# Health news 24th February 2011



## Northerner (Feb 24, 2011)

*'Intolerable' bed-blocking crisis threatens NHS*
The "chronic under-funding" of care homes, a growing shortage of places and a rapidly ageing population will mean that more vulnerable people have nowhere to go but hospital for the care they need. If current trends continue, almost 100,000 of 170,000 NHS beds will end up being filled by elderly people who are well enough to be in residential care. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...erable-bed-blocking-crisis-threatens-NHS.html 

*Most locked-in patients 'happy'*

The majority of people with locked-in syndrome are happy, a small French study suggests. The disease "traps" people in their own body, able to think, but incapable of moving or talking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12551753

*Tiny laser 'detects signs of skin cancer'*

The device fires a double laser beam, with less combined energy than a laser pointer, into a suspicious mole, then analyses the locations of different skin pigments. Scientists then look at the amount of eumelanin in the pigments - which is present in greater amounts in potentially cancerous tissue. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8343874/Tiny-laser-detects-signs-of-skin-cancer.html

*End of the yo-yo diet? Scientists discover key protein which piles the weight back on*
Yo-yo dieters who pile on the pounds as soon as they relax their regime could soon be offered a helping hand. Obesity doctors believe they can spot which women will be more vulnerable to weight gain after coming off a diet, after linking the characteristic to levels of a protein in their blood.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...sts-discover-key-protein-piles-weight-on.html


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