
Sunday, 21 September 2008

Alarming new research from Sweden on the effects of radiation raises fears that today’s youngsters face an epidemic of the disease in later life.

Children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones, startling new research indicates.

The study, experts say, raises fears that today’s young people may suffer an “epidemic” of the disease in later life. At least nine out of 10 British 16-year-olds have their own handset, as do more than 40 per cent of primary schoolchildren.

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Antibiotics to delay premature birth may harm babies

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Thursday, 18 September 2008

A warning about the indiscriminate prescribing of antibiotics to pregnant women to delay premature labour was issued to all doctors yesterday after research unexpectedly revealed that the practice may cause long-term harm to their babies.

The Government’s chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, wrote to GPs, obstetricians and other medical staff following publication of the first study of the subject. The findings show an increased risk of cerebral palsy in the children of one group of women. There was also a small increase in problems such as poor eyesight or hearing. The results add to the growing evidence that what happens in the womb has a huge impact on the baby not only at birth but for decades beyond.

Sir Liam said in the letter that antibiotics should continue to be given to women in premature labour where there was evidence of infection, or risk of it because their waters had broken.

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Heart disease risk of chemical used in food and drink containers

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Wednesday, 17 September 2008

One of the world’s most widely used chemicals, a key constituent of plastic food and drink containers, has been linked for the first time with increased rates of heart disease and diabetes in adults.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the 10 most common chemicals produced worldwide and gives plastic its rigidity, durability and light weight. Researchers now fear that tiny amounts which leach out of plastic containers into food and drink may cause harm to health.

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Clinical Review: Treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection

Clinical Review, by: L Fuccio, research fellow et al, Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna.
BMJ, 15 September 2008

• The prevalence of H pylori varies widely and is about 50% in international population studies. Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common human infections, and about half of the world’s population carries this organism. Since its discovery in 1984, H pylori has been recognised as a major cause of several upper gastrointestinal diseases.
• Triple and quadruple multidrug regimens are standard treatment
• Resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole and lack of adherence to treatment are the main predictors of treatment failure
• The choice of the most effective regimen should be based on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance, especially resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole
• Individualised treatment based on antimicrobial susceptibility has a limited role in H pylori eradication strategies
• The overall risk of reinfection is estimated at 3.4% per patient year in developed countries, rising to 8.7% in developing countries

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Global shortage of isotopes puts hundreds of (cancer) scans in doubt

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Saturday, 6 September 2008

A global shortage of radioactive imaging agents vital to the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases threatens to delay treatment for hundreds of patients in Britain.

Specialists warned yesterday that UK hospitals are receiving less than half the expected supplies of medical isotopes used in heart and bone scans and some cancer detection procedures, and the situation is expected to worsen over the coming weeks. The isotopes are used in more than 80 per cent of routine nuclear imaging tests used to diagnose disease.

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Appeal for new antibiotics after resistant E.coli infections treble

By: Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, The Independent
Thursday, 11 September 2008

An increase in infections that are resistant to all known antibiotics is threatening Britain and the world, unless ways can be found to develop and finance new drugs, public health experts warned yesterday.

The Health Protection Agency said yesterday that of 20,000 blood stream infections caused by E.coli in an average year, the proportion that were resistant to antibiotics rose from 4 per cent in 2000 (800 cases) to 12 per cent in 2006, but that there were no new drugs being developed, or in the pipeline, to tackle them.

E.coli is the commonest cause of lethal blood stream infections, especially in old or sick people. It is a gram-negative bacterium, which is more difficult to treat than a gram-positive bacteria, such as MRSA, because it has a tougher cell wall.

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Vitamin B12 may protect brain

By: PA, The Independent

A key vitamin found in meat, fish and milk may help protect the brain as it ages, researchers said.

Vitamin B12 could help stop the brain shrinking – possibly preventing memory loss in older people and dementia.

A study of 107 people aged 61 to 87 found that those with lower vitamin B12 levels in their blood were six times more likely to experience brain shrinkage compared with those who had higher levels of the vitamin.

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