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Health news stories selected by our editors
25/07/2008 - Having fat friends may raise your own risk of obesity (BBC)
People are subconsciously influenced by the weight of those around them, researchers suggest.
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25/07/2008 - 'Wrong bras' can damage breasts (BBC)
Women who wear the wrong kind of bra could be damaging their breasts, researchers warn.
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25/07/2008 - HIV drugs 'add 13 years of life' (BBC)
Life expectancy for people with HIV increases by 13 years on average since the late 1990s, survey finds.
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25/07/2008 - Lifestyle 'should hit' IVF access (BBC)
Almost half of fertility experts say access to IVF should be conditional, a survey finds.
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25/07/2008 - How one day we may all be eternally young (The Independent)
Growing old may not be mandatory after all. Failing eyesight, loosened teeth and greying hair could be driven by regulatory genes that determine when it is time to shuffle off our mortal coil, rather than being indicators of the ravages of age.
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24/07/2008 - Homeopathy prescriptions falling (BBC)
GP prescriptions for homeopathy have nearly halved in two years, figures show.
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24/07/2008 - Suspension for 'suicide' case GP (BBC)
A Glasgow GP is suspended for six months by the General Medical Council after prescribing sleeping tablets to a suicidal patient.
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24/07/2008 - Middle-aged 'fitter' than young (BBC)
Middle-aged men and women in England are more likely to play sport than younger people, research suggests.
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24/07/2008 - Discovery may boost statin safety (BBC)
Scientists have pinpointed the genetic cause of a rare side effect of the cholesterol-lowering drugs statins.
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24/07/2008 - Soy foods 'reduce sperm numbers' (BBC)
A regular diet of even modest amounts of food containing soy may halve sperm concentrations, scientists suggest.
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24/07/2008 - Low uptake mars chlamydia testing (BBC)
Chlamydia screening in England reached just a third of those it should have in its first full year, the BBC learns.
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24/07/2008 - Bloomberg and Gates unite to fight smoking (The Independent)
Bloomberg and Gates announced yesterday that they were joining forces to focus on helping all of us, whether we live in Bangladesh, Beijing, or Balham, kick the habit.
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23/07/2008 - Johnson urges obesity 'movement' (BBC)
Alan Johnson calls for a "national movement" to tackle obesity and warns against "vilifying the extremely fat".
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23/07/2008 - 'Suicide' GP guilty of misconduct (BBC)
A Glasgow GP who prescribed sleeping pills to a suicidal patient is found guilty of misconduct.
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23/07/2008 - Dementia patients' memory probed (BBC)
A study of dementia sufferers indicates they be able to remember more than first thought.
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23/07/2008 - Birth weight 'sets future health' (BBC)
Blood vessel changes linked to poor health later in life can be spotted within a few years in boys born small, say scientists.
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23/07/2008 - MPs pushing abortion rights in NI (BBC)
A group of MPs is seeking to give women in Northern Ireland the same abortion rights as in England, Wales and Scotland.
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23/07/2008 - Detox 'left woman brain damaged' (BBC)
A woman is awarded more than '£800,000 after she suffered permanent brain damage while on a detox diet.
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23/07/2008 - Doctors facing annual assessments (BBC)
Doctors face annual assessments which would mean that licences could be removed from poor performers.
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23/07/2008 - Drug abuse linked to Scotland's higher rate of deaths (The Scotsman)
DRUG abuse is to blame for much of Scotland's higher death rate compared with the rest of the UK, researchers said yesterday.
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23/07/2008 - GPs told to cut antibiotics usage (BBC)
Doctors are told to cut the number of prescriptions they hand out to help save the NHS millions of pounds a year.
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23/07/2008 - Many mental health wards 'poor' (BBC)
Many NHS mental health services are poor, according to a review of the sector by watchdogs.
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23/07/2008 - Doctors 'miss early HIV symptoms' (BBC)
HIV is being spread because doctors overlook symptoms which could reveal the infection, a charity claims.
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23/07/2008 - 'Unacceptable' levels of violence on mental wards (The Independent)
Thousands of seriously-ill mental patients are enduring "unacceptable" levels of violence on overcrowded NHS wards where they are vulnerable to sexual predators, an investigation has found.
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23/07/2008 - 'Orange' pupils prompt crackdown on craze for fake tan (The Independent)
Generations of girls have fought their parents and teachers over the length of their skirts but the growing popularity of perma-tanned celebrities has thrown up a new battleground: how brown – or orange – their skin should be. Inspired by bronzed role models such as Girls Aloud, teenagers are slapping on more fake tan than ever before. So serious is the situation at Baines High School in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, that its acting headteacher has written to parents, advising them to control the tanning habits of their children.
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23/07/2008 - Fast treatment for strokes urged to prevent disability (The Independent)
Thousands of lives could be saved and thousands more saved from permanent disability if all patients with suspected strokes were admitted to a specialist unit and, where appropriate, treated rapidly with clot-busting drugs, an NHS watchdog said.
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22/07/2008 - Pensioners win sight drug battle (BBC)
Three pensioners who launched a High Court bid for a "sight-saving" drug will get it - paving the way for others to receive it too.
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22/07/2008 - New prostate cancer treatment (NHS Choices)
Widespread media coverage has been given to a trial of a new drug abiraterone, which has indicated that it could successfully treat and prolong the lives of patients with the aggressive and incurrable form of prostate cancer.
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22/07/2008 - Salt intake 'is starting to fall' (BBC)
Campaigners say a cut in average daily salt consumption in the UK could help save lives - but people still eat too much.
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22/07/2008 - Alcohol cases 'clog up hospitals' (BBC)
Ministers say 800,000 people a year are hospitalised with alcohol-related problems in England.
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22/07/2008 - Patient UK Wins Place on Pilot Accreditation Scheme (Patient UK)
Patient UK has been chosen by the Department of Health as one of the pilot sites to participate in the testing phase of a new scheme to ensure good quality information across the health and social care sector.
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22/07/2008 - IMF funding 'fuelling TB deaths' (BBC)
Strict loan conditions have been blamed for thousands of extra TB deaths in eastern Europe and former Soviet republics.
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22/07/2008 - Move to pay kidney donors (The Scotsman)
SINGAPORE'S parliament has agreed to look at paying kidney donors and to raise the age limit on deceased donors to 60 as only 50 per cent of necessary transplants ar
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22/07/2008 - Drumming workout proves hard to beat (The Scotsman)
PLAYING the drums in a rock concert puts the performer through a workout as gruelling as that endured by a top professional footballer during a match, exercise scientists r
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22/07/2008 - Drug for deadly prostate cancer (BBC)
Scientists say a drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer may be the most significant advance in the field for 70 years [human trials underway, not yet approved for use].
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21/07/2008 - Tobacco 'could help treat cancer' (BBC)
The tobacco plant - a cause of cancer - may offer the means to treat one form of the disease, a study suggests.
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21/07/2008 - Light therapy toothbrush 'to beat plaque' (BBC)
A mouthwash allows plaque-causing bacteria to be destroyed using nothing more than a bright light.
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21/07/2008 - Drink venues' conduct condemned (BBC)
Alcohol retailers in England are routinely guilty of "irresponsible and harmful practices", a government report finds.
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21/07/2008 - Cancer spread halted by broccoli (The Scotsman)
AN ELDERLY cancer sufferer told yesterday how he believed he had stopped the spread of the disease by drinking a daily tumbler of broccoli juice.
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21/07/2008 - Arthritis drug access 'curbed' (BBC)
Treatments available for rheumatoid arthritis are set to be limited by a drugs watchdog's ruling, campaigners warn.
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21/07/2008 - Skin cancer fear 'may harm bones' (BBC)
Worries over skin cancer means that some people shun the sun altogether - which could increase their risk of brittle bone disease.
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