RECENT NEWS

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.

Men have been found to be more at risk than women of dying suddenly from cardiac arrest caused by irregular heart rhythms, according to a report from the National Audit of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS).

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has launched an appeal for blood donors in a bid to help boost stocks to 30% above usual levels by the start of the Olympic Games in July.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) led to more than 5,000 hospital admissions in England in 2011 – with women accounting for 70% of admissions.

Diabetes UK has funded a study which has revealed that low levels of testosterone in men could increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh found that low testosterone levels are linked to a resistance to insulin – a hormone that controls blood glucose levels.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has funded a research project that could improve how doctors predict a person’s risk of heart attack. People experiencing chest pain are often given a calcium CT score – a standard test that shows the amount of calcified or hardened plaques building up in the arteries.

Government plans to move care from acute hospitals to community settings have been criticised by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), as a survey of community nurses showed that many are facing cutbacks and spending less time with patients.

The Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP) has announced its 2012 congress theme for ICC Birmingham on 18 October as being ‘Focus on change’, alongside a pair of prestigious key speakers.

A new report published in Diabetic Medicine has projected that the NHS’s annual spending on diabetes in the UK will increase from £9.8 billion to £16.9 bn over the next 25 years. This would result in the NHS spending 17% of its entire budget on the condition.