# Health news 19th-21st June 2010



## Northerner (Jun 21, 2010)

*Cobham man gets on his bike to highlight diabetes fight*
A 78-year-old man from Cobham has modelled for a photography exhibition cataloguing the different lives of diabetes sufferers. Gordon Mills, who has type one diabetes, took part in the A Portrait of Diabetes exhibition, posing on his beloved 1960 Triumph 350 Twin motorcycle. Diabetes UK mentioned.

http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/8227269.Cobham_man_gets_on_his_bike_to_highlight_diabetes_fight/

*Obese scots blamed for soaring ?58m bill to treat diabetes *
THE cost of drugs to treat Scotland's soaring diabetes epidemic has more than doubled in eight years. There were more than 2.7 million NHS prescriptions in 2008-09 for drugs to treat the condition, costing the taxpayer ?58million. In 2000-01, there were just 1.5 million prescriptions, costing ?24million. Stephen Fyfe, Diabetes UK Scotland, quoted.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/h...ng-58m-bill-to-treat-diabetes-86908-22346859/

*Learning disabled care is 'worse'  *
Mencap has developed a charter for learning disabled patients' care 

People with learning disabilities receive worse healthcare than the rest of the population some doctors and nurses believe, according to a charity. Mencap has found almost half of doctors and a third of nurses from a poll of poll of 1,084 think this is the case. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8746802.stm

*Four cups of coffee a day 'reduces risk of oral cancer'*
Drinking four cups of coffee a day could protect against oral cancer, according to a study. According to research moderate consumption of tea or coffee can reduce your chance of death from a heart attack by at least a fifth Photo: ALAMY Researchers found regular coffee drinkers were 39 per cent less likely to develop oral and pharynx cancers than those who didn't drink coffee. It follows a similar study by Japanese scientists who tracked patients' drinking habits for 13 years and who found those downing at least one cup a day were much less likely to get tumours than those who hardly ever drank coffee.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...coffee-a-day-reduces-risk-of-oral-cancer.html

*GW Pharmaceuticals launches world's first prescription cannabis drug in Britain*
PA Sativex, a ground-breaking cannabis-based drug for treating symptoms of multiple sclerosis, was approved in Britain on Friday, lifting GW Pharma's shares 11pc to a four-year high of 141p. GW Pharma said the drug, which will be sold in Britain by its licensee Bayer, would cost the National Health Service (NHS) ?125 for a 10 millilitre vial - enough to last the average patient just over 11 days, Reuters reports.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...st-prescription-cannabis-drug-in-Britain.html

*Councils offer Nintendo Wii games and free slippers to elderly*
Nintendo Wii, the best selling games console, has for the first time made it into the top 20 most popular items to appear on young couples' wedding lists. The move, part of National Falls Awareness Week, is said to prevent the cost to the taxpayer of council-funded home care or full-time nursing because of trips or falls. Gloucestershire County Council is offering older people a chance to play fitness games on a Nintendo Wii while Telford & Wrekin Council is running a Sloppy Slipper Exchange where old pairs of slippers can be swapped for new ones for just ?2.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/e...o-Wii-games-and-free-slippers-to-elderly.html


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