Having a friendly doctor could halve the risk of a diabetic dying within the next 10 years, research suggests. Patients who feel their GP is empathetic may be more inclined to take their doctors’ advice and adhere to their medication, researchers at Cambridge University claim. Continue reading

Shops offering tattoos and piercings pose an infection risk, and laws on who works in them should be tightened, say public health experts. At present, anyone in the UK can set up a parlour and offer procedures without proper training, a report from the Royal Society for Public Health says. But with one in five adults now having a tattoo, more should be done, it says, to protect the public. Continue reading

Measles and mumps cases

A significant increase in mumps cases and continuing outbreaks of measles in England have led to calls for people to ensure they are immunised. Public Health England said even one person missing their vaccinations was “too many”. There were 795 cases of mumps in the first three months of 2019, compared with 1,031 in the whole of 2018. Most mumps cases are linked to teenagers mixing when they go to university. Continue reading

The BBC Panorama programme discussed the issue of GP shortages in England.  The NHS is seeing the first sustained fall in GP numbers in the UK for 50 years. The number of GPs per 100,000 people has fallen from nearly 65 in 2014 to 60 last year, analysis by the Nuffield Trust for the BBC shows. The last time numbers fell like this was in the late 1960s and it comes at a time when the population is ageing and demands on GPs are rising. Continue reading

Further evidence that taking anti-HIV drugs stops gay men passing on the virus to sexual partners has been called a “powerful message” which should be more widely known. A study found no cases of HIV transmission over eight years. This was due to treatment reducing the virus to very low levels in the body. Continue reading

Soldiers are to be issued blood-clotting injectors to save lives on the battlefield. The new autoinjector will allow soldiers to self-administer life saving drugs at the push of a button. The government plans for the technology, once proven by soldiers, to be used by all first responders in Britain, in a bid to reduce deaths from rapid blood loss such as after knife attacks. Continue reading

An NHS scheme that has enabled GP practices to free up more time for doctors to see their patients is to be extended following a successful pilot.’

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Unhealthy diet causes one in seven deaths in Britain every year, a Lancet study suggests. The research found lack of fruit and fibre is taking the heaviest toll, fuelling conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The study by the University of Washington identified lack of wholegrain, nuts and fruits as the worst elements of the British diet. Continue reading

Drinking a bottle of wine increases women’s cancer risk as much as smoking 10 cigarettes, research suggests. The British study says that for men, drinking a bottle of wine a week increases the absolute risk of cancer equivalent to smoking five cigarettes weekly. Continue reading

Antibiotics advertised on social media are being sold at the wrong dose to people too embarrassed to visit a sexual health clinic. A BBC reporter was sold unlicensed drugs to treat sexually transmitted infections by a man who said he got them from his uncle’s pharmacy. The man, who fled when confronted, said he had several celebrity clients. Government medicine regulator Alastair Jeffrey said taking the pills was “not a gamble I’d be willing to take”. Continue reading