News and Media

General & Medical Healthcare staff member Michael Sherman pictured during one of the previous games, and with Marco Sementa. Image Credit (left): Marc Wheatley. Image Credit (right): Liam Holcroft. Local charity fundraiser Marco Sementa is continuing his tireless efforts to raise vital funds for Macmillan to help fund their amazing work supporting people fighting cancer an ...

This month, the Soil Association is promoting all things organic with its Organic September campaign, so read on to find out why making a move towards organic could bring benefits for you, your family, the environment and for future generations. Organic living – an increasingly popular choice According to the Soil Association’s 2016 Organic Market Report, sales of organic p ...

The use of e-cigarettes – colloquially known as ‘vaping’ – are helping more people to successfully quit tobacco in the long-term, according to two new studies. The first – an observational study published in the British Medical Journal, examined trends in smoking cessation and available support in England from 2006 to 2015, and found that while the introduction of e-cigarettes ...

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plans for a seven-day NHS have hit a new obstacle as a senior health official warns that his vision to extend NHS services would be “impossible” to achieve with existing staff and funding, warning that without extra investment, “stark choices” about cutting services, introducing charges and axing staff may lie ahead. Describing the ongoing shorta ...

This week is Migraine Awareness Week and UK charities The Migraine Trust and Migraine Action are on a mission to change common perception about migraine because, for around nine million people in the UK, the condition is far more than ‘just a headache’. According to The Migraine Trust, migraine – an often lifelong, little understood condition for which there is no cure – is th ...

Cancer Research UK warns that three in four people in the UK are not aware of the link between being overweight or obese and an increased risk of 10 types of cancer. Its report published today, which is based on the results of a survey of 3,000 people, also reveals that men are less likely to be aware of the increased risk associated with obesity and men and women from disadva ...

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 414 local authority councils across England and Wales, says GPs should offer so-called ‘green prescriptions’ to overweight and obese patients to help tackle the growing problem of obesity. In the UK, two thirds of the population are now overweight or obese and many experts agree that these figures are set to increase eve ...

Regulatory body the General Medical Council (GMC) has warned that patients could suffer if junior doctors in England press ahead with a series of five-day strikes, the first of which is scheduled to begin on September 12. The GMC says the scale of the industrial action at such short notice is not justified, and is therefore “calling on every doctor in training to pause and con ...

A new report based on systemic anticancer treatment (SACT) data has been published for the first time, providing valuable insight into chemotherapy treatment and mortality risk. The researchers looked at numbers of cancer patients who died within 30 days of starting chemotherapy, which is said to indicate that the treatment is the cause of death, as opposed to the cancer itsel ...

Plans for hospital and A&E closures, ward closures, cuts to bed numbers and changes to GP and community care have emerged, says the BBC. The proposals are said to have been drawn up in an effort to meet efficiency savings set by government and are likely to affect NHS services in 44 areas across England. The BBC reports that it has seen “draft sustainability and transforma ...

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could triple a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, according to a major new prospective study published in the British Journal of Cancer. HRT is prescribed to around one in ten women in their fifties who are dealing with uncomfortable menopausal symptoms caused by the natural decline of reproductive hormones, including mood changes, slee ...

The long-awaited Childhood Obesity Strategy has come under fire from campaigners, health experts and even a supermarket chain amid accusations of a ‘watering down’ of the previous proposals. Critics of the strategy argue that the publication of the long-awaited paper is the first test of new Prime Minister Theresa May, with some suggesting it is one she has failed after variou ...

Current funds raised exceeds £2.5k after 10 charity matches – but Marco hopes to raise even more for Macmillan Cancer Support. Former local footballer Marco Sementa has gone football crazy, fundraising for charity Macmillan in support of its vital work caring for people with cancer and their families.

Zika infection during pregnancy may result in joint abnormalities in the developing foetus, as well as brain and skull deformities, experts in Brazil fear. A team of researchers working in the Brazilian city of Recife, close to the epicentre of the outbreak, have published their findings in BMJ Open – and they make for worrying reading. The team of doctors, led by Dr Vanessa ...

A new asthma drug has the potential to improve the lives of around 500,000 people in the UK who have moderate to severe asthma, suggest experts following successful clinical trials. The findings relate to a small-scale trial, jointly funded by NHS research body the National Institute for Health Research, the European Union and Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical firm and manufa ...

Consumer group Which? says supermarkets should do more in the fight against obesity as research reveals more than half of the foods on promotion across six major supermarkets are ‘unhealthy’. Which? Looked at data from price comparison site mySupermarket relating to special offers at Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Ocado and Waitrose between April and June this year. Of t ...

A new large-scale study has identified 15 genome locations in human DNA that may be associated with depression, leading to a potential breakthrough in understanding the biology behind the mental health condition, which affects 1 in 5 people in the UK. The team, led by researchers from Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania and backed by US m ...

International charity for children UNICEF is calling for improved awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding during World Breastfeeding Week, which begins today, August 1 – August 7 2016. UNICEF says that breastfeeding has been directly linked to reducing infant mortality, and yet - despite World Health Organization guidelines which recommend exclusive breastfeeding unt ...

A team of Japanese scientists have found that binge watching television may increase the risk of developing a fatal pulmonary embolism – or blood clot on the lung. In the large-scale study, researchers examined the lifestyle habits of 86,000 people aged between 40 and 79 in the late 1980s, following their health over the course of 19 years. They found that for every two hours ...

Public Health England has published new advice which recommends that everyone should take a daily supplement of vitamin D to protect musculoskeletal health. The recommendations are based on information from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), which has just published its independent report - a review of the most up-to-date evidence relating to vitamin D and ...