Key Quotes - Health

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




Thousands of elderly people are being kept in hospital needlessly after the number of district nurses fell by almost one fifth. Official NHS figures disclosed that the number of district nurses working in England declined from 7,813 in May 2010 to 6,424 in August this year. This represented an 18 per cent cut in the service, which provides nurses to visit elderly and disabled adults in their own homes, since the Coalition was formed. The fall coincided with a marked increase in the numbers of days that frail patients spent on hospital wards because of a shortage of adequate community health and care services….The number of days lost to this so-called "bed blocking" has risen by 38 per cent in recent months, at an estimated cost of £260 for every day that a patient remains in hospital unnecessarily. Labour said the NHS was losing £6 million a month as a result of patients who were being kept on wards when they should be cared for at home or in their local communities.
Health	The Daily Telegraph Dec 31 2012



Badly fitted wood-burning stoves can be lethal, the Health Protection Agency has warned. They can cause death silently by leaking carbon monoxide into people's living rooms. About 40 people die each year across England and Wales from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from a variety of sources. The HPA has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the danger before the winter
Health	The Daily Telegraph November 23 2012



According to a Dutch media report of September 25, 13 psychiatric patients were helped to die last year, an increase of more than 500% since 2010, and the number of euthanasia deaths among those in the early stages of dementia rose to 49 last year, double that of 2010. Dr. Peter Saunders, a leading pro-life medic, has warned that euthanasia in the Netherlands ‘is out of control’. Dr. Saunders said: ‘What we are seeing in the Netherlands is more accurately termed “incremental extension”, the steady intentional escalation of numbers with a gradual widening of the categories of patients to be included’.
Health	Evangelicals Now, November 2012



Children in day-care are 50 per cent more likely to become overweight compared to those staying at home with their parents, claim researchers. They found that under-fives who spent most of their time at a 'day-care centre or with an extended family member such as a grandparent were most at risk. Researchers said ‘it was a 'mysterious link’, as the structured routine at day-care centrs provided opportunities for the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity.
Health	Daily Mail November 20 2012



The number of women dying from ovarian cancer has fallen by a quarter in 20 years thanks to earlier diagnosis and better treat¬ment, say researchers. And the length of time the women survived for also increased, especially amongst women aged between 40 and 60. Ovarian cancer is known as the 'silent killer' because it is notoriously difficult to diagnose and is often detected only once it has spread to other organs. It remains the fifth most common form of cancer amongst women, with 6,500 cases diagnosed in Britain a year. Scientists from the National Cancer Intelligence Network compared data on mortality and survival from 1989 with the latest figures from 2009.
Health	Daily Mail November 20 2012



Equalities minister Maria Miller said yesterday that the abortion limit should be set according to 'people's views' - rather than according to science. Mrs Miller, who voted in 2008 for a cut in the upper limit from 24 weeks to 20, said she believed a reduction would encourage doctors to do more to save the lives of premature babies. Her comments put her at odds with health minister Anna Soubry, who recently said there was no scientific evidence at all for the limit to be reduced…Many pro-life campaigners call for a reduction in the upper limit because they say medical advances mean some babies born before 24 weeks can be saved….Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants to see the abortion limit halved to only 12 weeks.
Health	Daily Mail November 20 2012



A prominent scientist who had dismissed the possibility of the afterlife says he has reconsidered after an out-of-body experience that has convinced him Heaven exists. Dr Eben Alexander, a Harvard-educated neurosurgeon, fell into a coma for seven days after contracting meningitis. Dr Alexander said he had heard patients’ stories of outer-body experiences and disregarded them as ‘wishful thinking’, but has reconsidered his opinion. ‘That belief [that we live in a universe devoid of any kind of emotion] now lies broken at our feet. What happened to me destroyed it.’
Health	Salvationist, 20 October 2012



It seems an apple a day really can keep the doctor away - especially the cardiologist. In a study of healthy, middle-aged adults, consumption of one apple a day for four weeks lowered levels of so-called 'bad’ cholesterol by 40 per cent. Taking capsules containing poryphenols - a type of antioxidant found in apples - had a similar, but not as large, effect on LDL - low-density lipoprotein. LDL is linked to hardening of the arteries. Those who took part in the study, funded by an apple industry group, ate large red or Golden Delicious apples.
Health	Daily Mail October 4th 2012



Taking a low dose of aspirin may help keep the brain young, claim researchers. A study of older women taking low doses to prevent heart disease found it also helped preserve their memory. Millions of Britons take aspirin on doctor's orders to prevent heart problems. Other research suggests it may cut the risk of cancer. There have been conflicting results from studies about whether long-term use of Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin protects against declining brainpower and dementia. But research published in the online Journal BMJ Open found regular low-dose aspirin did slow cognitive decline.
Health	Daily Mail October 4th 2012



More than 22,000 Britons suffer cancer every year because they are too fat, claim researchers. Being obese or overweight heightens the risk of at least seven types of the disease, including breast, bowel, pancreatic, womb, kidney, oesophagus and gall bladder. Academics from the World Cancer Research Fund say that excess fat is the second biggest cause of cancer after smoking. They have calculated that being overweight or obese is directly responsible for 22,138 cases every year. This toll includes 7,752 cases of breast cancer, 5,753 of the bowel and 2,978 affecting the womb….Last year just over 320,400 people were diagnosed with cancer, according to figures from Cancer Research UK. The latest calculations mean that 1 in 14 cases are caused by being overweight.
Health	Daily Mail October 4th 2012



No patient should be consigned to the controversial NHS process to help the dying in their final days without the involvement of at least two doctors, experts urged yesterday. They said the most senior staff available must be involved because 'it is not always easy to tell whether someone is very close to death'. The demand for the highest possible level of supervision of patients on the Liverpool Care Pathway follows allegations that the system is being used to kill off sick people before their time-effectively officially sanctioned euthanasia. Under the pathway, patients judged to be days or hours from death can be denied water or nutrition through a tube, may be heavily sedated, denied treatment that could prolong life and not given any unnecessary tests or pathway and that putting a patient on it is a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. He claimed the system was being used to get rid of difficult-to-manage elderly patients and to free beds to make room for new patients. A number of other senior medical figures have questioned the removal of nourishment and hydration by tube from some patients, and one pressure group has begun issuing cards to patients that tell hospitals they do not want to be put on the Liverpool Care Pathway. The call for at least two medical staff to assess patients - one of whom should be the most senior on duty was issued in a 'consensus statement' by 20 bodies including the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Physicians, the National Council for Palliative Care, pressure groups including Age UK and the Alzheimer's Society, and the Royal College of Nursing.
Health	Daily Mail October 2nd 2012



More than a million patients are taking potentially harmful tranquillisers, with some hooked for more than 20 years, experts have warned. Although guidelines state benzodiazepines should only be used for a maximum of a month, many users are becoming dependent. Psychiatrists say that some patients are begging for repeat prescriptions while others are buying them illegally from foreign websites. It is estimated 1.5million Britons are currently taking a form of benzodiazepines, which include temazepam and diazepam. A study published in the British Medical Journal found the pills increased the risk of dementia by 50 per cent, even if only taken for short periods. Other research has linked them to premature death.
Health	Daily Mail October 2nd 2012



Women should no longer be offered hip resurfacing because of 'unacceptably high' failure rates, surgeons have warned. Figures show women who had worn-out hips resurfaced are up to five times more likely to need a second operation than those having conventional implants. More than one in ten suffer problems including pain, soft tissue damage and infection, sometimes causing permanent damage. Resurfacing is often offered to younger patients as an alternative to hip replacement, but is also commonly used in older people. At least 32,000 patients - one in three of them women - have undergone hip resurfacing since It became available on the NHS and privately around ten years ago. The procedure reconditions a worn-out hip joint by placing metal caps in the hip socket and on top of the thighbone. A full hip replacement involves cutting off the top of the thigh bone to fit the new joint, which can have a variety of bearing options, such as ceramic, metal or plastic
Health	Daily Mail October 2nd 2012



A new 'smart' drug for breast cancer extends women's lives by six months while reducing toxic side effects including hair loss. Campaigners claim the drug offers a 'precious lifeline' for women with the most aggressive form of the disease, who have tried other treatments. Known as T-DM1, it combines the 'wonder' drug Herceptin with a potent chemotherapy agent. T-DM1 is designed to seek out and destroy cancerous cells while sparing healthy tissue from unnecessary damage. Results from a major trial show the drug prolonged the lives of patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer by 30.9 months compared with 25.1 months on standard therapy. Patients on T-DM1 had fewer, less severe side effects and reported a better quality of life. The results were released yesterday at the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna, Austria. Around 10,000 Brit¬ish women have HER-2 positive breast cancer diagnosed each year - about one in five of those affected.
Health	Daily Mail October 2nd 2012



For over a generation, schoolchildren, students and the public have been told that there are two categories of DNA in our cells. By far the most important is the DNA that codes for proteins (in humans, genes occupy less than 2% of the total). The rest is non-coding DNA, commonly referred to as genetic junk….Following the Human Genome Project, (which mapped human genes), people realised that there are not enough genes to explain all the complexities in the human body. It seemed reasonable to infer that the genome was equipped with a regulative system that would allow genes to perform many different functions. A project was launched to probe the architecture of genetic control. This was ENCODE, and on September 6, after nine years' work, 442 scientists in 32 laboratories across three continents published 30 research papers about their findings. The findings were headlined around the world: at least 80% of the genome has some functionality; junk DNA is 'actually in charge of running the genes'; the concept of junk DNA will be 'consigned to the history books'. David Tyler, secretary of the Biblical Creation Society.
Health	Evangelicals Now/UK News October 2012

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