British teenagers more competitive than peers but more likely to bullied

British teenagers are highly motivated about their school work, but are more anxious, more likely to be bullied and are less satisfied with life than many of their peers elsewhere in the world, according to a survey.

Almost a quarter of British pupils who took part in the poll say they are being bullied a few times a month, while more than 14% say they are bullied frequently, making the UK the fourth worst affected of all 34 countries surveyed.

Anxiety levels are also high in British classrooms with seven out of 10 pupils (72%) admitting they feel anxious before taking a test, even if they are well prepared – the third highest in the survey. Girls are particularly badly affected, with 81% reporting anxiety before exams, compared with 63% of boys.

Possibly compounding the problem, UK students are also shown to be highly ambitious and competitive at school, with 90% claiming they want to be the best in whatever they do, compared with an average of 65% across the countries surveyed.

UK students are also among the highest users of the internet, with one in four 15-year-olds admitting to spending six hours online outside school hours on a typical weekday – the second highest of any country, and far higher than previous studies have suggested, prompting experts to call on the government to look at possible links between internet use and wellbeing.

The global survey of half a million 15-year-olds, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), will add to growing concern about the mental health and wellbeing of young people in the UK.

Particularly worrying is the increased risk that disadvantaged teenagers face, according to the survey, with pupils from less privileged families worse affected by high rates of bullying, unhappiness and anxiety than their wealthier peers.

Three in 10 UK pupils from less privileged backgrounds said they had been bullied, complaining of being physically abused by other students, made the target of negative rumours and deliberately left out of things.

There are also wide variations of expectation about higher education. Across OECD countries, 44% of students expect to complete university, but that number rises to three in four students in Colombia, Qatar and the US.

And while students from an immigrant background fare well in the UK, their experiences are less positive elsewhere. In 2015, 12.5% of students in participating countries were from an immigrant background. In some countries, those from an immigrant background were more likely to report feeling like outsiders, which impacts on satisfaction levels.

In the UK, while 42% of pupils polled expect to complete a university degree, less than a quarter of disadvantaged pupils expect to do so, compared with more than two-thirds of the most advantaged pupils.

The study, part of the OECD’s programme for international student assesment, also reveals that young people in the UK experience lower than average life satisfaction. Just 28% describe themselves as very satisfied with their lives, compared with an OECD average of 34%. Girls again fare worse with 28% very satisfied, compared with 33% of boys.

Students in a restaurant in La Candelaria, Bogotá. Colombian teenagers reported high levels of life satisfaction. Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy

Elsewhere in the world there are huge disparities in life satisfaction among students. While in the Netherlands fewer than 4% are dissatisfied with their life; in Korea and Turkey the figure rises to 20%. In Montenegro and Latin American countries, including Colombia, however, more than one in two students reported high satisfaction levels.

The report also shows that despite reported links between eating a good breakfast and improved attainment, almost 30% of 15-year-olds in the UK do not eat breakfast before school – with the figure rising to more than 35% for the most disadvantaged pupils. Girls once again are worse affected, with more than two-thirds skipping breakfast compared with 22% of boys.

Natalie Perera, executive director and head of research at the Education Policy Institute (EPI), which hosted the launch of the report on Wednesday, said the findings on UK teenagers were stark, particularly for those from poorer backgrounds.

“Disadvantaged pupils are more likely to be bullied than their peers, and are more likely to skip breakfast before school – with the gap between the proportion of advantaged and disadvantaged pupils in the UK doing so the second biggest out of all 34 countries.”

Emily Frith, EPI director of mental health, said: “The findings show UK pupils have lower than average levels of life satisfaction, high levels of anxiety in the classroom, and are more likely to be bullied, compared to children in other countries.

“The government should explore how children’s wellbeing can be improved, including through the education system. It should seek to understand the causal relationship between internet use and young people’s wellbeing, and look to implement a strategy help young people develop the resilience and skills they need to live safe, digital lives.”

Responding to the report, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “These findings show young people have the motivation and desire to go as far as their talents can take them and that their parents are supporting them throughout their time at school.

“Assessment is an important part of education but it is also important that the test period is managed so students feel supported throughout. Our reforms have also put a stop to the endless treadmill of exams for young people, giving them more time to gain a greater understanding of the subject.”

British teenagers more competitive than peers but more likely to bullied

Health cuts most likely cause of major rise in mortality, study claims

An unprecedented rise in mortality in England and Wales, where 30,000 excess deaths occurred in 2015, is likely to be linked to cuts to the NHS and social care, according to research which has drawn an angry response from the government.

The highly charged claim is made by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Oxford University and Blackburn with Darwen council, who say the increase in mortality took place against a backdrop of “severe cuts” to the NHS and social care, compromising their performance.

The Department of Health (DH) responded by accusing the authors of the paper and accompanying commentary, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine on Thursday, of bias.

The researchers ruled out other possible causes of the increase, including cold weather, flu and the relatively low effectiveness of the flu vaccine that year, noting that fatalities from the virus rose “but not exceptionally”.

After examination of NHS performance data for the period, which shows the service missing almost all its targets, they concluded: “The evidence points to a major failure of the health system, possibly exacerbated by failings in social care.”

The rise in deaths from 2014 to 529,655 in 2015 was the biggest in percentage terms in almost 50 years and the mortality rate was the highest since 2008. The excess deaths were largely among older people who are most dependent on health and social care, the authors said.

Excess deaths per month in 2015 compared with 2006-2014

The research further warned that the “spike” was showing signs of becoming an established pattern, with provisional official weekly mortality data from 2016 showing deaths from October onwards increasing by 7% compared with the five-year average.

While accepting their findings would generate controversy, the authors expressed surprise that the rise and the reasons for it had not previously been scrutinised.

Prof Danny Dorling from the University of Oxford said: “It may sound obvious that more elderly people will have died earlier as a result of government cutbacks, but to date the number of deaths has not been estimated and the government have not admitted responsibility.”

The researchers observed that the increase in mortality came as waiting times rose in A&E departments – despite unexceptional attendances – for admissions, diagnostic tests and also consultant-led care. Ambulance response times also increased as did operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons. Staff absence rates rose and more posts remained empty as staff had not been appointed.

The authors said health service austerity had been exacerbated by £16.7bn of cuts to the welfare budget and a 17% decrease in spending for older people since 2009, while the number of people aged 85 and over had risen almost 9%.

Age-standardised death rates per 100,000 population for all ages

Barbara Keeley, the shadow social care minister, said: “The Tories have created a crisis in social care. They have cut billions of pounds from council budgets and care is suffering as a result.

“In the March budget, the government must provide extra funding urgently and deliver a sustainable settlement to deal with the crisis in health and social care.”

The Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, called it “a national scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world, vulnerable older people are missing out on the services they need and may even have died due to poor care”.

The report’s co-author, Dominic Harrison, the director of public health at Blackburn with Darwen council, said the research “raises a red flag that is telling us that the health and care system may have reached the limits of its capacity to safely and effectively care for the population that funds it. Our analysis suggests that the most likely cause of that failure, when all other possible explanations have been excluded, is insufficient resources and capacity”.

The paper will make uncomfortable reading for the government at a time when it is under substantial pressure to boost spending for both the NHS and social care amid fears they are at breaking point.

Number of patients spending more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission

A DH spokesman described the study as “a triumph of personal bias over research”. He added: “Every year there is significant variation in reported excess deaths, and in the year following this study they fell by nearly 20,000, undermining any link between pressure on the NHS and the number of deaths. Moreover, to blame an increase in a single year on ‘cuts’ to the NHS budget is arithmetically impossible given that budget rose by almost £15bn between 2009-10 and 2014-15.”

The fall the DH refers to is the reduction in excess winter deaths, which compares those between December and March with those in the rest of the year. Excess deaths over the year are measured relative to the average in recent years.

Harrison said the point the authors were making was that in months such as January 2015, which saw a spike in deaths, there was an insufficient service response to a surge in demand. He termed this a “fail event” and warned there could be recurrences over the next five years without a rise in funding. He added that preliminary figures pointed to a possible significant increase in excess deaths last month.

“I have few doubts that our findings will be strongly contested,” he said. “This report has been published in good faith in a peer-reviewed academic journal by senior health professionals who are concerned to understand the causes of avoidable death in the population – precisely so that we can avoid it happening again.”

Health cuts most likely cause of major rise in mortality, study claims

Youngest children in class more likely to get ADHD medication, study says

The youngest children in class are more likely than their older classmates to receive medication for ADHD (attention deficit hpyeractivity disorder), a study has found.

The Wester Australian study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, has again raised concerns children are being misdiagnosed with the psychiatric disorder and medicated for what could simply be age-related immaturity.

As a new school year looms, the study has also added to the debate about the best age for a child to start kindergarten.

“Allowing parents to decide when their child is ready for school could prevent misdiagnosis,” lead researcher Martin Whitely said.

“Alternatively, the greater age range within a class that occurs when there is increased flexibility may increase the late birthdates effect. Unless we do the research we simply won’t know the answer to this important question.”

Researchers at Curtin University compared the proportion of WA children in the early and late months of a recommended school year intake who received at least one prescription for an ADHD medication in 2013.

Among the children aged 6-10, those born in June – the last month of a recommended school year-year intake – were about twice as likely to have received ADHD medication than those born the previous July.

For children aged 11-15, the effect was less marked “but still significant”.

“Similar differences were found when comparing children born in the first three (or six) months and the last three (or six) months of the school year intake,” the authors wrote.

Delayed school entry is much less common in WA than other Australian states but the results were consistent with four large-scale northern hemisphere studies, the study authors said.

“Similar findings in north America indicated that developmental immaturity is mislabelled as a mental disorder and unnecessarily treated with stimulant medication,” the authors wrote.

ADHD normally manifests itself in three ways – inattention, impulsivity and overactivity.

Nick Kowalenko from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said there was insufficient detail in the research, but there was cause for concern.

Prescribing antipsychotic drugs for children as young as six was always done with great care and after thorough discussions with the parents, he said.

“Because the guidelines are actually pretty tight most practitioners actually use them. There must be some maverick practitioners and rogue prescribers but they would be very few.”

Diagnosing ADHD can be complicated because it can mimic or co-occur with other conditions, including autism.

But the diagnosis criteria were very well refined, Kowalenko said. “The question is: does everybody follow them accurately?”

Youngest children in class more likely to get ADHD medication, study says

Overweight patients less likely to die in hospital after heart operations

Patients who are overweight or obese are less likely to die in hospital after a heart operation than those who are a healthy weight, a study has found.

The results of the British Heart Foundation (BHF)-funded research suggest it is wrong to deny people surgery because they are overweight and that underweight patients could benefit from gaining weight prior to a heart operation.

A team at the University of Leicester collected data on about 400,000 adults in the UK and Ireland who underwent cardiac surgery between 2002 and 2013, categorising them into different weight categories, according to their BMI (body mass index).

Of those included, 11,511 patients died in hospital, including 4.4% of patients who were of healthy weight, compared with only 2.8% of those who were overweight and 2.7% in obese class I (with a BMI of 30 to 35). The study, published on Friday in the journal Circulation, found that 8.5% of patients who were underweight died in hospital.

Gavin Murphy, BHF professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Leicester, said: “We saw a 25% reduction in death by being overweight as opposed to being normal [healthy] weight. That’s a bigger effect on mortality than statins.

“It changes one of the most basic approaches behind surgery, which is that people need to lose weight before surgery. Obese patients are generally considered unfit for surgery. This study shows the very morbidly obese – with a BMI greater than 40 – did not have a greater risk. It shows that no patient should be rejected for surgery on the basis of body mass.”

The authors believe the study confirms the existence of the much-debated obesity paradox, whereby obesity can cause illnesses, such as heart disease or a heart attack but at the same time have certain protective effects.

Murphy said they found a linear association between increasing BMI and lower risk of acute heart failure or acute stroke but the relationship did not hold for all adverse outcomes post-surgery (infections, for example). How being overweight or obese protects patients who undergo surgery is unknown but the researchers plan to investigate this in future.

“If you imagine that having a heart operation is like climbing a mountain, you’re probably better doing that if you’re nutritionally nourished than if you’re under-nourished, if you’re having an energy surplus than having an energy deficit, although it’s probably a bit more complex than that,” said Murphy.

The researchers found that overweight or obese patients had greater protection regardless of age and even if they had experienced complications associated with obesity, such as hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease.

They also reviewed data from 557,720 further patients included in studies across Europe, the United States and Asia, finding similar results.

BHF’s associate medical director, Prof Jeremy Pearson, said: “We always recommend a healthy waistline, which significantly reduces lifetime risk of heart disease and therefore a person’s risk of needing cardiac surgery. However, this large study strongly suggests that being overweight can give patients added protection when facing major heart surgery, reducing their chance of complications or death before leaving hospital.”

A large number of NHS groups are believed to have placed restrictions on access to surgery for overweight people, although, in most cases this applies to elective procedures for non-life-threatening conditions such as hip and knee replacements.

Overweight patients less likely to die in hospital after heart operations

MRI twice as likely as biopsy to spot prostate cancer, research shows

Every man with suspected prostate cancer should have an MRI scan, which is twice as likely to identify the presence of dangerous tumours as the invasive biopsy used currently, say doctors.

A major trial, which could influence a change of practice in the NHS, will amount to “the biggest leap forward in prostate cancer diagnosis in decades, with the potential to save many lives”, Prostate Cancer UK said.

Researchers publishing in the Lancet medical journal have shown that an MRI picks up 93% of aggressive cancers, compared with 48% for a biopsy. The biopsy, which removes a sample of tissue for lab testing, often misses the tumour altogether.

The Prostate MRI Imaging Study (Promis), led by researchers at University College London (UCL), also showed that more than a quarter (27%) of all men with suspected cancer could avoid a biopsy altogether.

MRI scans were shown to be better at ruling out cancer, as well as identifying tumours that are not dangerous because they are slow growing and do not need to be treated. In the trial, the number wrongly diagnosed with a cancer that needed treatment was reduced by 5%.

“Prostate cancer has aggressive and harmless forms. Our current biopsy test can be inaccurate because the tissue samples are taken at random,” said the lead author, Dr Hashim Ahmed from UCL. “This means it cannot confirm whether a cancer is aggressive or not and can miss aggressive cancers that are actually there.

“Because of this some men with no cancer or harmless cancers are sometimes given the wrong diagnosis and are then treated even though this offers no survival benefit and can often cause side effects. On top of these errors in diagnosis, the current biopsy test can cause side effects such as bleeding, pain and serious infections.”

Some men suffer a life-threatening sepsis – a bloodstream infection – as a result of the standard transrectal ultrasound-guided (TRUS) biopsy.

This is the second breakthrough in prostate cancer treatment in two months. In December, UCL published a study showing that a laser-activated drug derived from bacteria at the bottom of the sea can kill prostate cancer cells without the sometimes devastating side-effects of surgery, which can leave men incontinent or impotent.

The introduction of the scan, called a multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI), into routine NHS practice is already on its way. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), which produces guidelines for doctors on the most appropriate treatment for patients, has already launched an early review of prostate cancer diagnosis looking at the evidence from a previous trial in men with prostate cancer that has spread, and has been awaiting the results of this one.

Some hospitals are already offering MRI before any biopsy, but it will take time before it is universal. MRI machines are now in high demand for other kinds of cancer diagnosis and there will have to be special training for the radiologists who interpret the scans, which takes a high level of expertise.

Prostate Cancer UK, which helped fund the research, is now working for the introduction of MRI scans into prostate cancer units. “The current diagnostic process for prostate cancer is notoriously imperfect, so any developments which offer improvements must be adopted as a matter of priority,” said Angela Culhane, its chief executive.

“That’s why we have already been working with a range of clinical experts and professional bodies to pinpoint the potential barriers to the widespread rollout of mpMRI before biopsy and start the work of addressing them ahead of time. Now the results are formally published, we will continue to use this insight to support health professionals and commissioners to make the necessary resource and practice changes without delay. Whilst it’s clear that the rollout of mpMRI before biopsy can’t just happen overnight, it’s critical that urgent action is taken to make it available to men.”

MRI twice as likely as biopsy to spot prostate cancer, research shows

Antibiotics leave children "more likely to contract drug-resistant infections"

Children are at substantially increased risk of contracting drug-resistant infections in the months after taking a course of antibiotics, a leading public health official has warned.

Paul Cosford, medical director at Public Health England, told MPs on Wednesday that children are 12 times more likely to contract drug-resistant infections in the three months after being prescribed antibiotics, suggesting that their unnecessary use poses a direct risk to individual patients as well as a broader threat to society as a whole.

“We’ve got good evidence that if you or I have a course of antibiotics now, within three months our risk is three times to get a resistant infection of some sort because we’ve had the antibiotics affecting all the organisms in our bodies,” he told the Science and Technology Select Committee. “If you’re a child you’re 12 times more likely to get a resistant infection in the three months after a course of antibiotics.”

He said the figures, based on two major reviews, highlighted the need to continue driving down our reliance on the drugs. “There is a growing body of evidence that taking antibiotics makes it more likely that your next infection will be a resistant one, so prudent use of these life-saving medicines is essential,” he told the Guardian.

The study cited by Cosford, in fact found that children who had urinary tract infections (cystitis) were 13.23 times as likely to have contracted drug-resistant strains if they had been given antibiotics in the previous six months.

In a previous survey, 90% of GPs said they come under pressure from patients to hand out the antibacterial medication, and 45% said they had done so knowing it would not help.

Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh, said that the figures matched his qualitative experience from the clinic. “In hospitals you definitely do get patients who will get a string of different drug-resistant infections,” he said.

Antibiotics pose a risk of subsequent illness, he said, because the drugs do not uniquely target the infection, but also eradicate useful bacteria in the gut. “They change the ecology of the gut, a bit like using a pesticide in a rich woodland,” he said. In the ecological niche that opens up after a course of antibiotics, opportunistic infections can spring up.

“This comes with the proviso that people should follow their doctor’s advice,” he added. “Antibiotics are a good thing when prescribed correctly, but they can have longer-term disadvantages of all kinds.”

The committee heard that that overall Britain had made progress on reducing the use of antibiotics since the government asked the economist Jim O’Neill to produce a report on antimicrobial resistance two years ago.

Prescriptions of antibiotics fell by 7.3% in the financial year 2015-16 compared with the previous year, Cosford told the committee.

Farms are also on track to meet a Defra target for 2018 of reducing average antibiotic use on farms to 50mg of drug per 1kg of meat produced (56mg this year, compared to 62mg in 2014). The target is designed to combat the blanket use of antibiotics as a way of boosting the growth of livestock – particularly poultry and pigs.

Certain strains of drug resistant infections are decreasing, the committee heard, with only 800 cases of MRSA bloodstream infections last year, compared to 7,000 in 2003. “When we focus on specific infections that are causing a problem then we can be extremely successful,” said Cosford. However, a more worrying trend was the rise in drug resistant E coli strains, he said, mostly linked to urinary tract infections.

O’Neill said that the current government appeared “less passionate” about the issue than the previous administration. “There is interest, perhaps not with the same passion as with David Cameron,” he said. “The prime minister himself and the chancellor played an active role in international engagement on the issue. I have not seen this government talk about it anything like as much as the previous leadership did.”

He added that it was crucial for policy-makers to make international efforts now rather than waiting for the “scary outbreak of a crisis”.

“We need to stop treating these things like sweets,” O’Neill said. “We all need to be re-educated that these things aren’t a magical solution for as many things as people think.”

Antibiotics leave children "more likely to contract drug-resistant infections"

Men much less likely to seek mental health help than women

Men are far less likely to seek medical support for a mental health problem than women, new figures reveal.

A survey commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation found that not only are men far less likely than women to seek professional support, they are also less likely to disclose a mental health problem to friends and family.

The YouGov survey, the largest of its kind, polling more than 2,500 people who have had mental health problems, showed 28% of men admitted that they had not sought medical help, compared with 19% of women.

The survey found that a third of women, compared with a quarter of men, had told friends or family about their mental health problem within a month of it arising. More than a third of men, compared with a quarter of women, either waited more than two years or chose never to tell friends or family about their problem.

Mark Rowland, director at the Mental Health Foundation, said the findings showed that there needed to be a cultural shift in the approach to the issue. “Mental health is so central to our experience of being alive that if we’re ever to rise to the challenge of preventing mental health problems, it will be because men feel more able to share when they are vulnerable,” Rowland said.

“This is not about being more of a man but being more in touch with our humanity.

“It takes courage to be open and honest about mental health, but when suicide is the leading cause of death for young men, we all have a responsibility to push for cultural change.”

Dave Chawner, 27, a comedian who lived with anorexia and depression for 10 years before seeking support, backed the findings.

“It’s important to talk about gender when we talk about mental health. It is more accepted for men to deal with stress, emotions and situations with anger. Anything else is interpreted as vulnerability and shut down.”

In the past year a number of campaigns have been launched to encourage men to talk about their mental health problems. Documentaries by the rapper Professor Green, Stephen Fry and the Bafta-award-winning actor Adam Deacon have all helped to draw attention to the issue as have the #RUOKM8 and #BoysDoCry social media campaigns.

Men much less likely to seek mental health help than women

Abused children more likely to be seriously ill as adults, says report

Children who suffer abuse, violence or other trauma at home are more likely to become seriously ill as adults, a report has concluded.

The study says children who endure four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with a chronic disease in later life compared with those that have experienced none.

They are four times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, three times more likely to develop heart disease and three times more likely to develop respiratory disease, according to the report from Public Health Wales.

According to the report, over a 12-month period, those with four or more ACEs were three times more likely to have attended accident and emergency units, three times more likely to have stayed overnight in hospital, and twice as likely to have visited their GP, again compared with people who report no ACEs.

The report, the first nationwide study of its kind produced by a public health body in the UK, argues that the reasons are not simply cyclical – that a child who has a challenging home life, where, for example, adults smoke or drink heavily, is more likely to do the same and suffer bad health as a consequence.

It points out there is growing evidence that in addition early life trauma leads to changes in neurological, immunological and hormonal development that have detrimental effects on health across a lifetime.

Children who are constantly exposed to stress can become permanently prepared to respond to further trauma – which can increase strain on the body.

ACEs are defined as traumatic experiences that occur before the age of 18, ranging from verbal, mental and physical abuse to exposure to alcoholism, drug use, domestic violence or parents’ relationships breaking down.

The lead report author, Prof Mark Bellis, the director of policy, research and international development at Public Health Wales, said its previous research had shown how ACEs increase the uptake of health-harming behaviours such as smoking and drug use and reduce mental wellbeing in adults.

He said: “This report shows how experiencing abuse and other problems in childhood are linked with increased levels of chronic disease in adulthood and much greater use of health care. What happens to us as children can make our bodies develop differently, leaving them more vulnerable to conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease in later life.”

Bellis said that finding solutions needed a change in approach.

“This cannot be achieved by the NHS alone. That is why we are working with our key partners, including the government, police, local authorities, charitable and voluntary sector organisations, to develop a joined-up approach to prevent ACEs and support adults whose health is suffering because of childhood trauma.”

The relationship between ACEs and the development of health-harming behaviours and chronic disease in adulthood was first explored in the US in the late 90s. The Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University – now the Public Health Institute – ran the first British study in Lancashire in 2012.

More than 2,000 adults aged 18-69 took part in the Welsh study, providing anonymous information on their exposure to ACEs before the age of 18 and their health and lifestyles as adults. The results take into account sociodemographic factors and show it is not simply the children of “deprived” homes who suffer ACEs.

Simon Capewell, vice-president of the Faculty of Public Health, said the Welsh study was very important. “This is the sort of data that needs to be used to prevent health issues that become a burden on the NHS and on our society,” he said.

Wales’s future generations commissioner, Sophie Howe, said the study showed public services had to work together. “This new evidence from Public Health Wales emphasises the importance of focusing on early years and reducing the number of children living in families where there is domestic abuse, mental health problems, substance misuse or other forms of abuse or neglect.

“If we don’t tackle this we are storing up long term health and social problems for these children and our public services further down the line.”

Abused children more likely to be seriously ill as adults, says report

9 Dogs Less Likely to Aggravate Allergies

If you suffer from allergies, being around dogs can be a torturous experience. On the one hand, you might want to give them some loving pats on the head, but on the other, you know you’ll be sorry when your sneezing just. won’t. stop. 

It might be tempting to shell out some cash for a hypoallergenic dog, but studies suggest that these pets can cause just as many symptoms as the regular kind because skin and saliva, in addition to hair, can cause symptoms. The only pets that truly won’t have you reaching for the tissue box have scaly skin.

RELATED: 20 Ways to Stop Allergies

But, if you do want to have a furry friend around, the following 9 dogs might be better for people with allergies. 

Don’t have time to watch? Read the full transcript:

The only truly hypoallergenic pets have scaly skin. If you must have a furry pet, here are some that are said to be better for people with allergies. 

Bedlington Terrier: They have curly, wooly coats and they weigh 17-23 pounds. 

Bichon Frise: “Powder puff” dogs have a soft, silky undercoat and a coarse, curly outer coat. They weigh about 10-18 pounds. 

Chinese Crested: They hardly shed and weigh 10-13 pounds. 

RELATED: What to Do If You’re Allergic to Your Pet

Irish Spaniel: They have a curly coat and can weigh 45-65 pounds.

Kerry Blue Terrier: These dogs have a soft, dense coat and weigh 33-40 pounds. 

Labradoodle: Labradoodles are created by crossing a poodle and a Labrador retriever. They can be Standard or Medium size and range from 30-65 pounds. 

Maltese: They have long silky fur that should be brushed daily. They weigh 4-6 pounds. 

Poodle: Poodles grow soft, curly fur and come in 3 sizes—Toy, Miniature, and Standard. Their weight ranges from 6-60 pounds. 

Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier: This dog has a long silky coat and weighs about 30-40 pounds. 

9 Dogs Less Likely to Aggravate Allergies

Women taking pill more likely to be treated for depression, study finds

Women who take the contraceptive pill are more likely to be treated for depression, according to a large new study.

Millions of women worldwide use hormonal contraceptives, and there have long been reports that they can affect mood. A research project was launched in Denmark to look at the scale of the problem, involving the medical records of more than a million women and adolescent girls.

It found that those on the combined pill are 23% more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant by their doctor, most commonly in the first six months after starting on the pill. Women on the progestin-only pills, a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, were 34% more likely to take antidepressants or get a first diagnosis of depression than those not on hormonal contraception.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry, found that not only women taking pills but also those with implants, patches and intra-uterine devices were affected.

Adolescent girls appeared to be at highest risk. Those taking combined pills were 80% more likely and those on progestin-only pills more than twice as likely to be prescribed an antidepressant than their peers who were not on the pill.

The researchers, Øjvind Lidegaard of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues, point out that women are twice as likely to suffer from depression in their lifetime as men, though rates are equal before puberty. The fluctuating levels of the two female sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, have been implicated. Studies have suggested raised progesterone levels in particular may lower mood.

The impact of low-dose hormonal contraception on mood and possibly depression has not been fully studied, the authors say. They used registry data in Denmark on more than a million women and adolescent girls aged between 15 and 34. They were followed up from 2000 until 2013 with an average follow-up of 6.4 years.

The authors call for more studies to investigate this possible side-effect of the pill.

Other scientists said the research should not put women off using hormonal contraception. Dr Channa Jayasena, a clinical senior lecturer in reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College London, said: “This study raises important questions about the pill. In over a million Danish women, depression was associated with contraceptive pill use. The study does not prove [and does not claim] that the pill plays any role in the development of depression. However, we know hormones play a hugely important role in regulating human behaviour.

“Given the enormous size of this study, further work is needed to see if these results can be repeated in other populations, and to determine possible biological mechanisms which might underlie any possible link between the pill and depression. Until then, women should not be deterred from taking the pill.”

Dr Ali Kubba, a fellow of the faculty of sexual and reproductive healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, also said further research was needed.

“There is existing clinical evidence that hormonal contraception can impact some women’s moods, however, from this study there is no way of linking causation, therefore further research is needed to examine depression as a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use,” he said.

“Women should not be alarmed by this study as all women react differently to different methods of contraception. There are a variety of contraception methods on offer including the pill, implants, injections, intrauterine devices, and vaginal rings and we therefore advise women to discuss their options with a doctor, where they will discuss the possible side-effects and decisions around the most suitable method can be made jointly.”

Women taking pill more likely to be treated for depression, study finds

Teenagers more likely to eat healthily if they think it is rebellious

If you want the teenager in your life to eat healthily, telling them it will be good for them in the long term is simply not going to work.

But appealing to their rebelliousness and sense of social justice could make them take notice of their diet, according to a US study that may offer a new approach to tackling obesity and other health problems in the young.

The research suggests that informing teenagers about the manipulative nature of the food industry reduces their preference for sugary drinks and snacks. By contrast, promoting healthy eating based on future health benefits is no more successful than offering no information at all.

“If the normal way of seeing healthy eating is that it is lame, then you don’t want to be the kind of person who is a healthy eater,” said David Yeager, co-author of the research from the University of Texas at Austin.

“But if we make healthy eating seem like the rebellious thing that you do, you make your own choices, you fight back against injustice, then it could be seen as high status.”

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers conducted two studies which, when pooled together, looked at how 536 schoolchildren aged 13 to 15 responded to different conditions aimed at promoting a healthy diet.

Pupils were randomly given either material that promoted healthy eating based on its long-term health benefits or material that revealed how junk food is designed to be addictive, can be deceptively labelled, and is targeted at particular people, including very young children and those from poorer backgrounds. A third group of pupils received either no information or information entirely unrelated to healthy eating.

Teenagers were also asked to engage with the ideas by writing an essay on how they might take action based on the viewpoint put across to them.

The following day, in an apparently unrelated event, all the pupils were given a snack-pack as a reward from the headteacher for hard work – the contents of which they could choose from a list.

“Once you see [healthy eating] as a high status thing to do, people are more willing to do it of their own free will when they have their own choice in a room surrounded by their peers,” said Yeager.

For teenagers who had received material on the negative aspects of the food industry, 43% chose only unhealthy snacks such as crisps or cookies, compared to 54% of those who had received no information, or health-related information. A smaller decrease was seen in their preference for sugary drinks over water, while the overall sugar content of their food and drink was reduced by 9%.

When surveyed, pupils who had been informed about the manipulative nature of the food industry were also more likely to agree with statements relating to autonomy, social status and social justice such as: “When I eat healthy, I am helping to make the world a better place”. Two days after seeing the materials, teenagers in this group were also more likely to be angered by adverts for fizzy drinks and want to avoid them.

The insight, the authors add, could be used for a range of other campaigns, from motivating sick teenagers to take their medications, to encouraging young drivers to be safer on the roads.

The study comes just days after the release of the latest results from the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey, which revealed that 11- to 18-year-olds are consuming more than triple the recommended daily amount of sugar, with only 8% eating five portions of fruit or vegetables a day.

Charlotte Evans, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Leeds, welcomed the new research, pointing out that many healthy-eating strategies in the UK focused on preschool and primary school children, rather than teenagers. “Somehow, teenagers have been forgotten about,” she said. “[This] could have the potential of working very well, if you actually target [teenagers’] values and their views on life.”

Aisling Pigott, a registered dietician with the British Dietetic Association, cautioned that the impact of the new approach was modest and that the study should be repeated with a larger number of participants, and followed up over a longer period of time.

But, she added, the approach merits consideration. “What is relevant to the UK and what is quite positive is it takes into account that in teenagers [healthy eating] is a lot about peer mindset, not family or education,” she said, adding that the similarities between the US and UK mean similar effects could be expected among British teens.

Teenagers more likely to eat healthily if they think it is rebellious

Women 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed after heart attack – study

Women are 50% more likely than men to be given a wrong diagnosis after a heart attack, according to a study.

Three in 10 patients’ initial diagnosis differed from their final diagnosis. Researcher Dr Chris Gale said an initial misdiagnosis could have “potentially important clinical repercussions, including an increased risk of death”.

The study by Leeds University researchers looked at records of nearly 600,000 heart attack patients admitted to 243 NHS hospitals in England and Wales between April 2004 and March 2013. It found that 198,534 patients were initially misdiagnosed.

Heart attacks can be broken down into two main types: Stemi and Nstemi. A Stemi attack occurs when there is a total blockage of the main artery that pumps oxygenated blood around the body. The more common Nstemi type of heart attack involves a partial blockage of one or more arteries. Both result in serious damage to the heart muscle.

Women who had a final diagnosis of Stemi had a 59% greater chance of a initial misdiagnosis compared with men, according to the study, which appears in the European Heart Journal Acute Cardiovascular Care. Women who had a final diagnosis of Nstemi had a 41% greater chance of a misdiagnosis when compared with men.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, which part-funded the study, said the differences in diagnosis were “alarmingly high” but better tests were being developed for female heart attack diagnoses.

He noted that when different limits were applied to the troponin test, a routine test for a heart attack, more women received a correct diagnosis of heart attack. “However, this new study highlights the current scale of the issue and confirms more research is urgently needed into tests that will enable earlier and more accurate diagnosis of a heart attack, particularly in women,” he said.

Up to 28,000 women a year in the UK die from heart attacks, according to BHF estimates. There are around 275,000 female heart attack survivors in the UK, many of whom will be living with heart failure as a result of this illness.

The longer a heart attack is left undiagnosed and untreated, the more the heart muscle can be damaged irreversibly.

Women 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed after heart attack – study

Girls exposed to "electronic babies" more likely to become pregnant, study finds

Young girls exposed to electronic babies – designed to simulate the real experience of having a baby and discourage teenage pregnancy – were more likely to get pregnant, a study of Australian schools has found.

The landmark study, published in the Lancet, found that 17% of girls who used the dolls had become pregnant by the age of 20, compared with 11% of those who did not.

The electronic “Baby Think It Over” dolls were part of a Virtual Infant Parenting (VIP) program run in 57 schools in Western Australia, first implemented in 2003.

Similar programs, based on the US concept, are now delivered in 89 countries, despite there being no robust evidence of their effectiveness.

Researchers from the Telethon Kids Institute in Western Australia conducted a randomised control assessment of the VIP program and warn that the electronic babies may be an ineffective use of public funds.

Nearly 3,000 Western Australian schoolgirls aged 13 to 15 took part in the study.

Of the girls who became pregnant in the VIP group, 58% had abortions, compared with 60% of girls from the control group.

The lead investigator, Dr Sally Brinkman, said the study highlighted that even the most well-intentioned programs could have “unexpected consequences”.

“Australia has the sixth highest teen pregnancy rate out of 21 OECD countries and this study will help policymakers better tackle the issue,” she said.

Girls exposed to "electronic babies" more likely to become pregnant, study finds

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

We know that pain thresholds vary from person to person – one person’s nudging inconvenience is another’s unbearable distraction – but the colour of your skin, in the US at least, can be a factor in deciding whether or not you receive pain medication.

New research from the US shows that black patients who arrive at emergency rooms complaining of back or abdominal pain are significantly less likely to be given opioid painkillers, such as codeine, than their white counterparts, even when pain levels and insurance coverage are the same. Pain is the most common reason Americans visit the ER, and the researchers in Boston looked at five years’ worth of records across the country for patients who had complained of general pain with an unclear cause.

This effect has been found across healthcare settings – black children with appendicitis are significantly less likely get any painkillers for moderate pain or opioid-type drugs for severe pain. Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania reviewed 20 years’ worth of studies in 2012 and found the same, calling this “the treatment gap”. The review’s lead author, Dr Salimah Meghani, says that to stop the disparity, doctors need to be educated about its cause, and this is most likely unconscious bias. The problem, she says, “may be addressed by helping health providers identify their blind spots”.

In April, another study found that half the white medical students surveyed believed at least one false statement about black people having “thicker skin”, “faster-coagulating blood” or “less sensitive nerve endings”. Medics who believed one of these facts also rated black pain lower when viewing case studies. Authors of this research believed it was down to these entrenched ideas about “biological differences” between races that may be informing doctors’ decisions on when to prescribe.

Dr Austin Leach, a pain medicine consultant who serves on the council of the British Pain Society, says there is no biological reason for different prescriptions. “Physiological studies suggest that pain perception is the same across ethnicities,” he says, adding that there is no evidence that this happens in the UK. Some races are predisposed to certain illnesses – the rate of strokes for African Americans is double that of the country’s white population – but the treatment of pain should be the same.

In this latest study, researchers claim that a particular type of unconscious bias – assuming that black patients are abusing meds – is to blame, despite the fact that opioid abuse is more prevalent in white communities.

The study’s lead author, Dr Astha Singhal, a professor at Boston University, says the key point is that they found a discrepancy only in vague pain-related conditions, commonly associated with drug-seeking behaviour, rather than conditions with obvious causes, such as bone fractures. “While the disparity we found is surely not a good thing, it might have indirect advantage to the black patients of minimising their exposure to opioids,” she says.

The theory that black communities are being “shielded” from opioid addiction by not being prescribed the drugs in the first place is a controversial one. Other studies have shown that diagnosis of issues from back pain to cancer is slower for black patients. The line is unclear to many doctors, including Singhal. “It raises the question – is it still an advantage if the cost is bearing untreated or undertreated pain?”

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

We know that pain thresholds vary from person to person – one person’s nudging inconvenience is another’s unbearable distraction – but the colour of your skin, in the US at least, can be a factor in deciding whether or not you receive pain medication.

New research from the US shows that black patients who arrive at emergency rooms complaining of back or abdominal pain are significantly less likely to be given opioid painkillers, such as codeine, than their white counterparts, even when pain levels and insurance coverage are the same. Pain is the most common reason Americans visit the ER, and the researchers in Boston looked at five years’ worth of records across the country for patients who had complained of general pain with an unclear cause.

This effect has been found across healthcare settings – black children with appendicitis are significantly less likely get any painkillers for moderate pain or opioid-type drugs for severe pain. Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania reviewed 20 years’ worth of studies in 2012 and found the same, calling this “the treatment gap”. The review’s lead author, Dr Salimah Meghani, says that to stop the disparity, doctors need to be educated about its cause, and this is most likely unconscious bias. The problem, she says, “may be addressed by helping health providers identify their blind spots”.

In April, another study found that half the white medical students surveyed believed at least one false statement about black people having “thicker skin”, “faster-coagulating blood” or “less sensitive nerve endings”. Medics who believed one of these facts also rated black pain lower when viewing case studies. Authors of this research believed it was down to these entrenched ideas about “biological differences” between races that may be informing doctors’ decisions on when to prescribe.

Dr Austin Leach, a pain medicine consultant who serves on the council of the British Pain Society, says there is no biological reason for different prescriptions. “Physiological studies suggest that pain perception is the same across ethnicities,” he says, adding that there is no evidence that this happens in the UK. Some races are predisposed to certain illnesses – the rate of strokes for African Americans is double that of the country’s white population – but the treatment of pain should be the same.

In this latest study, researchers claim that a particular type of unconscious bias – assuming that black patients are abusing meds – is to blame, despite the fact that opioid abuse is more prevalent in white communities.

The study’s lead author, Dr Astha Singhal, a professor at Boston University, says the key point is that they found a discrepancy only in vague pain-related conditions, commonly associated with drug-seeking behaviour, rather than conditions with obvious causes, such as bone fractures. “While the disparity we found is surely not a good thing, it might have indirect advantage to the black patients of minimising their exposure to opioids,” she says.

The theory that black communities are being “shielded” from opioid addiction by not being prescribed the drugs in the first place is a controversial one. Other studies have shown that diagnosis of issues from back pain to cancer is slower for black patients. The line is unclear to many doctors, including Singhal. “It raises the question – is it still an advantage if the cost is bearing untreated or undertreated pain?”

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

Babies breastfed within an hour of birth are less likely to die. Yet only 50% are | Frace Begin

What happens in an hour can make all the difference. When I had my first baby, the support I received from my nurse was indispensable in helping me initiate and continue breastfeeding. It may not be obvious, but putting newborns to the breast within the first hour of life can make the difference between life and death. Delaying the start of breastfeeding beyond one hour after birth can raise a newborns risk of dying by 80% compared to those who are breastfed immediately.

Newborns now account for nearly half of all deaths of children under five. Early breastfeeding plays a critical part in reducing newborn mortality and keeping babies healthy. But are we doing everything possible to make that happen?

It turns out we’re not. New research from Unicef shows that more than half of all newborns are not breastfed within one hour of birth. That means that 77 million newborns – over 50% of babies born each year – are losing out on the benefits of early initiation, exposing them to a higher risk of disease and death.

This is happening because women are not getting the support they need around the time of birth, even when a doctor, nurse or midwife is assisting their delivery.

Globally, more than three quarters of all mothers give birth with the help of a skilled birth attendant. But in many hospitals, rather than initiating the practice of breastfeeding by immediately placing a newborn on the mother’s chest, well-intentioned attendants will take the baby away to give the mother time to rest or feed the newborn formula. In the Middle East, North Africa and in South Asia, women who deliver with a skilled birth attendant are less likely to initiate breastfeeding in the first hour of life, compared to women who deliver with unskilled attendants or relatives.

When babies are given alternatives to breastmilk, they breastfeed less often, making it harder for mothers to start and continue breastfeeding. In some countries, the rise in caesarean deliveries has reduced this crucial practice and delayed breastfeeding initiation; however, with the right support, even most newborns delivered by Caesarean section can be put to the breast within the first hour of life.

Traditional practices also interfere with getting an early start to breastfeeding, depriving newborns of the essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact with their mother that protect them from disease and death. In India, some women are taught to discard colostrum—the nutrient-dense breast milk a mother produces right after birth. In Nigeria, some newborns are given water or tea in lieu of breast milk, putting them at risk of diarrhea and malnutrition. Countries in other parts of the world are inundated with formula marketing, which has led to plummeting breastfeeding rates.

Placing newborns on their mother’s bare chest – known as skin-to-skin contact – immediately after birth helps reduce mortality by regulating a baby’s heart rate, temperature and breathing, while also facilitating breastfeeding. Not only that, exposure to the bacteria on the mother’s breast helps to colonize a newborn’s digestive system with essential antibodies. Immediate skin-to-skin contact promotes bonding between newborn and mother and ensures that babies receive the nurturing they need from the very first moments they enter the world.

And mothers practicing early skin-to-skin contact and early initiation of breastfeeding with their newborns are more likely to produce sufficient milk, breastfeed within the first months of their baby’s life, and continue breastfeeding longer – a practice proven to improve health outcomes for both children and mothers.

The Lancet reported earlier this year that breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months could save more than 800,000 children’s lives each year because it acts as a baby’s first vaccine, protecting infants from diseases, and giving them a perfectly adapted nutritional supply they need at each developmental stage. This amounts to a 13% reduction in the deaths of children under five and also supports healthy brain development, increased IQ scores and better school performance for all children.

Breastfeeding is a powerful intervention – it’s time-tested, backed by research and doesn’t require preparation or expensive new medications. Breastfeeding has incredible developmental benefits, and, in areas that lack access to clean environment and clean water to mix with formula powder, saves babies from life-threatening diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia.

To be sure, there are many barriers to breastfeeding we must work to overcome so mothers who want to breastfeed are able to, and there are a small number of mothers for whom breastfeeding isn’t an option. But to serve millions of mothers and children better, one simple and important thing we can do now is support early initiation of breastfeeding.

Providing new mothers with guidance on initiating breastfeeding, not supplying any liquids or foods other than breastmilk and ensuring that staff are appropriately trained are all simple adjustments that can help a woman breastfeed successfully.

Given what research has taught us about the importance of early initiation, we have countless reasons to do everything possible to increase rates globally – especially when solutions come at little to no extra cost.

Babies breastfed within an hour of birth are less likely to die. Yet only 50% are | Frace Begin

Quick ladies a lot more most likely to have short pregnanices and premature births

Shorter women have shorter pregnancies and smaller babies, in accordance to new research.

And the examine suggests they are also at higher danger of offering birth prematurely.

Researchers studied three,485 Nordic females and their infants, and found that maternal height, which is established by genetic variables, influenced the length of pregnancy and frequency of prematurity. But birth length and birth bodyweight are mainly influenced by transmitted genes.

Babies who survive an early birth face severe and lifelong health problems, like breathing troubles, jaundice, vision reduction, cerebral palsy and intellectual delays.

Medical doctor Joe Leigh Simpson, senior vice president for analysis at the March of Dimes Prematurity Investigation Centre in the US, explained: “A key objective of the nationwide network of March of Dimes prematurity research centres is identifying genes that govern foetal growth and length of pregnancy.

• Revolutionary new 10-minute check ‘can premature births’

“That a woman’s height influences gestational length, independent of the genes she passes on that decide foetal size, is a key discovering by our investigation networks, and the 1st of what we assume to be numerous genetic contributions.”

Doctor Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes, stated: “The revolutionary, group-based model of our prematurity study centers is vital to knowing the unknown brings about or preterm birth.

“This new obtaining adds a single tiny piece towards solving the considerably greater puzzle of preterm birth.”

• Mothers and fathers who ignored doctors’ suggestions to abort premature child celebrate his initial birthday

Doctor Louis Muglia, the major investigator and co-director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Health care Centre, additional: “Our finding demonstrates that a mother’s height has a direct impact on how long her pregnancy lasts.

“The explanation for why this happens is unclear but could rely not only on unknown genes but also on woman’s lifetime of nutrition and her surroundings.”

Quick ladies a lot more most likely to have short pregnanices and premature births

How severe is England"s heatwave very likely to be?

Individuals are becoming urged to stay out of the sun after the Met Workplace issued a heatwave warning. Temperatures in the south-east of the nation are very likely to hit up to 32C this weekend with the rest of the country in the mid to large 20s.

A heatwave by its nature is an intense event (it relies on the temperature exceeding the common for a steady time period). But how does this stack up in the context of heatwaves previous? And where will the south-east be hotter than tomorrow?

What is a heatwave? And will there be 1 in the United kingdom?

A heatwave is defined by the Met Office as when the scorching climate meets set thresholds for every day highest and nightly minimum temperatures for two consecutive days. These thresholds generally sit around the 30C mark for the greatest and 15C for the minimal.

A yellow level two alert has been issued for the whole nation, which happens when there is a 60% danger of a heatwave in one particular or much more regions – this time the East Midlands, West Midlands, east England, the south-east and London are judged to be a lot more very likely than not to encounter heatwave circumstances over the course of Friday and Saturday.

*London and the south-east is not aggregated for the Heat-well being view prediction but is for the regional forecast. Photograph: /Met Workplace

London and south-east England are probably to attain temperatures on par with Houston in Texas although the east of England and the West Midlands will be as hot as Caracas. However, London will nevertheless fall beneath Madrid (34C), Beijing (36C), Las Vegas (38C) and Baghdad (43C).

How does this examine to past heatwaves?

The Heat-wellness watch, which is the supply of the warning, was launched in the wake of the 2003 heatwave exactly where a scorching 10 days in August brought on an estimated two,000 deaths.

Throughout that 12 months Faversham was topic to the hottest day on Uk record when temperatures in the Kent town reached 38.5C. The record for July is the 36.5C reached in Wisley, Surrey in the course of 2006.

The benchmark for the 2003 heatwave was the summer time of 1976 when temperatures exceeded 30C somewhere in the United kingdom for 15 days in a row following June 23.

In contrast, 2003 noticed 30C being exceeded for 3 consecutive days amongst August 4 and 6 followed by five consecutive days in between August eight and 12.

Temperatures in London and the south-east are not expected to attain anything at all near that substantial this yr and the potential heatwave would only likely final for two days (Friday and Saturday) with showers expected this weekend.

Could this be the hottest July ever?

Probably not. The hottest July the Uk has ever expertise was 2006 with a indicate optimum temperature of 26.1C (the regular of all the hottest factors throughout each and every day of the month) and an typical temperature of 17.8C.

Last year’s July fared rather nicely as nicely, with a suggest maximum temperature of 24.6C – the sixth hottest because 1910.

This July has not been remarkably scorching so far but could the remaining days do anything towards pushing it up the rankings? Here is what the Met Office have to say about the forecast for July 21 to 31

Monday will deliver a drier day with sunny spells for a lot of and it will stay warm for most with southeastern parts possibly scorching at first. There will be a couple of showers with a lot more basic rain and breezy conditions arriving in the northwest later on and into Tuesday. Even so, this rain will most likely not attain southern and eastern components. This northwest-southeast split in the climate is expected to proceed, with Atlantic frontal techniques bringing intervals of more prolonged rain at occasions in the northwest, with the very best of the drier and sunnier weather in the southeast, even though here some hefty showers are possible, particularly later in the period. Temperatures probably to continue to be on the warm side, maybe turning out to be hot again in the southeast. In the northwest temperatures will be about common.

As we stated at the start off however: if this heatwave occurs it will still be an extreme climate event, which is why Public Overall health England have issued their warning for individuals to remain out of the sun in the course of the hottest intervals – put together for Venezuelan-degree weather in London.

How severe is England"s heatwave very likely to be?

one hundred 12 months-olds much more very likely to die in hospital in England than Finland: research

In the Netherlands 90 per cent of individuals aged in excess of 90 die in a nursing house along with 76 per cent in Finland.

Only sixteen per cent in the Netherlands die in hospital along with 14 per cent in Finland.

The NHS and social care wants to be greater set-up for care for the expanding numbers of extremely elderly people, they said, as numbers are expected to rise drastically.

There were about 13,350 folks of a hundred many years or older residing in England in 2012 and this is anticipated to reach far more than 500,000 by 2066.

Folks who live to much more than 100 ‘outlive death from persistent disease’ the researchers stated and die of frailty or pneumonia and not cancer or heart ailment which are the largest killers or younger elderly.

This implies they typically do not need to have to die in hospital but could be adequately cared for in nursing homes or in their own homes, specialists stated.

The review found that old age was the most widespread main lead to of death recorded for individuals aged above 100 followed by pneumonia.

Heart illness was mentioned on just 9 per cent of death certificates of a hundred 12 months-olds compared with 19 per cent of these who die aged amongst 80 and 85. ‘Old age’ was only mentioned on a single per cent of death certificates.

The amount of people aged above 100 dying per year enhance by 56 per cent in ten years from 2,823 in 2001 to 4,393 in 2010.

The findings were published in the journal PLOS Medication was based mostly on Office for Nationwide Statistics death registration information for England amongst 2001-2010.

It identified in the United kingdom, the number of centenarians has doubled each ten many years because 1956 and is estimated to reach more than half a million by 2066.

The 10-12 months review integrated 35,867 individuals with a median age of 101 many years at time of death, of whom 87 per cent had been women.

The quantity of centenarian deaths per year in England enhanced from 2,800 in 2001 to nearly 4,400 in 2010.

Regions of highest deprivation in the Uk had the lowest proportion of centenarian deaths, as men and women tended to die prior to reaching one hundred.

Author Catherine Evans stated: “The rising number of centenarians and continued use of hospital care at the finish of daily life signifies an urgent need to make certain sufficient extended-phrase care and responsive community care providers to help people living with severe longevity in these care settings.

“In contrast to area of death for individuals aged 90 years or over in other European nations, the proportion dying in hospital in England is high and individuals dying in care properties minimal.

“The escalating variety of care home beds is positively associated with less probably death in hospital, but this alone is insufficient to make clear the marked variations in spot of death by age across European nations.

“Variations in well being care services provision to care homes by country probably contribute to variations observed.

“Better well being care provision could enable folks to remain in their usual residence and lessen hospital admission at the finish of daily life-a main expense driver in finish of existence care.

“To lessen reliance on hospital care at the finish of existence needs recognition of centenarians’ enhanced likelihood to ‘acute’ decline, notably from pneumonia, and wider provision of anticipatory care to enable men and women to stay in their typical residence, and rising care residence bed capability.”

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age United kingdom stated: “This report offers useful insights into the overall health and care of the oldest old. A lot more and more of us are living to late previous age with individuals more than 85+ currently being the quickest developing age group in the country.

“Services require to become better attuned and much more sensitive in caring for folks with complicated requirements. Older individuals can typically be living with several conditions and frailty, but the result of this on a person’s wellness above time is normally poorly understood inside of the overall health service.

“As a consequence, planning care, whether day-to-day or at the finish of daily life, is usually patchy and uncoordinated, and this can lead to a sudden deterioration in overall health, demonstrated by the causes of death described in this report and escalating the likelihood of dying in hospital – which is not what most individuals want. It is crucial the NHS adapts to the requirements of older people – between those who depend on health and care providers the most.”

Dr Mark Temple, Potential Hospital Officer at the Royal School of Doctors mentioned: “Older individuals are a main and rising proportion of the Uk population and the RCP is concerned that a higher proportion of deaths in centenarians in England occur in hospital and not the place they generally live, or exactly where they would select to die.

“The emergency transfer to hospital of older frail patients in their final days of life disrupts their care in the neighborhood, is distressing and puts them at danger of unnecessary investigations and therapy in hospital.

“The RCP’s Potential Hospital Programme suggests that care is tailored to the requirements of each patient, and that relevant decision producing is shared with patients and their households and carers. For the quite elderly this would permit several a lot more sufferers to choose to remain in their normal home with the care they demand coming to them, rather than through an emergency admission to hospital.”

one hundred 12 months-olds much more very likely to die in hospital in England than Finland: research

100 year-olds more likely to die in hospital in England than Finland: study

In the Netherlands 90 per cent of those aged in excess of 90 die in a nursing property along with 76 per cent in Finland.

Only sixteen per cent in the Netherlands die in hospital along with 14 per cent in Finland.

The NHS and social care requirements to be much better set-up for care for the expanding numbers of really elderly men and women, they explained, as numbers are expected to rise substantially.

There had been about 13,350 folks of 100 many years or older living in England in 2012 and this is anticipated to attain a lot more than 500,000 by 2066.

People who dwell to much more than 100 ‘outlive death from continual disease’ the researchers said and die of frailty or pneumonia and not cancer or heart ailment which are the biggest killers or younger elderly.

This implies they typically do not need to have to die in hospital but could be adequately cared for in nursing homes or in their own residences, specialists said.

The review identified that old age was the most widespread primary cause of death recorded for these aged above 100 followed by pneumonia.

Heart disease was talked about on just 9 per cent of death certificates of one hundred year-olds in contrast with 19 per cent of individuals who die aged between 80 and 85. ‘Old age’ was only mentioned on 1 per cent of death certificates.

The quantity of those aged above a hundred dying per yr improve by 56 per cent in ten years from two,823 in 2001 to 4,393 in 2010.

The findings were published in the journal PLOS Medication was based on Office for National Statistics death registration information for England in between 2001-2010.

It identified in the United kingdom, the number of centenarians has doubled every single ten many years considering that 1956 and is estimated to attain above half a million by 2066.

The 10-12 months review integrated 35,867 men and women with a median age of 101 many years at time of death, of whom 87 per cent have been ladies.

The amount of centenarian deaths per year in England improved from two,800 in 2001 to nearly four,400 in 2010.

Places of highest deprivation in the United kingdom had the lowest proportion of centenarian deaths, as individuals tended to die just before reaching one hundred.

Author Catherine Evans explained: “The increasing variety of centenarians and continued use of hospital care at the finish of existence signifies an urgent need to ensure adequate extended-phrase care and responsive community care companies to support men and women living with extreme longevity in these care settings.

“In contrast to area of death for individuals aged 90 years or more than in other European nations, the proportion dying in hospital in England is high and those dying in care houses minimal.

“The escalating amount of care property beds is positively connected with much less most likely death in hospital, but this alone is inadequate to explain the marked distinctions in place of death by age across European countries.

“Variations in wellness care support provision to care homes by country probably contribute to differences observed.

“Far better health care provision could enable individuals to remain in their usual residence and minimize hospital admission at the end of lifestyle-a major expense driver in finish of daily life care.

“To minimize reliance on hospital care at the end of life demands recognition of centenarians’ elevated likelihood to ‘acute’ decline, notably from pneumonia, and wider provision of anticipatory care to allow individuals to stay in their normal residence, and escalating care property bed capability.”

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age United kingdom said: “This report gives helpful insights into the health and care of the oldest outdated. Far more and far more of us are residing to late old age with men and women more than 85+ becoming the quickest expanding age group in the nation.

“Services want to turn into greater attuned and far more delicate in caring for people with complicated demands. Older people can frequently be residing with several conditions and frailty, however the impact of this on a person’s overall health more than time is generally poorly understood inside the overall health support.

“As a result, arranging care, regardless of whether day-to-day or at the finish of lifestyle, is usually patchy and uncoordinated, and this can lead to a sudden deterioration in well being, demonstrated by the brings about of death described in this report and escalating the probability of dying in hospital – which is not what most folks want. It is essential the NHS adapts to the demands of older people – among people who depend on well being and care solutions the most.”

Dr Mark Temple, Long term Hospital Officer at the Royal College of Doctors explained: “Older men and women are a key and growing proportion of the Uk population and the RCP is concerned that a large proportion of deaths in centenarians in England occur in hospital and not the place they normally dwell, or in which they would decide on to die.

“The emergency transfer to hospital of older frail patients in their last days of life disrupts their care in the neighborhood, is distressing and puts them at danger of needless investigations and treatment method in hospital.

“The RCP’s Long term Hospital Programme recommends that care is tailored to the wants of each patient, and that relevant selection producing is shared with individuals and their households and carers. For the quite elderly this would permit several far more sufferers to choose to stay in their typical residence with the care they demand coming to them, rather than through an emergency admission to hospital.”

100 year-olds more likely to die in hospital in England than Finland: study