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National News
It takes an unusual power of rationality to accept the idea that your eye might one day see, or your heart beat, within the body of another. Understandably, perhaps, it is sometimes a leap too far for the recently bereaved. Grief-stricken and forced to decide quickly whether to allow their relative's organs to be transplanted, the families of around one in 10 would-be donors overrule their wishes and refuse - despite the fact that none of the major religions object. This would not just have saddened the individuals concerned. It is one of the reasons why nearly 7,000 people in the UK are waiting for an organ, usually a kidney.
Having a good giggle is one of the perks of office life, but guffawing at inopportune moments or owning a 'unique' laugh can prove embarrassing, finds Andrew Shanahan
Senior family judges and civil servants are studying new research findings from Australia on how to minimise lasting psychological damage to children whose parents are caught up in post-separation battles.
The private sector has eaten into NHS clinical care, owns NHS hospitals, is taking over purchasing and distribution, provides ancillary services, is set to take over the commissioning in primary care trust and, with last week's announcement (Report, July 26), public health looks likely to be the next target. We are witnessing a full handover of the NHS to private companies, which is escalating costs and damaging clinical control.
A HUGE rise in immigration from Eastern Europe next year could cause chaos in schools and hospitals and spark a public backlash, according to a leaked government report.
A “SMART” drug that attacks tumours on two fronts is available today, offering hope for thousands of cancer patients.
PUPILS as young as 14 should learn how to change a nappy, bath a baby and recognise the first signs of meningitis, teachers will be told this week.
THE company at the centre of the biggest privatisation yet seen in the NHS will not save the health service money, according to an American manufacturer who has just won a settlement from it. Novation has been under investigation for questionable business practices.
THE system of classifying illegal drugs should be replaced with ratings that explain their effects, MPs said yesterday.
Britain is one of the most lucrative markets for co-caine, heroin and ecstasy, according to the agency tackling drug gangs. The first UK threat assessment by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) — Britain’s “FBI” — says that, despite work by police and customs and promises by ministers, the trade is flourishing.
He’s the wealthiest doctor in Britain, and his clinic tops the IVF league tables. So why is he in despair?
With dangerously high pollution levels, they must remember medication rules
My son is 11 and will be moving to high school in September. We’ve noticed that he has become increasingly withdrawn: he has turned from a lad who was hardly ever home to one who hardly ever goes out. After some gentle questioning, we have found out he is being bullied by an older boy who is already at the high school and who pushes him about, says he’s going “to get him” and gets his friends to try to hit him.
Two decades after a British doctor discovered a syndrome that can easily be mistaken for multiple sclerosis, he warns today that hundreds of people may still be wrongly diagnosed because simple tests are not offered as a matter of routine.
The blazing sunshine has provoked soaring sales of what might seem the most unlikely product - artificial tanning lotion.
International News
Don't worry about the deep-fried Mars bar, pints of stout, or the doner kebab on the way home from the pub. Just turn off that air-conditioning! A study published in the US International Journal of Obesity has found that air-conditioning results in us still wanting to eat despite baking temperatures. Or rather it stops us from feeling as if we do not want to eat. According to the researchers, if we are frying at work and home, we don't want to do the same to our food.
Researchers have developed a "man-made" scorpion venom to be used in the treatment of brain tumours.
New research shows that a chemical compound found in many air fresheners, toilet bowl cleaners, mothballs and other deodorizing products, may be harmful to the lungs. Human population studies at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, found that exposure to a volatile organic compound (VOC), called 1,4 dichlorobenzene (1,4 DCB) may cause modest reductions in lung function.
A Johns Hopkins study should ease the concerns held by many older adults with mild high blood pressure about the strain or harm exercise could cause their hearts. Results of the research on 104 men and women age 55 to 75 showed that a moderate program of physical exertion had no ill effects on the heart's ability to pump blood nor does it produce a harmful increase in heart size.
Science correspondent Jon Cohen, a prize-winning author and one of the world's foremost journalists covering HIV/AIDS, reports on the battle against the disease across Latin America and the Caribbean, in the journal's 28 July 2006 issue.
Death by snakebite is horrible. The immediate pain of the bite is followed by swelling, bruising and weakness, then sweating or chills, with numbness, nausea, blurred vision and possibly convulsions before it's all over. Such misery is produced by a veritable witches' brew of toxins in snake venom.
Mothers who suffer from serious bouts of postpartum depression and psychosis often don't get enough help before killing their children, but jailing them is not necessarily the answer, say two Penn State researchers who are publishing a new book: "Child Homicide: Parents Who Kill," with CRC Press, in August.
In laboratory tests, one very low dose of a drug was enough to show an effect on notoriously tenacious artery-clogging plaques. What kind of drug is that potent?
An Oregon Health & Science University study shows motion and door sensors placed in elders' homes can help track activity patterns thought to relate to memory changes that are early signs of dementia.
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States. In total, the treatment and toll of this progressive disease costs our country about $86 billion per year, a figure expected to rise as Baby Boomers age.
Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been the most popular treatment for arthritis - despite their association with gastrointestinal (GI) complications, including bleeding ulcers and death. When selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors (coxibs) were introduced a decade ago, they were widely hailed as a gastroprotective shield for NSAID users
A new vaccine aimed at halting the spread of a common sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical cancer should eventually be given to both sexes, doctors said on Monday.
