This year, award-winning starlet Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy, after genetic testing showed an 87 percent chance that the actress would develop breast cancer. In light of Jolie's very public medical announcement, many women with a family history of cancer considered taking a similar genetic test.
Available…
A national programme of regular health checks operated by the UK public health authorities has been called into question by both independent research and the Royal College of General Practitioners, which represents doctors responsible for primary care.
When it comes to advising how best to manage the medical conditions that are the principal causes of death in the prosperous west, there is absolute clarity from the health profession. Whether it is heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancers of the breast and the colon, the simple message rings out very clear - more exercise is the one simple thing that almost anyone can do to reduce the…
Recent research has confirmed previous findings that taller people are more likely to suffer from some cancers. However, for a range of other serious conditions - particularly heart disease and strokes - the reverse is true with these ailments being more common among shorter people. The reason why height should be associated with these illnesses is far from clear and is the subject of…
Changes to the current NHS policy regarding medical workers will mean that as of April 2014, HIV positive doctors, nurses, dentists in the UK will be able to perform surgical procedures as they could before the 1990s when the restriction was imposed. Chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies made the announcements last week and declared that the existing legislation was outdated and introduced…
In the majority of its work, the World Health Organization focuses on physical health care: chronic disease, childhood disability, communicable illness and so on. However, in the past few years, WHO has put more and more focus upon mental health issues. In 2008, WHO created the Mental Health Global Action Programme, and just this August,…
Medical care in the United States is expensive. The International Federation of Health Plans reports that in 2010, the United States' health spending as percent of GDP was a whopping 17.6 percent - this compared to 11.4 percent in Canada, 10.1 percent in New Zealand and 9.6 percent in the United Kingdom. And health expenditures are only expected to grow; this thanks to expensive technology…
Most news stories which address private healthcare in England only serve to accentuate the difference between the private and public health systems - and more often than not, celebrate the quality of services available at privately- run facilities. But a story last week painted a less than perfect picture of one privately- run hospital. The Lister Surgicentre, a private…
From August 1st to August 7th every year, the World Health Organization spearheads celebrations of World Breastfeeding Week. During this year's World Breastfeeding Week, going on now, WHO has chosen to put special emphasis one health issue in particular: the marketing of infant formula and other breast milk substitutes.
WHO is…
Its is often said that in these fairly secular times, the nearest thing the British have to a national religion is, in fact, its National Health Service. The fact that the creation of the NHS played a central role in the celebrated pageant that formed the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics was testament to this.…
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