Friday 31st October 2014- The Guardian: Put calorie labels on beer, wine and spirits, say public health experts

‘Beer, wine and spirits are fuelling the obesity epidemic and should be labelled with the calories they contain, say public health experts.

A large 175ml glass of 13% ABV (alcohol by volume) wine contains 160 calories, a bottle of alcopop contains 170 and a pint of 4% ABV beer contains 180’.

‘The RSPH polled 2,000 people to find out what they knew about the calories in alcohol and found that the vast majority had little idea.

More than 80% did not know, or incorrectly estimated, the calorie content of a large glass of wine. And almost 60% did not know how many calories there were in a pint of lager.’

‘In England about two-thirds of adults are obese or overweight, which is a risk for serious life-shortening diseases including heart disease, stroke, cancer and type 2 diabetes’.

See:

Put calorie labels on beer, wine and spirits, say public health experts

Friday 31st October 2014- The Telegraph: 3D printed drugs could revolutionise prescriptions

‘Now the 3D printer could be about to revolutionise the field of prescription medicines, by custom-making them for individual patients by delivering exactly the correct dose, to the nearest microgram.

Scientists from the University of Central Lancashire are patenting a new system of printing drugs, which could save the NHS the millions of pounds spent on mass-producing medicines.

The filaments of the 3D printer, which usually produce polymers, have been adapted to produce pharmaceutical compounds.

Its inventors say that it will spell the end of the ‘one size fits all’ dose, which often leads patients taking too much or too little of a prescribed drug. Patients will even be able to print their own drugs’.

See:

3D printed drugs could revolutionise prescriptions

Thursday 30th October 2014- The Daily Mail: Saliva test for cancer hailed as holy grail for early detection of deadly disease: Analysis could also be used to spot diabetes and dementia

‘A simple saliva test was yesterday hailed as the holy grail in the early detection of deadly diseases such as cancer.

It could also apply to dementia, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes and auto-immune diseases, the researchers said.

The study, the most comprehensive analysis ever conducted of a particular type of molecules in human saliva, reveals that saliva contains many of the same disease-revealing molecules that are in blood’.

Related Article:

Saliva test for cancer hailed as holy grail for early detection of deadly disease: Analysis could also be used to spot diabetes and dementia

Friday 31st October 2014- The Guardian: Ebola crisis – the Guardian briefing

The Guardian updates on the Ebola epidemic, providing statistics and current findings regarding the virus’ containment.

‘The WHO says there were 13,700 officially registered cases by the end of October, almost all in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, with about 5,000 deaths, but many go unrecorded and the true figure is thought to be two to three times higher. The US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) says that if nothing changes there could be 1.4 million cases by late January’.

Related Article:

Ebola crisis – the Guardian briefing

Wednesday 29th October 2014- The Guardian: Low HIV and Aids rates saw west Africa ‘miss out on health investment’

While the Ebola epidemic rages across Africa, a detailed survey has been revealed in the Guardian to have denied West Africa a significant health investment due to the reduced HIV rates.

‘A major project called Indepth, which has looked at the causes of death of more than 110,000 people in 13 countries shows that health improved generally in those given substantial international aid to try to turn around the HIV and Aids epidemic. But west Africa, with severe poverty and low healthcare standards but relatively little HIV, did not benefit.’

‘Just as Aids focused minds and money 15 years ago, so Ebola should now. Whitworth [‘Dr Jimmy Whitworth, head of population health at the Wellcome Trust which funded the project’] said he hoped that as healthcare in west Africa now had the world’s attention, it could keep it. “Otherwise we’re left as a global community with a real achilles heel with inadequate services,” he said.’

See:

Low HIV and Aids rates saw west Africa ‘miss out on health investment’

Friday 31st October 2014- The Guardian: How Nigeria defeated Ebola

WHO has officially declared that Ebola has been conquered in Nigeria following impressive aggressive methods by the government to contain and neutralise the virus.

‘After the diagnosis was made, Nigeria implemented a co-ordinated approach that involved making 18,000 visits to about 898 people to check their temperatures. This was possible because Nigeria had the state capacity to undertake such a massive effort in a timely manner.

The 898 people were linked to one initial infected patient. These included 351 primary and secondary contacts as well as 547 tertiary contacts. One nurse who had cared for the patient had traveled over 500km to Enugu where she potentially infected at least 21 people.

This aggressive tracing, that included having access to phone records, was possible because Nigeria had the state capacity to undertake such a massive effort in a timely manner’.

See:

How Nigeria defeated Ebola

Thursday 30th October 2014- BBC News: Study points to new genetic risks for autism

A recent international study, lead by Prof Joseph Buxbaum of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, has discovered that 33 genes are linked to autism traits arising from ‘15,480 DNA samples’ from children affected by the mental illness and their parents.

‘The researchers assessed 15,480 DNA samples to determine the impact of mutations to the DNA that are passed from parent to child as well as those that spring up spontaneously.

The study expanded the number of genes linked to autism up to 33.

Seven genes were completely new while 11 had not been classed as true risk genes due to lack of data. Fifteen of the genes were already known to be risky.

It also indicated that small, rare genetic mutations in 107 genes can contribute to the risk of autism.

More than 5% of the autistic people in the study had these non-inherited loss-of-function gene mutations.’

However, ‘The National Autistic Society said we were still “a long way” from knowing the cause of autism’.

Related Article:

Study points to new genetic risks for autism

Monday 27th October 2014- BBC News: Fears that Ebola crisis will set back malaria fight

‘A leading malaria control expert has said efforts to contain the disease may be jeopardised by the Ebola crisis.

Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré, who heads the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership, said after visiting west Africa: “Understandably, all the health workers’ attention is on Ebola.”

The disease caused almost 4,000 deaths in Sierra Leone in 2012 – as well as around 2,000 deaths in Liberia and approximately 1,000 in Guinea.

Now the three countries are wrestling with the Ebola virus and Dr Nafo-Traoré said she feared that recent gains in preventing malaria could be threatened by the crisis.’

‘One problem is that the early symptoms of Ebola and malaria can be similar…

“The Ebola treatment centres have a protocol for treating cases of fever with anti-malarial drugs too, because the patient might be suffering from both diseases”‘, says Dr Nafo-Traoré.

‘”It’s important to have a co-ordinated approach. A key aim is to decrease cases of malaria-related fever, so the Ebola centres don’t get overwhelmed.’

See:

Fears that Ebola crisis will set back malaria fight

Tuesday 21st October 2014-The Independent: Stillbirth: We need to talk about loss

An anonymous mother who has experienced a stillbirth expresses her grief and suffering as she comes to gripes with her terrible loss.

But also she acts as a voice to other mothers who have undergone the same tragedy, declaring the need to share despite the secrecy and uncomfortable stigma associated with miscarriages.

‘It is thought that one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage. The charity Sands reports that 11 babies are stillborn every day in the UK, and this number does not cover those lost through late terminations because of unforeseen medical conditions.’

See:

Stillbirth: We need to talk about loss

Monday 20th October 2014- The Telegraph: Childhood obesity is a ‘national emergency, says Floella Benjamin

‘Lady Benjamin, a Liberal Democrat peer, told the House of Lords: “Childhood obesity has become an epidemic across the country. Forty per cent of children in some areas are overweight.’

See:

Childhood obesity is a ‘national emergency, says Floella Benjamin