The researchers described their findings of a doubling of the risk of neonatal mortality among those planning home birth as "striking", because it is often those with the lowest risk of complications who do not need to deliver in hospital. When researchers took out babies with congenital abnormalities, the risk was threefold. … Read ahead
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Showering may be bad for your health, say US scientists, who have shown that dirty shower heads can deliver a face full of harmful bacteria. Tests revealed nearly a third of devices harbour significant levels of a bug that causes lung disease. Levels of Mycobacterium avium were 100 times higher than those found in typical household water supplies. M. avium forms a biofilm that clings to the inside of the shower head, reports the National Academy of Science. … Read ahead
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Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits, say researchers. … Read ahead
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The theory is that non-smokers' exposure to smoke has the same effect on the heart as if they were light smokers, and can trigger acute coronary problems – meaning that at least some of the impact of a smoking ban should become apparent relatively quickly. … Read ahead
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University College London Hospitals (UCLH) oncologist Prof Jeffrey Tobias, who enrolled the first patient on the trial at the former Middlesex Hospital in London with oncologist Jayant Vaidya, said: "I think the reason why it works so well is because of the precision of the treatment. It eradicates the very highest risk area – the part of the breast from which the tumour was removed." … Read ahead
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Eating processed meat such as sausages increases the likelihood of heart disease, while red meat does not seem to be as harmful, a study suggests. A Harvard University team which looked at studies involving over one million people found just 50g of processed meat a day also raised the risk of diabetes. But there was no such risk from eating even twice as much unprocessed meat, such as beef, lamb or pork. This was despite the fact the two forms of meat have a similar fat content. … Read ahead
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Some patient, at some time in a doctor’s career, will complain about them. It’s a certainty doctors must get used to from day one after leaving medical school. Gone are the days of unquestioning respect for doctors – a poll carried out by MORI revealed that four out of five members of the public would make a complaint about their doctor if they felt cause to. … Read ahead
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Three-quarters of children vaccinated against meningitis C lose their protection against the disease by their early teens, research suggests. The Oxford team which did the work says its findings fuel calls for a booster jab to be offered to adolescents. The study of 250 children aged six to 12, presented to a European conference, looked at immunity seven years after the jab was given. UK experts agreed a booster may be needed in the future. … Read ahead
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Dr Nick Pace, an anaesthetist from Gartnavel Hospital, has started using DVDs instead of general anaesthetic in surgery. He has been trying to reduce the number of people opting to be put to sleep for the whole operation, as most people recover faster when they are only numbed from the waist down. Dr Pace has found DVDs are a good distraction from the sights and sounds of surgery. James McLaren chose to watch the BBC documentary Blue Planet during his knee operation, which was done under a spinal anaesthetic. … Read ahead
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Playing a video game before bed appears to have only a mild effect on how long it takes a male teenager to fall asleep, a preliminary study suggests. Those who played a relatively violent video game took only marginally longer to fall asleep than those who watched a relaxing nature documentary. The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine study pitted Call of Duty 4 against March of the Penguins. There is little scientific data on the effects of video games on sleep. … Read ahead
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