Sunday 30th August 2015- BBC News: Blood sugar monitor tested on diabetes patients

‘A blood sugar monitor that can stay in the body for up to five months is being tested on NHS patients.

It is hoped the device, which continuously monitors the blood and beams the information to a smartphone, will help control type 1 diabetes.

Patients in London, Cambridge and Swansea are taking part in the trial to assess the safety and accuracy of the monitor.

Current blood-sugar sensors need to be replaced every week.’

‘People with type 1 diabetes have to prick their finger regularly to test sugar levels, calculate the amount of sugar in their meals, and use this information to inject themselves with the right amount of insulin.

If levels are too high, there may be damage to the body’s organs, but if levels fall too low, it can be fatal.

Dr Pratik Choudhary, a consultant at King’s College Hospital and a lecturer at King’s College London, told the BBC News website: “Living with type 1 diabetes is a bit like being a blind tightrope-walker.

“You’re on this tightrope between high and low blood glucose levels and you’re only allowed to open your blindfold four or five times a day.

“Continuous glucose monitoring allows you to open your eyes and see where you’re going.”‘

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Blood sugar monitor tested on diabetes patients

Saturday 29th August 2015- BBC News: Speed of autism diagnosis must improve, experts say

‘Children with autism are having to wait an average of three-and-a-half years before diagnosis, experts claim.

Adults with the condition have to wait an average of two years, causing anxiety and depression, the National Autistic Society and academics said.

In a letter to NHS England, 12,000 of the society’s supporters have demanded action to cut the wait for diagnosis.

NHS England said it was working to cut waiting times, but diagnosis could be complex and involve different agencies.’

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Speed of autism diagnosis must improve, experts say

Saturday 29th August 2015- The Telegraph: Former chief prosecutor says laws must change to allow people to die

‘People must be helped to take their own lives without being forced to travel to Switzerland, a former Crown Prosecution Service chief has urged as politicians prepare to debate a possible change in the law.

Sir Keir Starmer said it is time politicians protected compassionate loved ones from prosecution by legalising assisted dying.

Last year at least 35 Britons went to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end their lives, campaign group Dignity in Dying said.

A fresh Commons bid to give terminally-ill patients the right to die will be considered when Parliament returns next month.

Sir Keir, now a Labour MP, told The Times: “The law needs to be changed.’

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Former chief prosecutor says laws must change to allow people to die

Saturday 29th August 2015- Fox News: Utah man dies from bubonic plague

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Utah man dies from bubonic plague

Sunday 23rd August 2015- The Telegraph: Tetraplegic student completes Tough Mudder Challenge in a wheelchair he controls with his chin

‘A student has become the world’s first tetraplegic to take part in Tough Mudder – navigating the gruelling 12-mile course in a pioneering wheelchair he controls with his chin.

Rob Camm, 21, was paralysed in a car crash two years ago which left him with no movement in his body from the neck down just a week before he was due to start university.

Last month, he became the first tetraplegic in the world who is reliant on a ventilator to learn how to walk again using a robotic skeleton controlled by his thoughts.

Now, he has taken part in the notorious Tough Mudder challenge – dubbed ‘probably the toughest event on the planet’ – in an off-road wheelchair set on top of a quad bike.’

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Tetraplegic student completes Tough Mudder Challenge in a wheelchair he controls with his chin

Sunday 23rd August 2015- The Telegraph: Young mother dies following year-long battle with cervical cancer because she was too young for a smear test

A young mother has died from cervical cancer after being classed as too young for a smear test which could have saved her life.

Rachel Sarjantson, 24, battled the disease for a year before her death, which her family has described as “completely avoidable”.

The legal age for a smear test is 25, and despite her being called early for the test, it was too late as the aggressive cancer had already taken over her body.

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Young mother dies following year-long battle with cervical cancer because she was too young for a smear test

Friday 21st August 2015- The Guardian: Study of Holocaust survivors finds trauma passed on to children’s genes

‘Genetic changes stemming from the trauma suffered by Holocaust survivors are capable of being passed on to their children, the clearest sign yet that one person’s life experience can affect subsequent generations.

The conclusion from a research team at New York’s Mount Sinai hospital led by Rachel Yehuda stems from the genetic study of 32 Jewish men and women who had either been interned in a Nazi concentration camp, witnessed or experienced torture or who had had to hide during the second world war.

They also analysed the genes of their children, who are known to have increased likelihood of stress disorders, and compared the results with Jewish families who were living outside of Europe during the war. “The gene changes in the children could only be attributed to Holocaust exposure in the parents,” said Yehuda.

Her team’s work is the clearest example in humans of the transmission of trauma to a child via what is called “epigenetic inheritance” – the idea that environmental influences such as smoking, diet and stress can affect the genes of your children and possibly even grandchildren.

The idea is controversial, as scientific convention states that genes contained in DNA are the only way to transmit biological information between generations. However, our genes are modified by the environment all the time, through chemical tags that attach themselves to our DNA, switching genes on and off. Recent studies suggest that some of these tags might somehow be passed through generations, meaning our environment could have and impact on our children’s health.’

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Study of Holocaust survivors finds trauma passed on to children’s genes

Friday 21st August 2015- The Guardian: Historic New York City hotel located as source of Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

‘New York City’s historic Opera House Hotel, identified as the source of a deadly spate of Legionnaires’ disease, said it will go beyond newly imposed regulations in testing its cooling system even as officials declared an end to the outbreak.

City officials on Thursday announced an end to the outbreak, which killed 12 people and sickened 128 people. Of those, two had been guests of the South Bronx hotel, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Health officials matched the strain of Legionella bacteria found in the hotel cooling tower with the strain found in Legionnaires’ patients, the department said.

The hotel’s cooling tower and all other cooling towers in the affected area were disinfected, and no new patients have contracted Legionnaires’ since 3 August, city officials said. Health experts are still locating and testing all cooling towers in the city, they added.’

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Historic New York City hotel located as source of Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

Friday 21st August 2015- The Independent: Man goes blind in one eye after sleeping while wearing contact lenses

‘A man who has gone blind after sleeping with his contact lenses in has spoken of his ordeal in the hope that it will prevent new cases.

Chad Groeschen, 39, a sculptor from Cincinnati, visited a doctor after his eyes became itchy, but realised his condition was serious when he awoke one morning to severe pain and an almost total loss of vision in his left eye.

A specialist doctor told him his eye was severely infected with Pseudomonas bacteria, and the likely cause was sleeping in extended-wear contacts, as he took out the lens once a week’.

‘“The kind of contacts I have are called ”Night and Day“ contacts, and it was my impression you could leave them in for 30 days straight,” he told USA Today. “I figured the less I was messing with my eyes, the better.”‘

‘Groeschen will now need a cornea transplant to regain the vision in his eye, he told BuzzFeed News, and urged people to “maintain impeccable hygiene” with their eyes.

The sculptor’s warning comes after a study by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the majority of the 41 million estimated contact lens wearers in the country do at least one thing that puts their vision at risk.

Over 99 per cent of the 1,000 contact lens wearers who participated in the study reported at least one risky behaviour.’

 

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Man goes blind in one eye after sleeping while wearing contact lenses

Thursday 20th August 2015- BBC News: Newborn care in England under inspection

‘A review of the care available to newborns and young babies with severe health problems has been announced by the Care Quality Commission.

It will draw on the case of Elizabeth Dixon, from Hampshire, who died 14 years ago after a breathing tube was not dealt with correctly.

The CQC says it wants to identify what barriers can stop hospitals from providing good or outstanding care.

The report, expected to be published in March 2016, may lead to new guidelines.

The inspection will involve around 20 neonatal services in England. These services, both inside and outside hospitals, involve the care of babies born early and those needing treatment in hospital after birth.

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Newborn care in England under inspection