Get into Medicine UK
Archive for February 2012
3 mins exercise enough for fitness?
From the BBC: When I first read studies which suggested that I could make significant and measurable changes to my fitness by doing just three minutes of exercise a week, I was incredulous [says Dr Michael Mosley]. You get on an exercise bike, warm up by doing gentle cycling for a couple of minutes, then … Continue reading
TB rises again in Canary Wharf
From Bloomberg: Tuberculosis is staging a comeback in London, where some neighborhoods suffer infection rates found in African countries in which the disease is endemic. The number of cases surged 50 percent in the 10 years to 2009, according to a National Health Service agency… One hotspot is Tower Hamlets, a borough that draws together … Continue reading
Selective Abortion in the UK
From The Telegraph: Doctors at British clinics have been secretly filmed agreeing to terminate foetuses purely because they are either male or female. Clinicians admitted they were prepared to falsify paperwork to arrange the abortions even though it is illegal to conduct such “sex-selection” procedures. Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, said: “I’m extremely concerned to … Continue reading
Itemised Accounting in the NHS
From the Press Association, via Yahoo News: Proposals to issue yearly statements on people’s individual NHS healthcare costs have been voted down by MPs. Conservative MP and qualified GP Dr Phillip Lee put forward the plans in the Commons, arguing it was “time to tell it as it is, not as we would wish it … Continue reading
Defining Illness
From the Daily Mail: In an unsigned editorial in the influential medical journal The Lancet, experts argue that grief does not require psychiatrists and that ‘legitimising’ the treatment of grief with antidepressants ‘is not only dangerously simplistic, but also flawed.’ The debate follows a decision by the American Psychiatric Association to classify grief as a … Continue reading
Malarial Medical Boost
From Associated Press, via Yahoo News: German scientists have developed a new way to make a key malaria drug that they say could easily quadruple production and drop the price significantly, increasing the availability of treatment for a disease that kills hundreds of thousands every year. Chemists at the Max Planck Institute take the waste … Continue reading
The cost of drug treatment
From Reuters, via Yahoo News: Cash-strapped governments have slashed drug prices, racked up close to $20 billion (12.7 billion pounds) in unpaid bills for treatments and are becoming increasingly reluctant to pay for innovation. So disillusioned drugmakers are cutting back operations in Europe and launching more and more drugs elsewhere – trends that look set … Continue reading
Organ Donation
From the BBC: The number of organ donations has increased sharply in recent years but still lags a long way behind the number of people waiting for a transplant. The BMA says new types of donors may need to be considered, like brain dead patients kept alive on ventilators. And it calls for an opt-out … Continue reading
Alzheimer’s Breakthrough?
From the BBC: The exact cause of Alzheimer’s remains unknown, but one of the leading theories involves the formation of clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid. These damage and kill brain cells, eventually resulting in memory problems and the inability to think clearly. Clearing protein plaques is a major focus of Alzheimer’s research and drugs … Continue reading
Fracture healing in days?
From the Daily Mail: Scientists from the University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center used adult stem cells to produce a protein involved in bone healing and generation. They then incorporated them into a gel, combining the healing properties into something they labelled ‘fracture putty.’ Working with Dr John Peroni from the UGA College of Veterinary … Continue reading
