This week it's Prof Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer, who has very sensibly pointed out that resistance to antibiotics is a "ticking time bomb": unnecessary use of antibiotics, and the failure of drug companies to come up with new ones, could lead to a situation in which all the boring little infections that we thought we'd beaten suddenly become dangerous again. “If we don’t act now, any one of us could go into hospital in 20 years for minor surgery and die because of an ordinary infection that can’t be treated by antibiotics," she says, entirely accurately. It's the reason you really don't want a creationist GP.
But it's the comparison with terrorism that I find interesting. The World Health Organization estimates that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) causes about 150,000 deaths worldwide; the Office for National Statistics blames methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for 1,652 deaths in 2006 in Britain alone, almost all of them in hospitals. By comparison, in the worst ever year for terrorist deaths – 2001, obviously – there were 3,547 deaths worldwide, according to the Patterns of Global Terrorism report.
Sleep problems can be an earlier indicator of the disease than memory loss
Researchers say effect can go both ways: Alzheimer's plaques in the brain disrupt sleep, and a lack of sleep promotes Alzheimer's plaques. Those with early signs of the disease got less sleep, but napped more often
Slipped disc? The jab even surgeons say is better than an operation a simple steroid jab.
There is good evidence that steroid injections can be effective in sparing patients surgery, according to a review of studies published in 2009. In around 80 per cent of cases, a steroid injection can end the pain — and the remaining 20 per cent can still be offered surgery.
‘I find many disc herniations lasting over six weeks can be simply treated using spinal injection,’ says Mr Ishaque.
Short-bursts of exercise boost your self-control and could be used as treatment for ADHD and autism
Scientists found that concentrated bouts of activity improved self-control in children, teenagers and adults aged up to 35 years old.
This may be because working out increases blood and oxygen flow to the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. This area is responsible for 'executive' functions and is particularly important for children and teens as it plays a vital role in concentration and learning.
Exercise could therefore provide a useful treatment for conditions involving impaired higher brain functions, such as autism and ADHD (attention hyperactivity deficit disorder).
"Only 13 percent of people said they were in excellent health compared with 33 percent a generation ago, and twice as many said they were in poor health," King says. "And that's by their own admission."
King says the reasons are pretty clear: big increases in obesity and big decreases in exercise.
"About half of people 20 years ago said they exercised regularly, which meant three times a week, and that rate now is only about 18 percent," he says. "That's an astonishing change in just one generation."
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Despite all this, baby boomers are living longer than their parents. But along the way, they're having a lot more knee operations and taking a lot more pills for blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.
New Book Shows Adult Stem Cells as Medical ‘Paradigm Shift’
Its co-author says the success of adult stem cells has been so great that there is no reason to continue embryonic stem-cell research.Posted by Jill Fallon at March 12, 2013 11:29 AM | Permalink
The Healing Cell is the fruit of collaboration between the Stem for Life Foundation and the Pontifical Council for Culture. In November 2011, the two organizations held a conference at the Vatican promoting adult stem-cell research.