A hospital in Switzerland has announced it will allow assisted suicide on its premises for terminally ill patients. Although the practice is not illegal in Switzerland, the conditions for permitting an assisted suicide remain very strict.
A British man has been refused hospital treatment unless he gives up smoking.Mr Frederick Smith, 60, says he is worried his condition could worsen while he waits and has criticised a Lincoln County hospital which is refusing to treat him until
For people who suffer from on-going chronic lower backache they may find some relief in a yoga class.According to researchers, in a study of 101 adults with persistent low back pain it was found that a gentle yoga class seemed to be a better al
According to a recently released survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, unless more aggressive action is taken on a federal level, to prevent kids from smoking and curb tobacco marketing, li
According to new research, living in a busy city is bad for your heart.It seems breathing in diesel exhaust fumes at levels typically found in large cities, disrupts important blood vessel functions and could be linked to increased heart attack
Studies of influenza vaccine effectiveness in elderly people substantially overestimate vaccine benefits, according to new research from the US published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE), edited at the
Intake of magnesium through diet and supplements is positively associated with bone density throughout the whole body, particularly in older white adults, according to research published in the
According to researchers in the U.S. as many as one in three American teens are physically unfit and already have many of the risk factors for heart disease. The news regarding adults is not any better as the researchers at the
A report commissioned by the Department for Transport to determine the risk of deep vein thrombosis in relation to air travel, has found that as previously suspected, the longer the period of air trave
New research has shown that a diet high in beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and zinc is associated with a substantially reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration in elderly people.Age-related macular degeneration or AMD, is the most comm
With a general election looming, all major political parties in the UK have seized on public fears about the health implications of unclean hospitals to fuel arguments over the rising rates of infection with MRSA. Labour has pledged to give 'power to patients' to monitor cleanliness of NHS hospitals, the Conservatives want to give matrons the power to close unclean wards; and health minister John Reid is now considering proposals to charge hospital bosses with corporate manslaughter if patients die from infections acquired in hospital. But the focus on pleasing the public means these policies are missing the point, states the editorial.
Critics of the UK government policy point out that increases in deaths from MRSA have occurred simultaneously with outsourcing of hospital cleaning staff?providing circumstantial evidence of a link. Importantly, however, comparisons with other countries show that even in US and Japanese hospitals?which are prized for their cleanliness?MRSA thrives.
The Lancet comments: "This tit-for-tat political posturing has certainly helped keep health in the public eye. But none of these policies reflect the real failure in UK hospitals: nonadherence to basic infection control.
"Evidence shows that housekeeping programmes are unlikely to have an overall effect on transmission of MRSA unless essential infection-control practices?the use of gloves and hand hygiene?are prioritised. But this is rarely the case."
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