World Down's Syndrome Day and Lucy Harris

World Down's Syndrome Day is observed on March 21st. This post is a few days past that date, but never mind. Lucy Harris is a five-year-old who was born with the condition, and her father Terry Harris is a photographer. The Harris family have compiled a photographic exhibition to mark World Down's Syndrome Day and it has opened in Peterborough. I invite you to watch the videoclip on this BBC news webpage and share it with your friends to help more people to understand Down's Syndrome better.

Anti-psychotics double the risk of pneumonia in the elderly

BBC News reports that Dutch researchers find that use of anti-psychotic drugs in the elderly doubles the risk of potentially fatal pneumonia. An expert report last year found that these drugs are responsible for up to 1,800 deaths in the UK every year and Ministers have said they want to see a significant cut in their use. What I want to see is Ministers putting a legal curb on the use of these drugs, which are overwhelmingly prescribed with no benefit whatsoever to the patient/victim.

Tell me, WHY are doctors (mainly paid by the State, i.e. paid by taxpayers) allowed to prescribe these harmful drugs for no good reason, and by means of the drugs allowed to damage the health of patients and cause them to die sooner than they otherwise would?

Why aren't the guilty doctors arrested and charged with Grievous Bodily Harm or Drug Abuse or some other appropriate charge and punished with the full rigour of the Law?

Is it because the State tacitly favours ending the lives of its citizens who are no longer part of the work force? Or is the explanation even more sinister?

Campaign group says least 100,000 non-medical staff in NHS trusts have access to confidential patient records

See BBC News report.

Marinating a steak in red wine or beer can cut down the number of cancer-causing agents produced when it is fried or grilled, research suggests.

Marinating 'may cut cancer risk'
article on BBC News website

Extract:

"Meat cooked in this way contains relatively high levels of cancer-causing compounds called heterocyclic amines (HAs).

However, Portuguese researchers found HA levels in steak were lower if it was steeped in alcohol before cooking."

Low levels of the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D, may contribute to chronic pain among women, scientists believe.

Pain 'linked with low vitamin D'
Article on the BBC News website (UK)

Reducing intake of salt/sodium also reduces chronic pain associated with being overweight.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See Sodium in foods

There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease, experts believe.

Link between Parkinson's Disease and Pesticides
There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease, experts believe. It comes as another study, published in the BMC Neurology journal, has made the link to the neurological disease. The US researchers found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times higher risk after studying 600 people.
Read article at BBC News (UK)

A commonly-prescribed drug, Avandia, for type 2 diabetes, may increase the risk of brittle bone disease, say researchers.

Diabetes drug link to weak bones

Extract from BBC News:

"A commonly-prescribed drug for type 2 diabetics may increase the risk of brittle bone disease, say researchers.

Tests on mice found that rosiglitazone (Avandia), which is used to boost the effects of insulin, could be interfering with new bone formation."