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Saturday, 31 December 2005 13:59
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
HIGH PROTEIN DIET ATTACKED
The benefits of high-protein diets have again been questioned, with an editorial in the magazine Nature claiming diets such as the Total Wellbeing Diet, which is similar to the Atkins diet, only help a small number of people.

The Total Wellbeing Diet, which recommends that 30 to 35 per cent of a person’s daily energy intake should come from protein, compared to 15 per cent in a typical Western diet, has sold half a million copies in Australia since May and has been on sale in the UK since September.

The plan recommends that people eat more fish and meat at lunch and dinner. It differs from the similar Atkins diet in that it allows dieters to eat small amounts of carbohydrates and encourages them to eat lots of fruit and vegetables.

In a study of 100 overweight women carried out by the authors, half the women were put onto the high-protein diet while the rest had a high-carbohydrate eating plan.

Both diets contained the same amount of calories, and women in both groups lost the same amount of weight.

But the researchers said women with high triglyceride levels - a marker of insulin resistance - shed far more weight on the high-protein diet.

Insulin resistance happens when the body cannot respond properly to the insulin being produced, leading to difficulty in regulating blood glucose levels.

The Nature editorial said: "The diet is being promoted as beneficial for everyone, whereas the published research indicates that it is superior to a high-carbohydrate diet only for a sub-population of overweight women with symptoms of metabolic disorder."

Patrick Holford, of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London, said: "The main trial showed no difference in weight loss compared with a conventional diet."

But a spokeswoman for the CSIRO said it had always published books on its scientific work and put its name to publications, and this was "no exception".

"The decision to publish was in response to many consumers asking for further details of the diet."


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Saturday, 31 December 2005 13:33
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
MEDICAL EXPERTS HONOURED
A number of health experts have been recognised in the New Years honours.

Suzi Leather, chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority since 2002, said she was “delighted” after being made a Dame, while two senior doctors have been knighted. Stephen Moss, ex-nursing chief at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre also received a knighthood.

Deam Suzi has guided the HFEA at a time when technological advances have sparked controversy over fertility treatment and embryo research.

She has spent her career working in a number of health-related fields, including the Food Standards Agency and an NHS trust.

In the summer, she was appointed chair of the School Meals Review Panel tasked with improving meal standards following a television campaign by chef Jamie Oliver.

She said: "Personally I am delighted and touched to receive this honour.

"It is recognition of the importance of the work that I have been involved in."

Professor Graham Teasdale, an experienced neurosurgeon and president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and Professor Nicholas Wright, head of the Queen Mary School of Medicine in London, were both knighted.

Professor Wright, who is a cancer specialist and was director of clinical research at what is now Cancer Research UK for seven years during the 1990s, said: "It has really come out of the blue.

"I guess it is a reward for years of effort and hard work in medicine."

There were CBEs for Mary Naughton, chief nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Royal College of Nursing president Sylvia Denton, Age Concern director general Gordon Lishman and Mental Health tzar Louis Appleby.


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Wednesday, 28 December 2005 12:27
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
NEW SCANNER “COULD SAVE BABIES’ LIVES”
A new portable brain scanner, being developed by scientists from University College London, could aid treatment and possibly save the lives of premature and newborn babies.

The MONSTIR scanner will create images used to diagnose and assess conditions such as brain haemorrhages and will mean critically ill babies no longer need to be moved to stationary scanning facilities.

Brain scans are currently performed on small babies using either magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses large and static scanners and can require the baby to be sedated, or ultrasound, which can be performed at the cot side but does not show how the brain is actually functioning.

MONSTIR uses a technique called optical tomography to generate images of how the brain is working by passing light through body tissues and using a computer to build a three dimensional image.

This allows doctors to see which parts of the brain are receiving oxygen, where blood is situated, and evidence of brain damage.

Researcher Dr Adam Gibson said: "The technology we're developing has the potential to produce high-quality images at the cot side and is also cheaper than MRI.

"It could make an important contribution to the care and treatment of critically ill babies."

Henry Scowcroft, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "This is exciting work. Finding out what is going on inside the body quickly and non-invasively is an important goal for medical researchers.

"Current technology such as MRI and PET is extremely valuable but also expensive and cumbersome to use.

"Developing a smaller, more mobile imaging machine would be extremely useful."


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Wednesday, 28 December 2005 10:06
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
HEWITT TO REVIEW £1 BILLION HOSPITAL PLAN
The future of the private finance initiative in the NHS has been cast into doubt following a review of Britain’s biggest hospital rebuilding project by the health secretary Patricia Hewitt.

The review was launched over concerns about the affordability of the £1 billion plan to rebuild the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel and partly rebuild St Bartholomew’s. The health secretary also questioned whether such schemes best serve patient’s needs as healthcare provision rapidly changes.

Professor Chris Ham, a health policy expert at Birmingham University, warned last night: "This is an early signal of all that is going to happen to big PFI schemes in due course. The bigger they are, the bigger the financial hole that has to be filled. The more ambitious ones will be scaled back."

The review has been announced just days after the Barts and The London NHS trust agreed terms with its preferred bidder, Skanska Innisfree. The trust will now have to "reconsider its plans to ensure that [they] are both affordable and meet local needs".

In a statement, The Department of Health stressed that all PFI programmes were kept under review to ensure value for money. "This does not mean there is a freeze on hospital PFI projects," it said.


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Saturday, 24 December 2005 10:04
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
SURGERY GIVES AMBER HER SMILE BACK
Doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, London have given Amber Sisson a 10-year-old girl her smile back after a life-changing brain operation just in time for Christmas.

Amber suffers from a rare genetic disorder that causes contortions and involuntary movements. The condition, known as Hallervorden-Spatz disease, is progressive and crippling.

Just over two weeks ago Amber's body was in a state of permanent spasm. Her head was thrown back and her face distorted, turning smiles into grimaces.

When she tried to move, her arms would flail, causing her to strike her forehead repeatedly. She could not stand on her own, speak coherently, dress or feed herself.

But Amber was suitable for a radical form of treatment known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS).

Already used to help sufferers of Parkinson's disease, it involves inserting electrodes deep into the brain.

A small current delivered through wires hidden under the skin effectively jams unwanted brain signals to stop the spasms.

Three days after the operation, Amber had undergone a transformation which astonished the medical team caring for her at the hospital and delighted her parents.

Speaking at the new Evelina Children's Hospital at St Thomas's, her mother, Amanda, 34, from Nottingham, said: "Amber has always been such a happy little girl and so fun loving. She used to go to ballet school and swim, and she loves to draw and paint.

"When this happened we were absolutely heartbroken, devastated. But we just had to accept it and carry on, and be strong for her.

"Now she can paint pictures, sit up in bed, put her socks on, and feed herself. It's fantastic, a miracle - the best Christmas present I've ever had. I don't want anything else, ever".

Dr Jean-Pierre Lin, the paediatric neurologist in charge of Amber's treatment, was amazed at the success of the operation.

"I think it's spectacular," he said. "It's not miraculous, because it's the result of human intervention and ingenuity, but it is very dramatic. This is a very early beginning, but a very promising start. It's more than we had hoped for”.


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Thursday, 22 December 2005 10:27
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
DOUBTS OVER KEY FLU DRUG
The antiviral drug Tamiflu, stockpiled in Britain for use in the event of a bird flu outbreak, may be useless for many victims and could make the pandemic worse, experts have warned.

Concerns were raised following a study of 13 Vietnamese patients infected with avian flu (H5N1) who were treated with the drug. Two developed a resistant virus strain which contributed to their deaths.

In all, seven of the thirteen patients died, the New England Medical Journal reported.

Governments around the world have been stockpiling Tamiflu as the first line of defence against an outbreak of bird flu.

However, widespread use of the drug during a pandemic could give rise to a resistant strain of the virus and cause a second wave of infections for which there would be no defence.

Sir John Skehel, director of the National Institute for Medical Research in London, and one of the world's leading virologists, said yesterday: "The fear is that all the virus that comes here might be resistant."

Sir John said that Tamiflu was a better flu prevention drug than treatment and urged the government to consider alternatives such as Relenza, a similar drug which has not shown signs of triggering resistance.

"We should be stockpiling other drugs. Some of these mutations are only resistant to Tamiflu. But I am not aware how much Relenza is available," Sir John said.

In the Vietnamese study, a 13-year-old was treated with a high dose of Tamiflu within 24-hours of developing a fever but although her condition improved at first, it later worsened and she died eight days later.

The second patient died after 14 days, with the virus again showing signs of drug resistance.

Professor Anne Moscona of Cornell University says in the journal that the Vietnamese cases "raise the worrisome prospect that even with therapeutic doses", resistance to Tamiflu may emerge.


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Tuesday, 20 December 2005 11:50
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
PARKINSON’S GENE BREAKTHROUGH
Scientists from Imperial College London say they have made a major breakthrough in the study of Parkinson’s disease after discovering hundreds of malfunctioning genes in the brains of sufferers.

The team, working alongside colleagues from Liege University in Belgium, discovered that 570 out of the 25,000 human genes were acting abnormally.

They said that that by manipulating the way the genes act "we may be able to control or even stop" Parkinson's from developing further after diagnosis.

Dawn Duke, from Imperial College, said: "In addition to identifying those genes linked with the development of Parkinson's, this research has also shown that many of these genes were especially active in Parkinson's brains," she said.

"By limiting the activity of these genes, we may be able to control or even stop the development of Parkinson's."

Her colleague, Dr Linda Moran, also from Imperial, added: "This research shows there are a considerable number of genes associated with the development of Parkinson's, potentially providing new clues for how to treat this disease.

"Now that we can identify these genes it may be possible to develop new therapies to help the increasing numbers of Parkinson's patients."

The researchers studied 23 brains from recently deceased patients, of which Parkinson’s had affected 15.

They used “micro-arrays” of laboratory chips to determine which genes are active in the substantia nigra and cerebral cortex regions when the brain is performing different functions.

A spokeswoman for the Parkinson's Disease Society welcomed the report. "The cause of Parkinson's is generally unknown and we continue to support research in this area," she said.

The research was published yesterday in the journal Neurogenetics.


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Monday, 19 December 2005 11:18
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
SMOKE BAN THREAT TO CHILDREN
A study by University College London has found that blanket smoking bans – such as the one set to be introduced n Scotland – lead to children being exposed to higher levels of smoke at home.

Researchers found that smokers were more likely to smoke in he home if they were prevented from doing so in cafes and bars.

The study used data spanning a decade and involving nearly 30,000 non-smokers across the United States in areas with different anti-tobacco policies.

The results signal a “displacement effect” which increases exposure to smoking for the poor and decreases it for the rich, widening health inequalities.


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Friday, 16 December 2005 10:08
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
LONDON TEAM TO CARRY OUT FIRST FULL FACE TRANSPLANT
The ethics committee of a London hospital has given its surgical team the green light to carry out the first full face transplant in Britain.

The operation will take place when a suitable candidate is found who is willing to undergo the experimental operation – likely to be a burns victim – and could involve the replacement of the full face and scalp.

The announcement comes two weeks after French surgeons carried out the world’s first partial face transplant on a woman who had been savaged by a dog. The operation to replace her nose, lips and chin has been deemed a success.

Peter Butler, consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, began investigating face transplants in 2000 and said the decision to give the go-ahead was the culmination of five years of research.

"The success of the French team probably made people [on the ethics committee] feel less nervous. The results are looking good and they know [our transplant] will now not be the first," Mr Butler said.

"We have to be extremely careful about whom we select. We are trying to raise funds for the first five operations, so bad patient selection would not only damage the patient but the process."

All candidates for the procedure would be assessed physically and psychologically and, if judged suitable, would go through a lengthy consent and education process.


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Friday, 16 December 2005 09:56
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
PFI HOSPITAL BANKRUPT
A hospital opened four years ago as a flagship for the government’s private finance initiative has been told by auditors that that its annual deficit will climb to £100 million by 2008-09 unless the government restructures the current PFI debt.

Senior managers of Queen Elizabeth hospital NHS trust in Woolwich, London, spoke to the Guardian after being told they were technically insolvent.

John Pelly, the trust's chief executive, said: "In traditional commercial terms we are insolvent - and we are not alone. We are relying on temporary cash borrowing to enable us to pay our creditors, staff and PFI partners. The problem is that the [financial] situation has tightened so much in the NHS ... There is little spare cash around and much less flexibility."

A Department of Health spokeswoman described the problems as "an individual matter for the trust", adding: "The vast majority of trusts are in balance and are managing their finances well."

The Queen Elizabeth faces crippling financial problems because the PFI deal adds about £9 million a year to the costs incurred by an equivalent hospital built with public money.

The trust’s underlying deficit was hidden in its early years by support payments from the Treasury and the local health authority. But with other local hospitals in financial trouble, the support must now be paid back.

Auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers found the Queen Elizabeth is heading for a £19.7m deficit this year that will increase annually. They said: "Once a trust has posted a significant deficit, it is very difficult to recover the cumulative position without financial support ... It does not appear possible for the trust to generate the necessary level of saving ... Nor could the trust provide the existing level of services expected of an acute NHS trust if it were required to recover the deficits."

The hospital was due to run out of money last Friday but was saved when short-term borrowing was extended until the end of the month. Auditors found the Queen Elizabeth’s long-term financial prospects insoluble without external support.


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