:: Fade - the blog ::

If you want to understand the origins of the headings go to Friday, November 29, 2002.

:: Saturday, January 18, 2003 ::

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She Dazzled Me With Basil
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Just added a Google search to the side bar.
:: Kieran 1:01 PM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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Chemist's shops fear they will go out of business

Hundreds of small high-street pharmacists fear that the deregulation of their business proposed yesterday will put them out of business. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which recommended that limits on the number of pharmacies allowed to handle NHS prescriptions should be scrapped, said that it would improve services for consumers.

The Times 18/01/03
The Scotsman 18/01/03
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Child abuse, or a crime in the eye of the beholder?

Contrary to the spirit of the age, I think we should have a graduated response to those troubled by a sexual interest in children. The term “abuse” is now being used in a hopelessly unspecific way, covering behaviour ranging from the resting of an adult’s hand on a child’s shoulder for longer than appropriate to the sexual assault of babies. The intention may be to jolt people into understanding that even the lesser offences are a serious matter, but (as with “rape”) there is a danger that by always using the strongest available word, we may leach language of its power to shock, and rob ourselves of words we need — even in talking to ourselves — to mark important distinctions.

The Times 18/01/03
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'Cronyism' outcry at CRE appointment

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, was accused of "cronyism" last night after the Labour politician Trevor Phillips was appointed head of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). Mr Phillips, currently chairman of the London Assembly, is close to several senior Labour figures and stood as the party's candidate for deputy London Mayor three years ago.

The Independent 18/01/03
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Finns show way to beat killer disease

Merseyside is to follow the example of Finland in a search for an answer to cutting one of the region's biggest killer diseases. Health promotion consultant Robin Ireland is leading a new project, the Heart of Mersey, which has been set up to tackle coronary heart disease which kills 125,000 people in the UK every year. Merseyside has the highest number of incidences of heart disease in the country and the UK as a whole has the third worst record in Europe behind Ireland and Finland. On Sunday, Mr Ireland is travelling to Finland to see how work in one region has cut heart disease by up to 74pc.

The Daily Post 17/01/03
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Fixed smiles greet the sex revelations of Sarah

The Commons health committee yesterday took evidence from a dozen teenagers, whom they asked about sex education, sex problems, sex advice and, while they were on the subject, sex. It's the kind of occasion that can be a toe-curling, buttock-clenching, bowel-loosening embarrassment, which of course is why I went along.

The Times 17/01/03
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Haemophiliacs win pledge on health records

Hoispitals were last night urged to open up their records to UK haemophiliacs infected with contaminated blood products.

The Scotsman 18/01/03
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'Hidden savings for NHS will be lost if we close'

The future of a high street chemist which has served customers in a small North Yorkshire market town for more than 50 years will be in jeopardy if the Government approves a free-for-all on pharmacies, its owner says. Peter Marshall, whose Craven Pharmacy is the only surviving independent chemist in Skipton, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, said that deregulation would sound a death knell for many small pharmacies as big supermarkets and multiple retailers grabbed an ever-greater share of the NHS prescription market. He also said that the personal touch which customers and GPs’ surgeries have grown to value over many years may be lost if small and often family-run independents are replaced by faceless big business.

The Times 18/01/03
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Huge inquiry signals major child reforms

The inquiry into Victoria Climbié’s death, chaired by Lord Laming, a former Chief Inspector of Social Services, was the biggest into the death of a child and will presage major reforms in the child protection system.

The Times 18/01/03
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Jenny Colgan

I’ve now been deaf in one ear for a week and a half. It’s not just annoying anymore, it’s a way of life. "Were you swimming?" people ask. I nod (as long as they’re on the side I can hear them from), as it would be too embarrassing to admit just how long you need to spend underwater in the bath so that it seals up your ear for over a week. Let’s see, ehm, I get a lot of reading done in the bath and that counts as, umm, research and the fact that I get the same FedEx person turning up at all hours of the day when I get stuff delivered and he never fails to catch me in a hastily assembled damp pyjama/towel combo is neither here nor there.

The Scotsman 18/01/03
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Local chemists under threat

Proposals to deregulate the market for chemists shops will undermine government plans to improve NHS services and tackle social exclusion, community pharmacists have warned.

The Times 17/01/03
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Netherlands and US lead the way

British shoppers will be able to take advantage of one of the least bureaucratic markets for pharmacies in the West if the changes planned by the OFT go ahead.
Only the Netherlands and the US have fewer restrictions on chemists’ shops, which means that they have fewer pharmacies. These two countries do not have laws on where a pharmacy can open, have no objection to big chains, allow pharmacists to set their own prices and do not give pharmacists a monopoly on selling commonplace, non-prescription remedies.

The Times 18/01/03
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NHS prescription control set to go

Supermarkets are preparing to open up to 500 new pharmacies because of the proposed scrapping of rules which allow the NHS to control where prescription drugs can be dispensed.

The Guardian 18/01/03
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Patients 'like smartly dressed doctors'

Patients feel more comfortable with doctors who are smartly and professionally dressed, researchers have found. Any attempt at a more casual dress-down approach appears not to put patients at their ease at all. And the very worst thing a doctor can wear to undermine their standing with a patient is a nose ring.

BBC Health 18/01/03
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Phone mast near cancer ward

Children with life-threatening cancers have been treated at a hospital unit beneath a mobile phone mast for the past FIVE years. Parents were unaware of the Orange mast at the top of a chimney between the cancer unit and the school at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital at Pendlebury.

Manchester Evening News 17/01/03
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Pledge to protect lottery charity grants

The board which distributes lottery cash to the voluntary sector is unlikely to contest plans for its abolition but says it will fight to keep its political independence and ensure its £200m annual revenue continues to go to charities.

The Guardian 17/01/03
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Postcode agony of autistic boy

An autistic boy is being denied crucial help because of his postcode. Only half a mile separates Alex Carroll, eight, of Gatley, Stockport, from the high level of care available to children with autism in Manchester. Across the border, children with autism can go to the Carol Kendrick Centre in Withington, Booth Hall Hospital in Blackley and the Winnicott Centre in the city centre. Each has specialist teams to give the 90 children diagnosed with autism every year the help and support they, and their families, need.
In comparison, Stockport's NHS Trust employs only two locum child psychiatrists.

Manchester Evening News 17/01/03
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Reform 'could hit small pharmacies'

Many small pharmacies could be left struggling to survive if ministers decide to back radical reforms, it was claimed on Friday. A report from the Office of Fair Trading said that strict rules governing how many pharmacies can serve a single area should be relaxed, it said. Any registered pharmacy with qualified staff should be able to dispense NHS prescriptions, it said. This would save money for customers, the NHS and business, the report claimed.

BBC Health 17/01/03
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Safer surgery aim for patients

Doctors believe a blood-clotting agent used to treat haemophiliacs could also benefit patients undergoing surgery. Research carried out in The Netherlands suggests the agent, called Factor VIIA, could reduce the amount of blood patients lose during major operations.

BBC Health 18/01/03
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Slowly does it

A new weight-training exercise regimen promises better results in only 20 minutes. Our correspondent reports.

The Times 17/01/03
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Studies to test link between cancer and mobile phone masts

Researchers are to investigate whether mobile phone base stations can damage health, and will look at links with cancers or other illnesses. The Mobile Telecommunications Health Research Programme, which is part-funded by the Government, is calling for scientists to bid for funds to make epidemiological studies of people who believe that masts near their homes, workplaces or schools have made them ill. They would be compared with control groups of people who live far from such masts, to see if there are any significant differences in health.

The Independent 18/01/03
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Surgery for refugees angers patients who were forced to find new GPs

Nearly 2,000 patients forced to find another doctor when their local surgery closed were outraged yesterday by plans to reopen it as a new service for asylum-seekers only.
About £500,000 is to be spent on refurbishing the premises in an area of Derby where the predominantly Asian immigrant community is up in arms.

The Times 18/01/03
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Tesco and Asda have most to gain

City analysts expect a sharp increase in the number of pharmacies followed by fierce competition if restrictions are lifted on the opening of new chemists’ shops.

The Times 18/01/03
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Watchdog calls for full deregulation of chemists

Pharmacists predicted the end of the high street chemist yesterday as the Office of Fair Trading stunned the industry with a call for complete deregulation. The OFT's long-awaited report said government restrictions on chemists that can dispense National Health Service prescriptions should be swept away to give consumers more choice and better service.

Financial Times 18/01/03
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Yoga aids the hard sell

For a few weeks there were sets of eyeballs peering through the windows and no doubt chuckles to be heard too. After all, inside the presentation room of the central London publishing house, there were colleagues contorting themselves into improbable positions and breathing deeply with their eyes closed. This is what Nick Courtney, the deputy head of marketing at Northcliffe Newspapers, had expected but not feared. In fact Nick's only fear when he had the idea of turning to yoga in an effort to help his department be more confident about making presentations was that the teachers would be offended that he was unconcerned about the spiritual side of the ancient art.

BBC Health 18/01/03
:: Kieran 1:07 AM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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Guidelines for conscious sedation in the provision of dental care: a consultation paper from the Standing Dental Advisory Committee issued by the Department of Health seeks comments on guidance for the effective management of pain and anxiety for patients requiring dental care.

The Countryside Agency have issued Second homes in rural areas of England a research note from the Countryside Agency on the impact of second (and holiday) homes in rural areas. It also looks at the current and future role of the planning system and fiscal measures in responding to the issue.

For those with an interest in the prison population the following statistical material Monthly Prison Population Brief, England and Wales: October 2002, Monthly Prison Population Brief, England and Wales: September 2002 and Monthly Prison Population Brief, England and Wales: August 2002 these include detailed figures of the prison population . Also included is a section providing key statistics on the number in Prison Service establishments and in police cells.
:: Kieran 12:04 AM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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National Service Framework for Diabetes: Delivery strategy puts forward targets and objectives for the NHS to deliver the standards set out in the national service framework for diabetes.

The Department of Transport Behavioural Research in Road Safety: Twelfth seminar describes a statistical accident liability study making use of nationally reported 'STATS19' injury accident data, driver licensing data from the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency, data on driving test passes from the Driving Standards Agency and data on annual mileages from the National Travel Survey.

For those with a family the Treasury have produced, Balancing Work and Family Life: Enhancing choice and support for parents about helping parents balance their work and family lives. From this April, a series of measures, including the new Child and Working Tax Credits, enhanced maternity and paternity rights, and a new right for parents of young children to request flexible working, will help to deliver a step change in choice and support for parents. Balancing Work and Family Life: Enhancing Choice and Support for Parents sets out details of the Government's strategy, including next steps on which it would welcome views.
:: Kieran 12:00 AM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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Anthrax as a cancer treatment

Scientists have used a version of the anthrax toxin to kill tumours in mice. The toxin was so effective that after just one treatment, tumours were reduced in size by up to 92%.

BBC Health 14/01/03
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Cloth filter could cut cholera deaths

Simply filtering drinking water though cloth from old clothes can cut new cholera cases in half, researchers have found.

BBC Health 14/01/03
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Death certificate shake-up after Shipman

New ways of recording deaths were being studied at a seminar in Manchester today in the wake of Harold Shipman's killing spree. The Hyde GP was responsible for more than 200 deaths. Changing the way deaths are recorded is one of the issues being considered by the public inquiry into his crimes.

Manchester 14/01/03
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Dialysis shortage exposes failings of NHS

A survey of the 71 renal units providing dialysis in the UK by the National Kidney Research Fund (NKRF) and Sheffield University revealed there were 19,307 adults receiving dialysis, a rate of 328 patients per million population.

The Independent 14/01/03
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Doctors seek fresh pay talks

Hospital doctors' leaders called for renewed talks with government over pay ahead of moves by Alan Milburn, the health secretary, to parcel out the £250m he has saved after NHS consultants in England rejected a new contract last year. Dr Paul Miller, the new chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants committee, said consultants "share the desire to improve and speed up care for patients, wherever they are waiting in the system". Significantly, Dr Miller called for a dialogue with the government, rather than, as he has in the past, for talks to reopen on a new contract. Mr Milburn has ruled out reopening talks on the contract.

Financial Times 14/01/03
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Doctors warned over bedside manner

Doctors need to spend more time brushing up on their communication skills, their own trade union has suggested. The British Medical Association has acknowledged that some doctors are unable to talk effectively with patients. Officials said work-related pressures were often to blame but they also acknowledged that some doctors simply lack the skills.

BBC 14/01/03
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Dreams of dry nights

My son is 11 and still wets the bed. We first noticed it when he was four. Our health visitor put it down to the fact that I had recently had a baby. At nine, my son was still wetting the bed each night, so we sought help. We were given an alarm but it didn’t wake him. I tried lifting him to go to the toilet during the night. He would go, but at times was still wet in the morning. He is embarrassed about it and does not want to stay overnight with friends. Can you advise us?

The Times 14/01/03
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Fathers 'scared' to ask for flexible hours

Britain's fathers are to blame for failing to ask for more flexible working practices and adhering to a long-hours culture, the Confederation of British Industry said yesterday as a report claimed the country's work culture stops men spending more time caring for their children.

The Guardian 14/01/03
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Fetch a doctor!

A&E units are being clogged up by patients with far from urgent health problems. Will renaming the units help cut waiting times? Ed Walker suspects not.

The Guardian 14/01/03
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Fitness training is all in the mind

You can think yourself fit, says health guru David Kirsch.

The Times 14/01/03
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Five docs failed to spot cancer

A Liverpool man today (Monday, January 13) claimed five doctors failed to diagnose the cancer which claimed his wife's life.
Margaret Holden, 71, from West Derby, died from liver cancer eight weeks after it was discovered.

Liverpool Echo 13/01/03
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'Good news' statistics that turned into a PR disaster

Ministers attempted to defend the Government's record on crime yesterday as new figures showed an increase in recorded homicides, domestic burglaries and violence against the person.

The Independent 13/01/03
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GP 'used crystal pendant to treat sick child'

A GP interested in alternative medicine tried to treat a baby's gastroenteritis by swinging a crystal pendant over her stomach, the General Medical Council was told yesterday.

The Independent 14/01/03
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GPs perform minor ops to cut queues

A thousand patients in Salford needing minor surgery will beat the hospital queues this year and get treatment from GPs instead.

Manchester Evening News 14/01/03
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Hospital staff praised as report condemns shoddy maintenance

An NHS hospital where walls were stained with blood, toilets overflowed and patients were treated without privacy in mixed sex wards was told yesterday to pay more attention to hygiene.

The Guardian 14/01/03
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Kidney patients dying in dialysis care shortage

Britain is in the grip of an epidemic of kidney failure and people are dying because hospitals do not have enough dialysis machines to keep them alive.

The Independent 14/01/03
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Mother gets life in jail for poisoning son with medicine

A mother who poisoned her son over four years was jailed for life yesterday. Michelle Dickinson tricked doctors into prescribing anti-convulsant drugs that her son, Michael, did not need when he was three years old. She told them he had epilepsy and used the medication to leave him in a "pitiful state" of "stupefaction". Dickinson then tried to kill him by interfering with his feeding tube as he was taken to hospital by ambulance. He died, aged seven, several months later in October 2000.

The Independent 14/01/03
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No need to grin and bear it

The menopause is seldom treated in Japan, but one woman is pushing for change.

The Times 14/01/03
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Nurse's £50,000 TV tonic

Student nurse Laura Heraghty was celebrating after millions of viewers saw her win prizes worth £50,000 in a live TV show.

Manchester Evening News 14/01/03
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Patients 'kept in ambulances to meet casualty targets'

Tougher reporting standards for accident and emergency waiting times were coming into force today following claims that patients were held in ambulances to help meet government targets.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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PFI talks run into 'serious trouble'

Talks aimed at boosting the government's crucial Private Finance Initiative have run into serious trouble, it has emerged.

BBC 13/01/03
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Queen's knee operation: through the keyhole

The Queen spent a rare night in hospital last night, recovering after keyhole surgery to remove torn cartilage from her right knee.

The Times 14/01/03
The Guardian 14/01/03
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Residents have just days to find new homes

The closure of two Wirral nursing homes has left 22 elderly people with just days to find some-where else to live. The owners of Manor Lodge and its sister home, Sunlight Lodge, both in Port Sunlight decided to close shortly before Christmas. The homes provide care for elderly people with mental illness.

The Daily Post 14/01/03
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Ricin investigation leads to arrests in Dorset

Detectives investigating an alleged terrorist plot to make a deadly toxin in London were questioning six people in Dorset last night.

The Independent 14/01/03
The Guardian 14/01/03
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Schizophrenia drug 'could cut suicides'

As many as 100 lives a year could be saved in the UK by the wider use of a drug to treat schizophrenia, researchers claim.

BBC Health 14/01/03
BBC Health 14/01/03
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Separated Siamese twins back home

The Guatemalan twins who were born joined at the head and separated by doctors at a US hospital last year have arrived back home to a hero's welcome.

BBC Health 14/01/03
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Six-month wait for stomach surgery

A 40-stone man who wants his stomach stapled says he is afraid he will die waiting for the operation. Ian Sturgess, a 31-year-old former lorry driver from Knighton in Leicestershire, has been told he will have to wait at least another six months to find out if the operation can go ahead.

BBC Health 13/01/03
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Social services blamed after girl's body found in canal

Relatives of a girl aged five who disappeared three months ago have called for a public inquiry into the role of social workers after a child's body was found in a canal on Tuesday.

The Independent 13/01/03
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Victims of fertility clinic embryo fraud join forces for compensation claim

Britain's biggest IVF compensation claim is being prepared by lawyers representing patients who allege that blunders at a fertility clinic and NHS hospital have ended their chances of conceiving children.

The Independent 13/01/03

:: Kieran 2:49 AM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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Anger at plan to shut last A&E on Isle of Wight

The last remaining accident and emergency department on the Isle of Wight may be closed, forcing the emergency services to evacuate sick and injured patients across the Solent to a mainland hospital for treatment.

The Guardian 13/01/02
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Australian medic's 'suicide machine'

An Australian doctor has disclosed details of his controversial 'suicide machine' at a conference on euthanasia in California.

BBC Health 13/01/03
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Cancer drug offers lupus hope

An intense blast of a cancer drug could help patients with the potentially fatal disease lupus, researchers suggest. Lupus is a disease where the immune system turns on the body's organs and tissues, continually damaging them.

BBC Health 13/01/02
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Clean sweep that masks community breakdown

As part of our long-term investigation into whether the government is delivering public service improvements on the ground in Enfield, north London, this month we look at the state of the streets and antisocial behaviour, and find painfully slow progress.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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Debt plague for doctors

Spiralling debts are driving students away from the medical profession, doctors' leaders warned last night. The British Medical Association claimed debts of more than £20,000 were commonplace and were deterring Liverpool student s from entering the profession.

Daily Post 13/01/03
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Delivering on delivery

Tony Blair constantly reminds his team that delivery is the key test by which the government will be judged at the next election. No pledge is more important, in this context, than Labour's promise to turn the NHS into a "world-class service". So last week's leak from Downing Street's delivery unit - suggesting that the government's 10-year plan, launched in 2000, is in danger of failing to take full advantage of the record cash investment in the NHS - is potentially extraordinarily damaging to Mr Blair's hopes. Some perspective is needed, however. It is nonsense to suggest - as Iain Duncan Smith and other Conservatives regularly claim - that the health service is getting worse. The facts do not bear that allegation out. The NHS is improving across the board. The question raised by the new leak is that it may not be improving as fast as it should.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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Diarrhoea vaccine 'within 10 years'

An effective vaccine for diarrhoea could be available within 10 years, according to scientists at the forefront of research in Bangladesh.

BBC Health 13/01/03
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Fairer deal for working fathers urged

Fathers carry out a third of all childcare in the UK, according to a report to be published today from the Equal Opportunities Commission. The surprise findings have prompted Julie Mellor, chair of the EOC, to call for a new debate on the role of fatherhood. The role of British fathers is changing fast, "and we need to negotiate that new role at home, at work and in terms of government policy," Ms Mellor says in an interview with the Guardian.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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How the brain processes emotions

Scientists have discovered how the brain processes emotionally-charged information. They have found that the left side of the brain alone appears to take responsibility for decoding the literal meaning of emotional messages.

BBC Health 13/01/03
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Medical experts gather at Shipman inquiry

Three years after killer doctor Harold Shipman was jailed for murdering his patients, experts from around the world have gathered in Manchester to examine ways of preventing something similar happening again.


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Mercury in baby vaccines is linked to autism

Mercury, one of the most dangerous substances known to man, is being used in a series of infant vaccines - in spite of a warning from NHS advisers that its use as a cheap preservative "may be toxic" to babies aged under six months.

The Scotsman 13/01/03
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Patients choose GPs over chemists

Patients know they can seek health advice of chemists but still go to see their GP, research suggests. A survey by Boots found that 84% of people know asking a pharmacist for advice on illnesses such as coughs and colds rather than seeing their doctor will take pressure off the NHS.

BBC Health 13/01/03
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Pursuing public-purse pilferers

Jim Gee is quietly seething. The director of the National Health Service's Counter-Fraud Service has had enough of people pilfering from the public purse.

Since he started in the job four years ago he has helped the NHS save £194m. Until now, much of his work has been unglamorous - clamping down on dodgy dentists, corrupt opticians and patients claiming illegitimate exemptions from prescription charges. But Mr Gee's latest initiative is by far his boldest yet. Just before Christmas, he prompted the secretary of state for health to file a £28.6m lawsuit against three drugs companies.

Financial Times 13/01/03
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Rewire for clean energy, Ofgem tells firms

Energy regulator Ofgem today issues an urgent plea to companies running Britain's local electricity networks to help "rewire" the country to cope with a planned surge of clean, green power.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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Single way of living creates new danger for wildlife

Rise in individual households bodes ill for biodiversity, say scientists.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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Taking up the cudgels for reformed fathers

Where are the Roy Jenkinses of today? Not, perhaps, the first thing you would expect from the chairwoman of the equal opportunities commission; but Julie Mellor, like many others, is mourning him. Why? Because one of his less trumpeted achievements as home secretary was to oversee the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act in 1975, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, and, indeed, set up the EOC.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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The unkindest of cuts

There is one operation being carried out on thousands of British children by NHS doctors without any clinical need — and without the patient’s consent. This procedure has an irreversible physical effect, yet there has been minimal public debate about the extent to which it is being performed.

The Times 13/01/03
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Threat of u-turn on 'green' car loophole

Ken Livingstone's officials have threatened to abolish a loophole permitting "green" cars to escape the London mayor's £5-a-day congestion charge amid signs that thousands of the capital's motorists are developing a new-found concern for the planet. A clause in the charging scheme, which begins on February 17, allows vehicles using alternative fuels to enter central London without paying.

The Guardian 13/01/03
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Time to banish this threat to our children

In the United States, parents can choose which vaccine to give their child. The pharmaceutical companies advertise on television, competing on safety and quality. The result is the expert parent, well-briefed on the products on the market.
In Britain, we take what we are given. The man in Whitehall orders it and infants are summoned to receive it - without their parents being told which brand has been chosen or what’s in the mix. Or whether it contains a proven neurotoxin.

The Scotsman 13/01/03
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Under the knife

Circumcision, performed in babies under a local and in older children and adults under a general anaesthetic, involves cutting away the inner and outer layers of foreskin and stitching the edges together. During the procedure, the frenulum — the sensitive flap of skin that connects the foreskin to the glans — is also removed.

The Times 13/01/03
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:: Kieran 1:56 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Still working on the problems. Still no joy. Think it's some problem at blogspot.
:: Kieran 4:00 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Seem to be having the odd template problem at the moment that's turning the blog into something with a multiple personality. Trying to fix it now. No joy last attempt so this is take 2.

:: Kieran 3:18 AM [+] ::
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Evil Edna's Corner - Broadcast Health for Next Week
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Sunday Surgery Sun 12 Jan, 21:00 - 23:00
BBC Radio 1
Emma B and Dr Mark Hamilton with help and advice on listeners' dilemmas. Call 08700 100 100 [national rates], or call free on 0800 110 100 to speak to someone off air.


Health Matters Mon 13 Jan, 20:05 - 20:30
BBC World Service
A Day In The Life: This four-part series looks at the way health care is delivered around the world, from life in an institution to a school or service and explores the help they provide.

Health Matters Tue 14 Jan, 02:05 - 02:30
BBC World Service
A Day In The Life: Four-part series examining the way health care is delivered around the world.

Passionate Statistician Tue 14 Jan, 6:30 - 7.00
BBC2
Looking at how Florence Nightingale's passion for collecting, analysing and presenting information helped transform healthcare.

Health Matters Tue 14 Jan, 15:05 - 15:30
BBC World Service
A Day In The Life: Four-part series examining the way health care is delivered around the world.

Collision Course Tue 14 Jan, 21:00 - 22:00
BBC2
A series on the science and psychology of fatal transport accidents, revealing the decisions made seconds before that will determine who will live or die.

Case Notes Tue 14 Jan, 21:00 - 21:30
BBC Radio 4 FM
A rash can show a complaint as trivial as a nettle sting or as serious as meningitis. Graham Easton finds out how doctors tell one set of red spots from another. [Rptd Wed 4.30pm]

Health Matters Wed 15 Jan, 10:05 - 10:30
BBC World Service
A Day In The Life: News and features about health, medicine and fitness.

This Morning Wed 15 Jan, 10:30 - 12:30
ITV1
Includes medical advice from Dr. Chris Steele.

Case Notes Wed 15 Jan, 16:30 - 17:00
BBC Radio 4 FM
A rash can denote a complaint as trivial as a nettle sting or as serious as meningitis. Graham Easton finds out how doctors tell one set of red spots from another. [Rpt of Tue 9.00pm]

Adventures in Science Thurs 16 Jan, 09:30 - 09:45
BBC Radio 4
Ben Silburn investigates the flu virus and its battles with the human nervous system when it enters the body.

Horizon - Living Nightmare Thurs 16 Jan, 21:00 - 21:50
BBC2
Narcolepsy sufferers live in a twilight world between waking and sleep, their symptoms include nightmarish hallucinations and paralysing fits. The strange medical condition baffled the medical eorld for years, until the recent revelation that drugs could remove the predisposition for unexpected lapses into unconciousness. These drugs do not just effect narcolepsy patients, however; they could also bring the rest of us closer to a true 24 hour society.

Royal Deaths and Diseases Fri 17 Jan, 20:00 - 21:00
Channel 4
Decadance. Extravagence, gluttony, infidelity and big partes were the means by which Henry VIII cultivated a grand image. But within 250 years, the medical consequences, such as gout, syphillis, obesity and drug addiction, had turned somo of his descendents into a national joke. This instalment in a seris chronicaling the health of the British monarchy examines how certain rouals were plagued by medical problems induced by their own behaviour.

Cancer Pioneers Fri 17 Jan, 12:35am
BBC2
A look at the landmark work of Sir Paul Nurse, Tim Hunt and Lee Hartwell - 2001 winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Sunday Surgery Sun 19 Jan, 21:00 - 23:00
BBC Radio 1
Emma B and Dr Mark Hamilton with help and advice on listeners' dilemmas. Call 08700 100 100 [national rates], or call free on 0800 110 100 to speak to someone off air.

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Evil Edna's Corner - lists terrestrial TV and national radio broadcasts on health
for the next week, identified by FADE
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:: Kieran 3:08 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Having the odd problem with a duplicated template. Trying to sort blog now.
:: Kieran 2:43 AM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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Bid to reduce greenhouse gases 'is folly'

Plans to pump vast quantities of iron into oceans in a bid to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere could trigger a global ecological disaster, scientists warn. They say that a project backed by US businessmen and researchers to seed the seas with iron could lead to the uncontrollable spread of toxic algae and the release of gases that could damage Earth's fragile ozone layer.

The Observer 12/01/03
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Cancer's unexpected line of attack

Scientists examining a rare genetic syndrome have discovered that some types of cancer may have an unexpected cause. By using genetic engineering techniques to create mice with DC, they found that the condition appears to be linked to a mutation in a specific gene called DKC1. They also showed this mutation leads to a disruption of the proper function of the body's cells. However, this disruption occured in an unexpected source - tiny structures within the cells called ribosomes which control the healthy production of proteins. Previously, it had been thought that the disruption involved another group of structures known as telomeres.


BBC Health 12/01/03
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Critics warn of payment chaos

Only one in a thousand London motorists has paid the congestion charge so far, according to opponents of the controversial scheme. The startlingly low figure – about 250 motorists – will be a worry for Ken Livingstone, the capital's Mayor, with the congestion charge start date just over a month away.

The Independent 12/01/03
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Four men charged over ricin discovery

Four men arrested after police found traces of the deadly poison ricin in a London flat became the first people to be charged under the 1996 Chemical Weapons Act yesterday.

The Independent 12/01/03
The Observer 12/01/03
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'How did I avoid brain damage? '

When Dr Paul Thomas spent three weeks in a coma following a diving accident, family and medics feared the worst. The 50-year-old GP was starved of oxygen for about 10 minutes at the bottom of a freezing water-filled quarry.

BBC Health 12/01/03
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Lost for words?

Teenagers grunt and adults chat about trivia, but are our unique verbal skills really in danger of disappearing? Robin McKie thinks we are unlikely to be left speechless

The Observer 12/01/03
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One switch 'controls body clock'

The body's internal 24-hour biological clock is controlled by a single protein, say scientists. The husband and wife team at Perdue University, Indiana, who have come up with the theory say it could lead to new ways to help people whose internal clock has been disrupted by jet lag or health problems.

The Independent 12/01/03
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Renaming of A&E in bid to cut wait time

Britain's hospital casualty units are to be rebranded as Emergency Departments in the hope that it will deter people with minor complaints or injuries from wasting doctors' time. Hospital trusts will be quietly encouraged to drop the word 'accident' from their Accident and Emergency (A&E) units, and change the name instead to Emergency Departments or Emergency Centres by next year.

The Observer 12/01/03
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Ricin 'made for use in random killing spree'

Security services fear a network of terrorist assassination squads has been set up across Europe to carry out random killings using exotic poisons. The method is designed to maximise panic and fear.

The Independent 12/01/03
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