'As
a service provider to the Medical Profession, we feel
it is useful to have a topical web page where busy doctors
would have the opportunity to catch up with information
and views covering subjects which affect their world.
We
would welcome additional contributions from active doctors
as well as from other sources.
Spring 2010
Dr
Frank Says......
Breast Cancer Vaccine?
A team from The Cleveland Clinic Learner Research Institute
has developed a vaccine that prevents breast cancer
from developing in mice. They report in the journal
Nature Medicine that they are now proposing trials in
humans but stress that a vaccine for general use is
perhaps five years away. The US at present has approved
two anti-cancer vaccines, one for cervical cancer and
the other for liver cancer.
Junior Hospital Doctor shortage leads to Recruitment
in India
Tighter immigration controls over the last few years
has lead to many doctors from the Indian sub-continent
returning home or working in the US. This shortage has
been made more acute by the European Working Time Directive.
The NHS now finds there will not be enough junior doctors
to fill all the posts in August. The need for juniors
is most acute in rural areas. The first interviews have
been by The Welsh Deanery and the interviews were held
in Kolkata.
Plans for Free prescriptions
Professor Ian Gilmore, president of The Royal College
of Physicians has been looking at the present system
and presented his findings, the most important of which
is that anyone with a condition likely to last for six
months or more should get free prescriptions. The coalition
government has said that it will not make a decision
until the autumn spending review.
Heart Attacks fall after Smoking Ban
A team from Bath reports in The BMJ that hospital admissions
for myocardial infarction fell by 1200 admissions in
the year ending July 2007. The study, the largest to
date, was the most comprehensive of any smoke-free legislation
anywhere in the world. The team also says it expects
the benefits to improve in the coming years
New uses for Two Drugs
A study reported in The BMJ shows that bevacizumab (Avastin),
used to treat Ca bowel is of great use in the treatment
of age related macular degeneration. A study in the
Lancet shows that Allopurinol, used in the treatment
of gout, is also beneficial in the treatment of angina.
Breast implant problems again
Poly Implant Prostheses (PIPs) made in France, have
been found to be filled with an unapproved gel and are
missing protective barriers. About 50,000 women in the
UK have these devices. The French company has gone into
administration.
Liver grown in the laboratory
A team from The Massachusetts General Hospital reports
in Nature Medicine that it has grown a rat liver. The
team used the same technique as that used in Spain to
produce a larynx in 2008 - which was the first human
tissue engineered whole organ transplant.
NHS e-records
A team from University College London has found that
early evidence from users shows little benefit and that
to fulfill its potential the system will require an
enormous effort and be of very high cost.
A new simple test for Down's soon
A team from The Netherlands has reported at the annual
meeting of The European Society of Human Reproduction
and Embryology that it has developed a maternal blood
test for fetal chromosome disorders. It uses the same
basic technique as currently used in amniocentesis.
Call to stop NHS funding of homeopathy
By a large majority, delegates at the annual BMA conference
in Brighton have voted to stop funding on the NHS. The
Department of Health says a review in under way.
Vetting of foreign graduates
Also at the BMA meeting delegates expressed concern
over doctors with a poor command of English being allowed
to work in the UK.
And finally…………….
The psychiatrist shows the patient an ink blot and asks
what he sees. "Two big breasts" is the reply. Then another
ink blot. "What do you see this time?" "A naked woman
bending over" is the reply. "Wow you're really sex obsessed",
says the psychiatrist. "No more than you," says the
patient. "You're the one showing me the dirty pictures."
Please
let us let us have your constructive observations on
this page and any views covering other subjects. E-mail,
website@locumlink.uk.com
or drfrank@locumlink.uk.com
. These can be published under a pseudonym for further
comment.
Ed