The European Union has recently found itself in the uncomfortable situation of facing in several directions at once with regard to its position on health and smoking.

It was unfortunately recently announced that the UK has one of the worst records regarding the treatment and survival rates of pancreatic cancer compared to the rest of the world. However, new research is stepping up to improve these rates.

As the human genome becomes better understood, medical specialists are working to find more precise ways to treat breast cancer, and perhaps even prevent it.

In a world where every opinion has at least a handful of contrary views, there is now a remarkable degree of consensus with regard to smoking. That is, it is simply very bad for you. Even those few organisations and people that remain pro-smoking make their case largely on the grounds that it is a freedom of choice issue and that, in effect, you have the right to condemn yourself to the…

The recent national concern regarding the operation of the Health Service in England is producing a range of reform and fresh starts for health care. The most significant of changes to come about will affect the current operating systems of both wards and operating theatres. Furthermore, the nursing profession, which is of course at the very heart of care is also coming under scrutiny…

Recent events have resulted in public concern regarding the quality of care provided within the hospitals of Britain’s National Health Service. Now, the body tasked with setting standards for clinical management (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence – NIHCE) has highlighted another failing which it estimates could be leading to some 12,000 avoidable deaths each year. By effectively…

Skin cancer is maybe the most disconcerting of all forms of cancer given that its cause is something that we have generally assumed is good for us - sunlight. More specifically, it is overexposure to the ultraviolet (UV) light in sunlight that can damage the skin and too much of it can be dangerous whether it comes in ‘natural’ form or via routes such as tanning machines.

Skin…

Considering we all (hopefully) experience sleep each and every day, the actual act of sleeping still remains to be a rather mysterious phenomenon and we are still learning new things about this necessary bodily function. Recently, with regard to the human species, some new research has thrown up some very specific…

Memory failure is unfortunately one of the many symptoms of growing older and is a fairly typical occurrence. However, people often worry once their memory starts to fail as it has traditionally been believed in the medical world that frequent memory failure might be the first step in the development of a major degenerative disease such as Alzheimer's.

Recently, more…