New screening test cuts bowel cancer risk by a third, study finds

A one-off screening test being introduced across the NHS cuts the risk of developing bowel cancer by a third, a long-term study has found.

The test, which is being rolled out across England, will invite men and women to have bowel scope screening around the time of their 55th birthday.

This is in addition to the current test from the age of 60, the faecal occult blood test (FOB), which is posted to people’s homes.

FOB detects blood hidden in small samples of faeces, with further tests recommended if blood is detected.

Research published in the medical journal the Lancet has found that the bowel scope test reduces the risk of all cases of the cancer by a third. Experts predict it will save thousands of lives every year.

It works by threading a tiny camera attached to a thin flexible tube into the lower part of the bowel. As well as detecting tumours, it helps spot small growths, called polyps, on the bowel wall. If left untreated polyps can become cancerous, and any found during a bowel scope can usually be removed immediately.

Bowel scope screening will not detect cancers higher up in the bowel and patients may need a colonoscopy if they have persistent symptoms.

But the research found the new test was able to prevent 35% of bowel cancers overall and 40% of deaths.

In the lower bowel, the test prevented more than half of potential cancers from developing in that area.

Researchers from Imperial College London followed more than 170,000 people for 17 years on average, of whom more than 40,000 had the bowel scope test.

There are more than 41,000 new cases of bowel cancer every year in the UK, and about 16,000 deaths.

Prof Wendy Atkin, Cancer Research UK’s bowel screening expert and lead author at Imperial, said: “Although no screening test is perfect, this study shows that bowel scope is effective in reducing cancer deaths for at least 17 years.

“Bowel cancer can be prevented. And the bowel scope screening test is a great way to reduce the number of people diagnosed with the disease so it’s vital that no one misses out on the opportunity to get the test.”

Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s head of health information, said: “Like other types of screening, bowel scope is meant for people without symptoms. It’s a great way to help reduce the number of people developing or dying from bowel cancer, but it can’t pick up everything.

“So it’s still important to take part in the rest of the bowel screening programme and not ignore the home testing kits when they arrive.”

The government estimates the bowel scope test will take at least another three years before it will be offered to everyone eligible across England. This is in order to train specialist staff to carry out the tests. Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not yet committed to introducing the test.

The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research. About half of bowel cancers occur in the lower part of the bowel and the rectum – the area covered by the bowel scope test.

The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said: “This report is really encouraging – prevention and early diagnosis are key to improving outcomes, and this new screening test could help us save thousands more lives.

“Cancer survival is at its highest rate ever, but more must be done: we are investing £300 million a year by 2020 to increase diagnostic capacity for all cancers, so we can save more from this devastating disease.”

New screening test cuts bowel cancer risk by a third, study finds

New screening test cuts bowel cancer risk by a third, study finds

A one-off screening test being introduced across the NHS cuts the risk of developing bowel cancer by a third, a long-term study has found.

The test, which is being rolled out across England, will invite men and women to have bowel scope screening around the time of their 55th birthday.

This is in addition to the current test from the age of 60, the faecal occult blood test (FOB), which is posted to people’s homes.

FOB detects blood hidden in small samples of faeces, with further tests recommended if blood is detected.

Research published in the medical journal the Lancet has found that the bowel scope test reduces the risk of all cases of the cancer by a third. Experts predict it will save thousands of lives every year.

It works by threading a tiny camera attached to a thin flexible tube into the lower part of the bowel. As well as detecting tumours, it helps spot small growths, called polyps, on the bowel wall. If left untreated polyps can become cancerous, and any found during a bowel scope can usually be removed immediately.

Bowel scope screening will not detect cancers higher up in the bowel and patients may need a colonoscopy if they have persistent symptoms.

But the research found the new test was able to prevent 35% of bowel cancers overall and 40% of deaths.

In the lower bowel, the test prevented more than half of potential cancers from developing in that area.

Researchers from Imperial College London followed more than 170,000 people for 17 years on average, of whom more than 40,000 had the bowel scope test.

There are more than 41,000 new cases of bowel cancer every year in the UK, and about 16,000 deaths.

Prof Wendy Atkin, Cancer Research UK’s bowel screening expert and lead author at Imperial, said: “Although no screening test is perfect, this study shows that bowel scope is effective in reducing cancer deaths for at least 17 years.

“Bowel cancer can be prevented. And the bowel scope screening test is a great way to reduce the number of people diagnosed with the disease so it’s vital that no one misses out on the opportunity to get the test.”

Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s head of health information, said: “Like other types of screening, bowel scope is meant for people without symptoms. It’s a great way to help reduce the number of people developing or dying from bowel cancer, but it can’t pick up everything.

“So it’s still important to take part in the rest of the bowel screening programme and not ignore the home testing kits when they arrive.”

The government estimates the bowel scope test will take at least another three years before it will be offered to everyone eligible across England. This is in order to train specialist staff to carry out the tests. Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not yet committed to introducing the test.

The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research. About half of bowel cancers occur in the lower part of the bowel and the rectum – the area covered by the bowel scope test.

The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said: “This report is really encouraging – prevention and early diagnosis are key to improving outcomes, and this new screening test could help us save thousands more lives.

“Cancer survival is at its highest rate ever, but more must be done: we are investing £300 million a year by 2020 to increase diagnostic capacity for all cancers, so we can save more from this devastating disease.”

New screening test cuts bowel cancer risk by a third, study finds

Unproven alternative medicines recommended by third of Australian pharmacists

Nearly one third of pharmacists are recommending complementary and alternative medicines with little-to-no evidence for their efficacy, including useless homeopathic products and potentially harmful herbal products.

The finding comes from a Choice survey of 240 pharmacies including Priceline, Chemist Warehouse and Terry White. Mystery shoppers were sent in to speak to a pharmacist at the prescription dispensing counter and ask for advice about feeling stressed.

Three per cent of the pharmacists recommended homeopathic products, despite a comprehensive review of all existing studies on homeopathy finding that there is no evidence they work in treating any condition.

Twenty-six percent recommended Bach flower remedies to shoppers, homeopathic solutions of alcohol and water containing diluted flower essences. The solution was invened by a British homeopath, Edward Bach, who claimed to have a psychic connection to plants. A comprehensive review of all existing studies on Bach flower solutions found no difference between the remedies and placebos.

The Choice survey also found products containing a B group vitamin complex were recommended by pharmacists for stress in 46% of cases. Other frequently recommended products were St John’s wort and valerian. There is no good evidence that these products reduce stress.

Fifty-nine per cent of people were just told the complementary and alternative product recommended to them worked, and 24% were told the product was scientifically proven, without any evidence being provided to them, the survey found.

A prominent public health expert and the director of Medreach, Dr Ken Harvey, famously quit his job as an adjunct professor with Victoria’s La Trobe University in 2014 after the university struck a $ 15m, six-year deal with vitamins manufacturer Swisse.

He said the Choice survey demonstrated that some pharmacists were failing in their professional duty to consumers.

“Pharmacists are giving crazy advice, and it is dangerous in some cases,” he said.

“My view is that pharmacists, if they are going to sell these products, need to have a big shining sign over the shelves of the complementary and alternative medicine section that says ‘these products have not been assessed by the government regulators to see if they work, please talk to pharmacist’.

Harvey said it was not uncommon for manufacturers of complementary and alternative medicines to do deals with pharmacists so that when customers filled a script for a prescription medicine, the pharmacist would recommend a “front of shop” product to “complement” the prescription medication.

“Pharamacists are giving poor advice and they clearly have a conflict of interest,” Harvey said.

“There is no doubt about that companies. Vitamin companies come into their stores and stick their products on the shelves and provide the pharmacist with posters and pamphlets, and the pharmacists wash their hands of it. But they’re abdicating their professional responsibilities.”

National president of the Pharmacy Guild, George Tambassis, said people trusted pharmacists, and therefore they had a duty-of-care to be aware of available clinical evidence about the therapeutic and marketing claims made about products sold in their stores.

In a statement, the Guild said it was “essential that consumers have access to objective, informed advice about complementary medicines, and by far the best place to obtain that advice is at a community pharmacy”.

Pharmacology lecturer Ian Musgrave from the University of Adelaide said while he expected shop assistants might not be up to date with the latest evidence for complementary and alternative products, he expected better from pharmacists, who have at least four years of university education.

“I would suggest that we need more education, potentially post-graduate education, on herbals and complementary medicines, especially seeing as now a number of pharmacies have a substantial section with these products,” he said.

Unproven alternative medicines recommended by third of Australian pharmacists

A third of children hospitalised with asthma "exposed to cigarette smoke"

One in three children who ends up in hospital with an asthma attack has been exposed to cigarette smoke, prompting renewed concern about parents smoking at home around their offspring.

A major review of how hospitals treat children with asthma found that 32% of those treated for breathing difficulties encountered “environmental tobacco smoke” just beforehand.

Given that both the number of people and also the number of mothers who smoke is declining, “the fact that one third of children admitted in this audit were recorded as being exposed to cigarette smoking is worrying”, according to the British Thoracic Society’s national paediatric asthma audit.

It examined the records of 5,443 children treated as inpatients for asthma in 153 hospitals during November 2015.

“This study highlights the importance of making homes smoke-free since that is where children are most likely to be exposed to tobacco smoke, which can trigger asthma attacks,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the anti-tobacco group Action on Smoking and Health.

“Health professionals need to do more to inform parents of the health risks of second-hand smoke, particularly to their children, and also to support parents who smoke to quit.”

Dr Russell Viner, officer for health promotion at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “It is concerning that one third of children are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. The effects of second-hand smoke on children are well known, yet it seems our children are still often feeling the brunt of it.”

Children’s doctors want the government to reverse its £200m-a-year cut to the public health budget in England in order to boost stop-smoking services, he added. “If adults and parents are properly supported to overcome this addiction, then this can have a real positive knock-on effect to asthma sufferers.”

A legal ban on adults smoking in cars containing under-18s came into force in England and Wales in October 2015. However, freedom of information requests in March showed that 39 out of 44 police forces who responded to the BBC’s request had issued none of the £50 fines or court summons and only six warnings to adults found smoking in a vehicle containing a child. Police officers say the law is almost unenforceable as they cannot issue a physical ticket for the offence.

The audit found that “medical care of children with acute wheeze/asthma continues to be highly efficient and effective”. Few children need to be ventilated or spend time in intensive care and most spend only a short time in hospital.

But too many children who present with asthma receive an X-ray or antibiotics or both and 44% still do not receive a written personal asthma plan when they are being discharged, making it more likely that they will have to be readmitted, the audit points out. In addition, 58% were not shown how to use their inhaler properly and 47% received explanatory leaflets about asthma and how to avoid a flare-up.

A third of children hospitalised with asthma "exposed to cigarette smoke"

Third of maternity units have shut doors to labouring women because they could not cope

More than a third of maternity units have been forced to shut their doors to labouring women because they could not cope with demand, leading midwives have warned. Figures from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) show that 38.6% of maternity units had to temporarily shut during the last year.

A poll conducted among senior midwives revealed that units closed their doors on 281 separate occasions. The RCM said the average unit temporarily closed eight times, but one unit was at full capacity 50 times. Eight units had to close their doors on 10 or more occasions.

The college, which is holding its annual conference in Harrogate, said the number of closures was a reflection of the rising demands on services as well as increasingly complex births and issues with staffing levels.

The poll, which was completed by 53% of the heads of midwifery from around the UK, found that nine in 10 believed their unit was dealing with more complex cases than last year. Almost two in five said that they did not have enough midwives to cope with the demands on the service, and 19% of the 85 senior midwives who responded said their budget had decreased in the previous 12 months.

One in 10 said that they had been forced to reduce services in the last year, including reductions in parent classes and breastfeeding and bereavement support. Four in five also reported that they had to redeploy staff to cover essential services, meaning that staff who were supposed to be delivering antenatal care and community care were redeployed to cover labour delivery suites.

“Yet again we are seeing senior midwives describing services that are being battered by increasing demands, inadequate resources and staffing shortages,” said Cathy Warwick, RCM chief executive. “It is very often only through the hard work, goodwill and sacrifice of maternity staff that services are able to deliver the safe and high-quality care women need.

“It is astonishing that units are temporarily closing because they can’t meet the demands of the service, staff are redeployed to the detriment of antenatal and community services, and just after Baby Loss week, we are finding that bereavement support services have been cut.

“Every week I speak to midwives who tell me they are exhausted by the pressures they are facing, and they lack the time to do their jobs as well as they would like. This situation isn’t sustainable, and the government must start to invest in NHS staff because we all know that an investment in staff is an investment in high quality, safe care.”

A separate poll from the RCM released on Wednesday revealed that inadequate staffing levels were driving midwives to leave the NHS. The study, which polled more than 2,700 people, found some were working in “dangerous” conditions, having 12-hour shifts with no break, and worried about making “tragic” mistakes, and reports of midwives looking after as many as 15 mothers and babies at a time.

Warwick criticised the government’s “disastrous” policy of pay restraint in the NHS. “Midwives and maternity support workers are working harder than ever at the same time as they have had six years of real-terms cuts to their pay. We want to see a cost of living increase for midwives, maternity support workers and other NHS staff to show them they are valued and to reward their hard work.

“There is a growing shortage of midwives, and midwives tell us because of the demands they face, they are intending to leave midwifery, making the shortage worse. However, 80% of midwives who are intending to leave say they would stay if pay improved. The government can’t afford not to invest in maternity services.”

Labour’s shadow health minister, Justin Madders, said: “This shocking poll is yet more evidence of the crisis engulfing our NHS as a result of Tory underfunding. Six years ago the Tories promised 3,000 more midwives, but they failed to deliver them. This has left maternity units across England operating without enough staff and unable to cope with rising demand.

“This situation is causing chaos for thousands of women in labour, and could pose a serious risk to patient safety. Jeremy Hunt and Theresa May are in complete denial about the extent of this issue. They need to use the Autumn statement to deliver a rescue package for the NHS before this crisis turns into a catastrophe.”

Third of maternity units have shut doors to labouring women because they could not cope

Indigenous health: a third of disease suffered is preventable, says study

More than a third of the burden of disease experienced by Indigenous Australians could be prevented, with tobacco and alcohol use, high body mass, physical inactivity, high blood pressure and diet contributing to their illnesses, data released by the Australian Institute and Health and Welfare shows.

The institute examined the number of years of healthy life lost through living with an illness or injury, described as the non-fatal burden, and the number of years of life lost through dying prematurely from an illness or injury, described as the fatal burden.

Using 2011 data from the Northern Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, it found that chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease caused 64% of the total disease burden among Indigenous Australians.

Mental and substance use disorders were responsible for 19% of this burden followed by injuries including self-harm (15%), cardiovascular diseases (12%), cancer (9%) and respiratory diseases (8%).

Assoc Prof Aunty Kerrie Doyle from RMIT University’s school of health and biomedical sciences said it was “disturbing” that the third most common cause of deathfor Indigenous people were injuries, such as through suicide, violence including domestic violence, and alcohol poisoning.

“We must address this, it’s just so sad,” she said. “We need to address mental health and social determinants of health, certainly through looking at things like social inclusion, community inclusion.

“We need to think about how we can foster resilience in our Indigenous youth, and we need more mental health clinicians and, specifically, Indigenous mental health clinicians who are trained to the same standards as everyone else.”

While the gap in disease burden between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians remained significant, Friday’s report found that between 2003 and 2011 the total burden of disease in the Indigenous population fell by 5%, with an 11% reduction in the fatal burden.

Infant death rates have fallen, which Doyle said was thanks to a reduction in maternal smoking rates, better access to healthcare and effective maternal education programs.

But there was a 4% increase in the non-fatal burden over the same period, suggesting a shift from dying prematurely to living longer with disease.

Prof Ian Anderson, the foundation chair in Indigenous health at the University of Melbourne, said the report was “critical” because it highlighted where governments needed to invest. “Until 2008 there hadn’t been a significant investment in Australia in anti-smoking programs for Indigenous Australians at a national level,” he said.

“Based on an earlier analysis of burden of diseases it was obvious smoking was a major factor in diseases, and as a result the investment was made.”

The Heart Foundation’s spokesman for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heart health, Simon Dixon, said the report highlighted that many barriers existed in regard to service access and delivery of best-practice care. More than one in four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had problems accessing health services, he said.

“For historical, geographical and cultural reasons, healthcare services remain under-utilised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” Dixon said. “As a result, poorer health and lower quality of life become the ‘norm’ until a critical event like a heart attack happens, which, unfortunately, is too late for many.

“It has been estimated that if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples achieved the same level of cardiovascular health as non-Indigenous Australians, this mortality gap could be closed by 6.5 years.”

The NT and WA had higher rates of Indigenous burden of disease than NSW and Queensland, the report also found.

Indigenous health: a third of disease suffered is preventable, says study

Self-harming among British military personnel up by a third

The number of UK armed forces personnel deliberately self-harming has jumped by more than a third over five years.

Figures released by the Ministry of Defence revealed a 36% increase in servicemen and women who self-harmed at least once between 2010/11 and 2014/15.

There were 383 recordings of deliberate self-harming (DSH) – including self-injury and self-poisoning – for navy, army and air force personnel in 2014/15, up from 339 in 2010/11.

The data excludes servicemen and women who had thoughts of DSH or suicide.

Women, army personnel and those aged under 24 were most at risk, the figures suggested.

Those aged under 20 were around 10 times more likely to self-harm than those aged 45 and over, while women were around twice as likely as men to be at risk.

The MoD said the risk groups in the armed forces were in line with those in the general population.

Improved methods of capturing DSH data could have attributed to the reported rise in incidents, the MoD added.

The data included regular armed forces personnel, mobilised reservists, full-time reservists and non-regular permanent staff alongside trained and untrained personnel.

Self-harming among British military personnel up by a third

GPs fail to refer a third of malignant melanoma cases for urgent tests

GPs are failing to refer almost one in three patients with malignant melanoma for urgent tests, prompting a health watchdog to say services must improve.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has published a new quality standard, setting out the key areas for improving care for skin cancer patients.

It stresses that GPs should refer people with suspected malignant melanoma for an appointment to see a specialist within two weeks through the urgent referral system for suspected cancer.

The latest data from the National Cancer Intelligence Network shows that 56% of malignant melanomas were diagnosed following a two-week referral for suspected cancer in 2013.

Almost a third of cases, however, 29%, were only diagnosed following a normal GP referral to a specialist, which Nice says can take between four and six weeks in some trusts.

Another 2% of cases were diagnosed in A&E and 5% when the person concerned was already a hospital inpatient.

Figures released in July showed that the “sun, sea and sangria” generation of older people is being diagnosed with deadly skin cancer at an alarming rate.

Some 10,583 people aged 55 and over were told they had malignant melanoma in 2014, the most recent figure available, up from about 3,100 cases 20 years ago.

Cancer Research UK said people living longer is contributing to the rise but also blamed cheap package holidays.

It said people who have taken inexpensive package holidays since the 1960s and wanted a tan at all costs were now being diagnosed due to exposure and sunburn.

Rates of melanoma in people aged 55 and over have increased by 155% in the last 20 years, the data showed.

Rates among younger age groups are also rising, but at a slower rate, with a 63% growth in the last 20 years.

The disease kills around 2,000 people in the UK every year.

Non-melanoma skin cancers are also common, with 72,100 new cases diagnosed in the UK in 2013.

GPs fail to refer a third of malignant melanoma cases for urgent tests

Third of teenage girls in England experience depression and anxiety

Depression and anxiety have risen among teenage girls in England, with more than a third reporting symptoms of distress, although the rates are stable among teenage boys, according to a major survey of 14-year-olds carried out for the Department for Education.

Among the girls, 37% reported feeling unhappy, worthless or unable to concentrate, more than twice the percentage of boys reporting such feelings, a rise since a study in 2005, which was described by the researchers as “an important and significant trend”. The figure for the girls had risen by nearly four percentage points since 2005, while the figure for boys, 15%, had fallen slightly.

The rise was pronounced in young people living in single-parent households or with stepfamilies, and those with a long-standing illness or disability affecting their education. Poor sleeping patterns, including sleeping for less than the recommended amount, were reported among many of those reporting other problems, and will be followed up in later reports.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said the mental health of the young was a priority area.

“Children’s mental health is a priority for this government and we know that intervening early can have a lasting impact,” he said. “We are putting a record £1.4bn into transforming the dedicated mental health support available to young people across the country and are working to strengthen the links between schools and mental health services.

“We are also driving forward innovations to improve prevention and early support, by investing £1.5m on peer-support networks in schools so children feel empowered to help one another.”

There was some good news in the report, which found that the teenagers were more serious than their predecessors, less likely to be play truant, more convinced of the importance of hard work, and “markedly” less prone to risky behaviour including smoking, drinking and drug-taking. In 2005, 30% admitted to drinking alcohol, but this had fallen to 12%. Reported drug-taking was also down, and truancy had fallen from 21% to 11%. There was a sharp fall – from 23% in 2005 to 16% in 2014 – in teenagers reporting that their parents had kept them out of school for reasons other than illness.

The situation outlined in the report, based on in-depth interviews with thousands of teenagers in year 10 in England, was described by Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, as “a slow-growing epidemic”.

Wallace told The Times that her charity had been contacted by worried school heads. “There definitely does seem to be something happening – it’s a slow- growing epidemic,” she said. “Over the period covered by the report we have seen a very disturbing change in admissions to hospital for self-harm in under-16s that have gone up by 52%.”

The report found the problems were more marked among both girls and boys of parents educated to degree level, which the researchers said could be partly due to peer pressure and pushy parents. There had also been “a small but statistically significant” worsening in young people’s belief that they could influence their own destinies – more marked in households where at least one parent was out of work.

The researchers – who will continue to follow up the group of teenagers interviewed – said there appeared to be less stress, possibly because of lower expectations, among those from more disadvantaged social backgrounds.

“There may be some ways in which having lower social status may be associated with lower levels of expectation for school success and lower levels of associated pressure. Another possible explanation is that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds may be more resilient in the face of [stress factors] associated with a more challenging economic and school environment.”

Third of teenage girls in England experience depression and anxiety

Virtually a third of HIV sufferers are diagnosed as well late, data shows

About 30% of individuals with HIV are diagnosed properly following they must have begun therapy, according to the most current Australian data, suggesting early-testing initiatives have not worked.

Regardless of 88% of the country’s new infections happening in gay guys, unprotected sex in that group continues to be a key driver of infections, producing falling HIV testing rates between youthful gay males a concern.

There have been 1,235 new circumstances of HIV diagnosed in Australia final yr – an improve of 70% considering that 1999 when diagnoses had been at their lowest, figures from the annual HIV surveillance report by the University of NSW Kirby Institute show.

A lot of of these have been not currently being diagnosed early sufficient, enabling their immune program to fail and potentially posing a chance to other people, the report found.

The greatest indicator of how lengthy a individual has had HIV for is their CD4+ cell count per microlitre, which declines on regular by 50%–60% per year in folks with HIV. The proportion of late diagnosis cases, defined by a CD4+ cell count of significantly less than 350 cells per microlitre at diagnosis, had not improved in the 3 many years to 2013, the report found. In individuals with out HIV, the count is over 500.

“These data are suggestive of no substantial shift in the illness stage at which men and women are diagnosed regardless of recent initiatives to increase HIV testing,” the report explained.

Along with condom use, early treatment method of infections is considered essential to stopping HIV’s spread. Most of individuals taking antiretroviral treatment options lessen their possibility of transmitting the virus to other people during unprotected intercourse by up to 96%.

But in some situations, individuals were residing for many many years with HIV with out realizing, mentioned Associate Professor David Wilson, head of Kirby’s surveillance and evaluation program for public wellness.

“It is important to stage out that charges of therapy when men and women are diagnosed is much better here than in most other countries in the planet, with 60% of folks diagnosed with HIV on therapy that restores their immune technique,” Wilson said.

“But we really don’t want to commence treating men and women when their immune system has presently crumbled.”

Individuals who delayed their therapy too extended also often took longer to recover. Wilson explained it meant attempts by overall health departments to get people to test, for instance through speedy-testing by GPs and at sexual well being clinics, were not foremost to earlier diagnosis. But Wilson added he was hopeful the approval of HIV house-testing would lead to men and women becoming diagnosed sooner.

No Australian state or territory has a lengthy-term decreasing trend in HIV. Victoria recorded the largest boost in HIV situations in 2013, with 365 new diagnoses.

Condoms had been still the most effective way to avoid HIV’s spread, Wilson mentioned, and was particularly crucial for gay men.

Up to twelve% of that group is estimated to be contaminated with HIV. The prevalence amid sex staff, by comparison, is less than .one%.

But the annual trends in behaviour report by UNSW’s Centre for Social Analysis in Well being – also released Thursday – discovered the rate of unprotected anal sex among gay males with casual partners has elevated in the past decade.

Far more than 35% of males with casual partners in the six months before the survey reported having unsafe anal intercourse.

A Melbourne HIV professional physician from Monash University, Nick Medland, says HIV prices have been higher amongst gay males not just since of that, but also because the HIV epidemic hit the gay male local community initial.

“Australia has been extremely productive following the discovery of HIV in stopping it from getting to other communities like drug consumers and intercourse employees,” he mentioned.

Folks normally, including heterosexual Australians, had turn into far more complacent towards catching HIV, Wilson mentioned.

“A lot of factors have took place given that HIV very first came to light, for illustration HIV is no longer fatal in most instances,” he said. “I guess that has triggered men and women to turn out to be lax about acquiring it, folks aren’t as terrified as they have been in 1990s.

“It’s a good factor that they are not terrified and that stigma is being decreased, but it does also suggest some folks are a great deal much less mindful. I’m not saying they really do not care if they are contaminated, but twenty many years ago men and women fell apart throughout the testing method.”

The yearly HIV testing price among gay guys who are not HIV good is around 60%, according to the report, with the charge falling particularly among people who were beneath 25 many years of age.

This was partly due to the fact public awareness campaigns all around HIV had been not as powerful now, Medland said. And HIV testing was essential for the common community – not just gay guys.

“It’s about thirty many years on from the peak of HIV awareness campaigns, and it’s a bit hard for the neighborhood to sustain that level of awareness,” Medland mentioned. “People have moved on to worry about other factors.”

Virtually a third of HIV sufferers are diagnosed as well late, data shows

A third of 1st-time mothers suffer depressive symptoms, research finds

The women’s depressive signs and symptoms are often quick-lived episodes and do not suggest that the ladies had been diagnosed with postnatal depression. Photograph: Alamy

1 in three first-time mothers suffers signs and symptoms of depression linked to their baby’s birth even though pregnant and/or throughout the initial four many years of the child’s life, in accordance to research.

And far more girls are depressed when their kid turns 4 than at any time before that, in accordance to the review, which difficulties the notion that mothers’ birth-connected psychological struggles normally occur at or following the baby’s arrival.

The findings have led to calls for all girls giving birth in the United kingdom to have their mental well being monitored right up until their kid turns 5 to ensure that much more of individuals experiencing problems are identified.

The outcomes are based mostly on research in Australia, but experts think that about the very same amount of ladies in the United kingdom knowledge bouts of psychological unwell-overall health connected with turning into a mom.

In all one,507 women from 6 hospitals in Melbourne, Australia, told researchers from the Murdoch children’s investigation institute and royal children’s hospital in Parkville, Victoria, about their knowledge of episodes of bad psychological overall health at typical intervals until finally their little one turned four.

The authors discovered that almost one in 3 very first-time mothers reported “depressive symptoms on at least one particular event from early pregnancy to four years postpartum [and that] the prevalence of depressive signs was highest at 4 many years postpartum”. The women’s depressive signs are usually short-lived episodes and do not indicate that the females had been diagnosed with postnatal depression. Studies in each the Uk and internationally have estimated that in between 10% and 15% of new mothers endure from that clinical issue.

The researchers also found that four years right after the child’s birth 14.5% display depressive signs, of whom forty% had not previously reported feeling really lower. At that time, girls with only 1 kid were significantly more likely (22.9%) than these with two or much more offspring (eleven.three%) to be depressed.

Dr Jim Bolton, a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a advisor psychiatrist at a London hospital, mentioned that one particular in 3 ladies providing birth in the Uk were very likely to turn into depressed at some point during those first four many years. “If a comparable review was carried out right here, I would not be shocked if the outcomes were related. Normally the sorts of mothers who are at greater threat of depression are younger mothers who feel they cannot cope and mothers residing in conditions of adversity or deprivation or partner violence,” he explained.

“These findings are about depressive signs and symptoms, which can be very brief-lived, not a formal diagnosis of sickness or postnatal depression. This research is not saying that a single in 3 girls will get that,” stressed Bolton, who treats mental health issues in pregnancy and after birth amongst new mothers in his hospital’s women’s overall health unit.

The authors advocate that the United kingdom overhauls its monitoring of maternal mental wellness, which focuses on pregnancy and the early years right after birth, since much more than half the ladies who expertise depression right after getting to be a parent are not recognized by GPs, midwives or health guests.

A lot more girls could have postnatal depression than the normal estimate of ten%-15% partly because females may error the indications of it – which include getting far more irritable than normal or unusually tearful, inability to appreciate currently being a parent or worrying unduly about the baby’s well being – as getting things undergone by all new mothers.

Well being experts do not always spot it or inquire the right concerns to recognize it, although are far much more conscious of it than ever, Bolton extra.

One leading psychiatrist mentioned that the one in 3 girls who had depressive signs and symptoms was roughly the exact same quantity as the proportion of the common population who would encounter critical minimal mood in their lifetime, but was higher than the amount of ladies who experienced the most serious forms of depression. Among five%-ten% of folks generally suffer significant/significant depression during their lifetime.The examine, published in BJOG: An international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology, is the very first to adhere to a sizeable quantity of new mothers for as prolonged as four many years following birth. Elizabeth Duff, senior policy adviser at the parenting charity the NCT, mentioned: “This examine has integrated mothers for four many years right after birth, so suggests that perinatal mental wellness demands to be monitored for a longer period. Given the devastating effects of postnatal depression, wellness professionals need to give equal consideration to the psychological and physical health of dad and mom with young youngsters.”

A Division of Wellness spokeswoman mentioned it welcomed any new study that would lead to girls getting much better aid with maternal depression.

“We want to do every thing we can to make positive ladies and families get as significantly help as attainable all through pregnancy and past. That is why, earlier this month, we announced that professional instruction in psychological wellness will be rolled out for physicians and midwives to recognize and help girls who are at chance of depression or other psychological well being issues,” she said.

Numbers of midwives and overall health guests have been expanding underneath the coalition, although specialist psychological wellness medical professionals and midwives will assist increase earlier diagnosis of such issues, she added. Even so, the Royal School of Midwives mentioned that even more midwives were required to guarantee mothers obtained the very best possible care of their psychological welfare.

A third of 1st-time mothers suffer depressive symptoms, research finds

Folic acid taken by less than third of girls planning pregnancy

Mung beans and spinach are a supply of vitamin B9 but authorities advise girls to get further folate in dietary supplements when planning a household. Photograph: Alamy

Females are ignoring specialist advice to get folic acid supplements just before pregnancy to defend their unborn children, a examine has proven.

Researchers who questioned nearly 500,000 girls attending antenatal clinics in England and the Isle of Guy found that fewer than one in 3 took folic acid prior to getting to be pregnant.

These omissions had been in spite of robust proof displaying that most situations of spina bifida and other birth defects affecting the brain, spine or spinal cord, can be prevented by boosting amounts of folate – vitamin B9 – ahead of pregnancy.

The examine showed that the proportion of females who heeded the tips when arranging a household had really fallen, from 35% amongst 1999 and 2001, to 31% from 2011 to 2012.

Even amongst ladies with prior knowledge of a pregnancy involving a neural tube birth defect, this kind of as spina bifida, only just over half (51%) took the supplements.

Spina bifida is a neural tube defect that takes place when the developing spinal column does not near effectively, leaving nerves exposed. In most cases surgical treatment can be carried out to restore the defect after birth, but usually nerves have previously been damaged leading to paralysis, incontinence and reduction of skin sensation.

Amid the recognized danger aspects for spina bifida, the most crucial is a lack of folic acid just before and at the very start off of pregnancy.

The findings prompted calls for the introduction of necessary folic acid fortification of flour in the Uk, a policy currently adopted in far more than 70 countries, which includes the US and Australia.

Sir Nicholas Wald, from Queen Mary University of London, 1 of the research authors whose original operate uncovered the protective effect of folic acid, explained: “It’s a public overall health tragedy that, in spite of the folic acid fortification initiative in a lot of countries, the United kingdom has not introduced necessary folic acid fortification. The failure to fortify flour with folic acid is like possessing a polio vaccine and not employing it.”

The analysis, published in an on-line journal of the Public Library of Science, was performed by a group from Queen Mary’s Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medication amongst 1999 and 2012.

The study showed that a lot more girls took folic acid after they identified they had been pregnant, the proportion growing from 45% to 62% among the periods looked at in the examine. But experts anxiety that to provide successful protection the dietary supplements essential to be taken ahead of pregnancy.

The research also showed sturdy ethnic variations, with only 17% of Afro-Caribbean females, twenty% of south Asian women and 25% of east Asian females taking folic acid, compared with 35% of white Caucasian females.

Just six% of teens under 20 attending the antenatal clinics had taken the supplements, although forty% of older girls aged 35 to 39 followed the tips.

Jonathan Bestwick, co-writer of the review, who is a lecturer in health-related statistics at Queen Mary, mentioned: “The recent Uk policy of recommending females take folic acid supplements has failed and has also led to overall health inequalities amid ethnic minorities and younger females. The government need to introduce mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid with no delay.”

Joan Morris, a statistician at Queen Mary, said: “Each year in Britain there are about 1,000 pregnancies impacted by spina bifida or other birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal cord. Most of these lead to a termination of pregnancy, which is an agonising decision for couples who want a kid.”

Jane Munro, from the Royal University of Midwives, explained: “There is no doubt about the positive aspects of taking folic acid dietary supplements for women who are organizing to become pregnant. The RCM advises ladies to get supplements if they can.

“Even so, there is a require to ensure entry to dietary supplements for girls who are unable to afford them, and to reach groups of women the place taking these dietary supplements is minimal.

“On the problem of including folic acid to foodstuffs this kind of as flour, we would anxiety the need to have for a lot more discussion prior to such a stage is taken since there will be men and women for whom additives will be unacceptable.”

Folic acid taken by less than third of girls planning pregnancy

Third of GPs back expenses for A&E sufferers to tackle crisis

Charging folks up to £10 would significantly reduce the amount turning up at A&ampE. Sufferers would acquire refunds if their condition was proven to need focus. Photograph: Robert Stainforth/Alamy

One in 3 GPs want sufferers to be charged each time they go to A&ampE in purchase to lessen frivolous use of the NHS and the increasing pressure on emergency departments, a survey has discovered.

In a poll of much more than 800 family medical doctors, 32% explained this kind of costs would be the most cost-powerful way of cutting the number of individuals who go to A&ampE who could have gone to their GP or a pharmacist as an alternative or did not require health-related focus at all.

Charging all patients £5 or £10 would considerably minimize the number of people turning up at A&ampE, which has been rising so considerably that emergency medical professionals have complained that A&ampE units have grow to be worryingly overcrowded and that they cannot cope with the demand for care. Individuals would acquire refunds if their problem was proven to need focus.

A&ampE specialists believe among 30% and 40% of all visits are pointless and that many patients could have sought assist elsewhere because their sickness was minor or not urgent.

The survey, carried out by Medical professionals.net.uk, a specialist networking web site which most United kingdom doctors belong to, has prompted renewed debate about whether the NHS should end giving all care free of charge at the point of want and instead introduce some costs to tackle growing demand and assist balance its books.

Dr Tim Ringrose, chief executive of the organisation, which carried out the survey for the Press Association news agency, mentioned: “It might be a clear departure from the traditional NHS vision, but a lot of medical professionals are now saying that radical action has to be taken to reverse the ‘free at the level of abuse’ culture that is a important contributor to the recent emergency care crisis in some areas.”

But the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) and British Healthcare Association (BMA) opposed the move and warned that fees would unfairly penalise poorer patients.

“Charging sufferers for the use of emergency departments would put us on the slippery slope in direction of the Americanisation of healthcare, the place only those who can afford to get it get the care and consideration they need,” stated Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, a spokeswomen for the RCGP and a GP in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA, explained: “The majority of GPs and hospital medical doctors are committed to an NHS that delivers care on the basis of require and not the capability to spend. In this survey, two thirds of GPs state they are against [charges] for utilizing A&ampE providers … it runs the danger of deterring vulnerable sufferers who genuinely need to have help from looking for treatment at a time when many men and women, from all backgrounds, are struggling financially.”

In the survey, 74% of GPs said that health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plan to give every single older person a named family members medical professional in overall charge of their care would not reduce the variety ending up in A&ampE, although 81% rejected his claim that GPs opting out of supplying out of hrs care back in 2004 was a main reason for increasing A&ampE attendances in current instances.

Third of GPs back expenses for A&E sufferers to tackle crisis

Scotland"s dentists increase by a third below SNP

The amounts of registration with an NHS dentist have also improved considering that the party took office in Might 2007. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA

The number of dentists in Scotland has risen by practically a third in the past seven many years, according to most current figures.

In between September 2006 and September 2013, Scotland has gained 793 additional dentists – an improve of 32.6%, the SNP stated.

The levels of registration with an NHS dentist have also improved since the party took office, in May possibly 2007.

In March that 12 months, 67% of youngsters and 46% of adults have been registered with an NHS dentist.

As of 30 September 2013, 91% of youngsters and 82% of grownups have been registered.

A lot more than four.four million individuals are now registered – an improve of one.8 million considering that March 2007, the SNP explained.

The Scottish Nationwide celebration MSP Bob Doris, who is also deputy convener of the Scottish parliament’s wellness and sport committee, mentioned: “These figures are actually one thing to smile about. In certain it is vitally essential that kids find out excellent oral wellness early as they are considerably more likely to continue these habits later in lifestyle.

“The new 12 months is the perfect time to register at a dentist and get your teeth checked.

“These figures demonstrate that, soon after years of neglect underneath earlier administrations, real inroads have been created in making certain the provision of very first-rate dental services for the people of Scotland.”

Scotland"s dentists increase by a third below SNP