Latest Swine Flu Information

News:

LATEST SWINE FLU INFORMATION

The following groups are being given the vaccine:

- Children aged 6 months - 4 yrs 11 months & persons in the at risk groups:
- All pregnant women
-Chronic heart disease
-Chronic respiratory disease
-Chronic renal disease
-Chronic liver disease
-Chronic kidney disease
-Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Diabetes
- Immunosuppresed
- Asthma
- Stroke and TIA's
- Multiple Sclerosis

We are inviting patients by letter who fall into these categories to come to a vaccination clinic. If you wish to decline the invitation, please let us know so we can add this to your record.

Telephone 440018 or call into the surgery to book into one of our special clinics.

Announcements

01 Sep - 01 Oct
NHS Smokefree

Find out about all of the free NHS services available to support you as you go try to give up smoking.

01 Aug - 01 Oct
NHS Summer Health

Stay safe in the sun, including sunscreens, sunburn relief, heat exhaustion, eczema and moles. Summer holidays are great fun for children, but can bring risks. Find out more

01 Jul - 01 Oct
Change for Life

Would you like loads of tips and help to make changes for a healthier future? As part of Change4Life, you will receive tons of helpful information, recipes, tools, tips, and games for the kids.

BBC Health

Stem cell medic misconduct ruling

A doctor who offered controversial stem cell treatments to multiple sclerosis patients faces being struck off by the General Medical Council.

Plea to save MS respite centres

Volunteers are calling on the MS Society not to abandon four respite care centres in York, Surrey, Warwickshire and East Lothian

Stress hormone heart death link

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol are closely linked to death from cardiovascular disease, a Dutch study has found.

'Sponge checks' for cancer risk

Swallowing a sponge on a piece of string could help prevent a deadly form of cancer, experts claim.

Firm handshake link to long life

The strength of your handshake could be a clue to how long you'll live, say UK scientists.

Speed of ageing is 'slowing down'

The cost burden of ageing populations in industrialised nations may not be as much as feared because of improved health, a study suggests.

Scan to 'track brain development'

Scientists say they can quickly and accurately map a child's brain development using an MRI machine and a maths programme.

Trust plans to stop IVF treatment

A primary care trust in Greater Manchester is planning to suspend funding for IVF treatment, to try to cut costs.

Legionnaires' source hunt narrows

Doctors say they are narrowing down the potential source for a Legionnaires' disease outbreak in south Wales after the deaths of two people.

Prostate tests call for 'at risk'

Screening men with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer can lead to early diagnosis of prostate cancer, says a study.

Yahoo Health

Cholera stalks West Africa as rains spread disease (AP)

In this Monday, Sept. 6, 2010 photo, a doctor treats a child suffering from cholera, at a village health clinic in Ganjuwa in Nigeria's rural Bauchi State. Health officials, some with surgical masks covering their faces, sprayed anti-bacterial solution on muddy paths in this village, and patients jammed into rudimentary clinics as the government struggled to contain a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 800 people in two months. The worst epidemic in Nigeria in 19 years is spreading to Cameroon, Chad and Niger, where it has killed hundreds more people.(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

AP - Patients jammed rudimentary clinics and health workers in surgical masks sprayed anti-bacterial solution on muddy paths as the government struggled to contain a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 800 Nigerians in two months.

AIDS doctors, activists call for more health funds (AP)

Graca Machel, an International advocate for children and the poor, and wife of former South African Presdient Nelson Mandela, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Johannesburg Friday, Sept 10, 2010. Machel said that the debate over food in her impoverished homeland did not end with the government's reversal on bread prices. (AP/Tawanda Mudimu)

AP - Doctors and AIDS activists on Friday urged African governments to fulfill a decade-old pledge to spend more of their own money on health if they want international help in fighting AIDS.

FDA warns of deadly side effect with imaging drugs (AP)

AP - Federal health regulators are warning doctors that a class of injectable drugs used in MRI medical imaging scans can cause a rare and sometimes fatal condition in patients with kidney disease.

CDC: Adults eating less fruit, not enough veggies (AP)

AP - An apple a day? Apparently not in the United States.

Study: Flamboyant male dancing attracts women best (AP)

FILE- This is a file photo of John Travolta and Karen Gorney dance in a nightclub scene to disco music in Paramount Pictures 1977 film 'Saturday Night Fever', which explores the restless generation growing up in the 70's. John Travolta was onto something. Women are most attracted to male dancers who have big, flamboyant moves similar to the actor's trademark style, British scientists say in a new study. (AP Photo/HO, File)

AP - John Travolta was onto something. Women are most attracted to male dancers who have big, flamboyant moves similar to the actor's trademark style, British scientists say in a new study.

Doctors see eye hazard in powerful laser pointers (AP)

AP - A 15-year-old boy damaged his eyes while playing with a laser pointer he'd bought over the Internet, say doctors who warn that dangerously high-powered versions are easily available online.

Risks of old, new diet drugs face U.S. scrutiny (Reuters)

Reuters - The risks of a potential new diet pill and a 13-year-old weight-loss medicine face U.S. scrutiny next week as medical experts consider if the drugs' benefits outweigh possible side effects.

Doctors alarmed by HIV risk for European gays (AFP)

Homosexual men in Europe are increasingly failing to adhere to safe sex, according to two new studies. In France, transmission of the AIDS virus

AFP - Homosexual men in Europe are increasingly failing to adhere to safe sex, according to two new studies. In France, transmission of the AIDS virus "seems to be out of control" among men who have sex with men, said a paper published on Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Clinical Trials Update: Sept. 10, 2010 (HealthDay)

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of ClinicalConnection.com:

Clearing Kids for Sports Participation Sparks Conflicts (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Sept. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Most teenagers think they're invincible, and that goes double for talented teenage athletes. They're young, immortal, at the top of their game, the envy of their friends.

MedPage Today

FDA Adds Warning to Some Diagnostic Drugs

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- The FDA is requiring the makers of some gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) to add new warnings to the drug label to minimize the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in some patients with kidney dysfunction.

Palliative Care Training Program Ineffective (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- A hospital-based training program designed to improve end-of-life care in the intensive care unit had no effect on quality of dying or quality of care, researchers found.

Hospital Trauma Transfers Not Common, but Costly (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Transferring trauma patients from one hospital to another, only to discharge them that day or the next, is a relatively infrequent occurrence but is still a costly burden on the medical system, researchers said.

Dose Increase Little Help with Anti-TNF Drugs (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Increasing the dose of an anti-tumor necrosis factor drug in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is unlikely to increase the therapeutic response, an observational study found.

Teen Weight Problems Predict Overweight Adults (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Dramatic shifts in the prevalence of overweight and obesity occur between adolescence and young adulthood, a prospective cohort study of Australian youths showed.

Carotid Stenting Too Risky for Older Patients (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Carotid stenting should be avoided in symptomatic patients ages 70 and older but may be as safe as its surgical counterpart in younger patients, researchers determined.

Money for ESC Research Flows Again, for Now

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- A federal appeals court has ruled that government funding of embryonic stem cell (ESC) research can resume while it mulls a federal district court judge's ruling blocking the funds.

H1N1 School Closures 'No Problem' for Most Families

(MedPage Today) -- School and day care closures due to the 2009 pandemic of H1N1 flu weren't a big problem for most parents, researchers found.

E-Cigs Need Approval, FDA Says

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- The FDA has sent letters to five manufacturers of electronic cigarettes warning that they are in violation of federal law by claiming their products help smokers quit.

Most Americans Skip Fruits and Vegetables

(MedPage Today) -- Fruit and vegetable consumption increased significantly in only one state during 2009, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia continued to fall far short of recommended daily intake, according to a study from the CDC.

Announcements

BBC Health

Yahoo Health

MedPage Today

Latest Swine Flu Information

The National Pandemic Flu Service, set up to offer online and telephone assessments, has now closed.

Further Information