UK researchers say study shows stopping long-term use of the drugs is possible at scale without costly therapy
Almost half of long-term antidepressant users could stop taking the medication with GP support and access to internet or telephone helplines, a study suggests.
Scientists said more than 40% of people involved in the research who were well and not at risk of relapse managed to come off the drugs with advice from their doctors.
Continue reading...Music teacher Nathaniel Dye, 38, who had spoken about delays for treatment, gave update on Tuesday
A man who had a terminal cancer diagnosis, and who described Labour as “the party of hope for a brighter future I won’t live to see” at the party’s manifesto launch, is now cancer-free.
Nathaniel Dye, a 38-year-old music teacher, was diagnosed with stage four incurable bowel cancer in October 2022, and tumours were understood to have spread to his lungs, liver and lymph nodes.
Continue reading...UK government deal struck at height of pandemic described as ‘colossal misuse of public funds’
An estimated £1.4bn-worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) bought by the government in single a deal has been destroyed or written off, according to new figures described as the worst example of waste in the Covid pandemic.
The figures obtained by the BBC under freedom of information laws showed that 1.57bn items from the NHS supplier Full Support Healthcare will never been used.
Continue reading...WikiLeaks X account has tweeted that ‘Julian Assange is free’. Follow today’s news headlines live
‘It’s just a lazy delay’
Bill Shorten says a further delay of the Senate vote on the NDIS bill won’t actually lead to any changes:
There’s no good reason on God’s green earth to have another eight weeks of review, which isn’t actually eight weeks.
There won’t be a whole lot of new submissions come in, there won’t be some brand new arguments not considered.
I’m horrified after 12 months of reviewing the NDIS and then another six months of discussing the review including [in] the last three a Senate committee having public hearings calling for submissions.
The opposition has used words never ever said before by them.
Continue reading...Greens leader Adam Bandt accuses Labor of wanting to make ‘cuts to services’ for disabled people
Bill Shorten has accused the Coalition of a “disingenuous” and “lazy” decision on NDIS reforms, after the opposition proposed to team up with the Greens to delay a bill set to save at least $15m a day.
But the minister for government services’ plea to pass the bill before parliament’s winter break has been rebuffed by the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, who said it was “appalling” Labor wanted to make “cuts to services” to disabled people.
Continue reading...Biden and Harris give forceful campaign statements blaming Trump for ending right to abortion access
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris marked the second anniversary of the US supreme court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade with forceful campaign statements that laid the blame squarely on Donald Trump for ending the national right to abortion.
In a video released on Monday, Biden pledged to restore the right to an abortion and “protect American freedom” if he is re-elected.
Continue reading...Health service in England issues update saying there is ‘no evidence’ hackers published entire database
Stolen data published online has been confirmed as having come from the NHS provider Synnovis, NHS England has said.
Synnovis, which manages blood tests for NHS trusts and GP services, primarily in south-east London, was the victim of a cyber-attack – understood to have been carried out by the Russian group Qilin – on 3 June.
Continue reading...Prime minister faces claim Tories are ‘stealing the candlesticks’ on the way out of government
After a passage in his speech attack Labour on familiar grounds, Rishi Sunak also hit out at Reform UK.
[Reform UK] are not on the side of who you think they are.
Reform are standing candidates here in Scotland that are pro independence and anti monarchy.
Continue reading...Premier announces state will trial pill testing during summer festival season, saying evidence shows it ‘works’
Victoria will trial pill testing this summer, the premier Jacinta Allan has announced, after a spate of drug overdoses at festivals in the first quarter of 2024.
Allan announced via an Instagram post on Monday night that the move was a “simple and commonsense way to save lives”.
Continue reading...Government’s original proposal would have made vapes a prescription-only product but Greens raised concerns about criminalising users and cost of seeing a GP
Plain-packaged vapes will be sold over the counter at pharmacies as a therapeutic tool under amendments to the Albanese government’s crackdown on vaping products.
Greens amendments to the model, which will now allow access to vapes as a medical product without a prescription, also include an eight-month amnesty period after concerns about criminalising users. The legislation is expected to pass parliament with the Greens’ support this week, shortly before the new system comes into effect on 1 July.
Continue reading...Only ‘urgent’ tests to go ahead in short term after hospitals in south-east London hit by Russian gang’s seizure of data
Patients denied a blood test because of a Russian cyber-attack on the NHS may have to wait up to six months to have their sample taken, the Guardian has learned.
The delays are so long that some patients have decided to pay to have their blood taken and analysed by a private clinic rather than remain on the NHS waiting list.
Continue reading...Exclusive: AMA president says party’s push to regulate vapes like cigarettes is a ‘tax grab’ that shows ‘complete disregard’ for health
The Australian Medical Association has accused David Littleproud and the Nationals of taking the advice of the tobacco lobby over health experts on vaping and accused the junior Coalition party of seeking “to gamble with people’s health”.
Ahead of a crucial vote on the government’s anti-vaping restrictions in parliament this week, the AMA president, Prof Steve Robson, claimed the Nationals’ suggestion of regulating vapes the same way as cigarettes is “a tax grab that shows a complete disregard for the health of Australians”.
Continue reading...Boxer says ex-fighters suffer poor health and that he hopes to help them as part of his sports legacy
Anthony Joshua has said he is considering opening a care home for retired boxers with health problems.
Speaking to Lauren Laverne on Sunday’s episode of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the former world heavyweight champion said he had discussed issues faced by ex-fighters with his former boxing coach, John Oliver.
Continue reading...Study suggests exposure to chemicals manufactured to resist water and heat likely to affect health of offspring
New research has found for the first time that PFAS “forever chemicals” accumulate in the testes, and the exposure probably affects children’s health.
The toxic chemicals can damage sperm during a sensitive developmental period, potentially leading to liver disease and higher cholesterol, especially in male offspring, the paper, which looked at the chemicals in mice, noted.
Continue reading...NHS England says its ambition to wipe disease out by 2040 relies on more under-50s coming forward
Women have been urged by NHS officials to attend cervical screenings after figures showed a third of those under 50 do not take up their invitation.
Each year, about 3,200 women in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 850 die from it. It is the 14th most common cancer affecting women in Britain, with women aged 30 to 34 most likely to be diagnosed with it.
Continue reading...Cafes, fast-food outlets, restaurants, bakeries, pubs and supermarkets accused of fuelling the obesity crisis
Some takeaway meals contain more calories in one sitting than someone is advised to consume in an entire day, a study of British eating habits has revealed.
Cafes, fast-food outlets, restaurants, bakeries, pubs and supermarkets are fuelling the UK’s obesity crisis because so many meals they sell contain dangerously large numbers of calories, it found.
Supermarket meal deals – usually comprising a sandwich, snack and drink – contain on average 780 calories, more than the 600 advised.
Burgers are the most popular takeaway dish in England, Scotland and Wales, followed by chips, fries or wedges.
People consume an average of 300 calories a day in takeaway food and drink.
Non-alcoholic drinks, especially coffee and fizzy soft drinks, contribute 12% of all the calories consumed by people in out-of-home premises.
Continue reading...Labour leader says he would refuse to participate in negotiations for another independence referendum if he is elected PM
Speaking of Nigel Farage: the Reform UK leader has praised the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate for being an “important voice” for the emasculated and giving boys “perhaps a bit of confidence at school” in online interviews that appear to be aimed at young men over the past year.
The Guardian’s Rowena Mason and Ben Quinn report:
Continue reading...Women should be tested for gestational diabetes before 14 weeks, say academics
Pregnant women should be tested for diabetes much earlier than the current practice of doing so between 24 and 28 weeks, according to research.
Gestational diabetes, a form of the condition that only develops in pregnancy, affects thousands of women in the UK and one in seven pregnancies worldwide. It is the most common medical pregnancy complication and occurs when a hormone made by the placenta stops the body from using insulin effectively, leading to elevated blood glucose levels.
Continue reading...The contaminants have also recently been found in testes and semen amid concerns about falling male fertility
Microplastics have been discovered in penises for the first time, raising questions about a potential role in erectile dysfunction.
The revelation comes after the pollutants were recently detected in testes and semen. Male fertility has fallen in recent decades and more research on potential harm of microplastics to reproduction is imperative, say experts.
Continue reading...Food Foundation says height of five-year-olds falling, child obesity up by a third and type 2 diabetes by a fifth
Children across the UK are getting shorter, fatter and sicker amid an epidemic of poor diets, food insecurity and poverty, according to a report warning that millions are facing a “timebomb” of avoidable health conditions.
The average height of five-year-olds is falling, obesity levels have increased by almost a third and the number of young people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has risen by more than a fifth, the report by the Food Foundation said.
Continue reading...