'No foetal pain before 24 weeks'

There is no new evidence to show foetuses feel pain in the womb before 24 weeks, and so no reason to challenge the abortion limit, UK doctors say. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' review said foetuses are "undeveloped and sedated". Brain connections are not fully formed, and the environment of the womb creates a state of induced sleep, like unconsciousness, they add. Anti-abortion campaigners are likely to challenge the reports.

The issue of whether a foetus of 24 weeks or below can feel pain had been raised in the debate over whether the current time limit for abortion should be reduced. An up-to-date analysis of evidence was recommended by MPs in a report from the Commons Science and Technology committee during the last parliament. They looked at the 1967 Abortion Act, which covers all parts of the UK apart from Northern Ireland. The Royal College's reviews of existing evidence examined whether or not a foetus can experience pain. It also tried to define what mental and physical abnormalities could result in a "serious handicap". Around 1% of abortions are carried out on these grounds. Such terminations can take place after 24 weeks.

In the past, campaigners concerned about the abortion law have argued that this has been interpreted too widely to include relatively minor disabilities. But the Royal College said in its second report that it would not be practical to try to produce a list of conditions that would constitute serious handicap because it was too difficult to predict the long-term impact of an abnormality on a child or on their family. Supporters of the current abortion law have welcomed this report, arguing that even within one condition there may be a wide range of severity.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said taken together the two reports would provide a clear basis for difficult decisions. "Women and doctors need to be able to make informed decisions based on what science says, not what advocates, whether pro-choice or anti-choice, wish it said."

Those campaigning for further limits on abortion say these reports do not reflect the full debate on the issue

Josephine Quintavalle of the campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics said: "I think both reports tell us more about the RCOG's willing acceptance of late abortion than the reality of the scientific and ethical issues at stake."

In the last vote on abortion in Parliament in 2008, MPs rejected a proposal to reduce the time limit for abortion from 24 weeks.

Copyright BBC Health News Friday 25th June 2010 09:09

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10403496.stm

'Tactile environment' affects decision making

If you want to negotiate a tough deal, make sure you are sitting on a hard chair, say US researchers. In a mock haggling scenario, those sat on soft chairs were more flexible in agreeing a price. The team also found candidates whose CVs were held on a heavy clipboard were seen as better qualified than those whose CVs were on a light one. It shows that the "tactile environment" is vital in decision making and behaviour, they report in Science.

Overall, through a series of experiments, they found that weight, texture, and hardness of inanimate objects unconsciously influence judgments about unrelated events and situations. It suggests that physical touch, which is the first of sense to develop, may be a scaffold upon which people build social judgments and decisions, the Harvard and Yale University researchers said.

In one test, participants were asked to arrange rough or smooth puzzle pieces before hearing a story about a social interaction. Those who worked with the rough puzzle were more likely to describe the interaction in the story as uncoordinated and harsh. In a second experiment, subjects handled either a soft blanket or a hard wooden block before being told a story about an interaction between a supervisor and an employee. The researchers found that those who touched the block judged the employee as more rigid and strict.

In the mock haggling scenario, individuals were seated in soft or hard chairs before engaging in a negotiation over the price of a car. Those in hard chairs were less flexible, showing less movement between successive offers.

Study author Christopher Nocera said first impressions are liable to be influenced by the tactile environment, and control over this environment may be especially important for negotiators and job seekers. "Touch remains perhaps the most underappreciated sense in behavioral research. "The use of 'tactile tactics' may represent a new frontier in social influence and communication."

Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in organisational psychology at Lancaster University Management School said the work builds on findings that tactile relationships are important in social interaction. "I can see that if people are sitting on a very comfy, relaxed couch being interviewed for a job they may not be as assertive and they may let their guard down. "It's also about the ambience you create as well, not just the objects around you and the best environment will depend on what you want to achieve."

Copyright BBC Health News Friday 25th June 2010

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10408041.stm

Hopes for breast cancer vaccine

American scientists say they have developed a vaccine which has prevented breast cancer from developing in mice. The researchers - whose findings are published in the journal, Nature Medicine - are now planning to conduct trials of the drug in humans. But they warn that it could be some years before the vaccine is widely available.

The immunologist who led the research says the vaccine targets a protein found in most breast tumours. Vincent Tuohy, from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, said: "We believe that this vaccine will someday be used to prevent breast cancer in adult women in the same way that vaccines have prevented many childhood diseases. "If it works in humans the way it works in mice, this will be monumental. We could eliminate breast cancer."

In the study, genetically cancer-prone mice were vaccinated - half with a vaccine containing á-lactalbumin and half with a vaccine that did not contain the antigen. None of the mice vaccinated with á-lactalbumin developed breast cancer, while all of the other mice did. The US has approved two cancer-prevention vaccines, one against cervical cancer and one against liver cancer. However, these vaccines target viruses - the human papillomavirus (HPV) and the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) - not cancer formation itself.

In terms of developing a preventive vaccine, cancer presents problems not posed by viruses - while viruses are recognised as foreign invaders by the immune system, cancer is not. Cancer is an over-development of the body's own cells. Trying to vaccinate against this cell over-growth would effectively be vaccinating against the recipient's own body, destroying healthy tissue.

Caitlin Palframan, of charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "This research could have important implications for how we might prevent breast cancer in the future. "However, this is an early stage study, and we look forward to seeing the results of large-scale clinical trials to find out if this vaccine would be safe and effective in humans." She added there were already steps women could take to reduce the risk of breast cancer, including reducing alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy weight and taking regular exercise.

Cancer Research UK's professor of oncology, Robert Hawkins, said: "This very early study describes an interesting approach to the prevention of breast cancer. "It will be several years before this vaccine can be tested fully to assess its safety and effectiveness as a way to stop the disease developing in women."

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, affecting more than 45,500 women every year.

Copyright BBC News Thursday June 3rd 2010 09:36

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8714085.stm

'Long-term harm' of too much TV for toddlers

The more TV a toddler watches, the higher the likelihood they will do badly at school and have poor health at the age of 10, researchers warn. The study of 1,300 children by Michigan and Montreal universities found negative effects on older children rose with every hour of toddler TV. Performance at school was worse, while consumption of junk foods was higher.

UK experts said parents could allow young children to watch "some" high quality TV. The study, part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development Main Exposure, asked parents how much TV their children watched at 29 months (two years and five months) and 53 months (four years and five months). On average, the two-year-olds watched just under nine hours of TV per week, while for four-year-olds the average was just under 15 hours. But 11% of the two-year-olds and 23% of four-year-olds watched more than the recommended maximum of two hours of TV a day.

When the children were revisited at the age of 10, teachers were asked to assess the children's academic performance, behaviour and health, while body mass index (BMI) was measured at 10 years old. Higher levels of TV viewing at two was linked to a lower level of engagement in the classroom and poor achievement in maths. Researchers also found a decrease in general physical activity but an increase in the consumption of soft drinks and in BMI (body mass index).

'Common sense'

Dr Linda Pagani, of the University of Montreal, who led the research which was published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, said: "Early childhood is a critical period for brain development and formation of behaviour. "High levels of TV consumption during this period can lead to future unhealthy habits. Common sense would suggest that television exposure replaces time that could be spent engaging in other developmentally enriching activities and tasks that foster cognitive, behavioural and motor development."

And she added: "Although we expected the impact of early TV viewing to disappear after seven and a half years of childhood, the fact that negative outcomes remained is quite daunting. Our findings make a compelling public health argument against excessive TV viewing in early childhood."

The UK's National Literacy Trust campaigns to raise awareness of how to police a toddler's viewing. It said that until research demonstrated that children under two might benefit from TV, parents should, "limit exposure and encourage other one-to-one language-enhancing activities that centre on talk at mealtime, bath time, shared reading and imaginative play". But it added: "Encourage exposure to some high-quality, age-appropriate educational television for children aged two to five."

'Radical'

British Psychological Society member Dr Aric Sigman has carried out his own research, which highlighted concerns over young children watching too much TV. He said: "My recommendation to the government five years ago, and even as recently as three years ago, that they merely issue general guidelines on the amount of TV that children watch and the age at which they start was considered radical and controversial.

"Yet a growing body of evidence is now causing governments and health authorities elsewhere to do just that, and we need to as well. This is yet another study reinforcing the need for our society to finally accept that quite aside from good or bad parenting, children's daily screen time is a major independent health issue."

© BBC Health News – Monday 3rd May 2010

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8654963.stm

Children will eat more fruit 'as long as it looks good'

Making fruit look good holds the key to getting children to eat more of it, a study suggests. In tests, when offered the same amount and types of fruit, children ate far more if it was made fun and attractive, the journal Appetite reports.

The researchers, who studied nearly 100 pupils in the Netherlands and Belgium, say parents and schools should follow this example. However, they said food presentations needed to remain innovative. In the study of children aged four to seven, apples, strawberries and seedless grapes were put on offer, but presented in different ways.

Seduction secrets

Given the choice, the children plumped for these fruits more readily when they were made into a hedgehog - skewered with colourful cocktail sticks that were pierced into a watermelon. The same cubed fruits did little for the children's palates when they were simply offered on a white dish. Children ate nearly twice as much of the "fun" fruit, even though they said they understood that both fruit options - hedgehog and plain dish - should taste the same.

The researchers suggest supermarkets could also capitalise on the findings to make fruit more appealing for children and their parents alike. Attractive packaging and "perhaps adding a little toy, like the toy that comes with a Happy Meal, to the packaging could make this kind of snack even more appealing", they told the journal.

But Esther Jansen and her colleagues warn that "fun" fruit presentations might soon lose their appeal with children if they were used too many times. "It is probably necessary for parents and food producers to remain innovative," they said.

Dr Laura Wyness of the British Nutrition Foundation said: "It is advisable to try to make food as appetising as possible. "How food looks probably does have quite an influence, especially for kids who are getting used to different types of food." She said some children were fussy eaters and this could be challenging for parents.

"Another technique is to try to hide vegetables and fruits in other foods like sauces," she said. And for parents who do not have the time to make elaborate fruit faces and flowers from carrots and radishes, there are simpler ways to make foods interesting, such as cutting it into triangles, squares or strips.

© BBC Health News – Wednesday 5th May 2010

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8659807.stm

Patients shown DVDs as distraction during surgery

Patients arriving for knee surgery at a Glasgow hospital are being asked if they want to watch a movie while they are having their operation. The technique is being used to divert their attention so they need less anaesthetic. A DVD instead of general anaesthetic relaxes James McLaren during his knee surgery at Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow.

The idea was the brainchild of Gartnavel Hospital anaesthetist Dr Nick Pace. He had been trying to reduce the number of people opting for a general anaesthetic and being put to sleep for the entire operation. Most people recover faster when they are only numbed from the waist down, but too many patients found the sights and sounds of the surgery unnerving.

"We tried music, but after about an hour a lot of patients got distracted and fidgety, and we ended up having to give them a general anaesthetic anyway," said Dr Pace. "Then I happened to be speaking to a friend of mine who was taking two young kids on a long journey down to London and she told me she'd distract them with two DVDs strapped to the back of the seats. It got me thinking."

Dr Pace asked Gartnavel Hospital's engineering department to make a mount to hold a DVD player over the operating table. He brought in some DVDs from home and found that offering his patients the option of watching a movie during their surgery has proved a huge success. He said: "Most of them are desperate to phone relatives and say - 'Guess what? I've just been watching Only Fools and Horses in the middle of my operation!'"

If the patient becomes uncomfortable Dr Pace will quickly put them to sleep, but that has never happened so far in the 18 months he's been using DVDs. James McLaren, 69, is very relaxed about the idea of staying awake during his knee operation. He picks The Blue Planet from Dr Pace's extensive collection. "The Blue Planet is very relaxing," he said. "I like the fish and the oceans. I don't mind being awake at all."

'Some noise'

During the operation he seems engrossed in David Attenborough and hardly seems to notice the sights and sounds of the theatre. After his leg is swabbed down with iodine, a blue sheet is positioned below his neck so he can't see the surgery itself. After about an hour it's all over and he's wheeled into recovery. "It went very well," he reflects. "There are various movements and maybe some noise, like that grinder, but it was fine."

Now, 50% of Dr Pace's patients opt for a movie and a spinal anaesthetic, although he still has a long way to go to match Scandinavia, where about 95% of operations are carried out using this kind of 'regional' anaesthetic. "It's a really good way, I think, of undertaking these kinds of operations," he said. "Some patients are quite disappointed because the operation is finished before the end of the film!"

However, the biggest surprise for Dr Pace has been his patients' taste in DVDs. "I picked up this one: The Guide to Successful Pole Fishing," he explains. "My wife said - 'Who on Earth is going to want to watch that?' but it's by far the most popular male choice!"

© BBC Health News – Thursday 6th May 2010

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8662820.stm

Cancer project could limit animal test need

A project to improve the effectiveness of tests into cancer treatments could limit the need for animal testing, researchers have claimed. Scientists at the University of Dundee, who will lead the £10m Europe-wide project, said it may also boost safety for those involved in clinical trials.

They want to isolate at an earlier stage those drugs most likely to produce cancerous effects themselves. Doing so could cut the amount of time and money spent on ineffective drugs. Researchers said that one of the key drivers behind the plan was the "3 R" issue - the reduction, refinement and replacement of experimental animal use.

The study, known as the MARCAR project and involving 12 organisations from business and academia, will explore the use of non-invasive imaging techniques such as MRI scanning to study the effects of developmental treatments. As such techniques are non-invasive, long-term studies can be carried out on the same animal over weeks or months.

The method also has the potential to detect pre-cancerous lesions and tumours sooner without sacrificing the animals, meaning smaller numbers of subjects could be used. Prof Roland Wolf, from the university's biomedical research institute, said: "This would potentially markedly reduce the numbers of animals needed for this kind of research and provide a much more reliable prediction of the rates of toxicity of drugs in development in man."

'Improved safety'

The researchers will focus on a group of drugs known as non-genotoxic carcinogens (NGCs).  These are drugs which when tested are shown to promote biochemical processes which lead to cancer. At present such potential cancer-causing compounds only tend to be identified following prolonged biological trials.

Prof Wolf said the research would also improve safety for those taking part in drug trials. He added: "The development of new drugs is a very costly process, partly because of the large number of drugs which never make it to market due to the discovery of cancerous effects during drug development. "Predictions regarding safety of drug compounds can be imprecise and sometimes incorrect.

"If we could make better predictions at an early stage of drug development it would save a lot of time and money and make the whole process more efficient. To achieve that we need to identify early biological indicators, known as 'biomarkers' that can be used to predict the effects of drugs and reliably and robustly predict later cancer developments."

© BBC Health News – Tuesday 4^th May 2010

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8658177.stm

'Green' exercise quickly 'boosts mental health'

Just five minutes of exercise in a "green space" such as a park can boost mental health, researchers claim. There is growing evidence that combining activities such as walking or cycling with nature boosts well-being. In the latest analysis, UK researchers looked at evidence from 1,250 people in 10 studies and found fast improvements in mood and self-esteem.

The study in the Environmental Science and Technology journal suggested the strongest impact was on young people. The research looked at many different outdoor activities including walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming in locations such as a park, garden or nature trail. The biggest effect was seen within just five minutes.

With longer periods of time exercising in a green environment, the positive effects were clearly apparent but were of a smaller magnitude, the study found. Looking at men and women of different ages, the researchers found the health changes - physical and mental - were particularly strong in the young and the mentally-ill.

Green and blue

A bigger effect was seen with exercise in an area that also contained water - such as a lake or river. Study leader Jules Pretty, a researcher at the University of Essex, said those who were generally inactive, or stressed, or with mental illness would probably benefit the most from "green exercise".

"Employers, for example, could encourage staff in stressful workplaces to take a short walk at lunchtime in the nearest park to improve mental health." He also said exercise programmes outdoors could benefit youth offenders. "A challenge for policy makers is that policy recommendations on physical activity are easily stated but rarely adopted widely."

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said the research is yet further evidence that even a short period of green exercise can provide a low cost and drug-free therapy to help improve mental wellbeing. "It's important that people experiencing depression can be given the option of a range of treatments, and we would like to see all doctors considering exercise as a treatment where appropriate."

Mind runs a grant scheme for local environmental projects to help people with mental illness get involved in outdoor activities.

© BBC Health News – Saturday 1st May 2010

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8654350.stm

Voluntary Withdrawal of Registration

OES Healthcare Recruitment hereby serves notice we are voluntarily withdrawing our registration from the registry of the Care Quality Commission. This, due to the fact that we do not fall within the scope of the current legislation neither do we fall within the scope of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 legislation, which comes into force 1st October 2010.

OES is an Employment Agency as described within the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003. We are not a direct employer of nurses and do not provide care services requiring the regulation of the Care Quality Commission.  OES Healthcare Recruitment has been pleased to be registered with the Care Quality Commission and formerly CSCI, since 2005.

We continue to be committed to quality services and remain registered with The Employers Agents Movement (TEAM) in ensuring our quality of services to both candidates and clients alike is at it's highest at all times.

Reference: The Care Quality Commission

Website: http://www.cqc.org.uk

Babies to get barcoded wristbands

A Northamptonshire hospital believes it could be the first in the country to simultaneously create a barcoded wristband for newborn babies and a sticky label for heel prick tests. Kettering General Hospital will produce barcoded bloodspots rather than handwritten bands within an hour of birth, in the hope of making them clearer and more detailed. These are attached to the child’s ankle or wrist and the heel prick labels are added to the baby record book for parents to keep.

According to the hospital, the National Patient Safety Agency asked for standardised wristbands to be used throughout the NHS, while the UK Newborn Screening Programme asked all maternity units to produce barcoded blood spot cards by April 1 this year. A spokesman said the new system means Kettering General has introduced both methods for its labour ward. He said the hospital was not the first to use barcoded bands for babies, but may be one of the first to combine this with heel prick testing labels. The new method allows hospital staff to have a lot of information about the baby, including name, NHS number, date of birth, sex and mother’s name - whereas previously basic information would have been hand-written on the wrist band, which could be less reliable.

IT project manager at Kettering General Hospital, Paula Lilburn, said: “The main reason for the introduction of barcoded wristbands and barcoded heel prick blood spot labels is to improve safety in hospitals. “The new system is quicker and safer because if the barcoded information can be quickly read by the computers

Copyright Nursing Times, Friday 23rd April 2010 12:27

Source: http://www.nursingtimes.net/specialist-news/paediatric-news/babies-to-get-barcoded-wristbands/5013878.article