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Healthwise November 2008
Healthwise is a regular column written especially for laterlife.com members and visitors. Welcome to healthwise 104. For previous articles in the healthwise series visit 'more healthwise'
NEWS AND VIEWS
Manchester scientists have created a paint capable of destroying the superbugs in hospitals. Superbugs such as MRSA and clostridium difficile have been linked to the death of more than 8,000 patients last year with the majority of infections thought to have been picked up in hospitals. The new “killer paint” contains particles which, when activated by fluorescent lights, kill the bacteria which cause the infections. Tests on the potentially fatal E.coli infection showed that the paint killed 100 per cent of the bacteria. Scientists believe the paint could be used on the walls, ceilings and other surfaces to prevent the spread of bugs across a hospital. The tests also showed it can destroy airborne bacteria up to a few feet away. Trials of the pain have now begun at Cheltenham Hospital in Gloucestershire.
We are being bombarded with news of superfruit, but there is some serious excitement about new information on the benefits of eating tomatoes. Reports now confirm tomatoes can increase the body’s capacity to attack tumour cells. Vegetables and fruits rich in carotenoids – tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, squash and apricots – contain vitamin A and lycopene, which slows cancer growth and combats a type of brain tumour known as a glioma. Men who eat tomato sauce twice a week may be greatly lifting their protection against prostate cancer. Should we? Shouldn’t we? Women have been bombarded with all the benefits and problems associated with taking HRT. Now another negative has been added to the list – evidently taking HRT can greatly increase the risk of needing a joint replacement. The study from Oxford University covered 1.3 million women over six years and showed that women who took the hormone therapy were one and a half times more likely to need a knee replacement because of arthritis than those who never took it. HRT was also said to increase the chances of requiring a hip replacement. Aspects of some of the results from the study are unclear, but one of the doctors involved in the study said there was a strong suggestion that the female sex hormone, oestrogen, plays a role in the development of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. She said more research was needed and currently there was not enough proof to recommend women change their use of HRT.
Noise can cause stress and raise blood pressure, so it is good news that a train company is testing a special chemical film that can jam all phone signals. The trial is starting shortly on carriages designated as “quiet” carriages on trains run by C2C between Essex and Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street in London. The film allows light to pass through the windows but blocks all wi-fi; radio and phone signals. It the trial is successful, use of the film will be extended.
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IN THE PREVIOUS EDITIONScanner which can improve diagnosis and treatment of heart and cancer related illnesses has arrived in the UK.
The use of thalidomide in the treatment of multiple myeloma is becoming more accepted. More cardiac care staff needed
Heart patients’ lives are being put at risk because of a shortage of cardiac care.
Denosumab is claimed to be a revolutionary new drug which has been shown to play a major role in easing the symptoms of osteoporosis.
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