VIDEO: Police warn after ecstasy deaths

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

Pregnancy advice 'scaremongering'

3 January 2013 Last updated at 05:00 GMT Pregnancy is a huge, life-changing period in a woman's life and there is no shortage of advice about what is best for your unborn child. But in this week's Scrubbing Up, Linda Geddes, the author of Bumpology, argues this can sometimes be misleading and scaremongering.

Expectant parents are bombarded with advice about what they should and shouldn't be doing.

Pregnant women mustn't eat too much as it may raise the baby's risk of obesity or diabetes, but they mustn't diet as that could have a similar effect.

Neither should they exercise for fear of triggering a miscarriage, or get too stressed out because that's bad for the baby too. And if they do get stressed, they can't drink alcohol or go for a spa treatment to relax.

You might start to think that staying at home would be the sensible thing to do, only this too is ridden with potential dangers for your unborn child: from ice-cream, to pet shampoo, to hair dye. Even lying down or your back can allegedly cut off your baby's blood supply.

When I fell pregnant three years ago, I felt paralysed and somewhat patronised by all the conflicting advice out there.

I was also obsessed with the little life that was growing inside me, and desperate for more information about what it was doing in there.

Could it taste the curry I was eating; hear the songs I was singing; or sense when I took a swim in the freezing outdoor swimming pool near my home?

So I began a quest to investigate the truth behind the old wives' tales, alarming newspaper headlines and government guidelines, and to probe deeper into the inner world of the developing child. So Bumpology was born.

Booze and breastfeeding

Some of what I discovered while researching the book amused and amazed me: I learned that parents who already have a couple of boys are statistically more likely to go on having boys, though no-one really understands why; that the shape of a woman's bump provides no clues as to the gender of the baby within, but that women with severe morning sickness are slightly more likely to be carrying a girl; and that contrary to the received wisdom, babies actually can focus on objects further than 30cm away (even if they often under- or overshoot).

I also learned that much of the research underpinning medical advice on things like alcohol consumption - and even the health benefits of breastfeeding - is far from clear-cut and often aimed at the general population, rather than taking the individual into consideration.

In the case of alcohol, there's clear evidence that heavy drinking is harmful -- and even a daily glass of wine may increase the odds of a baby being born underweight, which carries additional risks to its health.

However, below this level, there is a massive grey zone where scientists simply don't yet have an answer to whether or not alcohol causes harm.

When it comes to breastfeeding, it's quite true that breast milk is best for babies, or at least better than formula milk in terms of protecting them against infections in the short term.

But when it comes to the much-touted long-term benefits of breastfeeding, such as protection against obesity, diabetes or allergy, the research is less convincing.

Certainly women who can't breastfeed for whatever reason, and who live in countries with a decent standard of health care, shouldn't waste too much time worrying that they are causing long-term damage to their baby's health.

'Overblown'

However, what alarmed me the most was the realisation that much of what women are told about the risks of medical interventions during labour - things like induction, epidural anaesthesia and undergoing a c-section - are overblown.

At the same time, statistics about the odds of needing medical assistance or on complications like tearing during a vaginal birth are frequently not talked about.

I believe that access to this kind of information could have a big influence on women's expectations of labour and on some of the decisions they make when planning for the birth of their child.

I also think it could help women to come to terms with things if labour doesn't go according to plan and they need additional help getting their baby out.

Having a baby can be one of the greatest joys that life bestows. However, it is also hard work and new parents can do without the unnecessary guilt, anxiety and doubt that misleading pregnancy advice brings.

It is also a time of great wonder and through my research I have learned things about my own children that will never cease to amaze me. I believe it's time to push aside the scaremongering and allow parents the freedom to enjoy this precious period of their lives.

View the original article here

VIDEO: Doctors to repair Malala's skull

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

Damage To The Hippocampus Following Binge Drinking Indicated By A Brain Protein Called Vimentin

Chronische trinken ist bekannt, dass nachteilige Gesundheitseffekte wie Herz- und Leber-Probleme, kognitive Beeinträchtigungen und Hirnschäden haben. Alkoholexzesse erhöhen das Risiko der Entwicklung von Demenz und/oder Hirnschäden insbesondere ist bekannt, doch ist wenig bekannt über eine genaue Schwellenwert für die schädlichen Wirkungen des Alkohols...

View the original article here

Vegetarians 'cut heart risk by 32%'

30 January 2013 Last updated at 17:01 GMT By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News Ditching meat and fish in favour of a vegetarian diet can have a dramatic effect on the health of your heart, research suggests.

A study of 44,500 people in England and Scotland showed vegetarians were 32% less likely to die or need hospital treatment as a result of heart disease.

Differences in cholesterol levels, blood pressure and body weight are thought to be behind the health boost.

The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Heart disease is a major blight in Western countries. It kills 94,000 people in the UK each year - more than any other disease, and 2.6 million people live with the condition.

The heart's own blood supply becomes blocked up by fatty deposits in the arteries that nourish the heart muscle. It can cause angina or even lead to a heart attack if the blood vessels become completely blocked.

Scientists at the University of Oxford analysed data from 15,100 vegetarians and 29,400 people who ate meat and fish.

Over the course of 11 years, 169 people in the study died from heart disease and 1,066 needed hospital treatment - and they were more likely to have been meat and fish eaters than vegetarians.

Continue reading the main story

Choosing the veggie option on the menu is not a shortcut to a healthy heart”

End Quote Tracy Parker British Heart Foundation Dr Francesca Crowe said: "The main message is that diet is an important determinant of heart health, I'm not advocating that everyone eats a vegetarian diet.

"The diets are quite different. Vegetarians probably have a lower intake of saturated fat so it makes senses there is a lower risk of heart disease."

The results showed the vegetarians had lower blood pressure, lower levels of "bad" cholesterol and were more likely to have a healthy weight.

Tracy Parker, from the British Heart Foundation, said: "This research reminds us that we should try to eat a balanced and varied diet - whether this includes meat or not.

"But remember, choosing the veggie option on the menu is not a shortcut to a healthy heart. After all, there are still plenty of foods suitable for vegetarians that are high in saturated fat and salt.

"If you're thinking of switching to a vegetarian diet, make sure you plan your meals carefully so that you replace any lost vitamins and minerals, such as iron, that you would normally get from meat."

View the original article here

Erfolgreiche mentale Gesundheit Konzept für Teenage Alkoholprävention

AppId is over the quota
Gezielte psychologische Interventionen zur Jugendliche Gefahr, emotionale und Verhaltensstörungen Probleme deutlich reduzieren ihr Trinkverhalten und, die von ihren Mitschülern, nach den Ergebnissen aus einer großen randomised controlled Trial veröffentlicht in JAMA Psychiatrie...

View the original article here

In Rat Model, Social Isolation Leads To Greater Vulnerability To Addiction

Ratten, die sozial isoliert, während einer kritischen Zeit der Adoleszenz sind sind anfälliger für Abhängigkeit von Amphetaminen und Alkohol, fanden Forscher an der University of Texas at Austin. Amphetamin sucht ist auch schwieriger, die sozial isolierten Ratten auszulöschen...

View the original article here

VIDEO: Soft drink sugar tax call

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

VIDEO: 'Plastic surgeons are like car salesmen'

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

The condition that mixes sensations

30 January 2013 Last updated at 00:44 GMT By Smitha Mundasad BBC News James Wannerton says one of his girlfriends tasted of melted wine-gum sweets

As a young man James's girlfriends were flavoured of rhubarb and melted wine gums.

And his schoolmates had a strong essence of sliced potatoes and strawberry jam.

He chose his companions not based on their personality or looks, but because of how their names tickled his taste buds.

James Wannerton has synaesthesia - a condition in which the senses mix together so that sensations we normally consider separate start to intermingle.

Studies from the University of Edinburgh suggest 4% of the UK population could be affected by this blurring of the senses.

Researchers there and at the University of Sussex believe this phenomenon could be advantageous, particularly when it comes to remembering things.

Dr Julia Simner, at Edinburgh University, and Professor Jamie Ward, at the University of Sussex, are looking at whether savants - people with extraordinary abilities - use synaesthesia to help accomplish their mind-boggling feats.

One well-known savant, Daniel Tammet, set the European record for reciting the greatest number of decimal places of pi in 2004.

He has written much about how, for him, numbers have associated colours.

"We believe one of the keys to savants' extraordinary abilities is synaesthesia, giving them advantages in their memory recall," says Dr Simner.

Set menu

In James's case, his synaesthesia certainly helped him at school.

As now, every time he heard a sound as a young boy, he had an immediate and involuntary taste on his tongue.

Hearing the name Anne Boleyn, gave him a strong taste of pear drops, making some history lessons a treat.

In fact most monarchs in British history came with a specific taste, which meant he could reel them off with ease.

As a child, James's synaesthesia helped him remember the names of kings and queens

His word-taste associations also help him remember every turn on the way to work.

"My route is like a set menu. It begins with a jam sandwich and it ends with a Rolo sweet," he says.

And he can't imagine what it would be like to attempt to recall things without their associated taste, though he is quick to say he wouldn't place his memory in the realm of the savants.

He was once offered the chance to temporarily disable these sensory experiences , but chose not to take it.

"It would be like someone asking you if you wanted to switch off your sight for 20 minutes," he says.

As president of the UK Synaesthesia Association he meets many people with these types of abilities.

Synaesthesia can come in many forms as the different senses mix and melt together.

Mirror-touch

The most common type is grapheme-colour synaesthesia where people perceive words, letters and numbers as distinct colours.

A more recently described type is mirror-touch synaesthesia - in which tactile sensations are experienced when a synaesthete sees others being touched.

And Mr Wannerton's relatively rare form is known as word-taste or lexical gustatory synaesthesia.

There are many theories about why this condition exists.

Some people believe it is due to the cross-wiring of certain areas in the brain usually unconnected.

Others suggest everyone is born with these cross-connections and in most people these links melt away, but in synaesthetes they remain strong.

Dr Simner says: "We now know for a fact the brains of people with synaesthesia are different to other people in two ways.

"Brains of synaesthetes have extra clusters of connectivity and there are differences in the grey matter of the brain - an extra thickness is seen in certain areas."

Prof Jamie Ward has studied Mr Wannerton's brain in detail using brain scanning techniques.

When we've asked James to think about words which have good and less palatable tastes to him, we see many parts of the brain lighting up, including areas associated with taste, emotional processing and mental imagery, he says.

But there is still a long way to go in understanding synaesthesia, particularly in identifying genes responsible for the condition, researchers say.

The tendency to have synaesthesia runs in families, though relatives will often have different types of it.

And research as early as 1963 suggests synaesthesia can be induced by drugs such as LSD - opening up the possibility the condition may be in part due to an imbalance of chemicals in the brain.

There have even been some cases where synaesthesia occurs after an injury to the brain.

One of James's girlfriends tasted of rhubarb

But most synaesthetes, like James, feel they have always had it.

As a child it really didn't bother him.

"It felt as natural as breathing," he says.

But there are times in his adult life that the constant bombardment on his palate can be a nuisance.

These days if he has to work with someone with an overpowering first name, he chooses to refer to them by their middle names, or just re-christens them with an new one.

And talking to people in a crowded room can taste a bit like putting lots of strange things into a food processor at once, he says.

And some people think it is all in his head, he says.

Prof Ward says: "It is in the head. It is how it got into the head that is the question. Is it rooted in the head in terms of how the brain is structured and wired?"

But most of the time James does not mention his synaesthesia.

"So what if I taste sounds or the women in the supermarket tastes like an apricot?

"It's not that that interests me. It's where it's leading to.

"The study of synaesthesia is leading to a far greater understanding of how each individual sees the world around them and we each do see it in very different ways."

View the original article here

Hospital thieves targeted amputee

30 January 2013 Last updated at 13:45 GMT The prosecution claim two men stole from RVH patients after entering their wards through A&E A double amputee was among patients targeted by thieves during a night-time raid on a Belfast hospital, the city's High Court has been told.

The intruders, who entered the wards at Royal Victoria Hospital last October, also stole from a pensioner and a man under sedation, prosecutors said.

The details were disclosed as Gerard Madden, one of two men accused of the burglary applied for bail.

The 21-year-old, from Aspen Park in Dunmurry, denies the charges.

At a previous court hearing it was revealed that patients' mobile phones, a handbag, a watch and headphones were stolen in the early hours of 15 October.

Pregnant

One elderly patient was said to have been wakened from her sleep by a man standing beside her bed, drinking from a bottle.

She challenged him after discovering her phone was missing, the court was told at the time.

CCTV footage forms part of the case against both accused - that they allegedly left the Accident and Emergency department and wandered through the hospital without permission.

On Wednesday, Mr Madden made a second bail application in a bid to help his pregnant partner.

Mr Justice Burgess, who heard the original application, recalled that the alleged offences involved victims waking up to discover the intrusions.

A prosecuting barrister added: "One was sedated, one was in their early seventies, and one was a double amputee."

Defence counsel Michael Ward urged the judge to release his client due to the length of time the case is taking to get to trial.

'Sense of responsibility'

He said the accused wanted to support his partner as she prepares to give birth to their child.

Claiming Mr Madden has obtained a sense of responsibility, the barrister added: "He feels he has been punished sufficiently and makes no bones about the fact that he has a case to answer.

"He really is someone who seems to have turned a corner. He wants to be there for his partner during the final weeks of her pregnancy."

However, Mr Justice Burgess again ruled that bail should be refused.

He confirmed: "At this stage I see no grounds for changing my original decision."

View the original article here

Wenn Jugendliche haben ist das erste Getränk von ihren besten Freunden beeinflusst.

Die Chancen stehen, dass das einzige, was, das Sie über Ihre ersten Swig Alkohol zu erinnern, ist, wie schlecht das Zeug schmeckte. Was Sie nicht wissen ist die Person, die Sie das erste Getränk gaben und wenn Sie hatte es sagt viel über Ihre Veranlagung zu trinken, später im Leben...

View the original article here

Unique Insight Into The Often Misunderstood World Of Addiction

AppId is over the quota
Menschen, die über viele Jahre Kokain nehmen, ohne süchtig eine Gehirnstruktur haben, die erheblich von den Personen ist, die Kokain-Abhängigkeit entwickelt, haben die Forscher entdeckt...

View the original article here

Angetrieben von FDA Advisory Panel Schmerzmittel Grenzen

Neue Einschränkungen sollten auf weit verbreitete narkotische Schmerzmittel, weil eine alarmierende Zunahme der sucht und Überdosierung Tod, ein FDA Drug Safety und Risk Management Advisory Committee (The Panel) empfohlen angewendet werden...

View the original article here

Gene Interactions Discovered That Make Death From Cocaine Abuse 8 Times More Likely

Wissenschaftler identifizierten genetischen Umstände unter denen gemeinsame Mutationen auf zwei Gene in Anwesenheit von Kokain zu produzieren ein fast Achtfache erhöhtes Risiko des Todes durch die Droge missbrauchen interagieren. Eine geschätzte in drei weißen verstorbenen Exposition Kokain ist Träger von die Kokainmissbrauch besonders tödlichen machen...

View the original article here

Antidepressant heart risk confirmed

30 January 2013 Last updated at 07:51 GMT A heart trace or ECG can show up rhythm disturbances Some but not all antidepressant drugs known as SSRIs pose a very small but serious heart risk, say researchers.

Citalopram and escitalopram, which fall into this drug group, can trigger a heart rhythm disturbance, a new study in the British Medical Journal shows.

UK and US regulators have already warned doctors to be extra careful about which patients they prescribe these medicines to.

And they have lowered the maximum recommended dose.

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says people with pre-existing heart conditions should have a heart trace before going on these drugs, to check for a rhythm disturbance known as long QT interval.

Continue reading the main story

People taking these drugs shouldn't be alarmed and shouldn't stop taking their medication without speaking to their doctor”

End Quote June Davison of the British Heart Foundation Experts reassure that complications are very rare and that in most cases the benefits for the patient taking the drug will outweigh the risks.

Long QT

QT interval is measured with an electrocardiogram (ECG) and varies with the heart rate - it gets longer when the heart beats slower and is shorter when the heart beats faster.

Some variation is normal, but if it gets too long it can upset the timing of heartbeat with potentially dire consequences - dizziness, faints and, rarely, sudden death.

To assess how common a problem long QT linked to SSRI use might be, US researchers decided to look at the medical records of more than 38,00 patients from New England.

Most of these patients had been prescribed an SSRI antidepressant, and some were patients who had been prescribed methadone. The researchers included the methadone patients for comparison because this drug (used for pain relief and to wean addicts off heroin) is known to prolong QT interval.

All of the patients had recently had an ECG.

Both citalopram and escitalopram, as well as methadone, was linked with a small but significantly longer QT interval.

This effect increased at higher doses.

Risks vs benefits

But the researchers say that while longer QT interval is a risk factor for abnormal heart rhythms, these abnormal rhythms are still extremely rare, and the actual increase in QT observed was modest - so for the vast majority of patients, the potential benefits in treating depression or anxiety would far exceed the risk.

June Davison of the British Heart Foundation said: "Having a long QT interval can potentially increase the risk of a serious abnormal heart rhythm. However, as these abnormal rhythms are very rare, the potential benefits in treating depression would exceed the risk for most patients.

"People taking these drugs shouldn't be alarmed and shouldn't stop taking their medication without speaking to their doctor. If you've got any concerns, speak to your GP or pharmacist."

A spokesman for the MHRA said: "The potential risks associated are well known and restrictions have been placed on the level of dosage for particular groups of patients.

"This report acknowledges that the benefits of this medicine outweighs the risks but it is important that these factors are carefully considered by healthcare professionals for patients with pre-existing health conditions such as certain heart conditions."

Helen Williams, from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: "Patients should be reassured that the effects on QT noted by the study researchers were small and the risk of any adverse outcome associated with these changes is very low.

"The study results may however assist clinicians distinguish between different antidepressants drugs when prescribing - choosing a lower risk agent for patients where there is an established increased risk of arrhythmias."

View the original article here

Alcohol's Effects On Normal Sleep Reviewed

Schlaf wird unterstützt durch die natürlichen Zyklen der Aktivität im Gehirn und besteht aus zwei grundlegenden Zustände: REM-Schlaf (REM) Schlaf und non-REM-Schlaf (NREM) Schlaf. In der Regel beginnen die Menschen den Schlaf mit NREM-Schlaf, gefolgt von einem sehr kurzen Zeitraum der REM-Schlaf-Zyklus, dann weiter mit mehr NREM-Schlaf und REM-Schlaf mehr, dieser 90-Minuten-Zyklus weiter durch die Nacht...

View the original article here

VIDEO: Soft drink sugar tax call

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

Can walking while working make you live longer?

30 January 2013 Last updated at 01:07 GMT Bombarded with adverts promising a longer, healthier life, BBC News Los Angeles correspondent Peter Bowes goes in search of eternal youth.

Could walking while we work significantly improve our chances of living to a ripe old age? I hope so. As I write, I am walking at 1mph on a treadmill desk.

Many experts believe that there is convincing evidence that sitting all day is killing us. A number of scientific studies have focused on an increasingly sedentary lifestyle as a key reason why people suffer age-related diseases.

"The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that prolonged sitting is shortening our lives and also our quality of life," says Dr James Levine, director of obesity solutions at the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University.

Levine, an endocrinologist, says our computer and gadget-driven society shoulders much of the blame.

"The health consequences of prolonged sitting... include not only obesity but also hypertension, hyperlipidemia - high cholesterol if you like - cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, poor or low mood, a predisposition to diabetes," he says.

Peter Bowes tries out a treadmill designed to be used in the office

Putting it bluntly, the overall impact is "early death".

Faced with such a litany of negative consequences, Levine has tested and promoted the concept of a treadmill desk as a way of countering the effects of modern day living.

A number of companies are now manufacturing desks with a modified treadmill base attached to a counter level work surface. The belt is designed to go at a low speed - up to 4mph - with most users opting for 1-2mph.

A normal day in the office for Levine

The average person will burn about 100 calories for every mile that they walk.

Google, Microsoft and Evernote, and the hotel chains Hyatt and Marriott, are among the companies using treadmill desks.

"The interesting thing is that they are putting them in common areas, so that people can use them for an hour then go back to their normal location," says Peter Schenk, president of the exercise equipment company LifeSpan.

Some companies have a check-out system, while other users prefer to have their own dedicated desk, for the entire day.

"We've also had installations in a number of homes where people work and they find themselves very sedentary throughout the day," adds Schenk.

The balance to be struck is between physical benefit and work productivity.

Continue reading the main story

In one company people are encouraged to stand when they take a phone call. Another has a no internal email day, so people have to leave their desks to deliver messages within the organisation.

After jumping on one of the treadmills myself, I found that typing on a computer takes some getting used to, but after a few hours it's second nature. Writing is not so easy.

Teresa Barnes, from Memphis, says she averages 30 to 40 miles (48 to 64 km) per week on her treadmill desk.

"You're seriously multi-tasking," she says. "Every time I walk on this I consider it a gift for me."

Barnes runs a non-profit foundation and spends many hours a week on the telephone.

"We do a lot of conference calls and usually in the beginning of a call I tell them I'm turning my treadmill desk on, and they laugh.

"They get a real kick out if it, sometimes at the end of the phone call I'll tell them how far I've walked," she adds.

Software developer Brian Slick has been using a treadmill desk for over a year and has written a blog about his experience.

"I'm not really good about regular exercise such as going to the gym. I needed some way to get exercise while doing work so I don't have to set aside time for it."

Walking up to five hours a day, Slick says he had reduced his waist by 5cm and lost 35lbs (16kgs).

Bowes burnt 300 calories in the writing of this feature

However, he says, the experience "has not all been roses." He has suffered from pain on the bottom of his feet due to inflammation.

"I probably ramped up too quickly and my body didn't adjust all that well. I should have consulted a doctor before starting and worked out some kind of an easing in process," he says.

"But the net result has still been worth it."

Amy Wunsch, a physical therapist, from Newhall in California, says the device is a "fantastic" solution for people suffering the physical issues associated with sitting for extended periods of time.

They include muscle imbalance, flexibility issues and lower back weakness.

But she has a cautionary warning for new users, who may be tempted to shrug over a laptop while walking.

"Make sure that your computer screen is at eye level. The body follows the head, so if your head comes forward the rest of your body is going to slouch forward to go with it. What we want is a really tall posture."

She also warns that walking for a prolonged period of time can lead to overuse injuries.

"It can lead to repetitive strain - especially in the foot and ankle. So if someone's foot and ankle isn't working quite properly that would really exacerbate any injury that could occur there," she says.

But Wunsch's overall assessment is positive. "It's about time," she says.

"We've been in a world that computers and technology have taken over. We have just come and gone with it and made our bodies fit into the electronics instead of making the electronics fit us."

You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

View the original article here

VIDEO: New hope for Tourette's patients

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

VIDEO: Mandatory drug testing 'bonkers'

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

Double arm transplant for soldier

29 January 2013 Last updated at 21:24 GMT 'One of my goals is to hand-cycle a marathon'

The first US soldier to survive losing four limbs in Iraq has said he is looking forward to swimming and driving after having a double arm transplant.

Brendan Marrocco, 26, was injured by a roadside bomb in 2009.

He also received bone marrow from the deceased donor of his arms, a therapy intended to help his body accept the new limbs with minimal medication.

His surgeon says it will take more than a year to know how fully Mr Marrocco will be able to use the new arms.

"The maximum speed is an inch a month for nerve regeneration," Dr W P Andrew Lee, who led the 13-hour surgery last month at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Four other soldiers have lost all four limbs and survived since Mr Marrocco.

'Sky's the limit'

He said he did not know much about the donor but was "humbled by their gift".

His surgery was only the seventh double-hand or double-arm transplant ever done in the US.

On Tuesday Mr Marrocco said he was looking forward to returning to driving and swimming after the transplant.

"I just want to get the most out of these arms, and just as goals come up, knock them down and take it absolutely as far as I can," Mr Marrocco said on Tuesday.

While he has used prosthetic legs, the former soldier said he hated not having hands.

"You talk with your hands. You do everything with your hands, basically, and when you don't have that, you're kind of lost for a while," he said.

Arm and hands prosthetics are generally not as advanced as those for feet and legs.

While he continues physical therapy at Johns Hopkins and later at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, doctors are giving Mr Marrocco a good prognosis on the ultimate ability to use his new hands.

"He's a young man with a tremendous amount of hope, and he's stubborn - stubborn in a good way," said Dr Jaimie Shores, the hospital's clinical director of hand transplantation.

"I think the sky's the limit."

Mr Marrocco had been living in a specially outfitted home in Staten Island, but it was heavily damaged as the cyclone Sandy hit the New York City borough last year.

View the original article here

Report finds 'containment over care'

30 January 2013 Last updated at 13:35 GMT Some patients are not being involved in decisions about their treatment, the report says. Some mental health services have "allowed cultures to develop where control and containment are prioritised over care", a report says.

The health regulator for England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), interviewed 4,569 patients who were subject to the Mental Health Act.

The commission found some hospitals were failing to involve patients in decisions about their treatment.

The Department of Health says the report confirms "institution bias".

The Mental Health Act allows health professionals to treat people in the community and detain people in hospital without their consent.

The regulator visited 1,546 wards where people were detained under the act and examined the treatment of people given community care subject to the act.

Continue reading the main story

The report shows that while there is welcome progress, many challenges remain”

End Quote Prof Sue Bailey Royal College of Psychiatrists The report says during one hospital visit none of the patients interviewed felt involved in plans about their care or treatment.

And some patients were unaware of what they needed to do for their discharge to be considered.

The CQC says: "It has proved all to easy for cultures to develop in which blanket rules deny people their basic rights - especially the right to dignity."

And the regulator found the number of people subject to the act was rising, with 48,600 people receiving care under the act last year, a 5% increase compared to the period 2010-2011.

Mental health services also suffer from a shortage in specialists approved to carry out the assessments which ensure the act is used appropriately, the CQC says.

And during one in 16 visits by the CQC, hospitals had more patients than beds.

'Extremely worrying'

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing said: "It is extremely worrying that mental health services are coming under increasing pressure, with fewer specialists, higher bed occupancy and increasing workloads."

In a joint statement, the charities Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation said: "We are concerned that in many hospitals, abusive practices, such as patients being over-restrained, locked up and overmedicated are being allowed to continue.

"People's needs are simply not being understood and people with a learning disability are particularly vulnerable because they often can't speak up for themselves."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "This government has made it clear we expect the NHS to put the importance of treating mental health problems on a par with physical health.

"This report confirms what we knew about institution bias, that is why we support CQC's moves to strengthen regulation and monitoring of mental health services."

Prof Sue Bailey, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "The report shows that while there is welcome progress, many challenges remain, particularly with the current pressures on acute psychiatric services to respond to those with severe mental illness.

"Worrying trends such as increased rate of detentions may have many causes, but are something that should concern all of us."

View the original article here

In-Built Car Breathalyser Puts The Brakes On Drink Drivers

AppId is over the quota
Concateno frei Alcolock ® Alkoholkontrollen die Fahrzeuge immobilisiert ist ein Alkohol-Test gescheiterten Concateno, ein führender Drogen- und Alkohol-Test-Anbieter, haben angekündigt, eine Partnerschaft mit Alcolock ® GB um den öffentlichen und beruflichen Einsatz des Systems Alcolock ® GB Alkoholtester Wegfahrsperre erhöhen und helfen, UK alkoholbedingte Verkehrsunfälle zu verringern, die in 2 stieg...

View the original article here

VIDEO: Police warn after ecstasy deaths

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

AUDIO: John Hartson inspires listener

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

'Skull in a suitcase' after fall

30 January 2013 Last updated at 08:25 GMT By Smitha Mundasad BBC News Lee Charie had part of his skull removed after a fall from a balcony Lee Charie does not remember falling off a balcony in Thailand.

But when he woke up, part of his skull had been removed.

Doctors in Thailand had cut out a portion to relieve the pressure building on his brain.

And Lee carried this piece of skull home in a polystyrene box, hoping surgeons in the UK would be able to use it to help reconstruct his head.

Lee, 32, from Hertfordshire, was on holiday on the island of Koh Tao when the injury happened.

His memories of the event are hazy, but his father flew out soon after the accident took place in December.

Peter Charie was told his son had fallen from a height of 25ft (7.6m) and was unconscious when found.

Continue reading the main story

Sometimes you literally need a kick in the head to sort yourself out and start doing what you really want to do”

End Quote Mr Lee Charie And Lee spent a month recovering in hospitals in Thailand before a flight home to the UK accompanied by medics.

His father carried the section of skull the doctors had removed.

He had had no trouble getting it past customs and security, he said.

Under pressure

Lee is currently recovering in hospital in the UK, where he is undergoing physiotherapy, medical tests and help for his pain.

When he realised he had had some of his skull taken away, he says he didn't stop crying for two weeks.

But he says he has been overwhelmed by the support of family and friends, some of whom are organising fundraising events to help him and others in similar situations.

Consultant neurosurgeon Colin Shieff says when the he brain is injured, swelling can push it against the protective bony casing of the skull.

"The brain doesn't work well under pressure. It is safer and can guarantee a better recovery if pressure is not allowed to build up," he says.

"It's a bit like if you sprain your ankle, you undo your shoe. It might look worse but it helps."

Sometimes the swelling is mild enough to subside on its own. In other cases, medication can be given to help reduce and control it, Mr Shieff says.

But in some situations unless a part of the skull is removed, the pressure can start to damage the brain.

Mr Shieff, a trustee of Headway, the Brain Injury Association charity, says in terms of everyday function the whole skull isn't essential - there are a lot of people with skull defects who carry on with their everyday lives.

Some are advised to wear a protective helmet to shield against further brain injury, which can be the greatest risk to people with such bony defects.

In fact surgeons have been operating on the skull for many years.

There have been cases from as far back as the Incas, Aztecs and ancient Egyptians of people who have clearly survived for some time with holes deliberately made in their skulls, Mr Shieff says.

Metal template

Many of Mr Shieff's current patients choose to have their skulls reconstructed.

At times the section that has been removed can be put back in place.

Another option is to construct a metal template using scans and computer models, which follows exactly the contour of the natural skull.

Lee says his surgeons are considering using the piece of skull he brought back to help shape a titanium mould for reconstruction.

He is recovering well, apart from a little pain when he uses his facial expressions too much.

And judging distances when walking up and down stairs can be difficult, he says.

Mr Shieff says: "Any fall from more than one's own body height can be very dangerous.

"Some people die following a fall from that height. To survive and survive unscathed from such a fall is an extremely good thing."

Luke Griggs, spokesman for Headway, says: "The effects of brain injury can be devastating. No two brain injuries are the same, so it is impossible to predict what the long-term effects will be when someone sustains a severe brain injury.

"But public perception needs to change. People with brain injuries are already battling with everyday life and yet sadly they are often unfairly judged and treated unkindly.

"With the right care, support and understanding, many people with brain injuries can lead happy and fulfilling lives."

Lee says: "It has made me re-think a lot of things about my life.

"Sometimes you literally need a kick in the head to sort yourself out and to start doing what you really want to do."

View the original article here

Erhöhtes Risiko der Entwicklung von Alkoholproblemen In diejenigen, die "ihre Alkohol enthalten kann"

AppId is over the quota
Prior studies have shown that a low subjective response (SR) to alcohol is a risk factor for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Research on moderate drinkers has shown that acquired tolerance is different from initial response, and is also significantly associated with drinking problems...

View the original article here

Different, Complex Pathways Involved In Alcohol Consumption From Adolescence To Adulthood

AppId is over the quota
Die Pubertät ist oft eine Zeit der Suche nach Neuheit und Risikobereitschaft, einschließlich die Einleitung zu trinken. Während starker Alkoholkonsum, der in der Adoleszenz beginnt zu problematischen Alkoholkonsum später im Leben führen kann, sind andere Risikofaktoren auch Bahnen der Alkoholkonsum beteiligt, die entwickeln kann...

View the original article here

Fatal op surgeon 'played God'

29 January 2013 Last updated at 17:07 GMT Penny found out she was pregnant with their third child after Louis had died "That surgeon took away my best friend and the best father children could want."

Penny Belcuore has had to "move on" following the death of her husband Luigi, known as Louis, in October 2009.

But the mother-of-three, from Morton Bagot in Warwickshire, has found that very difficult, especially because the surgeon, whose actions led to the death of her husband Luigi, was allowed to continue practising.

Mr Belcuore, 43, died after agreeing to take part in a clinical trial involving elective surgery on his right knee, in 2009, for which after more than three years, Mrs Belcuore has been awarded an undisclosed sum in compensation.

The operation went wrong after Prof James Richardson used an adapted spray gun to close a wound in his patient's knee, at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire.

An inquest in March 2011 heard the technique caused an air bubble to stop Mr Belcuore's heart, leading a jury at Shrewsbury Magistrates' Court to conclude the "modification contributed" to his death.

Mrs Belcuore said: "We used to walk a lot in the Cotswolds, we have two big dogs so it was one of our enjoyments.

Mrs Belcuore said she was "shocked" Professor Richardson had been allowed to continue working

"After we had the children Louis would take the girls in a papoose but very occasionally he got a bad pain in his knee and would stumble so he went to the doctor to see if he could find out exactly what was going.

"He was referred to a specialist and then referred to Professor Richardson and he came home very excited he was going to be part of this trial."

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel has been considering Prof Richardson's fitness to practise as a result of the incident on 20 October, 2009.

The tribunal has been adjourned on Friday after a partial-hearing, and will reconvene later this year to consider whether his actions amount to misconduct which impair his fitness to practise.

'Bittersweet' pregnancy

Mrs Belcuore has said that if he is not struck off as a result, she will know "justice hasn't been performed".

She said she was "shocked" the surgeon was allowed to continue practising after the death of her husband.

"That is the fault of the system, if it was any other profession he would have been suspended and that angers me," she said.

"I don't have any feelings towards Professor Richardson, I don't wish him unwell but we need to be protected from people who try to play god."

Mrs Belcuore said life has had to move on for the sake of Louis 2, Lidia 6 and Sienna 5

Mrs Belcuore found out she was pregnant with their third child, a baby boy, after Luigi had died.

"I was overjoyed but it was bittersweet with tragedy and joy all in one, a very strange feeling," she said.

"But it helped me pull myself together for the sake of my baby and for [my two] girls.

"I feel my husband should be here with the boy he always wanted, being of an Italian family a baby boy was really exciting and I knew I'd name him after Louis."

Mrs Belcuore said she has had to find ways to cope without her husband.

"My father died in a car accident when I was six and my mum brought four of us up," she said.

"It's not in my nature to be a negative person, I was raised very positively and that's just what I have t do for the sake of the children.

"I've got many many great friends so I'm very lucky in a lot of ways."

View the original article here

Double arm transplant for soldier

29 January 2013 Last updated at 21:24 GMT 'One of my goals is to hand-cycle a marathon'

The first US soldier to survive losing four limbs in Iraq has said he is looking forward to swimming and driving after having a double arm transplant.

Brendan Marrocco, 26, was injured by a roadside bomb in 2009.

He also received bone marrow from the deceased donor of his arms, a therapy intended to help his body accept the new limbs with minimal medication.

His surgeon says it will take more than a year to know how fully Mr Marrocco will be able to use the new arms.

"The maximum speed is an inch a month for nerve regeneration," Dr W P Andrew Lee, who led the 13-hour surgery last month at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Four other soldiers have lost all four limbs and survived since Mr Marrocco.

'Sky's the limit'

He said he did not know much about the donor but was "humbled by their gift".

His surgery was only the seventh double-hand or double-arm transplant ever done in the US.

On Tuesday Mr Marrocco said he was looking forward to returning to driving and swimming after the transplant.

"I just want to get the most out of these arms, and just as goals come up, knock them down and take it absolutely as far as I can," Mr Marrocco said on Tuesday.

While he has used prosthetic legs, the former soldier said he hated not having hands.

"You talk with your hands. You do everything with your hands, basically, and when you don't have that, you're kind of lost for a while," he said.

Arm and hands prosthetics are generally not as advanced as those for feet and legs.

While he continues physical therapy at Johns Hopkins and later at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, doctors are giving Mr Marrocco a good prognosis on the ultimate ability to use his new hands.

"He's a young man with a tremendous amount of hope, and he's stubborn - stubborn in a good way," said Dr Jaimie Shores, the hospital's clinical director of hand transplantation.

"I think the sky's the limit."

Mr Marrocco had been living in a specially outfitted home in Staten Island, but it was heavily damaged as the cyclone Sandy hit the New York City borough last year.

View the original article here

VIDEO: Mandatory drug testing 'bonkers'

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

The condition that mixes sensations

30 January 2013 Last updated at 00:44 GMT By Smitha Mundasad BBC News James Wannerton says one of his girlfriends tasted of melted wine-gum sweets

As a young man James's girlfriends were flavoured of rhubarb and melted wine gums.

And his schoolmates had a strong essence of sliced potatoes and strawberry jam.

He chose his companions not based on their personality or looks, but because of how their names tickled his taste buds.

James Wannerton has synaesthesia - a condition in which the senses mix together so that sensations we normally consider separate start to intermingle.

Studies from the University of Edinburgh suggest 4% of the UK population could be affected by this blurring of the senses.

Researchers there and at the University of Sussex believe this phenomenon could be advantageous, particularly when it comes to remembering things.

Dr Julia Simner, at Edinburgh University, and Professor Jamie Ward, at the University of Sussex, are looking at whether savants - people with extraordinary abilities - use synaesthesia to help accomplish their mind-boggling feats.

One well-known savant, Daniel Tammet, set the European record for reciting the greatest number of decimal places of pi in 2004.

He has written much about how, for him, numbers have associated colours.

"We believe one of the keys to savants' extraordinary abilities is synaesthesia, giving them advantages in their memory recall," says Dr Simner.

Set menu

In James's case, his synaesthesia certainly helped him at school.

As now, every time he heard a sound as a young boy, he had an immediate and involuntary taste on his tongue.

Hearing the name Anne Boleyn, gave him a strong taste of pear drops, making some history lessons a treat.

In fact most monarchs in British history came with a specific taste, which meant he could reel them off with ease.

As a child, James's synaesthesia helped him remember the names of kings and queens

His word-taste associations also help him remember every turn on the way to work.

"My route is like a set menu. It begins with a jam sandwich and it ends with a Rolo sweet," he says.

And he can't imagine what it would be like to attempt to recall things without their associated taste, though he is quick to say he wouldn't place his memory in the realm of the savants.

He was once offered the chance to temporarily disable these sensory experiences , but chose not to take it.

"It would be like someone asking you if you wanted to switch off your sight for 20 minutes," he says.

As president of the UK Synaesthesia Association he meets many people with these types of abilities.

Synaesthesia can come in many forms as the different senses mix and melt together.

Mirror-touch

The most common type is grapheme-colour synaesthesia where people perceive words, letters and numbers as distinct colours.

A more recently described type is mirror-touch synaesthesia - in which tactile sensations are experienced when a synaesthete sees others being touched.

And Mr Wannerton's relatively rare form is known as word-taste or lexical gustatory synaesthesia.

There are many theories about why this condition exists.

Some people believe it is due to the cross-wiring of certain areas in the brain usually unconnected.

Others suggest everyone is born with these cross-connections and in most people these links melt away, but in synaesthetes they remain strong.

Dr Simner says: "We now know for a fact the brains of people with synaesthesia are different to other people in two ways.

"Brains of synaesthetes have extra clusters of connectivity and there are differences in the grey matter of the brain - an extra thickness is seen in certain areas."

Prof Jamie Ward has studied Mr Wannerton's brain in detail using brain scanning techniques.

When we've asked James to think about words which have good and less palatable tastes to him, we see many parts of the brain lighting up, including areas associated with taste, emotional processing and mental imagery, he says.

But there is still a long way to go in understanding synaesthesia, particularly in identifying genes responsible for the condition, researchers say.

The tendency to have synaesthesia runs in families, though relatives will often have different types of it.

And research as early as 1963 suggests synaesthesia can be induced by drugs such as LSD - opening up the possibility the condition may be in part due to an imbalance of chemicals in the brain.

There have even been some cases where synaesthesia occurs after an injury to the brain.

One of James's girlfriends tasted of rhubarb

But most synaesthetes, like James, feel they have always had it.

As a child it really didn't bother him.

"It felt as natural as breathing," he says.

But there are times in his adult life that the constant bombardment on his palate can be a nuisance.

These days if he has to work with someone with an overpowering first name, he chooses to refer to them by their middle names, or just re-christens them with an new one.

And talking to people in a crowded room can taste a bit like putting lots of strange things into a food processor at once, he says.

And some people think it is all in his head, he says.

Prof Ward says: "It is in the head. It is how it got into the head that is the question. Is it rooted in the head in terms of how the brain is structured and wired?"

But most of the time James does not mention his synaesthesia.

"So what if I taste sounds or the women in the supermarket tastes like an apricot?

"It's not that that interests me. It's where it's leading to.

"The study of synaesthesia is leading to a far greater understanding of how each individual sees the world around them and we each do see it in very different ways."

View the original article here

Jugendliche vermeiden frühen Alkoholmissbrauchs durch Persönlichkeit-Management

AppId is over the quota
Personality-targeted interventions delivered by trained teachers and school staff decrease alcohol misuse in at-risk teens and delay their classmates' alcohol uptake...

View the original article here

Drogenabhängigkeit ist wahrscheinlich eine Störung der Entscheidungsfindung

Sucht kann sich ergeben aus anormale Gehirn Schaltungen im frontalen Kortex, der Teil des Gehirns, die Entscheidungsfindung steuert...

View the original article here

VIDEO: Rise in number of 40-plus mothers

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here

Stiff upper lip 'harms cancer fight'

30 January 2013 Last updated at 02:52 GMT By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online Researchers surveyed nearly 20,000 adults in a number of countries The UK's "stiff upper lip" culture may explain why it lags behind other countries when it comes to beating cancer, say experts.

Researchers, who surveyed nearly 20,000 adults in six high-income countries, said they found embarrassment often stopped Britons visiting the doctor.

Respondents in the UK were as aware of cancer symptoms as those in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but more reluctant to seek help, they said.

A third feared wasting a doctor's time.

One in six of the men and women aged 50-and-over surveyed in the UK was embarrassed about sharing their symptoms with a doctor, the researchers from King's College London and University College London, with help from Cancer Research UK and Ipsos Mori, found.

They said, in the British Journal of Cancer, that this may partly explain why the UK has a far lower cancer survival rate than other developed nations, despite good access to skilled medical staff and cutting-edge treatments.

Continue reading the main story

We don't know why British people feel like that. It may be that we are more stoic and have a war-time mentality”

End Quote Dr Lindsay Forbes Lead researcher The researchers surveyed people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not Scotland.

'UK phenomenon'

Data shows that for cancer survival, the UK ranks behind many countries, including the five other nations looked at in the study.

According to estimates, the lives of more than 5,000 cancer patients could be saved each year in England alone if the country matched the best European survival rates.

Former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley pledged to achieve this target by the next general election in 2015, with the government's cancer strategy.

Lead researcher Dr Lindsay Forbes said: "This is a real UK phenomenon. UK people really stood out in our study.

"As a nation we are much more likely to say we are embarrassed about going to the doctor or we are worried that we will take up a doctor's time.

"We don't know why British people feel like that. It may be that we are more stoic and have a war-time mentality.

"We know that older people in particular can get a symptom and then wait for weeks or months before going to see their doctor."

Sara Hiom, of Cancer Research UK, said the charity "and others are working hard to understand and address these potential barriers to early presentation and encourage people to tell their doctor if they have noticed something different about their body".

"More work also needs to be done to tackle the poor awareness that cancer risk increases with age," she added.

The researchers note that Denmark also ranks relatively low for cancer survival. They suspect this could be due to delays in patients accessing timely hospital care - something which may also apply to the UK to some extent.

View the original article here

Doctors to repair Malala's skull

30 January 2013 Last updated at 15:25 GMT Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head in October Doctors have revealed how they are going to repair a missing area of the skull of Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.

Surgeons at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital have been giving details about two procedures due to be carried out on the 15-year-old.

Malala was discharged from the hospital earlier this month after being shot in the head by the Taliban in October.

The hospital said the surgery would take place in the next 10 days.

The first procedure will involve drilling into her skull and inserting a custom-made metal plate.

Doctors said Malala had been left completely deaf in her left ear when she was shot at point-blank range.

'Remarkable recovery'

The shockwave destroyed her eardrum and the bones for hearing.

The second procedure will involve fitting a small electronic device that provides a sense of sound to someone who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.

Prosthetist Stefan Edmondson at BQEH explains how a titanium plate can be used to repair a damaged skull

Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at the QEHB, said: "Her recovery is remarkable and it's a testament to her strength and desire to get better.

"There is no doubt that the surgery she underwent in Pakistan was life saving.

"Had that surgery not been of such a high standard she would have died."

He added each procedure should take about 90 minutes and her full recovery could take another 15 to 18 months.

Dr Rosser said the missing part of Malala's skull had been put in her abdomen by surgeons in Pakistan, in order to "keep the bone alive".

Doctors in Birmingham have chosen to use a metal plate to repair her skull instead of that bone, which they say may have shrunk.

Dr Rosser added this was common practice worldwide to keep the bone healthy.

He said: "Malala currently has no skull, she only has skin covering the brain."

'Unique' hospital

Malala has asked to keep the bone once it has been removed, said Dr Rosser.

The QEHB is home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine where members of the armed service who have been injured overseas are treated.

Dr Rosser said the hospital was "unique" because all the treatment Malala required could be done within the same organisation.

Stefan Edmondson, principal maxillofacial prosthetist, at the QEHB said: "What we're doing here could be done elsewhere but because we're such a large super-regional unit with a large neurological unit we see a lot more advanced cranial defects.

"We're fortunate in that aspect to see a lot more complicated cases and [it means] we have the software here."

Continue reading the main story Malala came to prominence when, as an 11-year-old, she wrote a diary for BBC Urdu, giving an account of how her school in Mingora town dealt with the Taliban's 2009 edict to close girls' schools.

Her love for education, and her courage in standing up to the Taliban, earned her a national peace award in 2011.

Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for Malala to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Pakistan government has given Malala's father, Ziaududdin Yousafzai, a job in Birmingham as the education attache at the Consulate of Pakistan for at least three years.

Dr Dave Rosser of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital said a missing part of Malala Yousafzai's skull would be replaced with a titanium plate

View the original article here

Does the BMI need correcting?

29 January 2013 Last updated at 00:12 GMT By Wesley Stephenson BBC News A new way of calculating Body Mass Index (BMI) has been proposed - but does it really solve any of the BMI's well-known problems?

How often have we heard that Brad Pitt at the time of Fight Club, and England rugby player Jonny Wilkinson in his prime, were "overweight" - according to their BMI?

Any system that tells people whether they are "normal", "underweight", "overweight" or "obese" is bound to be controversial, but one obvious weakness of the BMI is that it doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle.

First devised by Adolphe Quetelet more than 150 years ago, BMI is calculated by taking your weight (in kilograms) and dividing it by your height squared (in metres).

In simple terms, it is a way to compare the weights of groups of people of different heights.

Continue reading the main story

Sir, The body-mass index that you (and the National Health Service) count on to assess obesity is a bizarre measure... As a consequence of this ill-founded definition, millions of short people think they are thinner than they are, and millions of tall people think they are fatter.

But mathematician Nick Trefethen, Professor of Numerical Analysis at Oxford University, thinks that the old formula is wrong, as he explained in a letter to the Economist newspaper published earlier this month.

He thinks that people have put too much trust in it in part because it looks so precise - like, say, Einstein's famous equation E=MC².

"That's an equation of physics and it's really right. The BMI formula looks similar. It seems to have the same character but it doesn't reflect a precise truth about our world, it's an approximation to a very complicated reality," he told the BBC.

With that in mind he has proposed a new formula: 1.3 x weight, divided by height to the power 2.5.

Calculate your BMI Continue reading the main story Your new BMI: 0

Your old BMI: 0

The change means that some tall people previously deemed "overweight" are "normal" under the new proposal, and some short people who were "normal" are now "overweight".

But why did Prof Trefethen choose those numbers - 1.3 and 2.5?

"That can't be explained simply. People do scaling arguments to explain as an animal gets longer how, if its bones aren't to break, how much thicker the need to be and out of this kind of mathematical analysis come some rather complicated and unexpected results," he says.

"My fundamental interest is in the physics and mechanics of how bodies behave and there is a body of literature that suggest [the power] should be 2.5, or even two and two-thirds."

But Prof Trefethen stresses he doesn't have a medical background and that his work isn't based on real life observations of people's weight and height.

One man who does have a medical background is Tim Cole, Professor of Medical Statistics at University College London. He says Prof Trefethen's new equation is just one of a long line of papers that have questioned the equation, and he's not convinced it will change anything.

Continue reading the main story Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet noted in 1832 that "the weight increases as the square of the height" (though he sketched a formula similar to Prof Trefethen's in a later publication)Quetelet had no interest in obesity - his goal was to define the "average man"Actuaries began to study links between obesity and life insurance claims before World War I - the Quetelet Index came to be seen as a useful toolIt was re-christened the Body Mass Index in 1972, by Ancel Keys, an American scientist who studied the influence of diet on healthCategories such as "obese" or "overweight" were proposed by JS Garrow and JD Webster in 1980s"I think he's aware of the deficiencies of BMI but I don't think his index goes anywhere to addressing those shortcomings. BMI is an imperfect index and you can tinker about with the power of height as much as you like but [the equation] shouldn't be expected to do what it can't do which is to measure fatness, because it doesn't include fatness," he says.

"BMI can't do better than make a guess as to how much fat there is. If your weight is excessive then the implication is that the excess is fat and, of course, people's body composition varies enormously and BMI doesn't know anything about that so it's a very imprecise index when applied to individuals."

So why do we continue to use it?

"It is useful when applied to populations. The population does mean you get a more precise estimate of BMI simply by averaging over large numbers."

It's been a controversial measure in part because of the way it is divided up into different weight categories. "Underweight" is a BMI under 18.5. "Normal" is between 18.5 and 25. Between 25 and 30 is "overweight" and above 30 is "obese". Some countries have moved the boundaries to better reflect their populations. In India for example anyone over 23 is "overweight" and over 25 is "obese".

The boundaries, were proposed in the mid-1980s by two scientists, Garrow and Webster, and just kind of stuck. But are they in the right place?

"They are to some extent based on health premises as understood by Garrow and Webster in 1985 when the world looked rather different, but also they are a statistical construct," says Prof Cole.

Trying to draw a line somewhere on that spectrum and say below this cut-off is healthy, and above this cut-off is unhealthy, is obviously a rather arbitrary exercise.

The boundaries are the source of endless debate and a recent meta-study in the United States looking at 100 studies including three million people suggested that the people who were overweight had a slightly lower risk of early death than those in the normal category.

"I think the moral of this study is that these BMI categories are weight categories and they're not exact health categories," says Dr Katherine Flegal from the US National Center for Health Statistics who did the study.

"I don't think weight is synonymous with health and I think our study shows that at least it's not synonymous with mortality."

But are we likely to see a change to the way BMI is calculated or a move away from using it altogether?

Prof Cole doesn't think so.

"It's a cheap and cheerful way of getting a handle on whether or not you might be overweight. The alternatives are rather more complicated and expensive.

"You can go for an MRI scan or a dexa scan and those will measure your whole body fat, but that really is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut… BMI does separate those people who are normal from those who are obese and there is some area of uncertainty in the middle."

If people hear from their doctor that their BMI has gone up or down, they can usually be fairly sure that the change in their weight is connected with a change in fat rather than muscle. It's therefore a "good and simple indicator" of whether someone is gaining or losing fat, he says.

So it looks like BMI is here to stay but it's worth remembering that, strictly speaking, it is a measure of your weight relative to your height, not fatness or how healthy you are.

You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

View the original article here

A&E cap to address 'poor care'

30 January 2013 Last updated at 01:27 GMT Inspectors made visits to Queen's Hospital's A&E department last year The number of patients admitted to an east London hospital A&E unit is to be capped at busy times to improve care.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the A&E department at Queen's Hospital, Romford, was providing patients with "unacceptably poor care".

It comes after inspectors found some A&E patients had to wait up to 11 hours before being transferred to a ward.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust said it was working to improve emergency care.

Check on improvements

Apologising to anyone who may have experienced poor care, trust chief executive Averil Dongworth said: "Improving performance in our emergency departments is the biggest challenge that we face, and is the area that is receiving the most attention from all parts of the organisation."

Inspectors made unannounced visits to the hospital in November and December having identified major concerns about the care and welfare of patients in March 2012.

Continue reading the main story

The area in which they were waiting was not set up to deliver good quality care to the standard CQC expects”

End Quote Matthew Trainer CQC Their report said: "We carried out this inspection to ensure they had made improvements, in relation to concerns identified about meeting waiting times and delays experienced by patients in receiving care and the quality of the care they received."

It said they found people using the "Majors" area who required admission were waiting far too long to be transferred to other parts of the hospital - 5% waited more than 11 hours.

The report said the trust should be aiming to transfer 95% of patients who are being admitted to wards within four hours of arrival.

During the inspections people were being nursed on trolleys when they needed to be moved into beds, increasing the risk of pressure sores, dehydration and falls.

The "Majors" area did not have any washing facilities or storage for personal possessions, and did not offer people the privacy and dignity they are entitled to, the report said.

Protection measure

Elsewhere in the department, personal information, including diagnosis, was displayed where anyone, including other members of the public, could see it.

There were not enough consultant or junior doctors in A&E.

The report said 95% of patients being admitted to wards should be transferred within four hours

Matthew Trainer, deputy director of CQC in London, said: "No-one should wait 11 hours' plus to be transferred to a bed, but some of the people we saw during our unannounced inspection had done just that.

"The area in which they were waiting was not set up to deliver good quality care to the standard CQC expects."

He said it now planned to place a legal restriction on the number of people who can be admitted to the "Majors" part of A&E if people already there have been waiting for too long.

"This is designed to protect people from the risk of harm, and to give the trust breathing space to make the changes it needs to make," he said.

Another unannounced inspection found required standards in maternity services at the hospital were now being met.

Ms Dongworth said while the CQC report noted Queen's A&E department was designed to deal with 90,000 attendances a year, they were now seeing about 132,000 people.

"It also confirms that Queen's receives more blue light ambulances than any other hospital in London, " she added.

She said: "Dealing with this volume of patients is hugely challenging and requires a joined-up approach to ensure that the trust is supported by services in the community."

The CQC is due to meet the Trust Development Authority and local commissioners next week to discuss next steps.

View the original article here