RECENT NEWS

A study undertaken in Norway claims that breast screening is associated with a noticeable increase in mastectomy rates, despite women being told that screening reduces their risk of mastectomy.

Infectious intestinal disease (IID) now affects up to 17 million people in the UK annually. Rates in England have increased by nearly 50% since the early 1990s, according to Professor Sarah O’Brien from The University of Manchester, and the lead researcher on the biggest population study of its kind for 12 years.

Work has begun on new consulting rooms that will form part of a ‘one stop shop’ for neurologists and neurosurgeons in the centre of London.

Around 25% of women, surveyed by Liberate Cosmetic Surgery, claim to have started to first consider cosmetic surgery between the ages of 10 and 15 years-old.

Five pounds off the price of each bag of blood, the highest number of organs donated and a new 10-year strategy for stem cells, were just three of the achievements delivered by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in the past year.

The BMA has warned that staff grade and associate specialist (SAS) doctors, who work for extended periods as locums could be putting their career at risk due to loss of career progression or development.

Scientists in Canada have discovered that Alzheimer’s disease could be linked to a surplus of blood vessels in the brain. Researchers at the University of British Columbia studied brain tissue from mice bred to mimic Alzheimer’s, and found they had nearly double the number of capillaries compared to normal mice.

A new web portal has been launched, enabling patients, healthcare professionals and providers to exchange and use information and encourage patient selfmanagement.

An American study published in Stroke, a Journal of the American Heart Association, has found that the rate of hospitalisations from stroke during pregnancy has risen by 47% between 1995 and 2007.

A new report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) High Quality Women’s Health Care: A proposal for change proposes a significant change to the way NHS women’s health services are structured.

A new study, led by scientists at Imperial College London has found that gastric bypass surgery alters people’s food preferences so that they eat less high fat food.

Varian Medical Systems has been awarded a contract to supply eight TrueBeam treatment systems to hospitals in Scotland as part of a major nationwide procurement program.

New BMA guidance states that doctors have an obligation to take action if they believe vulnerable adults are being abused or neglected. The Department of Health commissioned the BMA to produce “Safeguarding vulnerable adults – a toolkit for general practitioners” because of a lack of clarity in this area.

MRSA bloodstream infections in the NHS have reached record low levels, with fewer than 100 infections recorded in a single month for the first time. The Health Protection Agency has published the monthly data for MRSA and Clostridium difficile for June 2011.

Robot-assisted surgery can overcome many of the difficulties posed by laparoscopic surgery in gynaecological procedures, according to a review published today in The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist.

The fourth annual report on the safer management of controlled drugs regulations has been published by The Care Quality Commission (CQC). The report finds that there has been progress, with many instances of good innovative practice in the management of and sharing of concerns about controlled drugs.

A study comparing health spending and mortality rates suggests that the NHS is one of the most cost-effective health systems in the world. Dr Colin Pritchard of Bournemouth University and Dr Mark Wallace of Latymer School, London, compared the mortality rates of 19 Western countries between 1979 and 2005.

Men’s chances of getting bowel cancer in Great Britain have doubled since the mid 70s – according to new Cancer Research UK figures. Their lifetime risk has increased from around one in 29 to around one in 15.

A recent “Tea and Coffee consumption and MRSA nasal carriage study” from Matheson et al highlighted how both tea and coffee are associated with a lower likelihood of carrying MRSA in the nasal cavity.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) quality standard is now available on the NICE website.