Bedbugs Will Live Anywhere

Bedbugs are brown with flat, wingless bodies about the size of a grain of rice.
The insects can jump 6 inches from one human to another.
They feed on blood, consuming about four times their own body weight in only 15 minutes.
They can survive for 18 months without food and live up to 4 years.
It is a myth that they only infest dirty flats or bedsits – bedbugs will live anywhere.
Females lay 350 eggs during their life so a few bedbugs can multiply to several thousand within a year.
They prefer warmth but can survive in temperatures of minus 15c.

The End Of Obesity And Diabetes?

Scientists believe an anti-flab jab which mimics the effects of exercise could spell the end of obesity and diabetes.
A natural hormone in muscle cells was found to trigger the benefits of physical fitness.
Named Irisin, researchers discovered that injecting it into mice it converted white fat into healthier brown fat – which burns off excess calories instead of storing them.
Within 10 days of injecting Irisin into obese and pre-diabetic mice they had better control of insulin levels – preventing the onset of diabetes – and started to lose weight.
Because the hormone is a natural substance, tests on humans could start within two years.

Diabetes Is Being Misdiagnosed

The Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS Diabetes published evidence from an audit of five GP practises in Surrey, covering 45,000 patients.
It revealed that two per cent of those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes didn’t have diabetes at all – the equivalent of 50,000 misdiagnoses nationally.
Some experts now believe this figure could be the tip of the iceberg.
According to charity Diabetes UK, the number of cases of diabetes in the UK has soared to 2.9 million, a 50 per cent rise since 2005, costing the NHS £9 billion a year, or £1 million an hour.
A staggering £130 million is spent just on tablets to control type 2, which accounts for 90 per cent of the 150,000 new diagnoses in the past 12 months.
Understandably, it has been heralded as the epidemic of the 21st Century.
But now, questions are being asked about how sound many of these diagnoses actually are.

Private Patients May Occupy Half Of NHS Hospital Beds

It’s ironic that just days after Prince Philip underwent heart surgery at Papworth Hospital, we learn that 50% of hospital beds could be occupied by private patients under plans to ‘reform’ the NHS.
When it comes to emergency procedures, the NHS is the best in the world so it’s important that we stop David Cameron privatising it through the back door.
(Eileen Fletcher)

Isn’t it heartening that a 90-year-old member of the royal family can have chest pains and get rushed to the very best heart hospital in the country right away, have life saving surgery immediately and the next morning have his family taken to visit him by helicopter.
And mostly at the expense of us taxpayers.
Would a member of the public receive the same treatment?
(David Motherwell)

The NHS was created in 1948 by a Labour Government to ensure people from all walks of life would receive equal medical treatment regardless of their financial status.
However, the Tories have once again revealed their belief there should be one law for the rich and another for the poor by allowing the better off to jump the queue.
This undermines the very fabric of the greatest national institution in the world.
(Roger Grant)

Pneumonia Kills One In 20

Pneumonia is an inflammation of one or both lungs that starts with shivering, fever and coughing.
Sufferers gasp for air, go blue in the lips and nails, become confused and get an outbreak of coldsores.
It affects 11 in 1,000 adults every year in the UK and kills one in 20 people who develop it.
At-risk groups include children, the elderly, people with chronic diseases and alcoholics, plus those with a weak immune system, such as HIV patients.
It is caused by viruses and parasites but more than half of cases are down to the bacteria streptococcus pneumoniae.
Inhaling corrosive chemicals or vomit can also lead to it.
Bacterial cases are treated with antibiotics.
Oxygen may be given and a drip will be used if the patient is dehydrated.
A prompt diagnosis is vital and involves chest x-rays and examination of spit in the laboratory to identify the micro-organism behind the condition.

Raw Honey Is Best

It is often hailed as a natural, healthy sweetener – but in most cases, honey bought from supermarkets today is simply sugar syrup with no nutritional value at all.
To reap the true benefits of what was dubbed ‘the food of the Gods’ by the Ancient Greeks, you have to look for the raw variety.
Perfectly clear honey has usually undergone a process of ultrafiltration and pasteurization, which involves heating and passing it through a fine mesh, to ensure it remains runny at any temperature.
This strips away many of the unique chemicals and compounds that make it a nutritious and healing health food.
Even the word ‘organic’ on a label does not guarantee that a honey is raw.
Unless the jar specifies that it is raw, look for a cloudy honey with a white residue of pollen sitting on the top of the jar.
Raw honey might crystallize over time, but this is not a sign of rot – raw honey is a natural preservative.
The jar just needs to be submerged in a bowl of hot water for 15 minutes to liquefy the contents.
You should be able to find raw honey at most supermarkets.

High Blood Pressure Raises The Risk Of Cancer

The millions of people who are suffering from high blood pressure are more likely to get cancer, scientists have found.
Both men and women run an increased risk with men’s chances of contracting cancer up to 20% higher.
Nearly 13 million Britons have high blood pressure raising men’s risk of oral, bowel, lung, skin, bladder and kidney cancers.
In women it is linked to more liver, pancreas, cervix, womb and skin cancer.
The scientists’ 12-year study analysed the health of almost 600,000 men and women from Norway, Sweden and Austria.
The study leader said: “Our study shows that blood pressure is a risk factor for incident cancer in men and fatal cancer in men and women”.

The Health Benefits Of Rapeseed Oil

Olive oil has long been held up as the healthy oil, but in many ways it is surpassed by rapeseed, not least because it contains 50 per cent less saturated fat than olive oil.
Rapeseed oil also contains the beneficial fats in the form of Omega 6 and 3, in a ratio of which is considered by nutritionists to be favourable.
Beneficial fats have several roles in a healthy diet as they are anti-inflammatory and can help reduce overall cholesterol levels.
Mono-unsaturated fats that constitute 59 per cent of rapeseed have been shown to reduce low-density lipoprotein, the ‘bad’ type of cholesterol.
Many of the benefits of the Mediterranean diet are linked to the inclusion of olive oil and fish, both of which contain Omega 3 fats.
As rapeseed oil contains more than five times the omega 3 levels of olive oil, you can replicate the benefits.
Rapeseed oil found its way into supermarkets only in 2005, but sales are now increasing by about 30 per cent a year.

Hope For HIV Vaccine

A vaccine against HIV worked on 90% of volunteers in the first human tests.
Scientists say it could turn the virus into a “minor chronic infection” like herpes.
Nine out of ten volunteers given the MVA-B vaccine developed an immune response against the virus – with 85% maintaining immunity for at least a year.
HIV attacks the immune system and has led to millions of deaths.
Further tests will be carried out.

9.7 Million Brits With Brain Disorders

Doctors in the UK have been told to ration the number of patients they send for scans in order to save the NHS money.

The cancer survival rate in the UK is one of the worst in Europe.

9.7 million people in the UK are thought to have a brain disorder.

The UK’s bill for treating depression and other brain disorders has doubled in six years to £116 billion.