Talk to a Doctor.co.uk

Mental health services still need improving

Mon Sep 3, 2007 6:36 AM EDT

Standards of community mental health services are improving, though access to counselling and support for the nation's carers remains inadequate, according to the Healthcare Commission.

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health, mental, services, nhs, carers, healthcare-commission, community-mental-health

Children stressed months before school starts

Mon Sep 3, 2007 6:34 AM EDT

Parents' anxiety could be a leading cause behind the high numbers of young children experiencing stress before starting school, researchers have concluded.

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health, children, school, research, stress, anxiety, cortisol, introvert, extrovert

Stressed mothers 'hold their babies to the right'

Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:10 AM EDT

New mothers who cradle their babies on their right side may be exhibiting signs of extreme stress, scientists have claimed. Researchers working at Durham University looked at 79 mother and babies, with the average age of the children being seven months.

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health, mother, stress, depression, parenting, postpartum, durham-university

Parents warned of growth in measles cases

Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:05 AM EDT

Parents have been advised to make sure that their children have the appropriate injections against measles, mumps and rubella before going back to school.

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health, measles, mmr, health-protection-agency

Pregnant women stressed over 'taboo subjects'

Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:04 AM EDT

Almost nine in ten suffer from stress during pregnancy, a new study has found.

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health, post, pregnancy, stress, depression, miscarriage, taboo, natal, premature-delivery

'Faulty gene' linked to breast cancer growth

Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:00 AM EDT

A faulty copy of a gene could be one of the factors leading to the development of breast cancer, researchers in London and Italy have discovered.

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cancer, health, research, breast, gene, chemotherapy, tip60

Cholesterol treatments may lower Alzheimer's risk

Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:58 AM EDT

Statin drugs, the popular cholesterol-lowering medication, may help to prevent the brain damage that leads to Alzheimer's disease, scientists in America have revealed.

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health, statin, university-of-washington, neurology, medication, alzeimers, choleserol

Enzyme levels link to asthma vulnerability

Wed Aug 29, 2007 6:18 AM EDT

Children exposed to traffic pollution may be at greater risk of suffering from asthma if they have genes which make them vulnerable, a study has shown.

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diseases, health, genes, asthma, enzyme, respiratory

Middle-age spread 'happens in two distinct stages'

Tue Aug 28, 2007 5:43 AM EDT

The wisdom of relying on Body Mass Index to assess whether a person is at a healthy weight has again been called into question after new research on middle-age spread.

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health, research, weight, body-mass-index, middle-age

Surgical weight loss can improve life expectancy, studies show

Tue Aug 28, 2007 5:40 AM EDT

Stomach surgery can save the lives of seriously obese individuals by cutting the risk of serious illnesses, a study has concluded.

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sweden, health, weight, loss, cardiovascular, tummy-tuck

Teenagers afflicted by 'junk sleep'

Tue Aug 28, 2007 5:34 AM EDT

Increasing numbers of UK teenagers are putting their health at risk by failing to get sufficient quality sleep, researchers have concluded.

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teenagers, health, research, sleep

Blood chemical levels linked to eczema itching

Tue Aug 28, 2007 5:29 AM EDT

Scientists in Hong Kong may have made an important breakthrough in research into eczema. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong attached wrist monitors to 24 children suffering from the condition in order to analyse how much they scratched when they were asleep.

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health, research, chemical, eczema, itch, dermatologist

Mail Order Medicine

Seeded on Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:08 AM EDT (Mirror.co.uk)

Simply type a name into a search engine and in a few clicks you could be ordering a drug to help you lose weight or fight depression - without a prescription or consultation.

viagra, health, online, medicine, valium, anti-depressants, dermal-fillers, aesthetic-plastic-surgeons

Obesity linked to prostate cancer

Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:05 AM EDT

People who suffer from obesity may be less likely to develop prostrate cancer, but those that do are more likely to die from the disease, Swedish scientists have stated.

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cancer, health, obesity, prostate, diabetes

Loneliness speeds up problems of ageing

Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:02 AM EDT

Feelings of loneliness may directly affect a person's mental and physical well-being over the long term, according to researchers at the University of Chicago.

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health, blood-pressure, stress, loneliness, well-being, university-of-chicago, ageing

Staying calm when stressed has cardiovascular benefits

Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:10 AM EDT

Men who are able to keep calm in stressful situations benefit from increased levels of HDL cholesterol, which helps maintain clear arteries, a study has shown.

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cholesterol, health, stress, cardiovascular

Dark-coloured foods reduce cancer risk

Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:06 AM EDT

Eating dark-coloured fruit and vegetables may reduce the risk of developing colon cancer, a new study has suggested.

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cancer, diet, colon, health, fruit, prostate

'Mothers should wait three minutes before cutting umbilical cord'

Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:49 AM EDT

Cutting the umbilical cord immediately after childbirth can be detrimental to a baby's health, a new study has concluded.

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health, baby, birth, iron, midwives, umbilical-cord, university-of-liverpool, anaemia

Doctors 'too quick' to diagnose depression

Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:39 AM EDT

Doctors are too readily diagnosing people who are simply unhappy with depression, one of the UK's leading psychiatrists has claimed.

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health, doctor, depression, unhappy, mental-illness, antidepressants

Three walks a week can reduce blood pressure

Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:51 AM EDT

Three 30 minute walks a week can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease, scientists have stated. The UK scientists, led by Dr Mark Tully at Queen's University in Belfast, split 106 participants – all civil servants – into three groups.

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health, exercise, heart-disease, blood-pressure, walking, hypertension, belfast, civil-servants