A&E cash linked to staff flu jabs

10 September 2013 Last updated at 09:28 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Jeremy Hunt: "The average wait to see a doctor in A&E is 54 minutes which is pretty good"

Hospitals in England will have to get most of their staff vaccinated against flu if they want access to the A&E bailout fund in the future.

The government has set aside £500m for the next two years to help deal with the growing pressures.

The 53 trusts most at risk this year have been told they will share £235m.

But to qualify for next year's slice trusts will have to get 75% of staff vaccinated as ministers attempt to tackle a long-running problem.

Currently less than half of health staff get the flu jab, putting themselves and patients at risk.

Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies said she could not understand why they did not want to protect themselves and accused them of being "selfish" for not protecting their patients.

She also said two and three-year-olds would be getting the flu jab - via a nasal spray - this year as the roll out of the under fives vaccination programme begins.

The steps were announced as ministers set out their plans for tackling the growing pressures in A&E.

As well as the £500m pot, a series of longer term measures are also being taken after the NHS missed its four-hour waiting time target between January and March 2013.

It represented the worst performance for almost a decade.

24/7 service

This will start next year with care for vulnerable older patients with complex health problems.

From April 2014 they will get a named clinicians - most likely a GP - to coordinate their care across the hospital, community and social care system.

And by the end of the year a third of A&Es should have the technology in place to allow them to see the GP records of patients - only a handful currently do.

Next year will also see the start of "integrated care" pilots.

These will include schemes that shift care out of hospitals and into the community by helping these patients manage their increasingly complex conditions.

It will require joint working between social care, district nursing and GPs.

A total of £3.8bn has been set aside from 2015 to expand this out across the country.

That is also the target date for the redesign of the urgent and emergency care system.

NHS Medical Director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh is leading that review.

More detail is expected in autumn, but Sir Bruce said it was looking at issues such as seven-day working and an increased role for ambulances in treating and assessing patients.

Mr Hunt said: "In the long-term, I want a 24/7 service which recognises patients as individuals and looks out for them proactively."

But he said the support being put in place immediately meant the NHS should be able to keep to its four-hour waiting time requirement this winter.

He said it would be "tough", but "entirely possible".

But Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham told the House of Commons the plans were "half-baked".

"Too little, too late. Not good enough on an issue of huge importance."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Baby weaning foods found 'lacking'

10 September 2013 Last updated at 04:17 ET By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online

Baby foods sold in the UK fail to meet infants' dietary weaning needs, claim researchers.

The Glasgow team tested 479 shop-bought products from leading manufacturers, including Heinz, Cow & Gate and Boots, and found few were ideal for the job.

Most contained fewer nutrients than homemade food, and only as much as the breast milk they were supplementing.

And their sweet taste may steer the infant palate towards unhealthy choices, the researchers fear.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It's processed food that's been put in a jar so it's not that surprising that it does not match up with home-cooked foods"

End Quote Dr Charlotte Wright Lead Researcher

Babies have an innate preference for sweet foods, which might explain why sweet ingredients feature so prominently in commercial products, said Dr Charlotte Wright and her team in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The researchers looked at products made by Cow & Gate, Heinz, Boots, Hipp Organic, Ella's Kitchen and Organix.

Half the products tested by the University of Glasgow's School of Medicine researchers were classified as sweet, and the majority were 'spoonable' foods in jars or sachets.

Most of the sweet foods were sweetened with fruit sugars rather than added sugar.

Weaning guidelines recommend offering sweet foods only "occasionally or not at all" to set good habits.

"Sugar can encourage a sweet tooth and lead to tooth decay," the guidelines warn.

The aim of weaning is to introduce babies to a wider range of tastes, textures, and flavours, to encourage them to accept different foods, and to boost their energy and nutrient intake as they make the transition from breast milk.

Sweet tooth

UK experts say weaning should not be started before six months, in line with recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding until that time.

Dr Wright and her team found that many weaning products sold in the UK are promoted for infants from the age of four months.

And the majority are no more energy-dense than breast or formula milk.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We recognise that some parents choose to wean their baby before six months of age, which is why some baby foods provide information that those foods can be given 'from four months' on their labels"

End Quote The British Specialist Nutrition Association

Commercial rusks and biscuits were much more energy-dense and contained high amounts of iron and calcium, but also tended to be high in sugar, the researchers found.

The savoury "spoonable" commercial foods generally had much lower nutrient density than home-blended dinners, with the exception of iron content.

Babies would need to eat twice as much shop-bought food to get the same energy and protein as meals cooked at home, according to the research.

Dr Wright said that while it was understandable that parents may choose to use commercial foods they should be aware of what is in them.

"People might think that something sweetened with fruit is healthier, but it's not. Young babies like sweet food because it tastes like breast milk but it is not moving them on.

"It's processed food that's been put in a jar so it's not that surprising that it does not match up with home-cooked foods."

Conflicting messages

The British Specialist Nutrition Association, which represents baby food manufacturers in the UK, said: "Baby foods are carefully prepared to ensure they provide the right balance of nutrients in appropriate amounts for infants and young children.

"Levels of protein, carbohydrate (including sugars), fat, vitamins and minerals in baby foods are strictly regulated by legislation which is based on advice from European scientific experts.

"Our member companies comply with the legislation as an absolute minimum.

"We recommend that commercial baby foods are used as part of a mixed diet which includes homemade foods plus breast milk or formula, which remain the most important source of nutrition for infants under 12 months."

A spokeswoman said that in Europe, experts advise that a baby is ready to be weaned at around four to six months.

"We recognise that some parents choose to wean their baby before six months of age, which is why some baby foods provide information that those foods can be given 'from four months' on their labels.

"We recommend that parents seek advice from a healthcare professional when thinking of starting weaning," she said.

Elizabeth Duff, of the National Childbirth Trust, said: "Many parents find that jars of baby food can be quick and convenient when you are out and about, but this new research shows that parents are potentially being misled about the health benefits.

"It is time baby food manufacturers stopped confusing parents by labelling their products as suitable from four months."

Heinz said generations of parents had trusted its food, while Cow & Gate said their foods complied with strict legal standards. Boots said their range offered a safe and nutritionally appropriate choice, and Organix said its foods were "complementary" to breastfeeding. Ella's Kitchen said its products were aimed to encourage young children to have a better relationship with food so that they grow up with healthy eating habits.

Nobody was available for comment from Hipp Organic.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

New organ donation system from 2015

10 September 2013 Last updated at 10:05 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Health Minister Mark Drakeford said the legislation would make a 'major difference' to people's lives

People in Wales will be presumed to have agreed for their organs to be donated after death from December 2015.

Wales will be the first UK nation to introduce a system where consent is assumed unless people have opted out.

The legislation, described by ministers as the "most significant" the Welsh assembly had passed, received royal assent on Tuesday.

Currently, people across the UK join a voluntary scheme and carry a card if they wish to donate organs.

A two-year information campaign is planned in Wales, to ensure everyone is aware of the changes.

'Many die waiting'

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The shortage of human organs continues to cause otherwise preventable deaths and suffering"

End Quote Carwyn Jones First Minister

First Minister Carwyn Jones said: "The Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013 is arguably the most significant piece of legislation passed by the National Assembly for Wales since it acquired full lawmaking powers in 2011.

"Many people will wait years for a transplant but sadly, many die waiting on the list.

"The shortage of human organs continues to cause otherwise preventable deaths and suffering.

"This law will not only help reduce the waiting list, but will also help save lives by reducing the number of people who needlessly die waiting for an organ transplant."

The Welsh government hopes to raise transplant rates by 25%.

As happens now, organs could go to recipients anywhere in the UK, not just in Wales.

'Conversation'

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It gives hope to all those waiting for a transplant, not only those on the list but those who fear chronic organ failure and who may need a transplant"

End Quote Roy Thomas Kidney Wales Foundation

Health Minister Mark Drakeford said there would be a public information campaign before the new system comes into force on 1 December, 2015.

"During this two year campaign, people will be given plenty of information on how the new system works and what their choices are," he said.

"Even today, though, people can help others by ensuring their loved ones know their wishes about organ donation and I would encourage everyone to have that conversation."

According to the NHS Blood and Transplant service, there are about 250 people on a waiting list for a transplant at any one time, and 33 people in Wales died in 2012/13 while on the list.

Kidney Wales Foundation chief executive Roy Thomas said it had been a "long journey" to create a "very good law".

"It received proper consultation and first class scrutiny all the way through," he said.

"It gives hope to all those waiting for a transplant, not only those on the list but those who fear chronic organ failure and who may need a transplant."

Evidence from other countries with an opt-out system indicates that the rise in organ donors is small with about 15 additional donors provided each year and approximately 45 extra organs.

There has been opposition to the scheme but ministers have insisted it will be implemented sensitively.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nurses set to face three-year checks

5 September 2013 Last updated at 19:05 ET By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Nurses and midwives in the UK look set to face three-yearly checks from the end of 2015 under proposals being put forward.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council wants to see patients, colleagues and employers give feedback on performance.

Those deemed not up to scratch face being barred from working, under the plans drawn up by the NMC.

A similar system - albeit carried out every five years - was introduced last year for doctors.

Currently it is up to nurses to declare themselves fit to practise. This is known as renewal.

The proposals - known as revalidation - for the 670,000 nurses and midwives on the UK register have been under discussion for years.

'Greater professionalism'

But the NMC, which has been struggling with a backlog of disciplinary cases over recent years, has struggled to push ahead with the change.

Following the uproar over standards of care in the wake of the Stafford Hospital scandal the NMC committed itself to coming up with firm proposals.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Jackie Smith: "We believe that this system will enhance public protection and it will give the public and patients what they have been looking for"

These - set out in a board paper drawn up by the NMC's leadership team - will now be discussed at a meeting of the regulator's governing body next week.

If - as expected - the recommendation is agreed to next week, the NMC would then launch a consultation early next year.

The paper states that revalidation will promote "greater professionalism" and "improve the quality of care".

Three options will be put forward with the favoured one being three-yearly checks involving patient, colleague and employer feedback.

The NMC envisages the checks will form part of the appraisal process.

However, it admits that as the system beds down, dedicated roles may need to be created to oversee the revalidation process.

This has been done for the medical profession with the creation of responsible officers, although it could prove more costly for nurses and midwives as there are more of them.

Consideration may also have to be given to carrying out the checks every five years to reduce the workload, the board paper says.

Competence

But the NMC said it was determined to get going with the system by the end of 2015 and let it evolve as it was rolled out.

Continue reading the main story

Knowing that every nurse, no matter when they qualified, is fit to practise in a modern setting, and competent for the role they are performing is an important issue of patient safety as well as patient confidence"

End Quote Tom Sandford Royal College of Nursing

NMC chief executive Jackie Smith said: "Ensuring that the skills and conduct of nurses and midwives remain up to date throughout their careers is an important area of regulation.

"Any effective system of revalidation will increase public confidence that nurses and midwives remain capable of safe and effective practice."

Tom Sandford, of the Royal College of Nursing union, said: "Knowing that every nurse, no matter when they qualified, is fit to practise in a modern setting, and competent for the role they are performing is an important issue of patient safety as well as patient confidence."

But he warned it would require proper funding and close working between employers and the regulator for it to work well.

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said: "I support the introduction of nurse revalidation, particularly in the wake of the Francis report, but recognise that any scheme must be tested to make sure it works for nurses and improves safety and quality of care for patients."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lung diseases cause one in 10 deaths

5 September 2013 Last updated at 19:08 ET

Lung conditions are the cause of one in 10 of all deaths in Europe and smoking is a major factor, says a report from the European Respiratory Society.

It says deaths from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will rise over the next 20 years because of past smoking rates.

But a British lung charity says lung disease kills one in four in the UK.

Yet it does not receive priority when it comes to prevention, treatment or research funding, it says.

The data, presented in a publication called the European Lung White Book, uses the latest data from the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to analyse trends in lung disease.

Disease burden

In the WHO European Region, which stretches from the Atlantic to Central Asia, it found that the four most commonly fatal lung diseases - lower respiratory infections (including pneumonia), COPD, lung cancers and tuberculosis - accounted for one-tenth of all deaths.

Among the 28 countries of the European Union, however, these diseases account for one in eight deaths, the White Book said.

Only Belgium (117 deaths per 100,000 population), Denmark, Hungary and Ireland had higher death rates from lung disease than the UK, at 112 per 100,000 people.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Taken all together, it is likely that around a quarter of deaths in the UK each year are from respiratory disease - as many as are killed by all non-lung-related forms of cancer put together."

End Quote Prof Richard Hubbard British Lung Foundation

Finland and Sweden had the lowest mortality rates of 53.7 and 55.7 per 100,000.

But the report said the proportion of total deaths attributed to a lung condition is highest in the UK and Ireland, a figure which the British Lung Foundation puts at one in four people.

'Health hazard'

The data in the White Book also shows that half of the total socio-economic costs of respiratory disease can be put down to smoking.

It describes tobacco smoking as "the most important health hazard in Europe" and it maintains that smoking is the main preventable cause of death from illnesses such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and coronary artery disease.

While smoking rates in many high-death rate countries such as Denmark and the UK have fallen significantly since the 1970s, the report says the long-term effects of those habits are keeping cases of lung cancer and COPD at high levels.

This means the proportion of deaths caused by lung conditions is likely to remain stable over the next 20 years, even though a decrease in lung infections is predicted.

Since 2000, the NHS has offered free counselling and drugs to people who want to stop smoking. The White Book says this approach "results in more smokers becoming involved in cessation attempts".

After analysing hospital admissions data across the EU, the book found a wide variation in figures which did not match the pattern of mortality.

It said this could be due to national differences in the quality of community care patients receive, which may prevent some hospital admissions.

In conclusion, Prof Francesco Blasi, president of the European Respiratory Society, said of the data in the White Book: "Both the prevention and treatment of lung diseases will need to be improved if their impact on longevity, quality of life of individuals and economic burden on society are to be reduced in Europe and worldwide."

Lack of priority

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Both the prevention and treatment of lung diseases will need to be improved if their impact on longevity, quality of life of individuals and economic burden on society are to be reduced"

End Quote Prof Francesco Blasi European Respiratory Society

Prof Richard Hubbard, from the British Lung Foundation, says the report doesn't tell the full story of the burden of respiratory disease in the UK.

"Diseases like lung cancer and COPD do kill tens of thousands of people each year, but there are over 40 different types of lung disease. Mortality rates for some of these, such as IPF and mesothelioma, have been steadily increasing for decades.

"Taken all together, it is likely that around a quarter of deaths in the UK each year are from respiratory disease - as many as are killed by all non-lung-related forms of cancer put together."

He said one reason for the UK's high death rates for diseases like lung cancer suggest that patients were going to see their doctor too late.

Prof Hubbard added that treatment and prevention of lung disease was not given enough priority by NHS England and researchers were not given enough funding.

"For instance, investment in lung cancer research totals around a third of that allocated to breast cancer, half that allocated to bowel cancer and less than half that allocated to leukaemia, even though it currently kills more people per year than all three put together."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Inner ear 'link to hyperactivity '

5 September 2013 Last updated at 19:10 ET

Inner-ear problems could be a cause of hyperactive behaviour, research suggests.

A study on mice, published in Science, said such problems caused changes in the brain that led to hyperactivity.

It could lead to the development of new targets for behaviour disorder treatments, the US team says.

A UK expert said the study's findings were "intriguing" and should be investigated further.

Behavioural problems such as ADHD are usually thought to originate in the brain.

But scientists have observed that children and teenagers with inner-ear disorders - especially those that affect hearing and balance - often have behavioural problems.

However, no causal link has been found.

The researchers in this study suggest inner-ear disorders lead to problems in the brain which then also affect behaviour.

Gene mutation

The team from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York noticed some mice in the lab were particularly active - constantly chasing their tails.

They were found to be profoundly deaf and have disorders of the inner ear - of both the cochlea, which is responsible for hearing, and the vestibular system, which is responsible for balance.

The researchers found a mutation in the Slc12a2 gene, also found in humans.

Blocking the gene's activity in the inner ears of healthy mice caused them to become increasingly active.

The researchers then examined the striatum, an area in the centre of the brain area that controls movement.

Continue reading the main story

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is thought to affect 2-5% of children and young people.

Common symptoms include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

Symptoms tend to be first noticed at an early age and it is normally diagnosed between the ages of three and seven.

Recent evidence showed a 50% rise in the use of drugs for the condition in England, with 657,000 prescriptions issued for drugs including Ritalin.

They found higher-than-normal levels of two proteins, pERK and pCREB.

Mice with the gene flaw were given injections of haloperidol, a medicine already used to treat tics - uncontrollable movement - in humans.

It was seen to counteract the high protein levels, and mouse activity patterns returned to normal.

The researchers suggest the same process could be targeted in people, and that medications could be developed to help manage hyperactivity in children with inner-ear disorders.

Prof Jean Hebert, the lead scientist, said: "Our study provides the first evidence that a sensory impairment, such as inner-ear dysfunction, can induce specific molecular changes in the brain that cause maladaptive [counterproductive] behaviours traditionally considered to originate exclusively in the brain."

Anita Thapar, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Cardiff University's Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, said it was an "intriguing study and set of findings".

Prof Thapar, whose research has suggested there could be a genetic link to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), added: "It certainly raises the issue that we ought to critically consider what contributes to the links between sensory impairments and specific behaviours/disorders."

But she added there should be caution about directly extrapolating the findings to humans.

"ADHD, like most neuropsychiatric and medical disorders, is not caused by a single mutation.

"On the other hand animal models allow for experimental manipulation in a way that cannot be achieved in humans and the results can help shape hypotheses to test in humans."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Insomnia scans show brain struggles

30 August 2013 Last updated at 19:01 ET

Brain scans of people who say they have insomnia have shown differences in brain function compared with people who get a full night's sleep.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, said the poor sleepers struggled to focus part of their brain in memory tests.

Other experts said that the brain's wiring may actually be affecting perceptions of sleep quality.

The findings were published in the journal Sleep.

People with insomnia struggle to sleep at night, but it also has consequences during the day such as delayed reaction times and memory.

The study compared 25 people who said they had insomnia with 25 who described themselves as good sleepers. MRI brain scans were carried out while they performed increasingly challenging memory tests.

One of the researchers, Prof Sean Drummond, said: "We found that insomnia subjects did not properly turn on brain regions critical to a working memory task and did not turn off 'mind-wandering' brain regions irrelevant to the task.

"This data helps us understand that people with insomnia not only have trouble sleeping at night, but their brains are not functioning as efficiently during the day."

A sleep researcher in the UK, Dr Neil Stanley, said that the quality of the sleep each group was having was very similar, even though one set was reporting insomnia.

He said: "What's the chicken and what's the egg? Is the brain different and causing them to report worse sleep?

"Maybe they're perceiving what happened in the night differently; maybe what is affecting their working memory and ability to focus on the task at hand is also causing insomnia."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stick insect leads antibiotic hunt

31 August 2013 Last updated at 19:00 ET

A microbe in the gut of a stick insect could help scientists to unravel the puzzle of antibiotic resistance.

The Giant Lime Green stick insect, which feeds mainly on eucalyptus leaves, is being studied at the John Innes Centre (JIC) in Norwich.

In the laboratory it has shown resistance to toxins and infections it could never have encountered before.

This indicates a general mechanism at work and understanding this could lead to new drugs, JIC scientists believe.

Scientists at JIC are confident studying natural processes will reveal new antibiotics.

The pressure is on to make discoveries because every year more drugs are made ineffective by microbe resistance.

Ants carry antibiotic

Professor Tony Maxwell, head of biological chemistry, said: "We have discovered the microbe in the stick insect's gut is resistant to toxins and infections it could never have been exposed to.

Continue reading the main story

If we don't take action now, antibiotic resistance could mean that widely used treatments for diseases including cancer and common operations such as hip replacements could become impossible"

End Quote Professor David Walker UK deputy chief medical officer

"This indicates that there is a general mechanism at work.

"If we can unravel that then it opens the way to understanding antibiotic resistance and this will enable us to build a chemical strategy against it.

"It will also help us build into new antibiotics a mechanism to counter any resistance."

BBC Inside Out discovered researchers were also looking for new antibiotics in the soil.

Professor Mervyn Bibb's laboratory at JIC has produced an antibiotic candidate which may now undergo clinical trials.

About half of the antibiotics used today originated in soil bacteria which is why scientists continue to study them.

One early breakthrough in the search for new antibiotic strains came with the discovery that leafcutter ants in tropical forests carried a substance on their bodies that protected the integrity of a fungus food source.

The ants mulched leaves to allow a fungus to develop.

Government initiative planned

To protect this food source from unwanted microbes and parasites and to regulate the growth of the fungus the ants carry a highly effective wide spectrum antibiotic on their bodies.

The antibiotic's properties are similar to antifungal agents used in modern medicine.

Project leader Dr Matt Hutchings from the University of East Anglia hopes studying leafcutter ants will uncover completely new antibiotics.

Government health officials have issued a fresh warning about the urgent need to find new antibiotics.

The UK's deputy chief medical officer, Professor David Walker, said: "If we don't take action now, antibiotic resistance could mean that widely used treatments for diseases including cancer and common operations such as hip replacements could become impossible.

"If we don't take action now we could face a situation when some common infections become untreatable."

The government has recognised it may have to step in to fund development and a new initiative is being formulated.

However, Dr Walker said: "For now there is no further details on what it will entail and how much money it might involve - or indeed when it will come into play."

Inside Out is on BBC One at 19:30 BST on Monday 2 September.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK is 'addictions capital of Europe'

1 September 2013 Last updated at 05:39 ET

The UK has become the drug and alcohol "addictions capital of Europe", a think tank has warned.

The Centre for Social Justice - set up by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith - said drink and drug abuse cost the UK £36bn a year.

Its report warned that the UK has become a hub for websites peddling potentially dangerous "legal highs".

The CSJ also criticised the government for failing to tackle heroin addiction and cheaply available alcohol.

The report, No Quick Fix, found that last year 52 people in England and Wales died after taking legal highs, up from 28 the previous year.

The substances, sometimes referred to as club drugs and including Salvia and Green Rolex, are often marketed as bath salts or research chemicals.

But the drugs can be sold legally as long as they are clearly marked "not for human consumption", but have been known to cause permanent bladder damage, blood poisoning and death.

According to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), there are now more than 130 UK-registered websites selling the products cheaply by mail order - making postal service workers unwitting drug mules.

'Faster bans needed'

The think tank said one in 12 young people in the UK admitted to having taken legal highs - the highest figure in Europe.

Continue reading the main story

Much more needs to be done to tackle the root causes of addiction so that people have a better chance of breaking free."

End Quote Noreen Oliver Chairwoman, CSJ review

It said a faster system of prohibition was needed to deal with legal highs, as 150 new substances have come on to the market in the last three years, while the government has managed to ban just 15 in the same period.

The report also attacked a failure to offer heroin addicts effective treatment.

A Freedom of Information inquiry found that 55% of councils in England have had funding for residential treatment cut since the coalition came to power, despite Prime Minister David Cameron pushing for more residential programmes.

North/South divide

The report said that almost a third of people in England on drug-substitute prescriptions such as methadone have been on them for four or more years, and one in 25 for more than 10 years.

The CSJ found alcohol dependence among British men was second in western Europe and seventh overall, while alcohol dependence among women is higher in the UK than anywhere in Europe.

One in four adults in England drank to harmful levels, and one in 20 were "dependent drinkers", it said.

The report also found a stark north-south divide in the problem of alcohol abuse, with 26 of the 30 local authorities with the highest rate of alcohol-related admissions in the north of the country.

The CSJ said the government had recognised the dangers of excessive drinking, but criticised its failure to tackle cheap alcohol through minimum unit pricing or a "treatment tax", with revenue put into treatment for addicts.

'Faster on its feet'

Noreen Oliver, chairwoman of the CSJ review, said: "Despite some slow progress in this last three years, much more needs to be done to tackle the root causes of addiction so that people have a better chance of breaking free.

"Alcohol is taking an increasing toll across all services in the UK and new emerging drugs are causing more harm - all the while funding to rehabilitation centres is being dramatically cut and methadone prescribing is being protected."

Crime Prevention Minister Jeremy Browne said the government took the threat of legal highs seriously, describing them as "highs which should not be assumed to be either safe or legal".

"Our Forensic Early Warning System enables us to closely monitor their availability, so we can target activity to reduce demand and supply.

"We are banning whole groups of substances rather than individual drugs and have introduced temporary drug orders which allow us to place harmful substances under control - protecting the public while giving time to our independent experts to prepare more detailed advice."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Miniature 'human brain' grown in lab

28 August 2013 Last updated at 13:00 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Miniature "human brains" have been grown in a lab in a feat scientists hope will transform the understanding of neurological disorders.

The pea-sized structures reached the same level of development as in a nine-week-old foetus, but are incapable of thought.

The study, published in the journal Nature, has already been used to gain insight into rare diseases.

Neuroscientists have described the findings as astounding and fascinating.

The human brain is one of the most complicated structures in the universe.

Scientists at Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have now reproduced some of the earliest stages of the organ's development in the laboratory.

Brain bath

They used either embryonic stem cells or adult skin cells to produce the part of an embryo that develops into the brain and spinal cord - the neuroectoderm.

This was placed in tiny droplets of gel to give a scaffold for the tissue to grow and was placed into a spinning bioreactor, a nutrient bath that supplies nutrients and oxygen.

The cells were able to grow and organise themselves into separate regions of the brain, such as the cerebral cortex, the retina, and, rarely, an early hippocampus, which would be heavily involved in memory in a fully developed adult brain.

The researchers are confident that this closely, but far from perfectly, matches brain development in a foetus until the nine week stage.

The tissues reached their maximum size, about 4mm (0.1in), after two months.

The "mini-brains" have survived for nearly a year, but did not grow any larger. There is no blood supply, just brain tissue, so nutrients and oxygen cannot penetrate into the middle of the brain-like structure.

One of the researchers, Dr Juergen Knoblich, said: "What our organoids are good for is to model development of the brain and to study anything that causes a defect in development.

"Ultimately we would like to move towards more common disorders like schizophrenia or autism. They typically manifest themselves only in adults, but it has been shown that the underlying defects occur during the development of the brain."

The technique could also be used to replace mice and rats in drug research as new treatments could be tested on actual brain tissue.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

I think it's just mindboggling"

End Quote Prof Paul Matthews Imperial College London

'Mindboggling'

Researchers have been able to produce brain cells in the laboratory before, but this is the closest any group has come to building a human brain.

The breakthrough has excited the field.

Prof Paul Matthews, from Imperial College London, told the BBC: "I think it's just mindboggling. The idea that we can take a cell from a skin and turn it into, even though it's only the size of a pea, is starting to look like a brain and starting to show some of the behaviours of a tiny brain, I think is just extraordinary.

"Now it's not thinking, it's not communicating between the areas in the way our brains do, but it gives us a real start and this is going to be the kind of tool that helps us understand many of the major developmental brain disorders."

The team has already used the breakthrough to investigate a disease called microcephaly. People with the disease develop much smaller brains.

By creating a "mini-brain" from skin cells of a patient with this condition, the team were able to study how development changed.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It's a long way from conscience or awareness or responding to the outside world. There's always the spectre of what the future might hold, but this is primitive territory"

End Quote Dr Zameel Cader John Radcliffe Hospital

They showed that the cells were too keen to become neurons by specialising too early. It meant the cells in the early brain did not bulk up to a high enough number before specialising, which affected the final size of even the pea-sized "mini-brains".

The team in Vienna do not believe there are any ethical issues at this stage, but Dr Knoblich said he did not want to see much larger brains being developed as that would be "undesirable".

Dr Zameel Cader, a consultant neurologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, said he did not see ethical issues arising from the research so far.

He told the BBC: "It's a long way from conscience or awareness or responding to the outside world. There's always the spectre of what the future might hold, but this is primitive territory."

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

The "mini brain" is roughly the size and developmental level of a nine-week foetus

Dr Martin Coath, from the cognition institute at Plymouth University, said: "Any technique that gives us 'something like a brain' that we can modify, work on, and watch as it develops, just has to be exciting.

"If the authors are right - that their 'brain in a bottle' develops in ways that mimic human brain development - then the potential for studying developmental diseases is clear. But the applicability to other types of disease is not so clear - but it has potential.

"Testing drugs is, also, much more problematic. Most drugs that affect the brain act on things like mood, perception, control of your body, pain, and a whole bunch of other things. This brain-like-tissue has no trouble with any of these things yet."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More