Measles: Greater Manchester Reports Recent Spike in Confirmed Cases

Doctors have urged people in Greater Manchester to make sure they and their children are vaccinated against measles after a sharp recent increase in cases. Public Health England said there had been 32 confirmed cases across Greater Manchester so far this year. At the end of January there had only been five confirmed cases. "The majority of the cases are in unvaccinated children,"...

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Satisfaction With NHS 'Hits 11-Year Low'

Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to its lowest level for over a decade, a long-running survey suggests. The British Social Attitudes poll of nearly 3,000 people found 53% of in England, Scotland and Wales were satisfied with services last year. That is a three percentage point drop since 2017 and the lowest level since 2007. A peak of 70% was seen in 2010. Experts said...

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Being a Couch Potato is 'Bad for the Memory of Over-50s'

Watching television for more than three-and-a-half hours a day could leave adults with a deteriorating memory, a study suggests. Tests on 3,500 adults over 50 found that verbal memory decline was twice as bad in couch potatoes, compared to lesser TV watchers, over six years. Our memory naturally gets worse as part of the ageing process. But this happened faster the more TV was watched,...

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Adolescent Health: Teens 'More Depressed And Sleeping Less'

Adolescents are more likely to feel depressed and self-harm, and are less likely to get a full night's sleep, than 10 years ago, a study suggests. Yet smoking, alcohol and anti-social behaviour - often linked to mental health problems - were less common for 14-year-olds in 2015 than in 2005. Factors behind mental health problems may be changing, the University College London researchers...

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'Tiniest Baby Boy' Ever Sent Home Leaves Tokyo Hospital

A baby boy who weighed just 268g (9.45oz) at birth has been released from hospital in Japan, and is believed to be the smallest boy in the world to have been successfully treated. The baby was born by emergency C-section in August, and was so small he could fit into a pair of cupped hands. The infant was nurtured in intensive care until he was released last week, two months after...

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Pesticides, Other Environmental Pollutants Advance Progression of ALS

While exact causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remain unknown, new research shows pesticides and other environmental pollutants advance the progression of the neurodegenerative disease. The latest study from the University of Michigan ALS Center of Excellence, recently published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery Psychiatry (a BMJ journal), supports the group's 2016 research...

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Prenatal Vitamins May Reduce the Risk of Autism in High-Risk Families

Researchers at the University of California have found that mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be able to reduce the risk of autism in further offspring by taking prenatal vitamins during their first month of pregnancy. Study author Rebecca Schmidt and colleagues believe this is the first study to suggest that maternal use of prenatal vitamins may reduce ASD recurrence...

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