Prostate cancer vaccine wins US approval 
 Courtesy of BBC news at 12:24 GMT, Friday, 30 April 2010 13:24 UK
The cancer vaccine is not a "cure" for prostate cancer
A "vaccine" which harnesses the body's own immune system to fight prostate cancer has been approved
for use by US drug regulators.
Provenge - which is designed to be used in men with advanced disease - is the first
of its kind to be accepted by the Food and Drug Administration.
Each dose has to be individually tailored and it is an expensive treatment at $93,000 per patient.

DACC invite you to please click on this link below to BBC news website for full article news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8654039.stm

Drumm outlines major healthcare revamp

[Posted: Thu 29/04/2010 by Niall Hunter, Editor] Courtesy of Irish Health

HSE CEO Prof Brendan Drumm has outlined the health executive's plans for reorganising how care is to be delivered between hospitals and the community.

He said the changes will result in rapid access for patients to all hospital facilities. The plan also involves concentrating major acute care in 18 acute hospitals.

For full article please click link to Irish Health.com      www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=17242

Harney issues warning over HSE action

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 18:03 Courtesy of RTE news

Minister for Health Mary Harney has said that she cannot justify people in the Health Service Executive being paid when they are not doing their jobs, and said that situation cannot continue.

Please click on this link for full article www.rte.ie/news/2010/0428/pay.html

Courtesy of the Irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 17:20

Waiting list times at historic low

To read article please click on this linkwww.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0428/breaking56.html

Page last updated at 23:32 GMT, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 00:32 UK
Courtesy of BBC News
Bowel cancer test could save many lives, study suggests 
By Clare Murphy
Health reporter, BBC News 

Not all polyps will turn into cancer
A five-minute, one-off screening test could prevent thousands of people dying from bowel cancer every year, a study published in the Lancet suggests.
To read full article please click on this link news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8647103.stm
 

Outsourcing lab tests slammed

[Posted: Tue 27/04/2010 by Niall Hunter, Editor] Courtesy of Irish Health. com

Laboratory technicians have slammed the policy of outsourcing of medical lab testing outside the country.Marie Culliton, President of the Academy of Medical Laboratory Science (AMLS) said it has been a short-sighted polocy to outsource cervical screening testing outside Ireland to a US firm."Waiting lists for patients have not been shortened. The bottleneck has simply moved from waiting for a result to waiting for a smear to be taken."Addressing the Biomedica 2010 conference in Dublin, Ms Culliton said the competence to provide cervical screening laboratory service has been decimated within this country."The intellectual capacity that took 40 years to build up in this country was written off at the stroke of a pen. The decision has led to the exporting of high worth, skilled jobs. This is not smart for a knowledge economy," she said.

Please click on this link to read full article www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=17227

Page last updated at 11:22 GMT, Monday, 26 April 2010 12:22 UK
 Courtesy of BBC news
If you smoke too much 'blame your genes', say experts 
 
A nicotine addiction drives some people to smoke more than others
Smokers who find it hard to cut down or quit may be able to blame their genes, new research suggests.
Scientists identified three genetic mutations that increase the number of cigarettes people smoke a day.
And several genes appear to dictate how likely you are to take up smoking and how easily you can quit.
Three separate studies collected data from 140,000 people, with the results published in the journal Nature Genetics.
A previous study two years ago found a common single-letter change in the genetic code linked to nicotine addiction and lung cancer risk This new research confirms this discovery and also pinpoints two more genetic variants that seem to increase cigarette consumption among smokers.

Lung cancer risk
The new single-letter mutations, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, lie in regions of the DNA molecule containing genes believed to influence nicotine addiction.
Smokers who want to quit should not wait for treatment tailored to their genetic make-up
Amanda Sandford, ASH
In smokers, each copy of the variants was associated with a small increase in smoking consumption equivalent to about half a cigarette a day.
However they also conferred a 10% increase in lung cancer risk, raising questions about their effect.
It is not clear whether the variants simply drive people to smoke more, or increase susceptibility to cancer as well.
The University of North Carolina, Oxford University and Icelandic company deCODE were all involved in the research.
Dr Kari Stefansson, researcher and executive chairman of deCODE, stressed that smoking is bad for anyone's health.
"But it is even worse for some, and our discoveries continue to strengthen our ability to identify who those people are and give them a compelling reason to quit."
Amanda Sandford, research manager at ASH, a public health charity, cautioned that any potential benefits from this research were still a long way in the future.
"Smokers who want to quit should not wait for treatment tailored to their genetic make-up.
"There is an abundance of advice and treatments available already to help people stop smoking," she said.

State-funded St Vincent’s used as private collateral

HSE in dispute with the hospital group over loans which funded a new building, car park   By MAEVE SHEEHAN  Sunday April 11 2010

THE state-funded St Vincent’s University Hospital was put up as security against bank loans to fund a new building in the hospital’s private wing and a new car park.The charge was secured by Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank over all the assets of St Vincent’s Healthcare Group, which controls the public and private hospital as well as St Michael’s in Dun Laoghaire. The HSE is understood to have taken exception to the fact that a public hospital funded by the taxpayer was included as collateral against bank loans. The health authority has asked the hospital to have the banks’ charges over the public hospital rescinded before it releases the funds for a new building for cystic fibrosis patients, according to sources.

For full article please click on this link   www.independent.ie/national-news/statefunded-st-vincentrsquos-used-as-private-collateral-2133766.html

Arsenic offers hope of blood cancer cure

• By - Tan Ee Lyn Irish Independent Saturday April 10 2010

Scientists in China have demonstrated how arsenic -- a favourite murder weapon in the Middle Ages -- destroys deadly blood cancer by targeting and killing specific proteins that keep the cancer alive."Unlike chemotherapy, there is no hair loss or suppression of bone marrow (function). We are interested in finding out how arsenic can be used on other cancers," lead researcher Zhang Xiaowei at the State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics in Shanghai, China, said yesterday.

Arsenic was regarded in the past as the king among poisons because its symptoms can often go undetected.In China, however, it has long served a dual purpose. Apart from intentional poisoning, it has been used for at least 2,000 years in traditional Chinese medicine.However, the actual workings of arsenic and how it interacts with cancer tissues has never been clear -- until Zhang and his colleagues used modern technology to find out.

Health costs falling

[Posted: Fri 09/04/2010 by Niall Hunter, Editor] Courtesy of Irish Health

Health costs fell by 0.4% in the year to March 2010, according to latest Consumer Price Index statistics from the Cental Statistics Office (CSO).A major decrease in the cost of prescribed drugs was recorded in the 12 months to March.The overall deflation rate in the economy was 3.1% for the same period, according to the CSO. The overall rate of deflation is reducing, having reached 6.5% last September.

The statistics show that the cost of prescribed drugs decreased by 12.8% in the past year. Doctors' fees decreased by 2.2% in the year to March, although dental fees increased by 14.5% over the same period.This increase reflects the removal of State subsidies on dental care in early January.The CSO statistics also show that health insurance costs increased by 8.7% in the year to March

Drive to speed up child brain cancer diagnosis 
By Emma Wilkinson Health reporter, Courtesy of BBC News 

Symptoms of brain tumours can be vague
UK doctors are to get new guidelines on diagnosing brain tumours in children, in order to tackle delays in treatment.
Specialists have produced a set of recommendations for GPs and hospitals on when to consider a brain tumour and what tests are needed.
Diagnosis now takes three times longer for UK children than those in the US, Switzerland and Poland, the Archives of Disease in Childhood reports.
Delayed treatment increases the risk of life-threatening complications.
Around one in 600 children under the age of 16 will be diagnosed with cancer, a quarter of whom will have a tumour of the spine or brain. For full article please click on this link news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8611903.stm
 

Clinic denies using patients as pawns

[Posted: Thu 08/04/2010 by Niall Hunter, Editor] courtesy of Irish Health.com

The private hospital at the centre of a row that has led to a threatened withdrawal of radiotherapy care for public cancer patients has denied that it is using patients as a pawn in the dispute.The radiotherapy service providers at the Whitfield Clinic in Waterford, UPMC, have said they will no longer be able to provide this service for new public patients from May 1 unless agreement is reached on a new contract for care provision with the HSE.Since the row was made public yesterday, contact has been made between senior HSE officials and the Clinic with a view towards reaching agreement on a new contract before May 1. The HSE said today it had agreed a process of engagement with UPMC at Whitfield Clinic in order to resolving outstanding contractual issues.A consultant in Waterford Regional Hospital and the HSE have already accused the Whitfield Clinic of using patients as pawns to gain leverage in the dispute.

For full article please click on this link  www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=17139

A&Es facing closure over shortage of junior doctors

Several hospital emergency departments may have to close or curtail opening hours because of a serious shortage of junior doctor staff, senior medics warned yesterday.
"If emergency departments cannot provide a safe service, they should be closed or have their opening hours restricted to periods when they can provide a safe service," warned Dr James Binchy, spokesman for emergency consultants.
A combination of factors have left emergency departments understaffed this year as junior doctors failed to apply for posts in their usual numbers, opting to go abroad for training and better pay in many cases.
Non-EU doctors are also having to endure more red tape with their visas as a result of regulations from the Department of Justice.
Dr Binchy, of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine, said the problem was worsening and the hospitals worst hit were Naas General Hospital; Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe; Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar; Kerry General Hospital, Tralee; and Letterkenny General Hospital.
But he warned: "Almost every emergency department in the country has been unable to recruit its full complement of medical staff.
"Where there are alternative emergency departments in reasonable proximity, it may now be necessary for hospitals that cannot safely staff them to close or limit their opening hours."
The HSE said yesterday that patient safety was of "paramount concern".
"The HSE is working closely with individual hospitals to address their needs in this area. The HSE is putting in place a number of processes to address the issues," said a spokesman.

- Eilish O'Regan Irish Independent Wednesday 7th April

Page last updated at 23:59 GMT, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 00:59 UK
Courtesy of BBC news 
 
Crackdown on MOT-style body scans
 
Detailed images of the body are taken using a CT scanner
Companies have been told to stop offering whole body and lung scans under a new regulation regime.
The Department of Health is introducing the tougher rules after a boom in so-called MOT-style scans.
Computerised Tomography (CT) scans are advertised as an MOT for people who want to be checked for illnesses.
But experts say there are risks to having unnecessary scans. They can be up to 400 times more powerful than a chest X-ray.
For whole article please click on this link news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8605126.stm

Page last updated at 23:00 GMT, Friday, 2 April 2010 00:00 UK
Courtesy of BBC News
 
Blocking gene boosts cancer killing radiotherapy 
Radiotherapy is a commonly used cancer treatment
A gene which hinders the ability of radiotherapy to kill cancer cells has been detected by UK researchers.
The team found that if they blocked the POLQ gene - which has a role in repairing damaged DNA - radiotherapy was more effective.
It is hoped that the discovery, which came about after a trawl through 200 candidate genes, could lead to new drugs to boost radiotherapy.
The findings are published in the journal Cancer Research.
Many thousands of cancer patients will have some form of radiotherapy as part of their treatment, and it is estimated to contribute to 40% of cases where cancer is eliminated.
The next stage is to translate this discovery into a treatment that will benefit patients

Professor Gillies McKenna
The researchers from the University of Oxford said tumours can differ widely in the way they respond to radiotherapy - but the reasons for these differences are largely unknown.
In order to find a potential target for increasing the chances that radiotherapy would work, they looked specifically at genes involved in repairing DNA damage.
After pinpointing the POLQ gene, they found that blocking it in several different types of cancer cell in the laboratory, including laryngeal and pancreatic tumours, rendered the cells more vulnerable to the effects of radiation.

Selective
Previous research had shown that the POLQ gene is not particularly active in normal healthy tissue.
Doing the same experiment in healthy cells, the team found that blocking the gene did not have any effect on the sensitivity of normal tissue to radiation.
The researchers said the fact that the POLQ seemed to more abundant in cancer cells than normal cells made it a good target for boosting the effects of radiotherapy.
Study leader Dr Geoff Higgins, a Cancer Research UK scientist at the Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, said: "We've sieved through a vast pool of promising genetic information and identified a gene that could potentially be targeted by drugs to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy.
"Blocking the activity of this gene resulted in a greater number of tumour cells dying after radiotherapy and provides new avenues for research."
Professor Gillies McKenna, director of the institute, added: "The next stage is to translate this discovery into a treatment that will benefit patients."
 

Put cancer vaccine drive off until after holidays, urge GPs

• Friday April 02 2010 Courtesy Irish Independent

Health Minister Mary Harney's decision to begin giving the cervical cancer vaccine to first-year school students after Easter means the girls are in danger of being on summer holiday when the second of three jabs which are needed is due, doctors warned yesterday, writes Eilish O'Regan.

Paula Gilvarry, spokeswoman for public health doctors in the Irish Medical Organisation, said the vaccine, which is licensed here, must be given in three shots -- the first injection is followed with a second jab two months later, and the final injection is given six months afterwards.

If Ms Harney goes ahead with the programme for 30,000 schoolgirls, beginning later this month, the students are in danger of being on their summer holiday when they need their second jab some time in June, she warned. She appealed to the minister to postpone the start of the programme until the beginning of the new school year in the autumn.

She also warned that public health staff in every region were now under huge pressure because of the moratorium on recruitment and were struggling to cope with other priority vaccinations against measles and TB.

However, a spokesperson for Ms Harney said yesterday: "As previously stated by the minister, the cervical vaccine programme will commence before the summer.

"The commitment to provide the vaccine to girls currently in first year stands."

The issue is expected to come up for debate at next week's annual conference of the Irish Medical Organisation, where the effects of the moratorium on recruitment in the health service are set to be debated.

Experts say they take up is better if the vaccine is administered in schools rather than clinics.

Australian the frontrunner for top job in health service

• Friday April 02 2010 Courtesy Irish Independent

He is a troubleshooting Australian who has overseen reform across his native country -- and he is now the top tip to take over the running of the Irish health service.

Mick Reid, the director general of Queensland Health in Australia, is one of three candidates for the job as chief executive of the Health Service Executive.

He has extensive experience, having worked with the World Health Organisation to improve health services in New Zealand , Hong Kong, Cambodia and East Timor.

He spent five years as director general of New South Wales Health and was chief of staff to the Office of the Minister for Health and Ageing.

He oversaw reform right across Australia and has worked with several governments in areas of health policy, science and medical research.

He has emerged as the frontrunner after former cancer tsar Prof Tom Keane decided to withdraw as a candidate due to lack of agreements on funding and the ending of the moratorium.

Prof Keane is due to resume his old post in Canada, where he has spent most his professional life and where his children live.

Mr Reid was born in Sydney and was once the owner-operator of a milk run in Canberra.

He has his own consulting company and also worked for some years in indigenous art, including as craft adviser to Bathurst Island off Darwin.

The opening of the Olympics in Sydney was the highlight of his career and he unwinds by running.