World of Health

The chairman of the BMA (British Medical Association) suggested that some medics are allowed to work, even if their English is as poor as the average Britons mastery of the Chinese language.

In response, he has called for regulations to be tightened so that the deaths, such as that of, David Gray does not reoccur with another patient.  Gray died after he was not properly treated by a German doctor that was working his very first shift in Britain.

After the death, an inquest showed that the German Doctor, Daniel Ubani, gave the seventy year old man twenty times more than the recommended dose of a drug.

Ubani failed an English test while attempting to obtain a position in Leeds, but was still allowed to practice in a Cambridgeshire NHS hospital.

Dr. Hamish Meldrum opened the Brighton annual BMA conference stating that it is wrong that foreign doctors from the EU are not forced to undergo the same high scrutiny as British medics.

Meldrum stated that Britain does not do enough to check overseas doctors within Europe in order to ascertain that they are competent and able to understand the language properly.

He did remark that throughout the years Britain has benefited from the influx of foreign doctors, but that a case such as what happened to Gray shocked the medical community.

He also stated that it is not acceptable and that GPs are not to blame for opting to not provide out-of-hours care, which has led to foreign doctors traveling to Britain to fill the gaps.

Instead, Meldrum stated that the situation was caused by a mixture of mismanagement and underfunding with too many Primary Care organizations failing to enforce proper regulations.

The first study on cannabis use for medicinal purposes is underway in the UK with a focus on the benefits it may bring MS sufferers.

A mouth spray called Sativex, which uses cannabis can relieve muscle spasticity, which can make it hard for those afflicted with MS to get out of a car or even open the lid of a milk bottle.

The drug was developed by GW Pharmaceuticals after a few MS sufferers broke the law in an effort to alleviate their pain.

Sativex contains a few active ingredients labelled as cannabinoids, which are taken from cannabis plants gown in top secret at a location in the UK.

About 11,500 MS patients may be eligible to receive the drug with half expect to gleam positive results from its use, but at £11 per day the medicine may not be approved by the NHS rationing body.

For the last few years, a large amount of MS sufferers in Britain have campaigned to be allowed use of cannabis in order to treat their symptoms.

Chief executive of the MS Trust, Pam MacFarlane, stated that they have known for quite some time that cannabis medications may help improve spasticity significantly which is why the MS Trust has been working towards making a licensed medicine available to those who suffer in a prescription manner that can be controlled.

MacFarlane also stated that they have placed a great deal of resources and money in developing the knowledge available by funding research into how effective cannabis medications can be.

Professor John  Zajicek, a Derriford Hospital neurology consultant and the world leader in cannabis research stated that the successful treatment was a milestone in just how helpful cannabinoids can be.

A growing amount of girls are now starting puberty before they reach the age of ten, which has increased the fear that the new generation of children will engage in sexual activity at a younger age.

Scientists believe that early puberty may be caused by a combination of chemical exposure in foods as well as the increase in obesity, which also is increasing the risk of breast cancer among women.

The study performed in Denmark of 2006, found that breast development in a sample group of 1,000 girls started at around age nine and ten months, which is a year earlier than when the same study was performed in 1991.

Although the research was focused on Denmark, experts who have looked at the study believe the trend is the same across Europe and in Britain.  There is also additional data from America that points to early puberty in many females.

Scientists have warned that girls of this age are not equipped to cope with sexual development which is easy to see as the girls are still in primary school.

Head of the Department of Growth and Reproduction at the University hospital, Anders Juul, stated that they are surprised to see that there has been such a large change in only 15 years.

Juul went on to say that when girls mature early they start to experience teenage problems at a very young age causing not only emotional problems, but also an increase in the chance of developing diseases later on in life.

People who get paid to lose weight are more successful in dropping the pounds than those with no financial incentive.  This is the conclusion reached by Winton Rossiter, chief executive of the private programme Weight Wins.

On average, the people who completed one year on the incentive programme lost 25 pounds, twice as much as dieters on non-paying regimens.  The results, however, are rather controversial.

Of the 745 people who signed up for the scheme, about half were paid through the NHS; the rest joined on their own and paid a monthly fee of £10 or more.  Mr. Rossiter says that he is so confident in the success of this financial incentive approach that he is willing to guarantee results.

He cited the number of participants who lost a significant amount of body weight, and believes that the scheme should be adopted by the NHS and employers as a major weapon against obesity in Britain.

Critics of the plan have noted that more than half of those who originally signed up, whether paying or non-paying, dropped out within a few months.  They also noted that a large percentage of dieters do not stick to their programme after the incentive period is over, so the results are not definitive.

The argument boils down to whether or not NHS should spend money on rewarding those who succeed in losing weight as opposed to investing more in prevention of weight gain in the first place.  Since the health service is planning to cut expenditures in the next 5 years, it is questionable whether funds designated for incentive programmes will be balanced by a reduction in the ongoing cost of treating health problems caused by overweight.

New research suggests that those who do not brush their teeth at least two times a day may be increasing their risk of developing heart disease.

Although there has been a known link between heart problems and gum disease for some time, experts have only now looked at the impact that daily brushing can have on this link.

In a new study published by the BMJ, people that do not brush their teeth, or do so less than twice a da,y are 70% more likely to have heart disease associated problems than those that do brush their teeth twice a day.

However, researchers also stated that the comprehensive risk of heart disease that results from poor oral hygiene is still low.

The data was studied from over 11,000 people around the age of fifty by the University College London.

The researchers looked at people’s lifestyles, brushing habits, and exercise routines. Study participants were asked how often they brushed their teeth and how often they visited the dentist.

Separate details were then collected that took an in-depth look at people’s medical histories, family history of heart disease, and blood pressure.  Blood samples were also collected in order to measure the presence of blood inflammation.

A little over six out of every ten people reported they regularly saw their dentist twice a year, while 71% reported that they brushed twice a day.

Throughout eight years of a follow-up study 555 people involved in the study suffered serious heart problems, out of which 170 of the attacks were fatal.  Experts then looked at the study results and found those who did not brush their teeth regularly were 70% more likely to suffer heart disease.