RECENT NEWS

UK surgeons and scientists are being encouraged to enter a global competition to discover new materials and techniques which could lead to cutting edge advances in wound closure.

Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister of State for Health Services, officially opened the new Blood Sciences Laboratory at King’s College Hospital.

Scientists at the Erasmus MC-University Medical Center in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and Applied Biosystems, have made significant advances in testicular cancer research by identifying and analysing a set of specific microRNA molecular markers that are involved in the development of testicular tumours.

The University of Herfordshire recently opened one of Europe's largest and most advanced clinical simulation centres.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have found that having more years of formal education delays the memory loss linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has announced the introduction of a human papilloma virus (HPV) immunisation programme to routinely vaccinate girls aged 12 - 13 years of age against cervical cancer, starting from September 2008.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) report: 'Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective', confirms that high intakes of calcium may cause prostate cancer. However, the Prostate Cancer Charity notes that calcium is important for men with prostate cancer who are receiving hormone treatment to prevent osteoporosis.

Scientists at the Erasmus MC-University Medical Center in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and Applied Biosystems, have made significant advances in testicular cancer research by identifying and analysing a set of specific microRNA molecular markers that are involved in the development of testicular tumours. The research findings could potentially lead to earlier identification of the disease and new approaches for treating the cancer.

The University of Edinburgh has agreed a contract to market a technology which can clean surgical instruments contaminated by CJD, and save the health industry thousands of pounds. Plasma, a high-energy ionised form of gas, cleans the surface of the instruments, breaking down infectious biological tissue into harmless gases. The technique is claimed to be at least 1000 times more effective than traditional methods of cleaning.

Following a detailed and comprehensive local procurement process under the National Decontamination Program, Vernon-Carus has been made the provisional preferred bidder for the Mersey joint venture decontamination project.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has announced the introduction of a human papilloma virus (HPV) immunisation programme to routinely vaccinate girls aged 12 - 13 years of age against cervical cancer, starting from September 2008.

A UK-coordinated clinical trial involving up to 20,000 patients across the globe is testing a new way of stopping blood loss in patients who have suffered a major injury (trauma).

The British Society of Endovascular Therapy (BSET) has announced the society's first Endovascular fellowships for vascular surgeons and radiologists.

The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust has purchased the C-cam (Cardiac Gamma Camera) for its eight different sites across north London and Hertfordshire to help reduce waiting lists by doubling the number of patients studied in a single day.

A “National Technology Adoption Hub” for healthcare has been unveiled in Manchester. The hub is aimed at helping the NHS better implement new cost-effective, life-saving technologies.

The Midlands-based manufacturing arm of Kimal has secured an exclusive three-year deal to produce bespoke cardiology procedure packs for the Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The vascular department at Birmingham's Heart of England NHS Trust, led by Professor Andrew Bradbury, is using two SonoSite MicroMaxx hand-carried ultrasound systems to cut waiting times for outpatient diagnosis and the treatment of varicose veins with endovenous chemical ablation, as well as general vascular surgery.

Previous research showing the impact dementia will have on care costs in England have been dramatically underestimated, according to new figures published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

New research shows that a caesarean section increases the risk by fifty fold that a woman’s uterus will rupture during subsequent vaginal delivery. The findings are based on a study of more than 300,000 Swedish women by Emory University, Atlanta, and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

B Braun Avitum, part of the B Braun group in the UK, has launched a major expansion programme in the field of kidney dialysis.