Key Quotes - Health

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




Fizzy drinks should be heavily taxed and junk food adverts banned until after the watershed. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents nearly every doctor in the UK, said ballooning waistlines already constituted a ‘huge crisis’. Its report said current measures were failing and called for unhealthy food to be treated more like cigarettes. Industry leaders said the report added little to the debate on obesity. The UK is one of the most obese nations in the world with about a quarter of adults classed as obese. That figure is predicted to double by 2050 – a third of primary school leavers are already overweight. Doctors fear that a rising tide of obesity will pose dire health consequences for the nation. Professor Terence Stephenson, chairman of the Academy, evoked parallels with the campaign against smoking.
Health	The Sentinel, February 19, 2013



Patients could be charged £8.50 to call an out-of-hours doctor to their home under controversial plans outlined today. The sick could also be forced to pay for their hospital meals or increased charges to watch television on NHS wards. The proposals are being floated as a way of tackling the 'unprecedented financial dilemma' faced by the Health Service. But campaigners expressed outrage at the 'frank discussion' document, saying it undermined the founding principle of the NHS that care must be free at the point of use. They also warned that seriously ill patients could be discouraged from seeking treatment if they feared being unable to afford the fees. The NHS Confederation, which rep¬resents all Health Service trusts, devised the ideas as ways of generating extra funds.
Health	Daily Mail 18 March 2013



Dwelling on stressful events can weaken the immune system and make people more susceptible to illness, according to a study. Simply thinking about negative events, even if they are imagined, can have a detrimental physical effect as it increases levels of inflammation in the body, researchers found. This inflammation, associated with the body's response to trauma and infection, can weaken the immune system and has been linked with a number of conditions, including heart disease, cancer and dementia.
Health	Daily Telegraph 16 March 2013



Early signs of autism can be detected in the brains of four-month-old infants using an advanced scanning technique. Currently the brain condition can be diagnosed only after the age of two by observing a child's behaviour. Researchers used near-infrared spectroscopy to study the brain activity of infants, a technique that relies on the way the brain absorbs light….The babies were tested as they watched videos of actions such as people playing peek-a-boo and listened to laughter and yawning or non-vocal sounds such as running water and toys rattling. About 600,000 people in the UK suffer from autism, which affects a person's ability to communicate and socialise.
Health	Daily Telegraph 13 March 2013



“Foreign doctors who want to work for the NHS in England will have to prove they can speak English well enough to treat patients, the Government has confirmed. The new checks were announced after cases in which foreign doctors were said to have provided sub-standard care. Those coming to the UK from outside the EU already face strict language tests. But doctors from within the European Economic Area are said to have registered to work in the NHS without being asked if they can speak English properly.”
Health	The Sentinel – 25th February 2013



“Thousands of UK patients are missing out on life-saving heart treatments that are routine throughout the rest of Europe, a charity has warned today. Health experts have also noted “appalling” regional differences in the treatment of UK patients with heart rhythm disorders who are at risk of sudden cardiac death. The announcement from heart rhythm charity Arrhythmia Alliance comes as clinical experts publish a major new report into cardiac care which highlights the problem. Around 100,000 people in the UK die every year after suffering sudden cardiac arrest, which results from a heart rhythm disorder.”
Health	The Sentinel – 30th January 2013



It was reported in late December that Belgium is considering allowing children and Alzheimer’s sufferers to ask to be euthanized. The proposed changes to the law were submitted by the Socialist Party. The draft legislation calls for ‘the law to be extended to minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate’.
Health	Evangelicals Now, February 2013



The rise in drug resistant infections is comparable to the spread of global warming, according to the chief medical officer for England. Professor Dame Sally Davies said bacteria were becoming resistant to current drugs and there were few antibiotics to replace them. She told a committee of MPs that going for a routine operation could become deadly due to the threat of infection. Professor Davies said: “The apocalyptic scenario is that when I need a new hip in 20 years I’ll die from a routine operation because we’ve run out of antibiotics.”
Health	The Sentinel, January 25, 2013



The husband of a pregnant woman who died in an Irish hospital has said he has no doubt she would be alive if she had been allowed an abortion. Savita Halappanavar’s family said she asked several times for her pregnancy to be terminated because she had severe back pain and was miscarrying. Her husband said that it was refused because there was a foetal heartbeat. Ms Halappanavar’s death, on 28 October, is the subject of two investigations. An autopsy carried out two days after her death found she was the subject of septicaemia.
Health	The Sentinel, November 15, 2012



Maria Miller, the minister for women, has backed calls for a reduction in the legal limit for abortions from 24 to 20 weeks, in accordance with advances in medical technology meaning that many very premature babies can now be saved. Miller, who calls herself ‘a very modern feminist’ says she has looked at the issue from the ‘important stance of the impact on women and children.’…Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said he would support a change in law to halve the abortion limit to 12 weeks.
Health	Childrenswork, December 2012/January 2013



The ‘happiness threshold’ in the US seems to be about $12,000-15,000 per year. Any less than that really means living hand-to-mouth, which is understandably quite stressful. Earning above that threshold, however, is not strongly correlated with more happiness. In fact, people who earn less than $20,000 are often happier and more satisfied than those earning more than $100,000.
Health	The Briefing, November/December 2012



An obesity 'tsar' should be appointed at every NHS trust to tackle a crisis affecting millions, leading doctors say. They also want an individual appointed at government level to oversee the new health drive. A study by The Royal College of Physicians found that the UK is second only to the US for weight problems and the situation is getting worse. Yet treatment is still 'inadequate' adding to the annual £5billion cost of dealing with the issue. The Royal College said two out of three hospitals lack 'joined-up' services for patients who are obese or overweight. Complications the patients face include heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, sleep disorders and gynaecological problems.
Health	Daily Mail Jan 1 2013



Prostate cancer - the most common form of the disease in men - is bottom of the league for research spending, figures reveal. The disease lies in 20th place, with just over £400 spent on research per case diagnosed. Breast cancer, the most common cancer in women, receives £853 per diagnosed case. The figures from the Prostate Cancer UK charity show the disease is 'not on the radar' for research spending….Prostate cancer kills one man every hour and the number of men with the disease is rising at an alarming rate. It is predicted to become the most common cancer in the UK by 2030.
Health	Daily Mail Jan 1 2013



The controversial Liverpool Care Pathway for patients who are dying is "a fantastic step forward" in the way that hospitals support the terminally ill, Jeremy Hunt said yesterday. The pathway, designed to ease the suffering of patients in their last hours or days of life, has come under scrutiny in recent months. It can involve the removal of drugs, nutrition or hydration if they are judged to be of no benefit to the patient. Several families have complained that their relatives were put on the pathway without their knowledge, while some doctors have claimed it can hasten death. Mr Hunt, the Health Secretary, said the protocol was far better than alter¬native arrangements and allowed those close to death to be comforta¬ble and spend their last hours with their families
Health	The Daily Telegraph Dec 31 2012



Doctors are increasingly likely to prescribe herbal remedies such as St John's Wort for depression rather than Prozac, a survey claims. As the 25th anniversary of Prozac, one of the most commonly used antidepressants, approaches next month, the survey by Schwabe Pharma found that more than one in four GPs would rather recommend herbal remedies. Prozac was prescribed 3.9 million times in 2011, a 9.2 per cent increase since 2010.
Health	The Daily Telegraph Dec 31 2012

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