# Health news 21st July 2010



## Northerner (Jul 21, 2010)

*Over the Rainbow star follows a different kind of brick road *
Welsh Over the Rainbow contestant Claire Hillier is preparing to swap the yellow brick road for Tarmac to raise money for Diabetes UK Cymru. Claire, pictured, from Blaengarw, Bridgend, has signed up for the Lloyds TSB Cardiff Half Marathon as her brother-in-law Mansel Jones has Type 1 diabetes. Although a running novice, she will be joined by her husband Phil, Mansel, his partner Amy Nelson and her brother-in-law Gerwyn Jones and his partner Abby Hopkins. Diabetes UK Cymru mentioned.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbi...-different-kind-of-brick-road-91466-26886977/ 

*Diabetes drug 'victory' is really an ugly story about incompetence*
This week the US Food and Drug Administration voted not to ban GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug rosiglitazone (brand name Avandia). Their vote has been reported as a victory for the company. I don't think so: this saga tells an ugly story about our collective medical incompetence. Rosiglitazone was first marketed in 1999. From the outset it was a magnet for disappointing behaviour. That first year Dr John Buse discussed an increased risk of heart problems at a pair of academic meetings. He was silenced. GSK made direct contact, then moved on to his head of department. Buse felt pressured to sign various legal documents and after wading through documents for several months, in 2007 the US Senate committee on finance released a report describing the treatment of Dr Buse as "intimidation".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/17/ben-goldacre-diabetes-drug

*Postcode for kidney patients in getting on transplant list: research*
Kidney patients needing a transplant are be facing a postcode lottery to even get onto the waiting list for a donor organ, research has found. A study has found large differences in the proportion of people put on the waiting list for a transplant when they begin kidney dialysis. In some areas a quarter of patients are put on the waiting list within two years of starting their kidney dialysis treatment, as their own organs begin to fail. But in others more than two thirds are on the list within two years. This could not be explained by differences in the severity of illness, the study published online in the British Medical Journal found.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...s-in-getting-on-transplant-list-research.html

*Obese women are more likely to give birth early: research*
Women who are overweight or obese when pregnant are one third more likely to give birth early, researchers have warned. Obese women risk many complications when pregnant, including giving birth prematurely, research has found. Photo: PA Maternal obesity is a growing problem in Britain as the proportion of overweight adults in the general population increases. NHS labour wards have had to buy bigger beds, widen doors and are carrying out more caesarean sections on women who are overweight because of the extent of the problem.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...more-likely-to-give-birth-early-research.html 

*HIV rate 'soars' among over-50s*
There has been a big increase in the number of people aged 50 and over catching HIV, latest figures show. The over 50s infection rate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland more than doubled in under a decade - from 299 new cases in 2000 to 710 in 2007.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10701792

*Being anxious about your relationship leads to heart problems*
Researchers have found that people who feel insecure or anxious about their lovers are nearly 50 per cent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those happy with their partner. Dr Lachlan McWilliams of Acadia University in Canada looked at a study of more than 5,645 adults aged 18 to 60 and found that people who felt insecure in relationships or avoided getting close to others might be at a higher risk of developing several chronic diseases

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...our-relationship-leads-to-heart-problems.html


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