W Africa Ebola deaths 'pass 3,000'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 22:42

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has passed 3,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The latest figures indicate that more than 6,500 people are believed to have been infected in the region.

Liberia is the worst affected country, having recorded around 1,830 deaths linked to the latest outbreak.

The outbreak is the world's most deadly - US President Barack Obama has called it a "threat to global security".

Some studies have warned that the numbers of infected could rise to more than 20,000 by early November.

The report said two new areas, in Guinea and Liberia, have recorded their first confirmed cases of Ebola in the last seven days.

It also highlights the risk of infection for health workers trying to stem the outbreak.

It says 375 workers are known to have been infected, and that 211 have so far died from the virus.

The deaths and sickness have made it even more difficult for the already weak healthcare systems in the affected countries to cope with the outbreak.

There is a severe shortage of hospital beds, especially in Liberia.

The US is sending some 3,000 troops to help Liberia tackle the disease, and set up emergency medical facilities.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva
• Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 70%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no proven vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host

Ebola virus: Busting the myths

Sierra Leone last weekend enforced a three-day curfew in an attempt to quell the outbreak in the country.

During the curfew more than a million households were surveyed and 130 new cases discovered, the authorities say.

On Wednesday, Sierra Leone extended the quarantine area to three new districts, meaning more than a third of the country's six million people cannot move freely.

Some 600 people have died in Sierra Leone and a similar number in Guinea, where the outbreak was first confirmed in March.

Nigeria and Senegal, two other West Africa countries that have also been affected by the outbreak, have not recorded any new cases or deaths in the last few weeks, the latest WHO report says.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, US President Obama called for more urgent action in the response to the outbreak.

"There is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be," he said.

A new BBC Ebola programme with the latest news about the outbreak is broadcast at 19.50 GMT each weekday on the BBC World Service.

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15% of GP antibiotic courses 'fail'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 00:44 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Nearly one in seven antibiotic treatments given out by GPs for common infections over the last two decades in the UK have failed, researchers say.

The Cardiff University study assessed nearly 11m prescriptions handed out between 1991 and 2012, to establish the level of antibiotic resistance.

Overall researchers found the drugs failed in just under 15% of cases.

But they said the rise seen over the 22-year period - from 13.9% to 15.4% - was not as great as they had expected.

Report author Prof Craig Currie said while this was not quite the "cliff" that many people had feared, it was still concerning.

"Given the lack of new antibiotics being developed, the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics is very worrying indeed.

"There is a mistaken perception that antibiotic resistance is only a danger for hospital patients.

"We need to ensure that patients receive the appropriate medication of their condition and minimise any unnecessary or inappropriate treatment which could be fuelling resistance, prolonging illness and in some cases killing people."

'Huge concern'

During the study, which was funded by drugs firm Abbott Healthcare Products and is published in the British Medical Journal, researchers looked at patients given antibiotics for infections ranging from skin and ear complaints, to those affecting the chest, throat and sinuses.

To establish which prescriptions were failing, the team looked at which patients needed an alternative treatment within 30 days of the prescription being issued, or if the patient was admitted to hospital, or died with an infection-related illness.

This is not proof of resistance developing, but it is considered a reasonable way of estimating it.

The period which saw the biggest increase in antibiotic failure - 2000 to 2012 - was also the period when more patients began to be treated with the drugs.

Between those years the proportion of patients with infections who were given antibiotics, rose from 60% to 65%.

Edinburgh University infectious disease expert Prof Mark Woolhouse said the research was welcome because while antibiotic resistance was a "huge concern", there was a "paucity of hard data" available.

"We are increasingly reliant on a dwindling arsenal of drugs. That supports calls to develop new drugs but also, and probably even more importantly in the long term, to reduce usage and develop alternative therapies."

Prof Mark Fielder, of Kingston University, agreed, adding: "There is a continued need for education across the spectrum with both patients and medical professionals being aware of the importance of this issue."

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Heart disease warnings 'missed'

29 September 2014 Last updated at 00:00 By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Many adults in the UK are unaware of the risk factors for heart disease, according to a new poll.

While a third of people are worried about getting dementia or cancer, only 2% are afraid of coronary heart disease, a survey by the British Heart Foundation has found.

And one in ten adults confessed to not knowing how to look after their hearts.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is responsible for about 74,000 deaths in the UK each year.

About one in five men and one in eight women die from the condition.

Continue reading the main story

It's devastated the whole family. We didn't know there was anything wrong"

End Quote Gail Sullivan Mother of 43-year-old who died from coronary heart disease

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Your heart is the most vital organ in the body, but all too often we take it for granted.

"Despite being a largely preventable condition, coronary heart disease is still the UK's single biggest killer, causing unnecessary heartache for thousands of families."

As well as chest pain, the main symptoms of CHD are heart attacks and heart failure.

However, not everyone has the same symptoms and some people may not have any before CHD is diagnosed.

Risk factors include smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Gail Sullivan, from Oxted in Surrey, lost her son Daniel to the disease.

"At his age - 43 - he shouldn't have died the way he did and I am very passionate about trying to get this awareness across," she said.

"I don't want him to have died in vain. It's devastated the whole family. We didn't know there was anything wrong. There was no sign that he was ill whatsoever."

She said the call informing her that Daniel had had a heart attack remained "etched in my mind".

At the hospital she discovered he had collapsed at work with a cardiac arrest.

"They got his heart started, got him into the ambulance where he had another cardiac arrest, and then got him to the hospital and he had another cardiac arrest," she said.

"They got his heart started again and he was on life support for a couple of weeks.

"But they told us that his brain had died, and when they took away the machines he passed away on the Friday."

The doctors said that smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol had affected the health of Daniel's heart.

"When they say the silent killer, I now know what they mean," she said. "There were no signs of that. You wouldn't look at him and say, 'Oh gosh, Dan, you look really ill'. You would never have been able to tell."

The British Heart Foundation has issued 10 tips to prevent heart disease:

• Give up smoking
• If you're over 40, take up your free NHS health check
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Lead an active lifestyle
• Ditch the salt
• Eat your "five a day" of fruit and vegetables
• Cut down on saturated fat
• Read food labels to find out if something is healthy for you
• Don't drink too much alcohol
• Watch food portion sizes.

The poll was conducted by YouGov and included 1,010 men and 1,089 women.

Meanwhile the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on countries to take action on salt to cut deaths from heart disease. It wants governments to sign up to reducing global salt intake.

"If the target to reduce salt by 30% globally by 2025 is achieved, millions of lives can be saved from heart disease, stroke and related conditions," said director Dr Oleg Chestnov.

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Spleen rupture death 'preventable'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 16:53

An inquest has concluded a patient who died after being discharged from hospital with an undiagnosed ruptured spleen could have been saved.

John Moore-Robinson died at home in 2006 in Leicestershire after staff at Stafford Hospital failed to notice the severity of his injuries.

Coroner Catherine Mason concluded had staff done their job properly, the 20-year-old would have survived.

His family said the hospital was "in meltdown" at the time.

Mr Moore-Robinson, from Sileby, near Leicester, was admitted to the scandal-hit hospital after a mountain bike accident on Cannock Chase.

He later collapsed at home and died in Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Mrs Mason found six separate shortcomings at the hospital's A&E all of which contributed to his death.

She said: "The seriousness of Mr Moore-Robinson's condition was not fully appreciated and decisions in relation to his care were made on incomplete information as a result of poor communication, poor documentation, inadequate assessment, insufficient investigation and an oversight to consider medical notes that were available."

She added that on the "balance of probabilities the loss of his life could have been prevented".

Speaking after the hearing, his sister Kelly Hainsworth said it had been a "long eight years" but they were satisfied with the facts and accepted the findings.

'In meltdown'

His father, Frank, believes other lives could have been saved if his son's death had been properly investigated at the time.

"Stafford Hospital at the time was in meltdown," he said.

"Many, many people have lost their lives, including our son John, and that we can never forgive them for. It's been a hard road but one we have had to take."

The inquest heard that a paramedic told Stafford Hospital he believed Mr Moore-Robinson's condition was potentially life-threatening.

Still vomiting

But the patient was sent home with a diagnosis of bruised ribs after an x-ray showed he had not suffered any bone fractures.

Friends described him as confused and still vomiting and they had to use a wheelchair to get him to a waiting car.

Staff told the inquest they felt "bullied" by a four-hour target for patients' length of stay in A&E.

Mrs Mason concluded that Mr Moore-Robinson was not triaged properly and a nurse failed to communicate "obvious" and relevant information which meant he was treated by a junior doctor more than an hour after his arrival at Stafford Hospital.

The hearing was the second inquest into his death after the High Court overturned the original ruling following a campaign by his family.

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15% of GP antibiotic courses 'fail'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 00:44 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Nearly one in seven antibiotic treatments given out by GPs for common infections over the last two decades in the UK have failed, researchers say.

The Cardiff University study assessed nearly 11m prescriptions handed out between 1991 and 2012, to establish the level of antibiotic resistance.

Overall researchers found the drugs failed in just under 15% of cases.

But they said the rise seen over the 22-year period - from 13.9% to 15.4% - was not as great as they had expected.

Report author Prof Craig Currie said while this was not quite the "cliff" that many people had feared, it was still concerning.

"Given the lack of new antibiotics being developed, the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics is very worrying indeed.

"There is a mistaken perception that antibiotic resistance is only a danger for hospital patients.

"We need to ensure that patients receive the appropriate medication of their condition and minimise any unnecessary or inappropriate treatment which could be fuelling resistance, prolonging illness and in some cases killing people."

'Huge concern'

During the study, which was funded by drugs firm Abbott Healthcare Products and is published in the British Medical Journal, researchers looked at patients given antibiotics for infections ranging from skin and ear complaints, to those affecting the chest, throat and sinuses.

To establish which prescriptions were failing, the team looked at which patients needed an alternative treatment within 30 days of the prescription being issued, or if the patient was admitted to hospital, or died with an infection-related illness.

This is not proof of resistance developing, but it is considered a reasonable way of estimating it.

The period which saw the biggest increase in antibiotic failure - 2000 to 2012 - was also the period when more patients began to be treated with the drugs.

Between those years the proportion of patients with infections who were given antibiotics, rose from 60% to 65%.

Edinburgh University infectious disease expert Prof Mark Woolhouse said the research was welcome because while antibiotic resistance was a "huge concern", there was a "paucity of hard data" available.

"We are increasingly reliant on a dwindling arsenal of drugs. That supports calls to develop new drugs but also, and probably even more importantly in the long term, to reduce usage and develop alternative therapies."

Prof Mark Fielder, of Kingston University, agreed, adding: "There is a continued need for education across the spectrum with both patients and medical professionals being aware of the importance of this issue."

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W Africa Ebola deaths 'pass 3,000'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 22:42

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has passed 3,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The latest figures indicate that more than 6,500 people are believed to have been infected in the region.

Liberia is the worst affected country, having recorded around 1,830 deaths linked to the latest outbreak.

The outbreak is the world's most deadly - US President Barack Obama has called it a "threat to global security".

Some studies have warned that the numbers of infected could rise to more than 20,000 by early November.

The report said two new areas, in Guinea and Liberia, have recorded their first confirmed cases of Ebola in the last seven days.

It also highlights the risk of infection for health workers trying to stem the outbreak.

It says 375 workers are known to have been infected, and that 211 have so far died from the virus.

The deaths and sickness have made it even more difficult for the already weak healthcare systems in the affected countries to cope with the outbreak.

There is a severe shortage of hospital beds, especially in Liberia.

The US is sending some 3,000 troops to help Liberia tackle the disease, and set up emergency medical facilities.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva
• Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 70%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no proven vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host

Ebola virus: Busting the myths

Sierra Leone last weekend enforced a three-day curfew in an attempt to quell the outbreak in the country.

During the curfew more than a million households were surveyed and 130 new cases discovered, the authorities say.

On Wednesday, Sierra Leone extended the quarantine area to three new districts, meaning more than a third of the country's six million people cannot move freely.

Some 600 people have died in Sierra Leone and a similar number in Guinea, where the outbreak was first confirmed in March.

Nigeria and Senegal, two other West Africa countries that have also been affected by the outbreak, have not recorded any new cases or deaths in the last few weeks, the latest WHO report says.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, US President Obama called for more urgent action in the response to the outbreak.

"There is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be," he said.

A new BBC Ebola programme with the latest news about the outbreak is broadcast at 19.50 GMT each weekday on the BBC World Service.

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15% of GP antibiotic courses 'fail'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 00:44 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Nearly one in seven antibiotic treatments given out by GPs for common infections over the last two decades in the UK have failed, researchers say.

The Cardiff University study assessed nearly 11m prescriptions handed out between 1991 and 2012, to establish the level of antibiotic resistance.

Overall researchers found the drugs failed in just under 15% of cases.

But they said the rise seen over the 22-year period - from 13.9% to 15.4% - was not as great as they had expected.

Report author Prof Craig Currie said while this was not quite the "cliff" that many people had feared, it was still concerning.

"Given the lack of new antibiotics being developed, the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics is very worrying indeed.

"There is a mistaken perception that antibiotic resistance is only a danger for hospital patients.

"We need to ensure that patients receive the appropriate medication of their condition and minimise any unnecessary or inappropriate treatment which could be fuelling resistance, prolonging illness and in some cases killing people."

'Huge concern'

During the study, which was funded by drugs firm Abbott Healthcare Products and is published in the British Medical Journal, researchers looked at patients given antibiotics for infections ranging from skin and ear complaints, to those affecting the chest, throat and sinuses.

To establish which prescriptions were failing, the team looked at which patients needed an alternative treatment within 30 days of the prescription being issued, or if the patient was admitted to hospital, or died with an infection-related illness.

This is not proof of resistance developing, but it is considered a reasonable way of estimating it.

The period which saw the biggest increase in antibiotic failure - 2000 to 2012 - was also the period when more patients began to be treated with the drugs.

Between those years the proportion of patients with infections who were given antibiotics, rose from 60% to 65%.

Edinburgh University infectious disease expert Prof Mark Woolhouse said the research was welcome because while antibiotic resistance was a "huge concern", there was a "paucity of hard data" available.

"We are increasingly reliant on a dwindling arsenal of drugs. That supports calls to develop new drugs but also, and probably even more importantly in the long term, to reduce usage and develop alternative therapies."

Prof Mark Fielder, of Kingston University, agreed, adding: "There is a continued need for education across the spectrum with both patients and medical professionals being aware of the importance of this issue."

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Spleen rupture death 'preventable'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 16:53

An inquest has concluded a patient who died after being discharged from hospital with an undiagnosed ruptured spleen could have been saved.

John Moore-Robinson died at home in 2006 in Leicestershire after staff at Stafford Hospital failed to notice the severity of his injuries.

Coroner Catherine Mason concluded had staff done their job properly, the 20-year-old would have survived.

His family said the hospital was "in meltdown" at the time.

Mr Moore-Robinson, from Sileby, near Leicester, was admitted to the scandal-hit hospital after a mountain bike accident on Cannock Chase.

He later collapsed at home and died in Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Mrs Mason found six separate shortcomings at the hospital's A&E all of which contributed to his death.

She said: "The seriousness of Mr Moore-Robinson's condition was not fully appreciated and decisions in relation to his care were made on incomplete information as a result of poor communication, poor documentation, inadequate assessment, insufficient investigation and an oversight to consider medical notes that were available."

She added that on the "balance of probabilities the loss of his life could have been prevented".

Speaking after the hearing, his sister Kelly Hainsworth said it had been a "long eight years" but they were satisfied with the facts and accepted the findings.

'In meltdown'

His father, Frank, believes other lives could have been saved if his son's death had been properly investigated at the time.

"Stafford Hospital at the time was in meltdown," he said.

"Many, many people have lost their lives, including our son John, and that we can never forgive them for. It's been a hard road but one we have had to take."

The inquest heard that a paramedic told Stafford Hospital he believed Mr Moore-Robinson's condition was potentially life-threatening.

Still vomiting

But the patient was sent home with a diagnosis of bruised ribs after an x-ray showed he had not suffered any bone fractures.

Friends described him as confused and still vomiting and they had to use a wheelchair to get him to a waiting car.

Staff told the inquest they felt "bullied" by a four-hour target for patients' length of stay in A&E.

Mrs Mason concluded that Mr Moore-Robinson was not triaged properly and a nurse failed to communicate "obvious" and relevant information which meant he was treated by a junior doctor more than an hour after his arrival at Stafford Hospital.

The hearing was the second inquest into his death after the High Court overturned the original ruling following a campaign by his family.

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W Africa Ebola deaths 'pass 3,000'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 22:42

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has passed 3,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The latest figures indicate that more than 6,500 people are believed to have been infected in the region.

Liberia is the worst affected country, having recorded around 1,830 deaths linked to the latest outbreak.

The outbreak is the world's most deadly - US President Barack Obama has called it a "threat to global security".

Some studies have warned that the numbers of infected could rise to more than 20,000 by early November.

The report said two new areas, in Guinea and Liberia, have recorded their first confirmed cases of Ebola in the last seven days.

It also highlights the risk of infection for health workers trying to stem the outbreak.

It says 375 workers are known to have been infected, and that 211 have so far died from the virus.

The deaths and sickness have made it even more difficult for the already weak healthcare systems in the affected countries to cope with the outbreak.

There is a severe shortage of hospital beds, especially in Liberia.

The US is sending some 3,000 troops to help Liberia tackle the disease, and set up emergency medical facilities.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva
• Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 70%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no proven vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host

Ebola virus: Busting the myths

Sierra Leone last weekend enforced a three-day curfew in an attempt to quell the outbreak in the country.

During the curfew more than a million households were surveyed and 130 new cases discovered, the authorities say.

On Wednesday, Sierra Leone extended the quarantine area to three new districts, meaning more than a third of the country's six million people cannot move freely.

Some 600 people have died in Sierra Leone and a similar number in Guinea, where the outbreak was first confirmed in March.

Nigeria and Senegal, two other West Africa countries that have also been affected by the outbreak, have not recorded any new cases or deaths in the last few weeks, the latest WHO report says.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, US President Obama called for more urgent action in the response to the outbreak.

"There is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be," he said.

A new BBC Ebola programme with the latest news about the outbreak is broadcast at 19.50 GMT each weekday on the BBC World Service.

Have you been affected by the Ebola outbreak? You can send us your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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15% of GP antibiotic courses 'fail'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 00:44 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Nearly one in seven antibiotic treatments given out by GPs for common infections over the last two decades in the UK have failed, researchers say.

The Cardiff University study assessed nearly 11m prescriptions handed out between 1991 and 2012, to establish the level of antibiotic resistance.

Overall researchers found the drugs failed in just under 15% of cases.

But they said the rise seen over the 22-year period - from 13.9% to 15.4% - was not as great as they had expected.

Report author Prof Craig Currie said while this was not quite the "cliff" that many people had feared, it was still concerning.

"Given the lack of new antibiotics being developed, the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics is very worrying indeed.

"There is a mistaken perception that antibiotic resistance is only a danger for hospital patients.

"We need to ensure that patients receive the appropriate medication of their condition and minimise any unnecessary or inappropriate treatment which could be fuelling resistance, prolonging illness and in some cases killing people."

'Huge concern'

During the study, which was funded by drugs firm Abbott Healthcare Products and is published in the British Medical Journal, researchers looked at patients given antibiotics for infections ranging from skin and ear complaints, to those affecting the chest, throat and sinuses.

To establish which prescriptions were failing, the team looked at which patients needed an alternative treatment within 30 days of the prescription being issued, or if the patient was admitted to hospital, or died with an infection-related illness.

This is not proof of resistance developing, but it is considered a reasonable way of estimating it.

The period which saw the biggest increase in antibiotic failure - 2000 to 2012 - was also the period when more patients began to be treated with the drugs.

Between those years the proportion of patients with infections who were given antibiotics, rose from 60% to 65%.

Edinburgh University infectious disease expert Prof Mark Woolhouse said the research was welcome because while antibiotic resistance was a "huge concern", there was a "paucity of hard data" available.

"We are increasingly reliant on a dwindling arsenal of drugs. That supports calls to develop new drugs but also, and probably even more importantly in the long term, to reduce usage and develop alternative therapies."

Prof Mark Fielder, of Kingston University, agreed, adding: "There is a continued need for education across the spectrum with both patients and medical professionals being aware of the importance of this issue."

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Curry spice 'helps brain self-heal'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 00:07 By Smitha Mundasad Health reporter, BBC News

A spice commonly found in curries may boost the brain's ability to heal itself, according to a report in the journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.

The German study suggests a compound found in turmeric could encourage the growth of nerve cells thought to be part of the brain's repair kit.

Scientists say this work, based in rats, may pave the way for future drugs for strokes and Alzheimer's disease.

But they say more trials are needed to see whether this applies to humans.

Continue reading the main story

People shouldn't take this as a sign to stock up on supplies of turmeric for the spice rack"

End Quote Laura Phipps Alzheimer's Research UK

Spice injection

Researchers from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Julich, Germany, studied the effects of aromatic-turmerone - a compound found naturally in turmeric.

Rats were injected with the compound and their brains were then scanned.

Particular parts of the brain, known to be involved in nerve cell growth, were seen to be more active after the aromatic-turmerone infusion.

Scientists say the compound may encourage a proliferation of brain cells.

In a separate part of the trial, researchers bathed rodent neural stem cells (NSCs) in different concentrations of aromatic-tumerone extract.

NSCs have the ability to transform into any type of brain cell and scientists suggest they could have a role in repair after damage or disease.

Dr Maria Adele Rueger, who was part of the research team, said: "In humans and higher developed animals their abilities do not seem to be sufficient to repair the brain but in fish and smaller animals they seem to work well."

The research found the higher the concentration of aromatic-turmerone, the greater the growth of the NSCs.

And the cells bathed in the turmeric compound seemed to specialise into certain types of brain cells more rapidly too.

Dr Rueger added: "It is interesting that it might be possible to boost the effectiveness of the stem cells with aromatic-turmerone.

"And it is possible this in turn can help boost repair in the brain."

She is now considering whether human trials may be feasible.

'Complex disease'

Dr Laura Phipps at the charity, Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It is not clear whether the results of this research would translate to people, or whether the ability to generate new brain cells in this way would benefit people with Alzheimer's disease.

"We'd need to see further studies to fully understand this compound's effects in the context of a complex disease like Alzheimer's, and until then people shouldn't take this as a sign to stock up on supplies of turmeric for the spice rack."

Aromatic-turmerone is the lesser-studied of two major compounds in turmeric that may have an effect on the human body.

Previous studies suggest the other compound, curcumin, could reduce inflammation in the body and have anti-cancer benefits.

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Talk therapy 'best for social phobia'

26 September 2014 Last updated at 00:49

Talking therapy is more effective than pills in treating social anxiety disorder, a study has found.

Social phobia - one of the most common anxiety disorders - is a persistent fear of social situations.

A review of 101 clinical trials found talking therapies were more effective and more long lasting than medication.

Medication should be used only when psychological treatments are turned down, said the UK/US team behind the study in The Lancet Psychiatry.

"Social anxiety is more than just shyness," said Dr Evan Mayo-Wilson, of the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a co-researcher on the study.

"The good news from our study is that social anxiety is treatable. Now that we know what works best, we need to improve access to psychotherapy for those who are suffering."

The study, involving more than 13,000 participants, compared different types of psychological therapy with medications such as antidepressants and benzodiazepines.

It found cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) on a one-to-one basis was the most effective.

CBT is a talking therapy that can help people manage their problems by changing the way they think and behave.

The research was carried out in collaboration with Oxford University and University College London.

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Skirt size 'can flag up cancer risk'

25 September 2014 Last updated at 00:03 By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Going up several skirt sizes in midlife could be a warning sign of increased cancer risk, research suggests.

Women who went up a skirt size every decade after their mid-20s had a 33% greater risk of breast cancer after the menopause, say researchers at University College London.

Watching your skirt size from your mid-20s onwards could be a simple way to track weight gain, they told BMJ Open.

Obesity is a known risk factor for cancer, particularly midriff fat.

Continue reading the main story

Women are more likely to remember their skirt size when they were younger than their BMI"

End Quote Simon Vincent Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Prof Usha Menon of the Department of Women's Cancer, who led the study, told BBC News: "If skirt size could be confirmed by others as a good predictor of breast cancer risk in older women, this would be a very simple and easy way to monitor weight gain."

Lifestyle factors

The study tracked more than 90,000 women in their 50s and 60s living in England.

During the three-year follow-up period, 1,090 women developed breast cancer.

The researchers found that a unit increase in UK skirt size every 10 years (for example from 12 to 14) between 25 and post-menopausal age was linked to a 33% increased risk of breast cancer.

Going up two skirt sizes in the same period was associated with a 77% greater risk, they report.

Commenting on the research, Simon Vincent of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: "We know that 40% of breast cancers could be prevented by changes to lifestyle such as being regularly active and maintaining a healthy weight.

"This study highlights an easy way to monitor your weight gain over time. Women are more likely to remember their skirt size when they were younger than their BMI."

Limitations

The researchers said the study had some limitations - it relied on women being able to accurately recall their skirt size in their 20s.

But if the findings are confirmed, it could give women a simple and easy-to-understand message about the risks of obesity.

Tom Stansfeld of Cancer Research UK said the study could be unreliable as dress sizes had changed over the years and it relied on a woman being able to remember her skirt size several decades earlier.

"Evidence tells us the most important things you can do to reduce breast cancer risk, especially after the menopause, is to keep a healthy weight, be physically active as often as you can, and cut down on alcohol," he said.

"Keeping a healthy weight is important to help reduce breast cancer risk after the menopause, and looking at skirt sizes to help women understand this is interesting, but knowing if you're overweight is more important."

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Adopted family can check medical past

25 September 2014 Last updated at 13:07 By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

The relatives of adopted people will have more rights to find out about their birth family - so they can find out information such as inherited medical conditions.

The rules on sharing such information are being changed by the government to come into effect from November.

Relatives wanting to gather such information would use an intermediary adoption agency.

Families minister Edward Timpson said it was a "positive change".

A Department for Education spokeswoman said that the rule changes were about balancing the right of descendants of adopted people to know about their family history with the right to privacy for individuals.

Health risks

It will mean that blood relatives of someone who has been adopted can ask for information about previous generations of their family, either living or dead.

This could reveal useful information such as genetic medical conditions or patterns of health risks, such as heart problems or types of cancer.

It could also lead to genealogical, family history information for the descendants of adopted people.

Where there is no contact with the birth family, or where a parent or grandparent does not want to be identified, information can be given anonymously, says the Department for Education.

Adoption agencies will be the contact points for requests and the sharing of information.

Such services are available to people who have been adopted, but this rule change will extend the right to the wider family, including grandchildren, partners and adoptive relatives.

Julia Feast of the British Association for Fostering and Adoption welcomed the plan.

"We are very pleased that the government has extended the rights of descendants and other relatives to access an intermediary service whilst ensuring that the adopted person's rights are not overlooked and will be at the centre of the decision making."

Mr Timpson said: "It's right that descendants and other relatives of adopted adults are able to access important information, such as medical records or genetic health conditions, which could impact upon how they live their life today.

"They should also be able to find out about important events from their past, as well as make contact with family members if they wish."

But it would still keep "important safeguards in place to protect the right to a private family life for those who were adopted," said the minister.

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Sierra Leone widens Ebola quarantine

25 September 2014 Last updated at 13:27

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Umaru Fofana is in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has widened a quarantine to include another one million people in an attempt to curb the spread of Ebola.

The northern districts of Port Loko and Bombali, and Moyamba in the south, will in effect be sealed off immediately.

Nearly 600 people have died of the virus in Sierra Leone and two eastern districts have been isolated since the beginning of August.

The move follows a three-day nationwide lockdown that ended on Sunday night.

New figures released by the UN World Health Organization show that 2,917 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea worst affected.

Two eastern districts have already been isolated and the extension of the indefinite quarantine means more than a third of Sierra Leone's 6.1 million population now finds itself unable to move freely.

During Sierra Leone's three-day curfew, more than a million households were surveyed and 130 new cases discovered, the authorities say.

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Abba Abashi, Liberian-Nigerian student: "My mum caught me crying"

President Koroma said the move had been a success but had exposed "areas of greater challenges", which was why other areas were being quarantined.

Only people delivering essential services can enter and circulate within areas under quarantine.

Skills shortage:

• Liberia with a 4.2m population: 51 doctors; 978 nurses and midwives; 269 pharmacists

• Sierra Leone with a 6m population: 136 doctors; 1,017 nurses and midwives; 114 pharmacists

Source: Afri-Dev.Info

Ebola drains weak health systems

In a televised address, the president acknowledged that the blockade would "pose great difficulties" for people.

"[But] the life of everyone and the survival of our country take precedence over these difficulties," he said.

According to WHO, the situation nationally in Sierra Leone continues to deteriorate with a sharp increase in the number of newly reported cases in the capital, Freetown, and its neighbouring districts of Port Loko, Bombali, and Moyamba, which are now under quarantine.

Country	Existing bed capacity	Newly funded beds	Extra beds still required
Source: WHO, 24 September 2014
Guinea	180	0	40
Liberia	315	440	1,550
Sierra Leone	323	297	532

The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Freetown says Port Loko is where two of the country's major iron ore mining companies operate and the restrictions are likely to hamper business.

The WHO said despite efforts to deploy more health workers and open new Ebola treatment centres in the worst-affected countries, there was still a significant lack of beds in Sierra Leone and Liberia, with more than 2,000 needed.

The situation in Guinea appeared to be stabilising, with up to 100 new confirmed cases reported in each of the past five weeks, but it was still of grave concern, it said.

A high-level meeting is due be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York about the Ebola crisis.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva
• Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 70%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no proven vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host

Ebola virus: busting the myths

A new BBC Ebola programme with the latest news about the outbreak is broadcast at 19.50 GMT each weekday on the BBC World Service.

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Ebola death rates 70% - WHO study

23 September 2014 Last updated at 17:45 By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

New figures suggest 70% of those infected with Ebola in West Africa have died, higher than previously reported, says the World Health Organization.

Ebola infections will treble to 20,000 by November if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up, the UN agency has warned.

In the worst case scenario, cases in two nations could reach 1.4 million in January, according to a US estimate.

Experts said the US numbers were "somewhat pessimistic''.

The world's largest outbreak of Ebola has caused 2,800 deaths so far, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria were "pretty much contained", said the WHO.

In other developments:

• More than 160 NHS staff have volunteered for UK efforts to help in the outbreak.
• Chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, confirmed that the British nurse who survived Ebola, William Pooley, has volunteered to give blood that could help treat patients.

• The Sierra Leone army has closed the country's border with Guinea and Liberia to vehicle traffic in a bid to control the spread of Ebola.
• British military and humanitarian staff have arrived in Freetown to oversee the construction of the UK's medical facility and assist with the response to the outbreak.

Scientists have warned that swift action is needed to curb the exponential climb in the Ebola outbreak.

Continue reading the main story

• 1,578 Liberia

• 632 Guinea

• 593 Sierra Leone

• 8 Nigeria

Getty

Two new estimates suggest that cases of Ebola could soar dramatically in the three countries with the majority of cases.

Projections published in The New England Journal of Medicine predict that by early November there will have been nearly 20,000 cases.

The analysis of confirmed cases also suggests death rates are higher than previously reported at about 70% of all cases, rather than 50%.

Dr Christopher Dye, Director of Strategy for WHO, said unless control measures improved quickly "these three countries will soon be reporting thousands of cases and deaths each week, projections that are similar to those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)".

The CDC said that there could be up to 21,000 reported and unreported cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone alone by the end of this month.

In predictions released on Tuesday, the US health agency said cases could reach as many as 1.4 million by mid-January, if efforts to control the outbreak are not scaled up.

But experts cautioned that the numbers seemed "somewhat pessimistic'' and did not account for infection control efforts already under way.

Drug trials

Meanwhile, The Wellcome Trust charity has announced that experimental drugs will be tested in West Africa for the first time. They include the drug ZMapp, which has been given to a handful of infected health workers.

Dr Peter Horby, of the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford, said the first trials could begin in West Africa as early as November.

"We want to evaluate these carefully, properly, in affected countries in West Africa," he told the BBC.

"For the next one or two weeks we'll be doing site assessments and we'll be working with the WHO on identifying which drugs to prioritise, and then there'll be a number of steps in setting up the systems - getting ethical approval through the countries and getting community participation and agreement to run the trials."

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Breath test for TB developed

24 September 2014 Last updated at 10:37 By Michael Eyre Science reporter

Researchers have developed the first breath test for TB in the laboratory.

It provides rapid information on drug resistance that takes up to six weeks using standard methods, US scientists report in the journal, Nature Communications.

The bacteria emit a unique gas signature within 10 minutes of exposure to an inhaled antibiotic in rabbits.

TB infects 8.6m people each year worldwide and kills 1.3m, second only to HIV.

Early diagnosis and treatment are a priority in the global fight against TB, according to the World Health Organization.

Continue reading the main story

Optimally treating somebody the best you can at the time of that single encounter, so someone can go home with the right set of tablets, would be really, really useful"

End Quote Dr Graham Timmin Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico

The new research used an inhaled form of isoniazid - an antibiotic commonly used to treat the disease - which is activated by a TB enzyme.

The test exploits the fact that this enzyme is unique to TB, said Dr Graham Timmins, Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico, US, who led the research.

"We realised that we could actually look at the conversion of isoniazid to its active form by monitoring one of the labelled gases that's given off during its activation," he explained.

The researchers gave a special molecularly-labelled form of isoniazid to laboratory rabbits.

In the presence of TB, labelled nitrogen gas was released from the lungs and detected by a machine called a mass spectrometer.

A positive result indicates that TB bugs are present and suggests they are susceptible to isoniazid.

Treatment options

TB is very difficult to treat, requiring at least six months of treatment with multiple drugs.

Failure to complete treatment has contributed to the rise of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), accounting for 30% of cases in some countries.

For many years diagnosis of TB relied on a lengthy wait for the bacteria to grow in a culture of the patient's sputum.

"If you do it by culture, it can take a month to six weeks before you get a result," said Dr Timmins.

In the last few years a new DNA detection technique called GeneXpert has been endorsed by the World Health Organization.

From a sample of sputum it can detect whether a sample contains TB and whether it is is resistant to one of the key drugs, rifampicin, in about three hours.

But for full drug resistance information the patient has to wait longer.

"Optimally treating somebody the best you can at the time of that single encounter, so someone can go home with the right set of tablets, would be really, really useful," said Dr Timmins.

The new breath test samples the whole lung for what is hoped will be greater sensitivity, in a wider range of patients, with results available almost instantly.

'Clever idea'

"It's a clever idea," said Dr Ruth McNerney, senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The test could "add a bit more certainty" to the diagnosis of MDR-TB, and "it's worth pursuing, definitely," she said.

At present the breath test only detects isoniazid sensitivity. It will therefore need to be used in combination with other tests.

"This is just the start of the program we want to instigate," said Dr Timmins.

The next step will be to show that the tests work in humans in a clinical setting.

"Lots of good ideas fail when you put them into the clinic," conceded Dr Timmins.

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Labour 'would revive shattered NHS'

24 September 2014 Last updated at 12:55

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Andy Burnham says he is serving notice on Cameron and Clegg, with the election being a day for reckoning for the NHS.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has said Labour will put "people before profit" in the NHS, as he promised to "rescue a shattered service".

He told the Labour conference its blueprint for an NHS "personal to you and your family" would be at the centre of its general election campaign.

Terminally ill patients would have the right to free palliative care at home.

Labour has said it will inject £2.5bn into the NHS to pay for 36,000 more GPs, nurses and other professionals.

On Tuesday, Ed Miliband announced plans for a "time for care" fund to pay for 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs, 5,000 more care workers and 3,000 midwives by 2020 - paid for by a crackdown on corporate tax loopholes, a "mansion tax" and a levy on cigarette makers.

Mr Burnham said the one of the first acts of a Labour government would be to repeal the coalition's re-organisation of the NHS in England to stop what he said was its "dismantling".

'Election battle'

A Labour government would reinstate the NHS as "preferred provider" of services and ensure hospitals worked together rather than in competition with each other, he told delegates.

"We will free the NHS from David Cameron's market... The market is not the answer to 21st Century health and care."

Next year's election, he argued, would be a "battle for the soul" of the NHS.

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Ed Miliband announced £2.5bn cash pledge for the NHS

"So today we serve notice on David Cameron and Nick Clegg: Thursday 7th May 2015 - your day of reckoning on the NHS.

"A reckoning for trashing the public's most prized asset without their permission. And a reckoning for a ruinous reorganisation that has dragged it down and left it on the brink."

While the NHS would "never be for sale" under Labour, he said "radical" structural change was needed if it was to meet the growing demands placed on it in a time of austerity.

A future Labour government would pursue the full integration of health and social care services, a move which could save billions, put social care on an equal footing and "complete the vision" of former Labour minister Aneurin Bevan, regarded as the architect of the NHS.

Carers' rights

Labour, he said, would address the "ever-increasing hospitalisation" of older people by transforming all hospital trusts and NHS bodies into integrated care organisations.

"It makes no sense to cut simple support in people's homes only to spend thousands keeping them in hospital. We can't afford it. It will break the NHS."

As part of a shake-up of palliative care, he said patients would be given the right to die at home "where clinically possible".

Up to 60,000 people on the "end of life register" could potentially be offered free care at home in their final few months, starting with those with substantial social care needs.

He also announced new rights for carers, including ring-fenced funding for a respite break, the right to an annual health check and assistance with parking charges.

But BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle said it was "not yet clear" what Labour's £2.5bn pledge would mean for the NHS, given the coalition government had actually increased the budget by a similar amount in cash terms.

For the Conservatives, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Mr Burnham failed to mention NHS failures - including the Mid-Staffordshire scandal - under the last Labour government.

"Andy Burnham talked about NHS privatisation that isn't happening," he tweeted.

"Less than five minutes after criticising the Health and Social Care Act, Burnham promises a reorganisation of the NHS."

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Go TV-free to fight fat, says NICE

22 September 2014 Last updated at 23:55 By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Adults and children should consider having TV-free days or limiting viewing to no more than two hours a day under new proposals to tackle obesity.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendations also include avoiding drinks with added sugar and limiting takeaways.

The draft guidance, the first on the subject since 2006, is aimed at helping people maintain a healthy weight.

Obesity rates nearly doubled over the past 10 years in England.

Prof Mike Kelly, director of the Centre for Public Health at NICE, said a healthier diet and being more physically active was important for everyone, not just those who were already overweight or obese.

"The general rule for maintaining a healthy weight is that energy intake through food and drink should not exceed energy output from daily activity," he said.

"We all know we should probably take the stairs rather than the lift, cut down on TV time, eat more healthily and drink less alcohol.

"But it can be difficult to know the most useful changes that we can make in terms of our weight."

Lost generation

The guidelines make a number of recommendations that aim to ensure the advice given about maintaining a healthy weight is more specific and based on real evidence.

There are also new recommendations encouraging people to monitor their weight and activity levels, using apps or regular weigh-in sessions.

The draft suggestions include:

• Walking or cycling to school or work
• Reducing TV viewing with strategies such as TV-free days or setting a limit of no more than two hours a day in front of the TV screen
• Cutting down on calorific foods, such as fried food, biscuits, sweets and full-fat cheese
• Adopting a Mediterranean diet high in vegetables, fruit, beans and pulses, whole grains, fish and olive oil
• Avoiding drinks sweetened with sugar, including fizzy drinks, sports drinks and squash
• Limiting the amount of fast food and takeaways
• Limiting the amount of alcohol consumed, as alcoholic drinks are a source of extra calories

Last month, health leaders called for an emergency taskforce to be set up to tackle childhood obesity in England.

In an open letter to the chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, they said "an entire generation is being destroyed by a diet of junk food and sugary drinks".

And last week, the head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, said obesity was "the new smoking" in terms of the impact on health and the cost to the NHS.

A quarter of adults - up from 15% 20 years ago - and one in five schoolchildren is obese, figures show.

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Children 'failed in early years'

23 September 2014 Last updated at 07:28 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

The future prospects of children in England are being hampered because society fails them in the early years, a leading health expert says.

Government adviser on health inequality Sir Michael Marmot highlighted data suggesting half of five-year-olds were not ready for school.

He said high levels of deprivation and a lack of quality services and support for parents were holding children back.

But ministers said investing in the early years was a priority.

Since the mid-1990s, the proportion of national wealth being spent on the under-fives has more than doubled, although spending has dropped slightly in recent years.

But Sir Michael, who is director of the University College London's Institute of Health Equity and led a ground-breaking review of health inequalities for the government in 2010, said the development of children in England was still lagging behind that of many other Western countries.

Figures published last year by the Department of Education indicated 52% of children had "good development" at the end of reception year. For those getting free school meals, the figure was 36%.

The data is based on a whole range of factors, including emotional, social, physical and academic measures.

Children were expected to meet goals such as being able to count to 20, go to the toilet on their own, read and write simple sentences and speak using past, present and future tenses.

'Failure'

Sir Michael also reviewed other sources of information covering employment, wellbeing, life expectancy and income.

He said while there had been a slight narrowing in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas, serious problems still existed.

In particular, he highlighted data indicating nearly a quarter of households were living below the minimum income standards - a rise of a fifth in three years.

Sir Michael said the current situation was "unacceptable" and represented a "failure", as development at aged five was critical in determining an individual's life chances.

"When we first looked at these figures, we assumed there must be something wrong with the measurement.

"How can it be the case in England, one of the richest countries in the world with our long history of being a brainy country, that only 52% of children can have a good level of development?"

He said England had to do more to provide parenting support, such as Sure Start centres, and better access to subsidised child care to allow parents to work and lift themselves out of poverty.

"In looking at children's development, you have got to look at children, parenting, the circumstances in which parenting takes place - the conditions of parents' lives - and the general social context. Good services make a difference," he added.

A Department for Education spokesman said extra money was being put into early years.

"No child should start school behind their peers. This is why our plan for education is providing flexible, affordable and good quality childcare.

"We are raising the status and quality of the early years workforce by introducing rigorous new qualifications so practitioners are highly skilled and can help all children reach the expected level of development."

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'Ebola death rates 70%' study shows

23 September 2014 Last updated at 14:49 By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Ebola infections will treble to 20,000 by November if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up, the World Health Organization has warned.

A new analysis suggests about 70% of those infected have died, higher than the 50% previously reported.

There have been 2,800 deaths so far and the disease remains "a public health emergency of international concern", the UN agency said.

Trials of experimental drugs are being fast tracked in West Africa.

And more than 160 NHS staff have volunteered for UK efforts to help in the outbreak.

Continue reading the main story

The risk of continued epidemic expansion and the prospect of endemic EVD in West Africa call for the most forceful implementation of present control measures and for the rapid development and deployment of new drugs and vaccines"

End Quote Dr Christopher Dye WHO

UK staff will be based at a 62 bed treatment centre in Sierra Leone, said chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies.

And she confirmed at a meeting of UK experts in London that the British nurse who survived Ebola, William Pooley, has volunteered to give blood that could help treat patients.

Forward projections

Meanwhile, more information on the spread and likely scale of the epidemic has emerged.

Projections published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest by early November there will have been nearly 20,000 cases.

A new analysis of confirmed cases suggests death rates are higher than previously reported at about 70% of all cases.

And WHO scientists said numbers were predicted to rise exponentially, raising the possibility that the disease could become endemic [regularly found] in West Africa.

Nearly all of the deaths in the world's worst Ebola outbreak have been recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Dr Christopher Dye, Director of Strategy for WHO, said projections suggest "unless control measures - including improvements in contract tracing, adequate case isolation, increased quality of care and capacity for clinical management, greater community engagement, and support from international partners - improve quickly, these three countries will soon be reporting thousands of cases and deaths each week".

Dr Dye, co-author of the study, called for "the most forceful implementation of present control measures and for the rapid development and deployment of new drugs and vaccines".

It came as The Wellcome Trust charity announced that experimental drugs would be tested in West Africa for the first time.

Several drugs are under development, but they have not been fully tested and most are in very short supply.

They include the drug ZMapp, which has been given to a handful of infected health workers.

Ethical issues

Dr Peter Horby, of the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford, said the first trials could begin in West Africa as early as November.

"We want to evaluate these carefully, properly, in affected countries in West Africa," he told the BBC.

"For the next one or two weeks we'll be doing site assessments and we'll be working with the WHO on identifying which drugs to prioritise, and then there'll be a number of steps in setting up the systems - getting ethical approval through the countries and getting community participation and agreement to run the trials.

"Currently our wish is that we would hope to be able to enrol some patients sometime in November - that would be extremely quick by most clinical trial standards."

Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said therapeutics alone were not an answer.

"The answer really is public health interventions," he said. "But I do think vaccines and drugs are going to play a role."

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NHS whistleblowing 'problems persist'

22 September 2014 Last updated at 01:29 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Whistleblowers still face real problems in speaking out in the health service - despite the push to create a more open culture, campaigners say.

Promoting whistleblowing was a key recommendation of the public inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal.

A number of steps have since been taken in England, but Patients First warned that a "culture of fear" still existed.

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Dr Kim Holt explains that whistleblowing is an "ongoing issue" within the NHS.

It has produced a dossier of 70 cases, highlighting problems like bullying and mismanagement of complaints.

The document is being handed in as part of Patients First's submission to an independent review of whistleblowing, which was set up by the Department of Health in England and is being led by Sir Robert Francis, who was in charge of the Stafford public inquiry.

Gagging orders

Nearly half the cases are continuing, but Patients First said all had suffered some loss either professionally, personally or financially.

In 79% of cases, the whistleblower had experienced bullying and in a fifth of cases the individual had run out of money or was unable to access legal advice, the dossier - which also included some Scottish cases - said.

It concluded there was a "real and continuing problem over the treatment of those who raise concerns".

The warning comes after a range of measures were put in place to try to encourage whistleblowing.

Ministers have spoken out about the use of "gagging orders", while the Nursing and Midwifery Council has issued new guidelines to help staff speak out.

A national whistleblowers' telephone hotline has also been established and the government is now introducing a "duty of candour" to force the NHS to be open and honest about mistakes.

But Patients First chairwoman Dr Kim Holt said: "There has not been any real progress. I have been shocked by the number of people who come to us who are having problems. For me, bullying is the major issue.

"We need to get employers to take this seriously and implement the policies they have to give whistleblowers proper support. That is the only way of changing this."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We have come a long way since the tragic events at Mid Staffs but we still hear of cases where staff concerns are being ignored.

"That's why I asked Sir Robert Francis to lead this review, and help create a more open culture in the NHS."

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Roast peanuts 'spark more allergies'

22 September 2014 Last updated at 00:40 By Smitha Mundasad Health reporter, BBC News

Roasted peanuts are more likely to trigger an allergic reaction than raw peanuts, according to an Oxford University study, involving mice.

Scientists say chemical changes caused by dry roasting processes may prime the body's immune system - sparking future allergic reactions.

But much more work is needed before humans should consider swapping roasted nuts for raw ones, they say.

The research appears in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Continue reading the main story

This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a potential trigger for peanut allergy has been directly shown"

End Quote Prof Quentin Sattentau University of Oxford

Fatal reactions

Mice were exposed to peanut proteins through the skin or the stomach.

Animals given the dry roasted samples had a much stronger immune response - the body's way of fighting things that appear foreign to it - than mice given the raw versions.

In humans, immune responses vary. Some can be mild, causing rashes for example, but others can be extremely dangerous, leading to swelling of the mouth and breathing difficulties.

Scientists say it is likely to be the high temperatures used to roast nuts that are responsible for the chemical changes that, in turn, prompt the allergic reactions.

Prof Quentin Sattentau, who led the research, said: "This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a potential trigger for peanut allergy has been directly shown."

And researchers believe the findings may explain the lower allergy rates in East Asian populations where boiled, raw or fried nuts are a more common part of the diet than roasted ones.

But they warn that much more work is needed before doctors make any specific dietary recommendations.

Chemical changes

Prof Sattentau said: "We know that children in families with other allergies are more likely to develop peanut allergy.

"However our research is at an early stage and we think that it would be premature to avoid roasted peanuts and their products until further work has been carried out to confirm this result."

Scientists are now exploring methods to get rid of the particular chemical changes that may be responsible for kick-starting the immune system.

According to NHS Choices, nut allergies, including peanuts, are relatively common in both school-aged children and adults.

And peanuts are one of the most common causes of fatal allergic reactions to food.

People with peanut allergies are advised to avoid them and many carry auto-injector pens to reduce the severity of any reactions that do occur.

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Call to offer HPV vaccine to boys

22 September 2014 Last updated at 11:18 By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Scientific experts are meeting on Monday to discuss whether boys as well as girls should be offered the HPV jab.

It comes amid pressure to extend vaccination to all adolescent boys in the UK, in line with other countries.

The committee is expected to focus initially on whether to offer the vaccine to men who have sex with men, who may be at higher risk.

But a coalition of health experts and campaigners say vaccinating all boys aged 12 to 13 would save lives.

Continue reading the main story

Since introducing the HPV vaccination for girls in 2008, we have seen incredible uptake and sharp declines in HPV infection rates but we must ensure that boys... can also reap these benefits"

End Quote Shirley Cramer Royal Society for Public Health

HPV (human papillomavirus) infections cause 5% of all cancers worldwide, and rates are rising. The virus causes most cases of cervical cancer, and some cancers in other parts of the body, including the throat, anus and penis.

The UK's HPV vaccination programme reaches over 80% of girls, but coverage rates are lower in some communities.

Peter Baker, Campaign Director of HPVAction.org, said it was blatantly unfair that women were protected from cancers and other diseases caused by HPV infection while men were not.

"Men will continue to die from HPV-related diseases unless the government acts to extend the national vaccination programme to all adolescent boys," he said.

"This would only cost about £20-£22m a year and, in the long run, save the money spent by the NHS on treatment as well as reducing human suffering.

"If parents knew that their sons as well as their daughters could be protected from the virus that causes 5% of all cancers, then I'm sure most would also agree."

Debate over costs

The Royal Society for Public Health is among a number of health bodies calling for all boys aged 12 to 13 to be offered the vaccine.

It is thought that vaccinating girls will reduce the number of men getting HPV because infection occurs through sexual contact.

But Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, said vaccinating all boys would help to protect girls from cancer, as well as protecting men who have sex with men.

"Since introducing the HPV vaccination for girls in 2008, we have seen incredible uptake and sharp declines in HPV infection rates but we must ensure that boys, who don't profit from herd immunity can also reap these benefits," she said.

"Herd immunity only works in later life for males who are sexually active with females who have been vaccinated - it won't work for men who are sexually active in countries where the vaccine isn't available, those who have sex with men, or those who have sex with the estimated 15% of girls who haven't had the vaccine."

Earlier this month, a group of MPs called for all adolescent boys to be offered the vaccine. They said more than 2,000 cases of cancer in men each year in the UK were caused by HPV.

"The long-term savings in treatment and care of men with HPV-related diseases would considerably outweigh the extra cost (about £20 million a year) of extending the programme," they wrote in a letter to the Times.

It was signed by the heads of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Cancer, Dentistry, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Men's Health and HIV and Aids.

Global programmes

Vaccination programmes offering protection for girls against HPV have been introduced in many countries.

Some countries - including Australia, the US, Austria and part of Canada - have also extended the jab to boys.

Monday's meeting involves HPV experts from the government's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Their task is to investigate whether to extend the vaccine to boys, or men who have sex with men, or both.

Any decision made will be passed to the main committee for consideration in October.

Public Health England said the UK HPV programme had achieved very high coverage for girls.

"Extending vaccinating to boys in the UK, therefore, is likely to provide relatively few additional benefits, and under current assessment conditions and costs may not be the best use of health care resources," said Dr Kate Soldan, head of HPV surveillance at the health body.

"Some males, particularly men who have sex with men, are likely to gain far less protection from HPV through herd immunity from the vaccination of females."

Further studies were under way to inform the potential design and implementation of a vaccination policy targeted at men who have sex with men, she added.

HPV

• There are more than 100 different types of human papillomavirus (HPV)
• A number of HPV types are passed on from one person to another through sexual contact
• Some types of HPV can increase the risk of developing cervical cancer
• Around 3,100 women are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year in the UK.

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Cancer test 'Jolie effect' found

19 September 2014 Last updated at 14:31 By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Referrals to breast cancer clinics more than doubled in the UK after Angelina Jolie announced she had had a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer.

The actress revealed in May last year she had had the surgery, after being told she had an 87% chance of the disease because of a high-risk gene.

The news encouraged women with genuine concerns about their family history to get advice, a study found.

About 5% of breast cancers are thought to be hereditary.

"The Angelina Jolie effect has been long-lasting and global, and appears to have increased referrals to centres appropriately," said a team led by Prof Gareth Evans of the University of Manchester.

The researchers looked at referrals to more than 20 genetic centres and clinics in the UK after the story hit the press in May 2013.

In June and July the number of GP referrals for genetic counselling and DNA tests for breast cancer mutations increased two and a half times compared with the same period in 2012.

The study, published in the journal, Breast Cancer Research, found referrals remained at twice the previous year's figure from August to October.

"Angelina Jolie stating she has a BRCA1 mutation and going on to have a risk-reducing mastectomy is likely to have had a bigger impact than other celebrity announcements, possibly due to her image as a glamorous and strong woman," said Prof Evans.

"This may have lessened patients' fears about a loss of sexual identity post-preventative surgery and encouraged those who had not previously engaged with health services to consider genetic testing."

Most breast cancers happen by chance but a small number of people diagnosed with breast cancer (5%) have inherited a fault in one of the known breast cancer genes; BRCA1, BRCA2 or TP53 which puts them at higher risk.

Jade Goody

Angelina Jolie is not alone in influencing health behaviour.

Attendance for cervical cancer screening rose in 2008 and 2009, when the celebrity Jade Goody was diagnosed with cervical cancer and died.

Baroness Delyth Morgan is chief executive at Breast Cancer Campaign, which part-funded the research.

"Without Angelina Jolie's openness in talking about her BRCA1 mutation and decision to have a risk-reducing mastectomy, followed by the publication and publicity around the updated NICE guidelines soon after, many women may not have approached health services and so would never have had their risk and risk-reducing options explained," she said.

Funding for genetic services must be able to respond quickly to demand, to ensure risk counselling and genetic testing is available for everyone in need, she added.

"The current level of funding available for this service should be reviewed, to avoid unnecessary delays, which can be very stressful for patients."

Gene risk

Women in general have a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer during their lifetime, but genes can put some at higher risk.

In the UK, about one in 1,000 people will have inherited a BRCA1 mutation and a similar proportion will have inherited a BRCA2 mutation.

Women who are tested early can take steps to prevent themselves from developing the disease.

This may mean a risk-reducing mastectomy, cancer preventing drugs, such as tamoxifen, and certain lifestyle changes like a healthy diet and more exercise.

Lester Barr, chairman of Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention, said: "While a woman's risk of developing breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer is greatly increased if she carries the harmful mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, preventative surgery is by no means the answer for everyone.

"Of course, a preventative mastectomy is the most effective way to cut a woman's risk of breast cancer, however other options should also be considered. These include prevention drugs, such as tamoxifen, which has been approved by NICE.

"Alternatively, many women with a mutated BRCA gene opt for annual check-ups which can be arranged through the NHS."

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Pregnancy hormone link to poor maths

19 September 2014 Last updated at 11:45

Children born to mothers who have low levels of thyroid hormones during pregnancy tend to do worse in maths in early primary school, a study says.

Dutch researchers tracked 1,196 healthy children from birth to age five, having recorded their mothers' thyroxine levels at 12 weeks of pregnancy.

They then looked at the children's test scores for language and arithmetic.

Those born to mothers with low levels of thyroxine were twice as likely to have below average arithmetic scores.

However, the scientists - led by Dr Martijn Finken at the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam - said the five-year-olds' language results were no different.

The maths results were the same even after taking into consideration the child's family background.

'Next big question'

Low levels of thyroxine in pregnant women are already linked to poor mental development in infancy, possibly leading to learning difficulties and reduced physical growth.

Dr Finken said: "Whether these problems persist into adulthood remains to be seen. We will continue to follow these children to answer this next big question."

He suggested that in the future, hormone tests could be used to identify children who would need extra help in mathematics at school.

"It is possible that these children could benefit from hormonal supplements to boost their brain development in the womb," he said.

"Such treatment has been tried in the past but as yet has failed to improve cognitive ability, although timing of the treatment could influence its success."

The findings are being presented at the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology annual meeting in Dublin, Ireland.

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