The Medical Expert Report

Over half of GPs planning to retire in the next two years say NHS reforms are a reason for them going, according to preliminary findings1 from a major BMA survey published today (Thursday 9 June 2011) ahead of the start of the annual GP conference of Local Medical Committees (LMCs)2. The BMA survey, which asked GPs about their working practices as well as a range of questions relating to current government health policy, was sent to every GP in the UK in April...

Heart attack rates have fallen by 74% in London over the last two decades, mainly due to better hypertension and cholesterol control, as well as a decline in smoking, researchers from University College London Medical School reported in the European Heart Journal. However, weight gain may negatively affect future rates, the authors warn. They added that the 74% drop might have been 11% greater if more had been done to stop the progressively rising rates of overweight and obesity...

Poorer women from deprived areas are less likely to survive breast cancer as they are diagnosed at a later stage which means the best available treatments won't be as effective according to a new report out today by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN). The 'All Breast Cancer Report' is the first in-depth analysis in the UK to look at how the impact of treatment and route of diagnosis - either through screening or symptoms presented to a GP - affects the chance of surviving the disease*, among people with different levels of poverty**...

brLarne GP Dr Brian Dunn has highlighted the need for better commissioning of services in Northern Ireland. Speaking today at a conference of family doctors in London, Dr Dunn said, "We have welcomed the appointment of Mr Edwin Poots as health Minister and look forward to working constructively with him to ensure the best possible care for our patients. "One major issue Minister Poots will have to address at an early stage is whether or not he will introduce GP-led commissioning...

Different people with autism can have very different symptoms. Health care providers think of autism as a "spectrum" disorder (ASD), a group of disorders with similar features. One person may have mild symptoms, while another may have serious symptoms. But they both have an autism spectrum disorder. Now three new studies have been released that look even deeper into genetic abnormalities that hope to eventually lead to better treatments of the many different types of autism...

Alpharma says it is going to voluntarily suspend sales of poultry drug 3-Nitro (Roxarsone) in the USA, after an FDA study detected more inorganic arsenic in treated chicken's livers compared to untreated ones. Arsenic is a known carcinogen - a substance or agent that causes cancer. Roxarsone (4-Hydroxy-3-nitrobenzenearsonic acid) is an organic compound, it is extensively used as a chicken-feed additive. It is a derivative of C6H5As(O)(OH)2 (phenylarsonic acid). About 1 ton of Roxarsone was produced in the USA in 2006...

Research is going mobile. For the first time in America's history and an innovative advancement in clinical study approach, Pfizer is running the first U.S. clinical study pilot project, approved by the Food and Drug Administration and known by the acronym REMOTE, in which patients participate by using mobile phones and the Internet, rather than repeatedly visiting a participating hospital. Welcome to the mobile community, medicine. The study acronym, REMOTE, stands for Research on Electronic Monitoring of OAB (over active bladder) Treatment Experience...

A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has solved a 25-year mystery that may lead to better treatments for people with learning deficits and mental retardation. Synaptophysin is the first protein and most abundant ever found on the membranes surrounding the tiny sacs that carry chemical messengers to synapses, the gaps where communication between nerve cells occurs. But even though the loss of synaptophysin has recently been linked to learning deficits and mental retardation, scientists have been unable for more than a quarter-century to explain what it actually does...

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a key player in the spread of breast cancer. The findings, published today in the online edition of Nature, identify a critical molecule that helps cancer spread beyond the primary tumor. The research highlights a potential new strategy against metastatic disease. The study's senior author is Jeffrey Pollard, Ph.D., professor of developmental and molecular biology and of obstetrics & gynecology and women's health (at Einstein...

The DASH diet got number 1 ratings by US News & World Report, followed by the Mediterranean diet - for overall benefits. If your aim is simply to lose some weight, then Weight Watchers is the winner, followed by the Raw Food Diet. People diet for various reasons, perhaps vanity, to simply lose weight, as part of treatment for a medical condition, such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), or hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), or to improve athletic performance. The DASH diet scored (out of 5): Overall - 4 Weight loss (short-term) - 3...

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced today the Investing in Innovations (i2) Initiative - a bold new program designed to spur innovations in health IT. The program centers on prizes and competitions to accelerate the development of solutions and communities around key challenges in health IT. This landmark initiative is the first Administration-wide program using prizes and challenges to advance an agency's mission made possible by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 4, 2011...

The Wallow fire in southeast Arizona joins what is a growing number of American Red Cross relief operations that already includes ongoing flood and tornado responses across a large swath of the U.S. "These disasters have brought so much destruction and heartbreak to our country," said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president of Red Cross Disaster Services. "But they've also shown us how extraordinary the American people are, generously giving of themselves to help a neighbor or a stranger hundreds of miles away...

All parties involved in pilots for a new dental contract in England must hold their nerve when the process hits problems, General Dental Practice Committee Chair John Milne has emphasised this week. In a blog published ahead of his address at the 2011 Annual Conference of Local Dental Committees on Friday (10 June 2011), Dr Milne has acknowledged that it is inevitable that challenges will occur during the pilots. He has warned though that both Government and participants must stick with the process despite the problems and learn lessons about what does and doesn't work...

A national survey found that women were three times more likely to see a doctor on a regular basis than men. Even though men on average die younger than women and have higher mortality rates for heart disease, cancer, stroke and AIDS, trying to get a man to a doctor can be harder than pulling teeth...

Almost barefoot running gear is all the rage these days, but is it truly better for you than all the fancy footwear offered on the market? The average barefoot runner's stride is about 7 centimeters shorter than normal. Over the course of a marathon, this translates to about 7,000 additional footfalls above the 40,000 steps a typical racer will take to cover the 26.2 mile distance. So, though there's less force per step, those extra steps present 7,000 additional chances for a misstep. Interesting...

Americans 65 and over say that urinary incontinence affects their quality of life physically, mentally and socially to a greater degree than diabetes, arthritis and many other chronic conditions, according to a study by AARP Services, Inc., and UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company. The research appears in the June issue of Quality of Life Research...

NanoLogix (PINK SHEETS: NNLX), a biotechnology innovator in the rapid detection and identification of live-cell bacteria and microorganisms, announced today its BioNanoFilter (BNF) technology will undergo a clinical trial, led by Dr. Gian Carlo Di Renzo of the University of Perugia in Italy. The 300 patient trial will study the speed and accuracy of NanoLogix technology compared to current methods in the detection and identification of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in pregnant women...

Scientists have discovered two proteins secreted from the skin of frogs that could help treat cancer and other diseases by disrupting the growth of blood vessels: one switches the process of "angiogenesis" on, and the other switches it off. The researchers say the discovery has the potential to transform cancer from a terminal illness to a chronic condition. The award-winning discovery is the work of Professor Chris Shaw and colleagues at Queen's University Belfast, in Northern Ireland...

Pfizer Inc. announced today that it is conducting the first-ever randomized clinical trial under an investigational new drug (IND) application that manages study participation entirely using electronic tools and allows patients to participate in the clinical trial regardless of their proximity to clinical sites. The pilot project, initiated following review from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), uses mobile phone and web-based technology to collect necessary data for the trial without clinic visits...

One hallmark of cancer cells is uncontrollable growth, provoked by inappropriate signals that instruct the cells to keep dividing. Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital have now identified a new way to shut off one of the proteins that spreads those signals - a receptor known as HER3. Drugs that interfere with HER3's better-known cousins, EGFR and HER2, have already proven effective in treating many types of cancer, and early-stage clinical trials are underway with antibodies directed against HER3...