Globe Health Tours News

May 28: Persons who suffer from stoke related speech problems are left isolated after they get discharged from hospital as according to the campaigners. The NHS through its community support groups led by stroke specialists is helping those with communication problems to regain confidence.

The government showed its willingness to invest more funds to improve service offered by the community support groups. The number of stroke victims is increasing rapidly and one third of the survivors suffer from communication disability as a result of it, this will make the survivors feel depressed.

Only the victims who lost their speaking ability need long term help. The communication support therapy lend by NHS is helping those people to get back to normal life to a certain extent. Through their initiatives they help the patients to improve their speech or learn basic sign language to enable them to communicate easily.

The Stroke Association runs most of the services on behalf of the NHS, found that only 12% of those with severe communication difficulties are utilising the services provided by the NHS. In England just 1,300 people are getting the service. According to charity’s report the situation is better in Scotland and Wales but there is need for improvement.

While commenting on this Joe Korner of the Stroke Association opined that, “Communication is the vital need whether it is through speech or signs, the ability to interact with others is essential. Depriving of this ability will make stroke victims feel low.”

Meanwhile the Department of Health said that proper investment will be made to enhance the counselling and support services to reach more people who are in need.

May 5: A recent report has revealed that about one third of hospitals in England and Whales are neglecting government guidelines to charge foreign patients for NHS treatment.

According to the guidance published in 2004 hospitals are asked to confirm whether foreign nationals are qualifying the criteria to get free treatment. But one third of the overseas visitor who is admitted for treatment was not regularly asked about their entitlement.

While the Department of Health said that those persons who are not qualified to get free treatment should pay. Most of the non-EU nationals who are in urgent need of NHS treatments are chargeable. The government on the other hand is showing more concern over this issue as the tough guidance put forth in the year 2004 fails to bear any fruit.

Last year a secret report from the Department of Health, disclosed under Freedom of Information Act, revealed that the loss due to un-recovered debts from foreign visitors in 2004 was estimated at £30m.

Now the Department of Health is reconsidering primary and secondary care policies for all foreign nationals. Many hospitals are also running pilot schemes that make the unqualified patients to pay at their bedside.

However, the Department of Health in a statement said that it is important for those who are not qualified for NHS treatment should have to pay for the treatment they are offered.

May 3: A study conducted by the UK researchers has found that the high-fat level in diet will help in restricting fits in children who are suffering from epilepsy. Fits are caused by burst of electrical activity in the brain. After giving the children with “ketogenic” diet the frequency of seizure has reduced from once a day to once in three days.

The research published in Lancet Neurology revealed that the high-fat diet will help in changing the body metabolism by imitating the effects of starvation. The diet given to the children had high fat, low carbohydrate and controlled amount of protein. Researchers also recommended the diet to be made available through the NHS.

The study is considered as the first of its kind to compare diet with regular care. Parents of the children considered for the study opined that for the first two weeks it was difficult for them to prepare the prescribed diet, after knowing the benefits out of it they feel happy to prepare the food in bulk. The real reason behind this effect is yet to be revealed but the ketones produced from the breakdown of fat were found to restrict seizures.

In total 145 children aged between two and 16, who fail to recover after using anti-epileptic drugs are considered for the study. Half among them started the diet immediately and half waited for three months.

While commenting on this professor Helen Cross, the lead of the study and consultant in neurology at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London said that the diet had been followed for a long time but had fallen out of favour as it is believed to be too difficult to stick to.

After analysis the scientists found that the number of fits in children reduced to two-thirds of what they had earlier. But in those children who didn’t took the diet it remained unchanged. In the five children among the diet group the seizure rate reduced up to 90%. But the researchers also found some side effects such as constipation, vomiting, lack of energy and hunger.

Apr 25: A survey conducted among the girls aged between 11 and 19 in the UK has found that one-third of the girls have made an attempt to harm themselves. Nearly half of the 800 young people considered as sample opined that they had indulged in self harming by cutting, punching or burning themselves. The survey is taken for a mental healthcare provider.

The main reason attributed for this is the depression level, which is found to be higher among girls, while in boys the rate is lower at 22 percent. On the backdrop of the survey mental health charities opined that the figures were worrying and better treatment is needed for the adolescents to give them a moral boost.

According to the survey among those self harmed 73% admitted to cutting, 48% to punching, 14% to burning and 10% to self-poisoning. While considering the reason feeling of depression, angry, relationship problem and being stressed leads the list, it amounts to 43 %, 17%, 10% and 10% respectively.

While commenting on this the consultant psychiatrist of Cheadle Royal Hospital, Dr David Kingsley who is also a mental healthcare advisor for the NHS and the man who commissioned the research said: “It is a matter of grave concern. A recent study has put forth three main reasons for this growing tendency that are family problems, problem with friends and problems at school.”

He also suggested that parents and teachers should give special care to those young people who are struggling emotionally, feeling low or showing tendency of being withdrawn. It is better to prevent it at the early stage rather than allowing it to develop as a life long illness.

Apr 19: A new study conducted among 860,000 women has revealed that diagnosing women in their early 70s for breast cancer will save their lives. The Dutch research was presented at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Berlin has found that by screening women the death rate decreased by 30 per cent.

Owing to the increasing rate of cancer risk with age the researchers are divided in their opinion on whether to screen women who are aged above 70 or not. Initiatives were on in the UK to raise the upper age limit for routine screening from 70 to 73 by 2012. Screening has a significant role to play in identifying the symptoms of breast cancer.

According to an estimate between the years 1986 and 1997 the average mortality rate of women was 166 per 100,000 women. In 2006 it get reduced to 117 per 100,000 women with almost 30 percent reduction.

The lead of the research team Jacques Fracheboud said: “The fall in the breast cancer mortality rate is a clear indication of the positive effects of screening. We also found that more women aged between 70 and 74 when subjected to further tests were found to be affected by breast cancer. In older women the breast tissue will be less dense and it enables easy identification of the symptoms of breast cancer.”

He further added that there is no need for continues screening beyond 75 years because most of the tumours found at this stage are slow growing and will never create problems.

Meanwhile Dr Alexis Willett, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: “The threat of getting affected by breast cancer is more likely in older woman. That is why we recommend all women above 50 years of age to attend NHS breast screening appointments.”

Mar 26: A latest research has revealed the secrets of maintaining the health of older women. The findings of the research point out that older woman should include plenty of protein in their daily diet as their body finds difficult to replace the muscle loss as they grow age. The difference in the body metabolism of men and women is considered as the main reason for this. The research was conducted by the researchers of Nottingham and Washington. In total 29 men and women who are aged between 65 and 80 are considered for the study.

Women aged above 65 include protein rich diets that include meat and eggs and they also did resistance exercise. The researchers noticed that even after doing resistance exercise women did not put up muscles as their male counterparts did. It was found that the male body is able to store protein in the muscle than women. The scientists after study found that the female body lacks certain ability that male body have. This is due to the hormonal imbalance that happens after the menopause stage.

While commenting on the outcome of the research Michael Rennie, professor of clinical physiology at the University of Nottingham said: “Older people should include food that has high proportion of protein in it. Oestrogen that plays a key role in maintaining body mass and preserve muscle decline during this period is the main reason behind this. The finding of the research has a far reaching impact in maintaining health of people during their old age and there by reduce of the demands of the National Health Service.”

It was earlier found that from 50 years onwards people will start losing 0.4 per cent of muscle mass every year. Women are more vulnerable to the reduction in the muscle even in the early middle-age. Their body will have more fat and less muscle than men. This is the first research of its kind to focus on the mechanistic difference between men and women in muscle loss.

Mar 17: NHS has a vital role to play in enhancing the health facilities in the UK. As an attempt to increase its efficiency more nurses and doctors are recruited in recent years. But the number of support staff has fallen according to an official survey. In total there are only 11,000 clinical employees available now that includes nursing assistants and administrators. The government expressed its willingness to recruit more staffs where they are shortage.

At present over 1.3 million employees are working under the NHS. Last year a committee of MPs warned that the NHS workforce is not properly maintained. It was on the wake of a leaked document from the Department of Health Planning hinting about the expected shortage of nurses and GPs in the next four years. Overall the NHS workforce has decreased by 0.6 per cent between Sep 2006 and Sep 2007 as according to a census data.

While commenting on this Time Straughan, NHS Information Centre chief executive opined that the increase in clinical staff was good news that helps NHS to work more efficiently than it was before.

Ann Keen the Health Minister said that by recruiting the right staff all the patients will get a special care without compromise in the quality of treatment.

The deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, Louise Silverton appreciated the move but he also hinted that the rapid increase in the birth rate raises the demand for more midwives. He also added that as according to the latest statistics nearly 50 per cent of the midwives will get retired over the next decade.

Meanwhile the government is planning to appoint 4000 more midwives in the NHS by the end of the year 2012.

Feb 13: Breath test could be used effectively to diagnose diseases including heart disease and cancer. Scientists at the Swansea University are trying to create more user-friendly method that gives clear indication about many serious ailments. Even though some components from the breath are earlier used to test diseases like diabetes, cancer and other diseases, those methods are considered as crude and unreliable.

A senior research assistant at the Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating, Dr Masood Yousef is making use of the current technology to evaluate the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath.

While commenting on this Dr Yousef said: “There is research evidence that high concentration of certain VOCs in breath sample is linked to disease. Some of them are the smell of acetone and ‘pear drops’ are linked to diabetes, smell of ammonia is linked to hepatitis and the smell of dimethyl sulphide is linked to cirrhosis. Certain other compounds help to identify particular type of cancer.”

He further added that: “If the unique techniques are used to identify the early symptoms of the diseases than traditional methods, it will revolutionise the concept of diagnosis to a greater extent. Diagnosis based on the exhaled breath is less refined than the well refined traditional blood or urine analysis techniques, and are not widely used in clinical practice as well.”

The improved analytical method using volatile marker-based diagnostics help in rapid identification and monitoring of several diseases. By codifying and upgrading the breath techniques with technology will intensify the process of diagnosing diseases. Apart from this the procedure is expected to be cost effective when compared to other techniques and it potentially saves time and money for the NHS.

Jan 25: Music in one form or the other remains as a delight right from the origin of mankind. It touches our mind and it has the ability to heal the wounds of our mind. A recent study has added more value to this belief as it shows that music therapy will help patients to overcome mental problems like depression and there by help them to improve, restore and maintain health.

According to a statistics about 121 million people world wide are suffering from depression. The indication of that can be seen in their changing attitudes like disturbed appetite, sleep patterns and overall functioning of the body and the inferior feeling of low self-esteem, worthlessness and guilt. These attitudes pave way for suicide and are linked with 1 million deaths a year. This gives a clear picture about the significance of this study.

Drugs and psychotherapy are the common treatment procedures adopted by the physicians. But a team of Cochrane Researchers decided to study about the impact of music on the behaviour pattern of this kind of patients. After undergoing a thorough study they found five researches that match their criteria from the international literature. Four of the study showed that there is reduction in the symptoms of depression among patients who underwent music therapy. The fifth study did not find this effect.

Anna Maratos, the lead author of the research and an art therapist who works in the central and Northwest London Foundation NHS Trust said: “The present study has shed light on to the fact that the music therapy could improve the mood of the patient. While the evidence came from few small studies and it is the area that have wider scope for further study. The detailed study into this topic will give a clear idea about the form of music that is effective for this purpose.”

A deep understanding of the extent of impact of music on healing psychological problems will help the therapist to handle this effectively for the treatment of patients. GHT

We associate MRSA strongly with hospitals, but studies are beginning to show that MRSA infetions are becoming increasingly community originated, which also means that they are increasingly prevalent in community based settings such as school or community centres which poses a major health risk but also suggests that combatting these bacteria will become more difficult where they can no longer be isolated in hospital settings where higher standards of hygeine can disrupt them.

As has been pointed out: deaths attributed to MRSA in 2005 is higher than for HIV/AIDS in the USA. In effect MRSA is becoming an epidemic and these studies suggesting that MRSA and its cohorts have escaped from health settings to the outside world is ominous for policy makers as well as for joe public

More information:

Klevens RM et al. Invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in the United States. JAMA 2007 Oct 17; 298:1763.

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• Medline abstract (Free)

Pichichero ME and Casey JR. Emergence of a multiresistant serotype 19A pneumococcal strain not included in the 7-valent conjugate vaccine as an otopathogen in children. JAMA 2007 Oct 17; 298:1772.

• Original article (Subscription may be required)
• Medline abstract (Free)

Bancroft EA. Antimicrobial resistance: It’s not just for hospitals. JAMA 2007 Oct 17; 298:1803.

• Original article (Subscription may be required)
• Medline abstract (Free)