Obesity and the Salt Connection and Other Stuff

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

What's in an Oxo cube (apart from a lot of salt/sodium)?

Well from Wikipedia today on this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxo_(food) I have copied the following extract: (You will note that SALT is high in the list of ingredients. - All Oxo cubes contain a high proportion of salt.)

"Beef Oxo Cubes

Wheatflour, Salt, yeast extract, cornflour, colouring, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate), beef fat, flavouring, dried beef bonestock, sugar, onion, pepper extract.

Vegetable Oxo Cubes

Salt, potato starch, wheatflour, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate, disodium 5'-ribonucleotides), flavourings (include celery), onion extract, dried glucose syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, carrot extract, yeast extract, tapioca dextrin, dried tomato, dried herbs (parsley, bay and thyme) and sugar.

Italian Herb & Spice Oxo Cubes

Wheatflour, salt, sugar, potato starch, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate, disodium 5'-ribonucleotides), herbs and spices (fennel, parsley, basil, black pepper), hydrogenated vegetable oil, dried onion, dried glucose syrup, flavouring (contains milk), dried tomato, yeast extract, tapioca dextrin."

High levels of 'hidden' salt in soup can increase the risk of cancer, experts have warned.

High levels of hidden salt in soup 'can increase the risk of cancer'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"People who regularly sit down to a warming bowl of soup could inadvertently be doing themselves long-term damage, according to Dr Rachel Thompson, science programme manager for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

She warned that servings of some well-known brands contained half the recommended daily limit of salt intake.

Rather than a healthy comforting meal, soup was one of the "worst offenders" for high levels of hidden salt in food, she added.

Doctors have long warned that salt can increase the body's blood pressure and contribute to a stroke or a heart attack.

But recent research has suggested that too much salt could also be a factor in the development of stomach cancer."

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Despite its expense and unpleasant side-effects, alli, the 'slimming' drug, causes weight loss of only 2.5kg a year!

Obesity drug 'causes only limited weight loss'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Alli, also known as orlistat, causes slimmers to lose only around 5.5 lb (2.5kg) a year, according to an editorial in the Lancet."

So, despite its expense and very unpleasant side-effects, alli, the 'slimming' drug, causes weight loss of only 2.5kg a year! - Yet if obese people simply avoid eating salt and salty food they can easily lose more than 6kg in the first month without hunger and with no adverse side-effects whatsoever!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Common chemicals found in clothing, non-stick frying pans and food packaging can substantially reduce women's fertility, a new study has found.

Common chemicals found in non-stick frying pans 'can harm fertility'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) are used to make products like Teflon, as well as waterproof clothing, pesticides and upholstery.

Studies have also shown that they have leached in small quantities into the water supply, in part because they are contained in foam used by firefighters.

A new study found that exposure to high levels of the chemicals, which can remain in the environment and the body for decades, could leave women struggling to get pregnant.

Women with high levels of PFCs in their blood were up to one and a half times more likely to have taken more than a year to conceive or required fertility treatment than those with low levels.

The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, warns that the levels of exposure to the chemicals necessary to reduce fertility "are common in developed countries".

Researchers looked at the levels of two of the chemicals, called perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), in the bloodstreams of 1,240 women in Denmark who became pregnant between 1996 and 2002."

Women can improve their fertility by avoiding salt and salty food.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

and FAT RETENTION

Friday, 30 January 2009

Big Brother database a 'terrifying' assault on traditional freedoms

Plans condemned as the greatest threat to civil rights for decades
Sweeping new powers allowing personal information about every citizen to be handed over to government agencies have been condemned amid warnings that Britain is experiencing the greatest threats to civil rights for decades. Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the pressure group Liberty, warned that the laws, were among a string of measures that amounted to a "terrifying" assault on traditional freedoms.
Read article in The Independent (UK)

Being fat is linked to vitamin D deficiency

Teenage girls and young women who are overweight have a higher chance of being deficient in vitamin D, scientists have found in research that strengthens the case for wider use of supplements. The research shows that even in a sunshine-rich climate similar to Sydney's it is possible for young people to lack the essential vitamin, which the body usually produces from sun exposure.
Read article in the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

A mother died from a brain swelling after her condition was missed four times by a hospital's doctors, her family has alleged.

Mother-of-two dies of brain swelling after doctors miss signs four times
article in the Telegraph

Extract

"Louise Sharp, 27, a nursery nurse, was told two weeks before she died that her illness was due to depression, they claimed.

The family said a sequence of "oversights" at Mayday Hospital, Croydon, South London, led to the death of Miss Sharp, the mother of two children, Megan, seven, and Jack, five.

Miss Sharp, who died on Dec 31, visited the hospital four times in the previous five weeks, complaining of severe vomiting, severe headaches, loss of appetite, and increasing immobility.

Her health had declined and she was losing weight and was unable to look after her children, to whom she was devoted, her family said.

Her father, Phillip Sharp, 54, a gardener, who has made an official complaint to the hospital, and his wife Kathryn, a department store stock supervisor, said their daughter was sent home with suspected flu on Nov 28. A week later she was given painkillers for a migraine, Mr Sharp added.

"She went back three days later, and kept her in for five days to rule out meningitis," he said. On Dec 14 she was told she was suffering from depression.

Mr Sharp said: "I am staggered they failed to spot something more serious."

It is clearly folly to attribute 'severe vomiting' - a serious physical symptom, to 'depression' - a weasel word for a putative non-physical illness. Physical symptoms should be investigated for their physical cause.

Useful information regarding your choice of bottled water

Variation in the Mineral Content of Commercially Available Bottled Waters: Implications for Health and Disease

This is an interesting and informative webpage with content indicated by its title. Although the article is dated August 1998 the information is mostly of the 'timeless' kind, I'd say.

Extract:

"A wide variation exists in the mineral content of bottled waters that are commercially available in North America and Europe: magnesium content ranges from 0 to 126 mg per liter, sodium from 0 to 1,200 mg per liter, and calcium from 0 to 546 mg per liter. Evidence links magnesium deficiency to sudden death, excess sodium to hypertension, and calcium deficiency to osteoporosis. Drinking water that is high in magnesium and calcium and low in sodium will help individuals achieve the recommended daily allowances of these minerals. Because wide variations exist in the mineral contents of commercially available bottled waters, understanding the potential beneficial and harmful effects of these minerals will provide valuable information on which water to choose."

It's always a good idea to check the mineral levels by looking at the nutrition information on the label. And remember that for the body to utilise calcium effectively, it needs a sufficiency of vitamin D, some good sources of which are sunshine, oily fish, liver, cod liver oil and milk.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

and FAT RETENTION

Thursday, 29 January 2009

I've been watching "Jamie Saves Our Bacon" on Channel 4 - a powerful programme

I've been watching Jamie on Channel 4 - http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/jamie-oliver/jamie-saves-our-bacon/index.html - This was a powerful plea for pigs to be farmed more compassionately. Currently many pigs in Europe, particularly the sows, endure very long periods of cruel restriction, unnaturally confined in uncomfortable pens.

If you click on the link and learn more about the matter, I feel sure you will be moved to do what you can to ameliorate the lives of the pigs. Jamie is asking us to buy British pork, because pig welfare standards here are higher, and he is asking us to buy shoulder of pork, belly of pork and pork neck fillet, because buying these cuts, which at present are less popular cuts, will help hard-pressed British pig farmers. There are recipes for these cuts on the Channel 4 website.

He is also pressing the powers that be to put better labelling on packs of pork so that consumers can be sure about the country of origin of the pork and in particular, the bacon.

(He also showed us a distasteful practice of some pork dealers - that of injecting water and phosphates into pig meat, so that you could be buying a pack of pork that is 89% pork and 11% water and phosphates...)o: - Include me out of pork like that!)

Top 11 compounds in US drinking water

This blogpost, including the Comment section, is cut and pasted from the Dr Rath Foundation newsletter.

A comprehensive survey of the drinking water for more than 28 million Americans has detected the widespread but low-level presence of pharmaceuticals and hormonally active chemicals.
Read article at newscientist.com
Comment: The drugs found include beta-blockers; drugs used to treat bipolar disorder; anti-cholesterol drugs; tranquilisers; painkiller and anti-inflammatory drugs; anticonvulsants; antibiotics; and others. Similar findings have been made in other countries. In the UK, for example, powerful cancer and psychiatric drugs have been found in tap water, leading doctors to express concern about exposing pregnant women to drugs that could harm an unborn child. For further information about how pharmaceutical drugs contaminate drinking water, click here.

Some toxic pesticides banned in Europe

Sharp restrictions on the use of pesticides, passed by the European Parliament on Tuesday 13 January, will see the use of a number of highly toxic chemicals within pesticides banned and pesticide use severely reduced.
Read article at euobserver.com

If you have gained a great deal of weight in a short time it's pretty likely the weight gain was a side-effect of medication prescribed by your doctor

See prescribed steroids and HRT

and amitriptyline

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

Sir Liam Donaldson says new advice is based on research showing serious damage drink can do to children's health.

Children under 15 should not drink any alcohol, says chief medical officer
article in the Guardian

Extract:

"Children under 15 should not drink any alcohol, the government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said today.

He said the new advice was based on research which showed the serious damage drink could do to children's health.

Donaldson's advice appeared to contradict the government's current policy on alcohol and children. The DirectGov website says there "is no right age" at which teenagers can be allowed to drink.

Donaldson said the new advice was aimed at clearing up confusion among parents over the issue.

"We have a third of a million 11 to 15 years old on a typical weekend drinking alcohol. That's a massive number and we've got to do something about it," he told GMTV.

"The information we got from surveying parents was that actually they are quite confused about the medical and health implications of children drinking alcohol."

He said research said drink could seriously affect brain development in the young.

"We're trying to get the message across that children aged under 15 are still developing, their brains are developing, and drinking alcohol can do some quite serious damage."

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Herbals are mainstream - change needed, says WSJ opinion

Health academics from leading US universities have published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal maintaining that alternative medicine, including herbals, must be part of Barack Obama’s health plan. The authors argue that changes in lifestyle and diet would save lives and dollars in a nation increasingly affected by chronic diseases and crippling healthcare costs.
Read article at nutraingredients-usa.com
To read the Wall Street Journal opinion piece, click here.

Ray of sunlight from ANH/Irish efforts in Brussels

The Irish Association of Health Stores (IAHS) defended its petition in the European Parliament against the European Commission’s planned setting of EU-wide maximum limits for dosages of vitamins and minerals in food supplements. The petition, submitted originally in December 2007 with the support of 60,000 Irish citizens, claims that measures to harmonise maximum levels of vitamin and mineral food supplements under the Food Supplements Directive (2002/46/EC)—soon to be implemented by the European Commission—will unduly impact consumers, health stores and practitioners in Ireland. Instead of being closed down, the apparent goal of the European Commission, the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee chairman insisted that the petition be kept open.
Read press release on the website of the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) (UK)

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Along with the post, the postman delivered some literature about stroke today.

According to that literature, the care and treatment of stroke places a greater financial burden on the economy than that of any other condition - £7 billion a year - and accounts for 11% of deaths in the UK. It says almost one in four men and one in five women aged 45 can expect to have a stroke if they live to 85.

You may know or may have known someone in the past who suffered a stroke. I knew an old lady who had a stroke and it was a very disabling and distressing condition for her, especially because she then developed dementia too. And I knew a highly intelligent fellow who had a stroke and suffered greatly because of the frustrations of communication problems. And I remember how hard it was for his wife, a woman of great fortitude, to look after him because she was multiply-disabled herself.

You can greatly reduce your risk of a stroke by significantly lowering your intake of salt and salty food. - It would certainly be worth it.

Here is the URL of the Stroke Association, which helps stroke victims and their families: www.stroke.org.uk

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Another use for kitchen swing bin liners.

If you need to protect an arm or a leg from getting wet while you are in the shower - because you have a bandage or a dressing that needs to be kept dry - a good cheap way to do this is to use a swing bin liner with tie handles.

Almost half of doctors who care for older people believe the NHS is "institutionally ageist", according to a poll.

Half of doctors believe NHS is 'institutionally ageist'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"A total of 47 per cent thought the NHS was ageist while 55 per cent said they were worried themselves about how the NHS would treat them in old age.

The survey, of 201 doctors who specialise in caring for older people and are members of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS), was carried out for the charity Help the Aged.

More than six in 10 (66 per cent) doctors agreed that, in their experience, older people were less likely to have their symptoms fully investigated.

Meanwhile, 72 per cent thought older people were less likely to be considered for, or referred for, essential treatments like neural surgery or chemotherapy.

More than three-quarters (77 per cent) were also in favour of laws preventing age discrimination in the NHS."

Women in Britain spend far more time thinking about food than sex, a new report has revealed.

Women think about food more than sex
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The study commissioned by Weight Watchers showed that while 58 per cent of women surveyed think about sex at least 10 times a day, some 70 per cent admitted having far more regular fantasies about food.

According to the research nearly two thirds of UK women are dissatisfied with their size and 53 per cent of those who took part in the survey admitted to thinking about their weight up to 10 times a day.

The report also pinpointed the day and time when women feel they have the best chance of dieting successfully."

Dieting to lose weight is unnecessary and harmful. Diets don't work; they usually cause weight gain rather than weight loss. The safe, sure, fast way to lose excess weight is to avoid eating salt and salty food. This reduces the fluid retention which is the cause of obesity.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

EU reviews ludicrously low vitamin limits after Irish petition

Restrictive vitamin supplement standards due to be set by the EU are to be re-examined following an Irish petition. The standards, introduced by EU directive, would restrict doses of vitamin D to the equivalent of that produced by 25 seconds of sunlight and prevent the sale of high-dose vitamin C products without prescription. The EU food supplements directive was given the go-ahead in 2005. However, the maximum permitted levels of ingredients to be contained in supplements has not yet been set. The standards currently being considered would restrict the sale of vitamins and minerals to very low doses. It would become illegal to sell vitamin A in a dose that can be found in more than half a carrot or to sell selenium, an important mineral, in doses larger than in a quarter of a Brazil nut.
Read article in the Irish Times (Ireland)

FDA Scientists Have Asked Obama to Restructure Drug Agency

A group of scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have sent a letter to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team pleading with him to restructure the agency, saying managers have ordered, intimidated and coerced scientists to manipulate data in violation of the law.
Read article in the Wall Street Journal (USA)

When you buy a kebab, you are buying a very salty product.

Two kebabs could contain a week's worth of saturated fat
article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Doner kebabs sold in the UK contain "shocking" levels of fat, salt, and calories, according to a survey by the Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services (Lacors)."

"An average kebab, without sauce, contained 148 per cent of an adult's daily saturated fat allowance and 98 per cent of their recommended daily salt intake. Geoffrey Theobald, of Lacors, said: "The level of saturated fat and salt in some is a serious cause for concern.""

Salty food is not good for your health.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Sunday, 25 January 2009

The heads of NHS quangos have seen their salaries increase by up to 77 per cent in three years - more than seven times the rise in nurses' pay.

NHS quango bosses enjoy pay boosts of up to 77 per cent
article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"Six chief executives of health service organisations now earn more than Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, while pay for bosses at more than 300 hospital and primary care trusts has increased by an average of 10 per cent in one year.

The rises were attacked last night for being “an insult” to taxpayers.

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph shows that 19 chiefs of NHS quangos are paid six-figure salaries, including 12 who received double-digit rises in the past three years. Between 2005 and last year, Andrew Dillon, the chief executive of the rationing body, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), was given a salary rise of 44 per cent, taking his pay to £202,000.

Prof Kent Woods, of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, received an increase of 36 per cent, bringing his pay to £218,000.

Alan Doran, appointed in 2007 to run IVF regulators the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority earned £160,000 last year, 51 per cent more than his predecessor did in 2005.

Lynda Hamlyn, the chief executive of NHS Blood and Transplant earns £168,630, 77 per cent more than the boss of the organisation it replaced. All the salaries were agreed by non-executives from their own boards within limits set by the Government.

During the same period, pay for nurses rose by an average of 8.2 per cent."

Obviously, this is unfair. - And personally, I reckon we'd be better off without the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency - the MHRA - altogether. See http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/2007/04/is-mhra-medicines-and-healthcare.html

The organs of nearly 700 British donors have been given to foreign patients, new figures reveal.

Hundreds of British transplant organs given to foreign patients
article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"The controversial practice has seen patients from as far afield as China fly in for operations at NHS hospitals around the country.

The procedures have taken place despite a severe shortage of organs for transplant in the UK, putting British patients' lives at risk.

Nearly 8,000 people are currently on NHS waiting lists for a transplant, with 305 waiting for a liver and 226 for a lung.

Patient groups and politicians condemned the practice of making organs available to foreigners while so many British patients remain on waiting lists.

The Conservative shadow minister for health, Stephen O'Brien MP, said: "This is not about being xenophobic, but when there is such a shortage of available organs we first need to ensure that we can provide for British patients.

"Ministers must answer the serious questions at stake here. Why, when their organ donation policies are failing, have they presided over so many organs going to people living outside the UK?"

The figures, obtained by Mr O'Brien through a Parliamentary question, show that between 1998 and 2008, around 70 British organs have been transplanted into foreign nationals every year.

A total of that 603 livers have been given to foreigners over the ten year period, as well as 57 corneas, five kidneys and four hearts.

At the same time, only 140 foreign organs were imported into the UK to be transplanted into British patients.

Britain is obliged by European Union rules to make British organs available to all EU nationals. Non-EU nationals are only entitled to an organ if there are no suitable British or EU patients."

Saturday, 24 January 2009

HRT drugs can shrink brain

Common forms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can shrink the brains of post-menopausal women. The discovery, reported in the journal Neurology, may explain earlier findings associating HRT with an increased risk of memory loss and dementia.
Read article at scotman.com (Scotland/UK)

Study Confirms Antipsychotics Pose Heart Risk

Latest Generation of Drugs Provides No Safety Advantage; Warning on Children, Elderly
Patients taking the latest generation of antipsychotic drugs are twice as likely to suffer sudden cardiac failure and death as nonusers, according to a new study that found such medicines are no safer than the older ones they have largely replaced. Though the health risks of antipsychotic drugs for elderly patients have been previously documented, the study, published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, was one of the largest to date, and it found dangers for younger adults, too. The study's findings add to a growing body of research questioning the safety, cost and effectiveness of so-called atypical antipsychotic drugs.
Read article in the Wall Street Journal (USA)

My usual message about how best to lose weight is to eat less salt/sodium, but you can also reduce your sodium by eating more potassium-rich foods. -

My usual message about how best to lose weight and reduce high blood pressure is to eat less salt/sodium, but you can also reduce your sodium by eating more potassium-rich foods - like fruit and vegetables. This is because potassium displaces sodium in the body.

See Sodium in foods

Try not to add much salt to the meals you prepare.

If you find it hard to cut down on salt, do it gradually. Your taste will gradually change. Try using pepper, garlic, herbs such as basil, chives, lemon grass, rosemary or coriander, spices such as chilli or ginger, balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, rather than salt, to add flavour to your food.

You can get a lot of flavour from onions too, you know, and I've just been reading about how good shallots are for our health. - As well as being rich in potassium, they are a rich source of vitamin A, B and E and even contain a high level of vitamin C, particularly if eaten raw.

Have a look at this post for some further ideas about how to lower your sodium intake.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, sleep better, improve your concentration and improve your health in many other ways - without drugs, hunger or expense - by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

I disagree with the BBC's decision not to broadcast appeals for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

I believe the BBC should be publicising the public appeal. The DEC has stressed that its aid agencies are non-political and working on the basis of humanitarian need.

The DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) is an umbrella organisation which includes Action Aid, British Red Cross, Cafod, Care International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision.

Here is the URL of the website where donations can be made to the appeal:

http://www.dec.org.uk/

Friday, 23 January 2009

Sunlight could stop short-sightedness.

A spreading pandemic of myopia among the world’s urban children may be avoided if children spend at least two to three hours each day outdoors. Australian scientists from The Vision Centre say there is persuasive evidence that increased exposure to daylight can prevent the permanent short-sightedness and eye damage which now afflicts up to 80-90 per cent of children in cities in East Asia such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
Read article at physorg.com

Adequate vitamin D can prevent diabetes.

Diabetes can be prevented, and the disease’s complications for those diagnosed with it reduced, through adequate intake of vitamin D, says a report.
Read article in The Times of India

Patients are being harmed and even killed by badly trained doctors who have not been taught how to prescribe drugs properly, leading experts warn.

Patients 'at risk because doctors not trained to prescribe drugs properly'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Medical students no longer have to prove that they understand how to use many common medicines before they graduate, said Prof David Webb, from Edinburgh University.

Teaching of the subject in medical schools has almost “disappeared”, he added.

Today’s students do not get the chance to practise prescribing under supervision, as previous generations did, and many cannot make the simple calculations needed to assign doses, he added.

Although drugs have become increasing complex over the past 15 years, the teaching of prescribing has declined in medical schools over the same period.

This has meant some nurses are now being taught more about drugs than doctors.

Students no longer have to sit exams specifically in the subject and some are not even taught the basics of how safely to use common drugs like insulin and warfarin, used to thin the blood.

A recent study of patients over the course of their stay at an Edinburgh hospital, found an average of one serious prescribing error per patient.

Although there are no official figures on how many patients have died after being given the wrong drug or the wrong dose, Prof Webb, who outlined his concerns to MPs on the Commons Select Health Committee, said: “The obvious conclusion is that if there are problems with prescribing than that is translating through to patients.”

Prof Jeffrey Aronson, president of the British Pharmacological Society, warned that the number of medical errors was on the rise, in part because of the complexity of using many newer drugs.

He added: “The number of medical errors and adverse drug reactions are on the rise and deaths are on the increase as a result.”"

It's not just the young doctors that are ill-informed; it's the majority of doctors. I've been warning people for many years about the harm done by doctors' reckless prescribing of drugs they know little about...)o: My own health has been destroyed by our overpaid, ill-informed, arrogant medical profession. - Just think of that statement above: "A recent study of patients over the course of their stay at an Edinburgh hospital, found an average of one serious prescribing error per patient"! - That's appalling! - That's just in just one hospital stay! - Indefensible!

See amitriptyline

Thursday, 22 January 2009

Labour has failed to stop mixed-sex NHS hospital wards despite promising to do so for 12 years, the Health Secretary Alan Johnson has admitted.

Labour has failed to stop mixed sex wards, admits Health Secretary Alan Johnson
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Mr Johnson told a meeting of senior NHS executives that ministers had "got it wrong" and "sane and rational arguments about why it can't be done no longer cut it", a regional health boss claims.

The Government promised before the 1997 and 2001 elections to end the practice of male and female patients being forced to share a ward.

Yet another fresh attempt to stop the practice is soon to be launched by ministers, according to the account of the meeting by Graham Eccles, the chief executive of the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority. Mr Johnson is expected to unveil a new initiative on the issue next week.

Last month data from the Conservatives disclosed that about one in seven of hospital trusts still used at least one open-plan mixed-sex ward. Curtains were still being to segregate patients in some areas, it was discovered."

AFTERMATH - Poem by Margaret Wilde

Aftermath

I cede to you this Wilderness,
Said God. -
Chaos is yours.
I wash My hands of it. -
The problem is too complex.
I will have none of it.
It was not caused by Me.

In the Beginning, the Primordial Void was mouldable. -
But not this: this engineered,
This fostered, nurtured, lush, vile
Cancer.

Let those who brought about Confusion,
End it.
You must not lay it at My door -
Nor at My feet. -
Forbear!

Thankful that it is no concern of Mine,
I exercise an ancient rite
In ecclesiastical circles:
I pass by on the other side.

Margaret Wilde © 2009

The food industry is knowingly overusing a chemical that can cause crippling disease or early death. - That chemical is SALT.

Industry Not Lowering Sodium in Processed Foods, Despite Public Health Concerns
a webpage of Center for Science in the Public Interest

Extract:

""The food industry is knowingly overusing a chemical that can cause crippling disease or early death," CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said. "Despite 30 years of unkept promises from food companies, nothing has changed. The average sodium content remains dangerously high. The next Administration can't sit by incuriously as chain restaurants and food manufacturers recklessly turn Americans' brains and hearts into ticking time bombs."

Health officials see lower-sodium diets as a major public health goal, because current levels promote high blood pressure, which, in turn increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. In 2004, the director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes, and two colleagues estimated that cutting sodium in foods by 50 percent would save about 150,000 lives annually. The American Medical Association, American College of Cardiology, and many other health groups have urged that industry gradually achieve that 50-percent reduction over a ten-year period.

While some companies maintain that current levels are necessary for purposes of taste or preservation, CSPI found large brand-to-brand differences in numerous categories of foods. That indicates that some companies could easily lower sodium levels and still have perfectly marketable products. For instance: Arby's French fries have three times as much sodium as McDonald's fries. Bumblebee white albacore canned tuna has 70 percent more sodium than Crown Prince. And Kraft's Classic Caesar salad dressing has almost twice as much sodium as Annie's Natural version."

You better believe it! - Salt can cause you serious ill-health! - Study the labels on the processed food you buy! - Reduce your sodium intake!

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, sleep better, improve your concentration and improve your health in many other ways - without drugs, hunger or expense - by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

and FAT RETENTION

China has handed down death sentences to two men over the tainted milk scandal which killed at least six babies and sickened hundreds of thousands.

China milk scandal: Two sentenced to death
article in the Telegraph

Got an important interview coming up? - Need to be at your brightest and most confident? - Avoid salt and salty food. Optimise your nutrition.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, sleep better, improve your concentration and improve your health in many other ways - without drugs, hunger or expense - by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

See http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/2008/11/uselessness-and-cruelty-of-nhs.html

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

'Momentous day' for NHS as the first Constitution ends the era of doctor knows best with list of rights and responsibilities for patients and staff.

Gordon Brown signs first NHS constitution
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The document explains clearly a collection of legal rights, pledges and responsibilities for both patients and staff for the next ten years.

Gordon Brown signed the Constitution at a ceremony in Downing Street saying it was a 'momentous day' for the health service in its 61st year however the Conservatives said it was 'toothless' and a missed opportunity."

I don't believe it will make much difference. - I wonder what is the exact meaning of the word 'legal' in this context? - Take these two 'legal rights' of patients:

To be treated with dignity and respect.

To refuse treatment.

If the patient is not treated with dignity and respect, what's going to be done about it? - If anything at all is done, I suggest it will be months later and that it may be on the lines of, "We are sorry that you feel that you were not treated with the respect to which you felt you were entitled. "

Right to refuse treatment. - When I refuse pain-killers because they do not work on me it is almost automatic for doctors to disregard my wishes and to try to persuade or bully me into taking them and then to blame me for being in pain because I won't take them...)o: They refuse to accept the fact that painkillers do not work on me...)o:

And this 'legal right' of patients:

To have complaints dealt with efficiently.

Not until herds of pigs are flying overhead, I reckon...)o: - NHS Complaints Procedures are notoriously partisan and do not help the complainants in any way whatsover, routinely wasting their time and energy and adding to their problems. There isn't going to be a seismic change, you can be sure. - To say that complaints will be dealt with efficiently - those are mere words.

See also The appalling way Andrea Carey has been treated by our "caring professions" and how NOTHING AT ALL has been done to help her! - The main purpose of a Complaints Procedure should be to take the complaint seriously and help the complainant as much as possible. - This is NOT what happens with the NHS complaints! Readers of this blog may like to write to the Healthcare Commission about Andrea Carey and try to get somebody to help her.

Monday, 19 January 2009

Vitamin D deficiency in infants and nursing mothers carries long-term disease risks

Once believed to be important only for bone health, vitamin D is now seen as having a critical function in maintaining the immune system throughout life. The newly recognized disease risks associated with vitamin D deficiency are clearly documented in a report in the December issue (Volume 3, Number 4) of Breastfeeding Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
Read article at physorg.com

Don't waste your will-power and damage your health by dieting! - If you want to lose weight, cut out salt!

Obesity is not caused by eating fat or sugar or too many calories. Nor is it caused by inactivity/laziness. It is caused by weakened veins leading to fluid retention in the bloodstream, i.e. sodium retention and water/fluid retention, and thereby to excess weight/obesity.

The way to reduce/prevent obesity is to avoid salt and salty food, and to avoid prescription drugs as far as possible because these are a major cause of the the blood vessel damage that precedes the salt sensitivity/fluid retention.

Why not help with disseminating the truth? - If you have any friends who are overweight and know from experience that dieting does not work, tell them about my blog or send them a link to my website. - Better still, tell your MP about my website. - I'm afraid my own MP is as much use as a chocolate teapot...)o:

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

The Chinese authorities are scrambling to prevent an outbreak of bird flu after three reported cases in the last two weeks.

China moves to prevent bird flu pandemic
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Hundreds of millions of Chinese are preparing to travel home during Chinese New Year this weekend, and the authorities are concerned that the world's biggest human migration could help spread the disease further.

After not reporting a single human death from bird flu since 2003, the last two weeks have seen three cases in three separate provinces. The Agriculture Ministry said it was moving quickly to quarantine anyone who came into contact with the victims.

"As the Spring Festival approaches, there are frequent movements of poultry products and the risk rises of virus outbreaks and transmission," the ministry said in a statement. "We have already asked the relevant provinces to strengthen their bird flu prevention work," it added.

The first victim was a 19-year-old woman, Huang Yanqing, who lived in Beijing. She became ill with the H2N1 virus in December after eating a contaminated duck that was traced to Jinxian County in Tianjin, in North China.

After Miss Huang died on January 5 the Chinese authorities quarantined 200 people who had come into contact with her. They were all subsequently cleared."

The parents of the first child to die after drinking baby milk laced with a lethal chemical have succeeded in winning compensation.

Chinese parents win toxic milk payout
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Yi Yongsheng and Jiao Hongfang, from Gangu in Gansu province, said they had accepted £20,000 after their five-month-old son died from kidney failure.

Twenty-two Chinese dairy companies admitted in September that they had sold milk tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical that causes the formation of kidney stones and crystals in children.

So far at least six children have died and a further 300,000 infants have been sickened.

Yi and Jiao's son died in May. By accepting the compensation money from Sanlu, which has filed for bankruptcy, they have given up the right to sue the company. Shen Xianlei, one of their lawyers, said the couple was unlikely to get more than 200,000 yuan by taking their case to court in Gansu.

Dong Junming, another lawyer working for the couple, said: "Legal procedures are too complicated for them, which made them decide to take the money."

The payout was part of a widely-criticised scheme announced by the government last month. Under the current plans, families whose children died would receive 200,000 yuan, while others would receive between 2,000 and 30,000 yuan depending on the severity of the illness."

Sunday, 18 January 2009

Vitamin D Deficiency in Pregnancy Linked to Caesarean Risk

Vitamin D deficiency greatly increases a pregnant woman's likelihood of having a Caesarean delivery, U.S. researchers report.
Read article in the Washington Post (USA)

Publisher opens inquiry into article on Wyeth drug

The medical publisher Elsevier is to investigate a U.S. senator's recent allegation that one of its journals published an article on hormone replacement therapy that was improperly ghostwritten by a drug company promoting the product. The senator, Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, had raised questions about the May 2003 "Editors' Choice" article in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, published by Elsevier, which is part of the Dutch-British publishing giant Reed Elsevier.
Read article in the International Herald Tribune

THE AWAKENING - Poem by Margaret Wilde

The Awakening

It seemed through endless ages that the fire had raged,
Fuel been expended and destruction wrought. -
The fire burned,
And having burned,
All was consumed.
It seemed that there remained but ashes.
And yet,
And yet,
There struggled forth –
A phoenix? –
No. –
The tiny cocoon of a worm lay on the pyre.

The minute creature
Has begun to gnaw
Its way to life.

With what strange form will the awakened one
Alarm us? –
This consciousness
Formed out of tragedy and outrage?
What metamorphosis
Shall we be privileged to view?

No, no.
It is too dangerous,
Too tender,
Too shaming,
And far, oh far too brave,
This small endeavour. –
Quick!
The insecticide!
Kill! Kill!

We will unwind its gossamer;
We will sew up its gentle, dying mouth.

Margaret Wilde © 2009

Kirsty Young's Desert Island castaway today was Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman, Vince Cable.

Vince Cable was such an interesting castaway on Radio 4's 'Desert Island Discs' today, and I also liked his choice of music. If you missed the programme you may like to catch the repeat on January 23rd.

See BBC webpage about Vince Cable on 'Desert Island Discs' -
Here's an extract from the webpage. - I hope it whets your appetite...

"Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman, Vince Cable.

He studied economics at Cambridge and had a rich career before entering parliament in 1997. Now, he's become something of a media darling; seen by many as one of the few people able to understand - and make credible suggestions about - the current financial crisis.

In this personal interview, however, politics is largely set aside and instead Vince describes the home-life that shaped him as he grew up and the rich family life he has enjoyed as an adult."

And here's an extract from Vince Cable's website http://www.vincentcable.org.uk/news/001525/mp_stranded_on_desert_island.html:

"He said after the pre-recorded interview that "it was one of the most difficult things I have done. Kirsty was absolutely delightful but this was a far more gruelling interrogation than Paxman, Andrew Neil or John Humphreys, very personal and well outside my comfort zone as a parliamentarian specialising in economic and financial matters. Most of the discussion was about my childhood and family life which I have usually been reticent about discussing. The choice of records was terribly difficult; I had dozens of classical and popular favourites which I had to distil down to eight. I finished up with several of my son Paul and daughter-in-law Agnes singing which combined family attachment with my love of the music.""

The natural way to get rid of excess fat from your body is not to try to 'burn it off', but to excrete it. - Here's how:

See FAT RETENTION

and

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

Saturday, 17 January 2009

Senators investigate Merced groundwater pollution

The state's two U.S. senators want to know whether groundwater pollution in Merced caused by pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. is connected to illnesses suffered by some local residents. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has sent a staff member to Merced to investigate. Sen. Barbara Boxer's office is making local inquiries. An attorney for Merck says a subsidiary of the company polluted the site with Chromium 6, the carcinogen Erin Brockovich campaigned against when it was found in Hinkley's drinking water.
Read article in the Modesto Bee (California/USA)

Report Links Osteoporosis Drug to Esophagus Cancer

Fosamax May Be Tied to 23 Cases of Esophageal Cancer, Report Says
There could be some worrying news for the tens of millions of Americans currently taking Fosamax. A brief report published today in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests a possible link between the osteoporosis drug and the development of esophageal cancer.
Read article on the ABC News website (USA)

Thursday, 15 January 2009

Restaurants, sandwich chains and coffee shops will soon start to display calorie counts on their menus in a misguided attempt to fight UK's obesity.

Restaurants to display calorie counts on menus to help obesity crisis
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Within the next six months many well known chains, including Pizza Hut and Pret a Manger, will start to prominently display the calorie content of all of its food.

The idea is being pushed by the Food Standards Agency, the Government's food regulator, which wants all outlets from fish and chip shops to Michelin-starred restaurants to give details of what is in their meals.

If it is a success, the FSA is considering going even further by asking restaurants to publish so-called 'traffic light' labels on their menus, which would highlight in red if a dish was too salty, sugary or fatty."

Knowledge of calorie content will not help anyone to become less obese. Providing this information will be just another colossal waste of time and money. - To lose excess weight it is helpful to know the salt/sodium content, not the calories.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations