UK Health Radio – Medical News Update - Pharmacies’ role in Health Care

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Pharmacies’ role in Health Care

The BBC has reported that a study by Durham University team has suggested that 89% of England's population live within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy. In more deprived areas, the proportion was closer to 100%.

The researchers went on to suggest that with more support pharmacies could provide everything from blood-pressure checks and diabetes screening to lifestyle advice.  Although it is true that some pharmacies are already doing this, researchers found that it very much depended on whether local health bosses were willing to fund them.

Lead author of the study, Dr Adam Todd said: "These results show that pharmacies are well-placed in the community to deliver public health services.  This is particularly important for the poorest areas where more people die from conditions such as smoking, alcohol misuse and obesity compared to people from more affluent areas. With easy access and where patients do not need to make an appointment, the results suggest there is a potential for community pharmacies to deliver public health interventions to areas that need them most."

The paper was published in the BMJ Open journal and said pharmacies could play a particularly vital role because the often-quoted inverse care law did not seem to apply.

That refers to the fact that the areas with the best health services tended to be the ones with the least health problems.

But as the deprived areas had the better access to pharmacies, the reverse was true, the study, which used a postcode analysis, said.

English Pharmacy Board chair Dr David Branford said the study demonstrated the "huge potential" the sector could have.

"The less formal approach and sheer convenience provided by a High Street presence means they are a beacon of wellbeing and advice to many who would simply never engage with other healthcare settings."

NHS England has already called for pharmacies to get more involved in delivering care with the review of urgent and emergency care last year suggesting up to a fifth of GP appointments could be dealt with by pharmacies or through better self-care.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said the number of pharmacies had increased by nearly 2,000 since 2005 to 11,500.

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Kindly sponsored by 1-stop-health-shop.com

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update - Alcohol Health Warning Labelling

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Alcohol Health Warnings

A parliamentary group says that health warnings on alcoholic drinks should be introduced to combat problem drinking. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Misuse has said that labels should warn about the harmful effects of drinking in the same way that warnings about the harm that cigarette smoking can do appear on cigarette packages.   This is part of the 10 recommendations that have been put forward to minimise alcohol-related problems in the UK - including cutting the drink-drive limit.

The government said it was working to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and tackle the sale of cheap alcohol.

Health warnings are now a familiar feature on tobacco products and detailed nutritional labelling is now the norm on food products and soft drinks. The group argues that consumer information on alcohol products usually details nothing more than the volume strength and unit content.  The argument is that consumers should be informed about balanced risk, and every alcohol label should include an evidence-based health warning as well as giving details of the product's calorific, nutritional and alcohol content.

Among their recommendations, the MPs are calling for a reduction of the drink drive limit as well as the strengthening of regulations surrounding alcohol marketing and the introduction of a mandatory minimum price per unit for alcohol.

They have also recommended that a national public awareness campaign on alcohol-related issues, training for social workers, midwives and healthcare professionals and to make alcohol treatment available to 15% of problem drinkers compared with a figure of 6% that is the current situation.

Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, chairwoman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Misuse said "Getting political parties to seriously commit to these 10 measures will be a massive step in tackling the huge public health issue that alcohol is."

Jackie Ballard, chief executive of Alcohol Concern told the BBC that urgent action was needed to tackle the issue of alcohol misuse saying, “This is about individual education and knowledge. Alcohol is related to about 60 different health conditions. People think about liver disease as being caused by alcohol. They don't think about increased blood pressure, increased risk of strokes, heart attacks, even cancer.

"So we're talking about a major problem. The MPs in this report describe it as a pandemic."

Sarah Hanratty, deputy chief executive of the Portman Group, which was established by the UK's leading alcohol producers to promote responsible drinking, said 80% of people drank "well within" the government's recommended guidelines.

She told the BBC News Channel that "graphic" health warnings on alcohol packaging would be a "step too far".

"I think there's lots of information out there for people.” She said “The industry here is doing incredible amounts of work in terms of voluntarily putting the government's guidelines on alcohol.”

This debate is  no doubt set to continue

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Kindly sponsored by 1-stop-health-shop.com

UK Health Radio Medical News Update - New Cancer Drug Too Expensive.

UK Health Radio Medical News Update

New Cancer Drug Too Expensive.

A report from the BBC about another drug that us unlikely to be made available on the NHS has caused feelings of sadness and anger in equal measure.  The new breast cancer drug Kadcyla seems unlikely to be made available routinely on the NHS. The drug works by seeking out and destroying cancerous cells, attacking them from within. Its novel action means it is unlikely to cause the side effects, such as hair loss, seen with many other types of chemotherapy. For advanced cancer, the aim is remission rather than cure.

The decision was made by England's official NHS advisory body - the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).  They decided to reject Kadcyla and that has prompted manufacturers Roche to claim the system does not work.

NICE which is not normally known for its strong use of language - responded by saying it had been "really disappointed" by the approach that had been taken by the drugs firm.

While the latest guidance is at the moment only the final draft version, there generally do not tend to be any major changes when the official recommendations are eventually published - normally at an interval of a few months.

The original cost of Kadcyla worked out at £90,000 per patient - that is based on the standard 14 months of treatment.

Roche said that NICE had been the first organisation to say no to Kadcyla and that it had offered to substantially lower the price but that NICE had come back and said the new price - which is not being disclosed - made little difference.

Kadcyla is used to treat people with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and cannot be surgically removed. About a fifth of breast cancer cases are HER2-positive, and it is thought 1,500 women every year could benefit from taking Kadcyla.

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio Medical News Update

Kindly sponsored by 1-stop-health-shop.com

UK Health Radio Medical News Update - Ebola

UK Health Radio Medical News Update

Ebola

In news about the Ebola outbreak the BBC report that the president of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan has declared the outbreak of the deadly disease "a national emergency" and approved the spending of more than £6.5m to help contain it’s spread.

The move comes after the World Health Organization declared the spread of the virus in West Africa an international health emergency.  There have been a confirmed 961 deaths from the virus so far in West Africa this year, with two of the cases having been in Nigeria. The total number of cases over all time stands at 1,779.

In a statement, President Jonathan called on Nigerians to report any suspected Ebola cases to the nearest medical authorities and asked the public not to spread false information about Ebola to avoid mass hysteria.

Nigeria became the fourth West African country involved in the outbreak when a dual US-Liberian citizen infected with Ebola arrived in Lagos. He died five days later and eight people who had come into contact with him were also later diagnosed with Ebola. One of them, a nurse, died on Tuesday.

US health authorities have reported that they will be sending extra personnel and resources to Nigeria. "We are starting to ramp up our staffing in Lagos," US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner told news agencies. “We are really concerned about Lagos and the potential for spread there, given the fact that Lagos - and Nigeria for that matter - has not previously had Ebola."

International companies are also taking protective measures and the world's largest steelmaker has begun evacuating some workers at Liberian iron ore mines.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have already declared varying levels of emergency over the spread of the virus while the World Health Organization said on Friday that 68 new cases and 29 deaths had been reported over only two days.

There have been 26 new cases in Sierra Leone and 38 in Liberia, but no new cases in Guinea, where the outbreak began.

"The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus," The World Health Organization said after a meeting on Friday.

Two US citizens infected with Ebola while working in West Africa are currently being treated at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr Kent Brantly said in a statement on Friday that he was getting better every day. The husband of aid worker Nancy Writebol said she also appears to be improving.

Both have been treated with an experimental drug.

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Kindly sponsored by 1-stop-health-shop.com

UK Health Radio Medical News Update - Aspirin

UK Health Radio Medical News Update

Aspirin

More news about the wonder drug aspirin that a review of all available evidence has suggested, taken every day can reduce the chance of developing or dying from bowel and stomach cancers,.

Scientists say that if everyone aged 50 and above in the UK took the drug for 10 years, some 122,000 deaths could be prevented over two decades. However they also warn aspirin can cause internal bleeding and say that patients should seek medical advice before using it.

The report from the Queen Mary University of London is in the Annals of Oncology and gives details of how scientists examined some 200 studies that had investigated the benefits and harms of taking aspirin in an area of continuing medical debate.

They found that the findings showed that the drug reduced the number of cases and deaths from bowel, stomach and oesophageal cancer by some 30-40%. There was also evidence that the drug reduced deaths from breast, prostate and lung cancer too although this was weaker and more variable.

The study also found people needed to take the drug for at least five years to see any benefits. Researchers predicted if 1,000 individuals aged 60 took the drug for 10 years, a decade later there would be:

·       16 fewer deaths from cancer

·       One fewer death from heart attack

·       Two extra deaths from bleeding

Prof Jack Cuzick, at Queen Mary University of London, who led the research

has been taking aspirin himself for four years and said: "While there are serious side-effects that can't be ignored, taking aspirin daily looks to be the most important thing we can do to reduce cancer after stopping smoking and reducing obesity, and will probably be much easier to implement." As the risk of internal bleeding rises as an individual gets older, the suggested cut-off point is 10 years.

There is still uncertainty whether other doses of the drug could offer more protection.

Experts warn anyone at high risk of bleeding, including people with blood disorders who take blood thinning medication, or are frequent smokers or drinkers, are more likely to suffer these side-effects.

Exactly how aspirin protects against cancer is unknown. Scientists suggest it may reduce inflammation or act on blood cells that would otherwise encourage the spread of the disease.

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio Medical News Update

Kindly sponsored by 1-stop-health-shop.com

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update Gracie on Hay-fever

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Hay-fever

Hay fever is common and one in five people will suffer with it. Over 10 million people in England have hay fever. That’s a lot.

Hay fever usually begins in children or during the teenage years, but you can get it at any age. It is more common in boys than in girls.

I have hay fever and it can sometimes get in the way of how I work in class.

Symptoms of hay fever include:

    Sneezing

    A runny or blocked nose

    Itchy eyes

These are all very annoying!

The symptoms of hay fever are caused when you have an allergic reaction to pollen. Some people find that their symptoms get better as they get older. Around 15% of peoples symptoms go away completely.

The best way to control hay fever is to avoid pollen. However, it's very difficult to do this, especially during the summer months when you want to spend more time outdoors.

I like to sunbathe with my friends and chat eating ice cream in the summer. Having hay fever can ruin that.

There is no cure for hay fever yet, but you can take medication so the symptoms are not as bad. I take a tablet a day, each tablet contains 10g of loratadine. This really helps.

Gracie Timms for

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

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UK Health Radio Medical News Update - Five a day is enough!

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Five a day is enough!

The BBC have reported that new research backs the five-a-day target for fruit and vegetable intake, but suggests that any more is unlikely to have any added benefits.

An analysis of 16 worldwide studies suggested that for every portion of fruit and vegetables consumed, there was a lower risk of premature death. There have been calls to up the quota to seven-a-day, to prolong lives however it seems that after five portions a day, there is no further impact, researchers reported in The British Medical Journal.

Current NHS guidance is to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day although most people manage about four so the message to eat more fruit and veg is still very much in place.

The new analysis looked at 16 studies in the US, Asia and Europe involving more than 833,000 people, of whom about 56,000 died during the follow-up period.

Researchers in the US and China found eating more fruit and vegetables was linked with a lower risk of dying from any cause, particularly from cardiovascular disease.

The average risk of death fell by about 5% for every extra serving of fruit and vegetables, up to five servings a day, but not beyond.

Prof Frank Hu, of Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, USA said "This analysis provides further evidence that a higher consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, particularly cardiovascular mortality. There was a threshold around five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, after which the risk of all cause mortality did not reduce further."

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update

Kindly sponsored by 1-stop-health-shop.com