RECENT NEWS

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has announced data from a long-term follow-up study (PERSIST) which shows significant improvements in lung function, respiratory symptoms and weight gain among people treated with Kalydeco. The study enrolled people with cystic fibrosis (CF) with at least one copy of the G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene.

Research conducted by the University of Ulster and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reveals a new link between vitamin B2 and curbing high blood pressure.

The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has launched a new toolkit to help hospitals look at the quality of care they provide through the eyes of patients and relatives, helping them to hear and see what good looks like. The 15 Steps Challenge helps hospitals to gain an understanding of how patients feel about the care provided and how high levels of confidence can be built for staff. It helps Trusts to understand and identify the key components of high quality care that are important to patients and carers from their first contact with a hospital ward.

Almost a third (30%) of UK young adults are only prepared to be tested for Chlamydia through a totally discreet method, such as remote testing via a postal kit, and only 32% are also happy to visit a sexual health clinic for Chlamydia screening, according to a new report from MindMetre Research.

The number of people in their 50s dying prematurely from cancer in the UK has fallen below 14,000 for the first time in 40 years according to figures from Cancer Research UK.

A new report from The King’s Fund, suggests that health and wellbeing boards could be the catalyst for delivering integrated care. They could bring the NHS, public health and local authorities together to co-ordinate health and other local services.

According to a review of recent scientific literature, commissioned by the European Environment Agency (EEA), chemicals which disrupt the hormone system – endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) – could be responsible for significant increases in cancers, diabetes and obesity, falling fertility, and an increased number of neurological development problems in both humans and animals.

The Enhanced Recovery Partnership Programme (ERPP) has published a new strategy to support the spread of enhanced recovery in the NHS.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued advice to surgeons to stop using a particular combination of metal-on-metal total hip replacements because it has a high revision rate compared with other implants.

A new NHS companion document outlines 45 best practice actions for the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma. The two can be confused due to similar symptoms and it is hoped that understanding the similarities and differences will help doctors provide better treatment.

In its final guidance the National Institute for Health and Clincial Excellence (NICE) recommends that the NHS provides fingolimod – the first pill-based medicine to help reduce the number of relapses – for some adults who have highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Monitor has published an independent report to help with the development of its policy on approving local modifications to the national tariff. Entitled A methodology for approving local modifications to the national tariff, the report was commissioned by Monitor from Frontier Economics and forms part of the growing evidence base that Monitor will use to determine its approach as sector regulator.

A medical company is holding its Hernia Fundamentals training course at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 21 June 2012. The aim of the course is to give trainee and newly qualified doctors an insight into this specialist area of hernia surgery.

According to the results of a study, led by Dr Dominick Shaw and Dr John Blakey, in The University of Nottingham’s Division of Respiratory Medicine, a wireless replacement for the traditional hospital doctor paging system could free up nurses to spend more time with patients on the wards and reduce in-patient stays.

Mounting evidence linking the gastrointestinal (GI) tract with the development of osteoporosis has led to recent calls for gastroenterologists to get more involved in the fight against osteoporosis and for GI risk factors to feature more prominently in osteoporosis prevention guidelines.

A study from the University of California and Vanderbilt University in the US explores the risk of children developing autism and other development disorders in relation to pregnant mothers having metabolic conditions, classified as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

The European Federation of Nurses Association (EFN) has published a new country-by-country report on the impact of the economic crisis on nurses and nursing in Europe.

A recent French study has found that around one in six worldwide cancers are caused by infections. Four particular infections – human papillomaviruses (HPV), Helicobater pylori and hepatitis B and C – were behind 1.9 million cancers, most of which were cancers of the cervix, stomach and liver.

A simple test that measures blood oxygen levels is the most accurate way of screening newborn babies for congenital heart defects, according to a new meta-analysis.

The third in a series of acute care toolkits from the Royal College of Physicians aims to improve the care of the frail older patient. Older people make up 60% to 70% of hospital inpatients, and most are admitted through an Acute Medical Unit (AMU), making this a key area in which care for older people can be influenced.