---

Weekend National Health and Social Care News from Fade

---

Addison's disease
Addison's disease is a rare condition that is estimated to affect around one in 40,000 people. However, it's an important condition to look out for since when treated appropriately a person with Addison's can live a full and long life. If missed though, it may have tragic consequences.
BBC Health 26/04/03

---

Asia in Sars isolation ward
Fatalities are low but panic has set in. Faisal Islam argues fear could do more harm to the economy than the virus itself.
The Observer 27/04/03

---

Beijing closes cinemas over Sars
Beijing has ordered the closure of cinemas, theatres, karaoke bars and internet cafes in an effort to stop the spread of the pneumonia-like Sars virus, China's official media has reported.

BBC Health 26/04/03
 

---

Beijing puts 4,000 people under home quarantine
Beijing closed its model Sars hospital yesterday and imposed home quarantine on 4,000 people, fearing a big increase in the outbreak.

The Times 26/04/03

---

Breastfeeding could save lives

She did not know breastfeeding would reduce the chances of her baby getting sick, or how to use the rehydration tablets that would have saved her.

BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Cell signalling clue to cancer
 A significant breakthrough in understanding the communication system within the body's cells could aid research into cancer.
BBC Health 26/04/03
 

---

Children with suspected E.coliThree young girls from Fife are being treated for suspected E.coli.
BBC Health 26/04/03
 

---

Doctors say this isn’t the big one – at least not yet
Like
earthquakewatchers in California, doctors around the world have been waiting for the “big one”. Diseases come and diseases go, but it is thought inevitable that one of them at one time will be so quick to spread, incurable and so lethal that even the full force of modern science could not stop millions of deaths.

The Times 26/04/03

---

Health chaos as Irish GPs join strike
Ireland's health service is facing weeks of chaos after consultants, junior doctors and GPs said yesterday that they are planning industrial action in support of the public health doctors' strike.

The Observer 27/04/03

---

Health staff warned of bioterror 'struggle'
Healthcare systems would struggle to cope in the event of a bioterror attack, a medical expert has warned.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Heart attacks 'triggered by air pollution'
Small rises in urban air pollution can trigger an increased number of potentially fatal heart attacks, an international study has discovered.

The Independent 27/04/03

---

'I became a care worker in 10 minutes'
 
Just how easy is it to get a job as a home care worker, looking after elderly people in their own homes? Very easy. I was taken on with no experience and few - if any - reference checks.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Insurers run for cover on Sars crisis
With the rapid spread of the new disease, travellers to affected areas are on their own in terms of sickness risk, writes Tom Tickell and Mary O'Hara.

The Guardian 26/04/03

---

Loss of faith hits medicine
A decline in Christianity is taking its toll on the number of people willing to donate their organs for transplantation, according to a
doctor.
BBC Health 26/04/03

---

Malaria nets 'could save thousands'
Simple nets could help reduce the human toll of malaria across Africa, campaigners say.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Men with HIV find safe way to be fathers
A technique of "sperm washing" that allows HIV positive men to father children without infecting them with the disease has been introduced by a London hospital.

The Independent 27/04/03

---

Nurses urge action over shortages
Nurses leaders are expected to demand ministers do more to recruit and retain staff as a nursing organisation's annual conference begins.
BBC Health 27/04/03

---

Nutrition link to premature birth
Women who want to get pregnant should ensure that they eat properly before conception to minimise the risk of a premature birth, research suggests.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Organ trade GP reinstatedA GP has been allowed to return to work six months after being suspended for encouraging a man he had never met to take part in the trade in human organs from live donors.
BBC
Health 25/04/03

---

Pain-free bladder treatment
British doctors have come up with a pain-free way of diagnosing bladder problems in men.

BBC
Health 25/04/03

---

Patients can report adverse reactions
 Patients who suffer adverse reactions to drugs will be able to report the problem to the NHS Direct helpline.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Patients 'to buy heart drugs'Patients will reportedly be able to buy life-saving heart drugs over-the-counter in
chemists for the first time within a year.
BBC Health 27/04/03
 

---

Polio cases on the increase
The number of cases of polio rose fourfold last year - a setback for health experts fighting to eradicate the disease.

BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Robert Baker: We are in the grip of an epidemic, but it is not Sars

Deadly conditions such as malaria, Aids and heart disease are being ignored while the world overreacts to the new virus.

The Independent 27/04/03

---

'Safer' pill packs launched
A pill packet has been launched which its makers say deters young children but can still be opened by less dextrous elderly people.

BBC Health 26/04/03
 

---

Sars deadlier than first thought

British expert says the death rate is double the WHO's estimate but the battle is being won.


The Observer 27/04/03

The Independent 27/04/03

---

Sars death rate 'higher'
 The death rate for Sars could be significantly higher than previously thought, according to an British expert's study into the
pneumonia-like virus.
BBC Health 26/04/03

---

Sars death toll rises
The pneumonia-like virus Sars claimed at least a dozen new victims across Asia on Saturday as health ministers agreed ways to combat the deadly disease.

BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Stem cells 'turn into brain cells'
Scientists have taken an important step forward in their bid to use stem cells to cure serious brain diseases.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Suicide rate in female prisons hits new record
As many as two-thirds of women in prison are now suffering from a mental disorder, with record numbers being driven to suicide because of a lack of adequate care.

The Independent 27/04/03

---

The bio-terrorism of nature

Can Sars be the catalyst that unites a divided world against the common enemy of global disease?

The
Observer 27/04/03

---

The day the world caught a cold

It began in a province of China, spread through Hong Kong to reach three continents and now threatens to plunge the world economy into freefall

The Observer 27/04/03

---

'They tell us to practise sensible hygiene, but hygiene and children just don't mix'

Worry about Sars makes this a difficult time to be a neurotic mother in Canada's largest city.

The Independent 27/04/03

---

'There's no room for a second chance'
 
Malaria is an ever-present problem in sub-Saharan African countries taking a huge human and economic toll on countries. Dr Sokei Harry, a public health specialist, spent four months working in a regional hospital in northern Somalia as a volunteer for Medicins sans Frontieres. He describes how doctors on the frontline are battling to turn the tide against malaria.

BBC Health 25/04/03

---

WHO is essential
The World Health Organisation is an international body whose role is to promote a world public good. In some circles, particularly in the United States, it is currently very unfashionable. Many there see it as bureaucratic, irrelevant, meddlesome and an infringer of state sovereignty. They think it would be best to do away with it.

The Observer 27/04/03

---

Working at home 'is as stressful as going to office or factory'
Earning a living working from home is just as stressful as being employed in an office or a factory, according to a report by a leading research institute. More than a quarter of homeworkers, including managers and unskilled workers, said their lives were made more difficult by not going to a company office. They said their self-esteem and work-life balance were affected.

The Independent 27/04/03

---

World Health Organization: a profile
The World Health Organization (WHO) has played a key role in fighting disease around the globe for more than 50 years.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

WPP chief warns of Sars effect

WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell said yesterday the global advertising market was showing signs of stabilising but warned that the Sars virus could kill off the green shoots of recovery.

The Guardian 26/04/03

---

Written consent required for post mortems
Hospitals have been ordered to obtain clear and detailed consent from families for post mortem examinations of their relatives.
BBC Health 25/04/03

---

Yes, it's dangerous - but there's no need to panic

It has flu-like symptoms but doesn't spread as easily, so Sars is unlikely to claim millions of victims like other epidemics. But, writes Luisa Dillner, there is still a case for being vigilant.

The Observer 27/04/03

---

:: Kieran 1:36 PM [+] ::
...