News Headlines

Lawnmowers 'pose health danger'

(BBC 22/11/2009)

Using a ride-on mower to cut the grass might save energy but they land thousands of people in hospital every year, experts have warned. Over five years some 66,000 Americans ended up in emergency departments with injuries caused by lawn tractors, reports the Journal of Safety Research. While many suffered bruises or sprains, some of the injured suffered broken bones and amputations. Six people died. Most cases resulted from moving mowers or machines flipping over.

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Dentists enlisted to tackle patients' alcohol excesses

(The Scotsman 22/11/2009)

DENTISTS are to join the fight against Scotland's alcohol crisis - by quizzing patients about their drinking habits. With alcohol misuse costing the country an estimated £2.25 billion a year, researchers in Glasgow are looking at new ways to reduce the growing burden on society. They are now working with the NHS to develop a scheme where dentists ask patients how much they drink, so those who may have a problem can be referred for help.

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NHS slated for failing to preserve patients' dignity

(The Scotsman 22/11/2009)

SCOTLAND's official NHS watchdog has castigated health boards for failing to treat a growing number of patients with the dignity they deserve. Jim Martin, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, said he was speaking out because he was seeing "too many" cases in which patients, many of them elderly and vulnerable, were not receiving adequate care - egTerminally-ill Burnett, who was suffering from pancreatic cancer, was left lying with his genitals exposed and covered in his own excrement.

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Flu jab warning as new strain emerges

(The Scotsman 22/11/2009)

DOCTORS urged people at risk of contracting swine flu to get vaccinated against the virus after five people were diagnosed with a strain resistant to Tamiflu. The advice came from Dr Roland Salmon, director of the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre at the National Public Health Service for Wales. He was speaking after it was announced that five patients at University Hospital, Cardiff, have been diagnosed with a strain resistant to the antiviral drug.

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Tamiflu-resistant swine flu to become more common

(World health - EU Monitor 21/11/2009)

Three out of five patients diagnosed with the Tamiflu-resistant strain remain in hospital today, after it was revealed they could be the world's first cases of person-to-person transmission of the resistant virus, the National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) said. Professor Nigel Dimmock, a virologist at the University of Warwick said: "This is just the beginning. You have got a lot of viruses and if you use Tamiflu at the level they are using it you get resistance."

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Mutation found in swine flu virus

(World health - EU Monitor 21/11/2009)

THE WHO says a mutation had been found in samples of the swine flu virus taken following the first two deaths from the pandemic in Norway. "The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has informed WHO of a mutation detected in three H1N1 viruses," the WHO said in a briefing note overnight. "The viruses were isolated from the first two fatal cases of pandemic influenza in the country and one patient with severe illness," it said, although it added that no further instances were found in tests.

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Childhood abuse 'quickens ageing'

(BBC 21/11/2009)

Physical or emotional abuse during childhood could speed up the body's ageing process, US research suggests. A team from Brown University focused on telomeres, the protective caps on the chromosomes that keep a cell's DNA stable but shorten with age. They found the telomeres of 31 people who had reported abuse as children tended to shorten more rapidly, speeding up cells' ageing process. Experts cautioned that the study needed to be replicated on a larger scale.

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Swine flu: Now drug-resistant strain spreads from one patient to another

(The Scotsman 21/11/2009)

HEALTH officials are probing the first British case of a drug-resistant strain of swine flu spreading from person to person. Doctors have already come across several strains of the virus that do not respond to anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu. But in a case at University Hospital College, Cardiff, the resistant strain appears to have spread from one person to another - the first time this has happened in Europe. It came as Scotland's swine flu death toll reached 40 yesterday.

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Plans for funding care in England could cost Scots dearly

(The Scotsman 21/11/2009)

THE SNP has warned that UK government proposals for free personal care in England could result in Scottish pensioners losing £70 a week benefit. Plans to cut Attendance Allowance, which is claimed by people over the age of 65 with disabilities, and ploughing the cash into English free care have been mooted by the UK government in its paper Shaping the Future of Care Together. One of the options in the consultation paper is scrapping disability benefits and putting the money into care services.

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Blind see again with bionic eye

(The Scotsman 21/11/2009)

BLIND people are being helped to see again with a "bionic" eye. Three Britons are among only 32 in the world taking part in a trial of the technology, which gave a 51-year-old man enough eyesight to read short words for the first time in his adult life. Another patient was able to see fireworks on Bonfire Night for the first time in 40 years. A third patient has also been able to recognise some letters.

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New swine flu cases may be dwindling in U.S.

(World health - EU Monitor 20/11/2009)

The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over. Officials also said they were investigating several troubling outbreaks of drug-resistant H1N1 but noted they were limited so far and that there were no indications yet the virus was mutating in a sustained way. The WHO said H1N1 flu was moving eastward across Europe and Asia after appearing to peak in parts of Western Europe and the US.

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HPA statement on possible transmission

(Health Protection Agency 20/11/2009)

The HPA is working with the Public Health Service of Wales to investigate a number of possible cases of person to person transmission of oseltamivir resistant swine flu. To date, a total of nine H1N1v confirmed cases have been reported amongst patients on a hospital ward in Wales. Five of these cases are known to be resistant to oseltamivir, one is sensitive and for three resistance status is presently unknown. The virus has emerged in a group of particularly vulnerable individuals.

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Drug resistant swine flu probed

(BBC 20/11/2009)

Health officials are investigating the possible person-to-person spread of a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu. The strain has infected a small number of patients at the University Hospital Wales, in Cardiff, all of whom had serious underlying health conditions. One patient apparently developed resistance to the antiviral drug, and the strain was then passed on to others at the hospital. If confirmed, this would be the first case of its kind in Europe.

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Swine flu death toll in Scotland reaches 40

(The Scotsman 20/11/2009)

ANOTHER swine flu death was announced today, bringing the death toll in Scotland to 40 since the outbreak began. The adult, who had underlying health problems, was from the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "Any death from H1N1 is a tragedy... "Fortunately this is a mild illness for most, but people with underlying health conditions are at greater risk of complications which is why we are prioritising the vaccine for this group."

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Misconceptions about sexual health are widespread

(BBC 20/11/2009)

One in four young people mistakenly believes it is impossible to get pregnant through having sex standing up, a survey shows. The Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families commissioned the poll to highlight misconceptions about safe sex. The poll, of 2,000 people aged 16-50, found 19% were unaware a woman could get pregnant while having a period. A similar number thought withdrawing before ejaculation was completely safe.

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Scientists make mad cow discovery

(BBC 20/11/2009)

Scientists at the University of Leeds say they have made a significant discovery which could help in the treatment of "mad cow disease". The team found a protein which assists in the development of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human form Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD). The protein Glypican-1 was found to cause other proteins in the nervous system to become abnormal. Professor Nigel Hooper said the find may also help to fight Alzheimer's.

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Thousands of Vicks spray recalled

(BBC 20/11/2009)

Procter & Gamble has announced it is recalling 120,000 bottles of Vicks Sinex nasal spray after small traces of bacteria were found in the product. Bottles shipped to the US, the UK and Germany are being recalled after traces of the B. cepacia bacteria were found at a German plant in Gross Gerau. The firm said no illnesses had been reported, but the bacteria can affect people with lung problems. It added that consumers who have the medication should no longer use it.

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NHS told to say sorry for errors

(BBC 20/11/2009)

The NHS should learn to say sorry to patients when mistakes are made, a health watchdog says. The National Patient Safety Agency, which monitors errors in England, said a simple apology can even reduce formal complaints and legal action. The group has also issued a number of tips to NHS trusts in a bid to create a more open culture about mistakes. The Action Against Medical Accidents patient group said "Being open when things go wrong" was important.

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New skin 'may help burns victims'

(BBC 20/11/2009)

French researchers say they have found a way of using human embryonic stem cells to create new skin which could help serious burns victims. They say the stem cells grew into fully formed human skin 12 weeks after being grafted on to mice. The researchers, writing in the Lancet journal, say the skin could solve the problems of rejection that burns patients currently face. One stem cell expert said they had made an important advance.

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'Enzyme clue' to breast tumours

(BBC 20/11/2009)

Scientists have identified an enzyme that is crucial for turning breast tissue into tumours, according to a study published in the journal Cell. The Institute of Cancer Research says blocking the enzyme lysyl oxidase (LOX) reduced the size and frequency of tumours in mice. They say LOX stiffens collagen, a major component of the supportive tissue in the breast. A cancer charity said the study added to knowledge about how tumours develop.

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Children under five to get swine flu jab as death toll rises to 39

(The Scotsman 20/11/2009)

HEALTHY Scots children under the age of five are to be given the swine flu jab. Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that the first under-fives would be offered the injection from mid-December. It is hoped that there will be enough vaccine to inoculate all 260,000 eligible children in Scotland by the new year. The health secretary took the step, which was in line with moves elsewhere in the UK, yesterday as the Scottish swine flu death toll reached 39.

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£1m project to cut cancer risk

(The Scotsman 20/11/2009)

ADULTS at risk of developing a form of cancer that claims the lives of more than 3,500 Scots a year are to be offered a focused programme of support to improve their health in a £1 million research project led by scientists at Dundee University. Men and women who could develop colorectal cancer will be given help to tackle a range of risk factors, including their body weight, diet and physical activity, in the hope that the changes will reduce the chances of developing the disease.

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Patients' confidential records on stolen ambulance laptop

(The Scotsman 20/11/2009)

THE confidential records of 600 NHS patients have been stolen after a laptop was taken from an ambulance headquarters. The laptop, which was stolen from the Scottish Ambulance Service headquarters in Morningside, Edinburgh, held the names, addresses and details of treatments for 600 patients. It is understood the information was protected by a password but was not encrypted. It was taken between 4:15pm on Tuesday and 7:30am on Wednesday.

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Too few Scots for own transplant organ pool

(The Scotsman 20/11/2009)

THE Scottish population is not large enough to provide the number of organs needed for transplant operations, and an independent Scotland would have to remain in the UK-wide pool of organ allocation, the Scottish Government has conceded. According to the latest consultation paper from the SNP's National Conversation, organ arrangements are one area of cross-border health co-operation that should continue if the Union is broken up.

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