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Almost 500 workers have been offered anti-viral drugs following the outbreak of avian flu on the Bernard Matthews poultry farm in Holton, Suffolk.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the 480 people included workers and those involved in the clean-up.

Six people who developed flu-like symptoms underwent tests, but tested negative for avian flu, the HPA said.

It added it was continuing to monitor the situation locally, working with Defra and the Bernard Matthews company.

Nearly 160,000 turkeys were culled at the firm’s Holton plant after the potentially fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu was discovered on 3 February

The HPA said that as a precautionary measure, a small number of workers involved in the cleaning and decontamination process were still taking anti-viral medications.

Dr Jonathan Van Tam, a flu expert at the Agency, said: “The risk of any workers testing positive for avian flu has been, and remains, very low as they have followed all the necessary precautions in terms of protective clothing and hygiene measures, and have been offered antiviral drugs.”

Originaly from Source

As Ewan McGregor walked into the orphan care centre in Malawi the children began to sing their song of welcome.

They are some of the half a million youngsters who’ve lost one or both parents to Aids.

This was McGregor’s first visit as Unicef ambassador - a five day packed schedule visiting hospitals, community projects and people’s homes.

At the orphan affairs unit, we met scores of children whose lives had been turned upside down by Aids.

I hope I can use my position to highlight the needs of the children here Ewan McGregor

Yet with the education, finance and guidance they get here they are upbeat about the future, not downcast.

The centre helps look after younger siblings while they attend school.

We met a group of 50 teenagers who’ve formed their own parliament.

They have “MPs” in all the surrounding villages.

Together they discuss problems and provide support, counselling and sexual health advice. Many are HIV positive.

Children orphaned by Aids are encouraged to use theatre, dance, writing and painting to express how the disease has affected them.

‘Mind-boggling’

But Ewan McGregor also saw how Aids is robbing children of their youth.

We met Salome, who’s 12. Both her parents died of Aids-related diseases, so now she is sole carer for her four-year-old brother and her blind grandmother.

Ewan McGregor plans to use his trip to spread awareness back in Britain

And wherever we travelled in Malawi we came across similar stories.

Aids is wreaking havoc in Malawi. Some of the health statistics here are mind-boggling.

One in five children die before they are five. One in eight women die in childbirth. And average life expectancy has plummeted to just 39 years.

There are 70,000 children in Malawi who are HIV positive.

Almost all were infected at birth, the virus passing from their mother. Only now are anti-retroviral drugs becoming available here which can dramatically improve the chance of a baby staying free of the disease.

One mother, Esnort, who’s 32 weeks pregnant, allowed us to witness her HIV test.

She waited 15 minutes and then the result came back. She has the virus.

At least now Esnort and her baby will receive the drugs which should keep them healthy.

And there’s another crisis here. Malawi is facing its worst food shortage in over a decade.

Millions are dependant on food handouts. Hunger and HIV make a potent combination.

Both suppress the immune system - together they accelerate the onset of Aids-related disease.

Ewan McGregor was clearly deeply affected by all he saw. “I hope I can use my position to highlight the needs of the children here”, he said.

“When I return to Britain I can give talks and help fund-raise for Unicef.

“I will know what I’m talking about because I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

“British people are very generous but it’s very hard to keep such causes in the public eye. Just a small amount can make a big difference.”

McGregor is planning a motorbike trip from John O’Groats to Cape Town and hopes to visit Unicef projects along the way including meeting again some of the remarkable children here.

Originaly from Source

WHO: Jaine L. Darwin, PhD, a private practitioner in Cambridge, Mass., and Walter E. Penk, PhD at Texas A & M University

WHAT: Presentations will address the positive effects of work for returning soldiers and describe how reservists and their extended families are affected by the multiple deployments in the wake of September 11, 2001 and the war in Iraq at the American Psychological Associations 115th Annual Convention

WHERE: Moscone Center
747 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Third Floor-West Building, Room 3005

WHEN: Saturday, August 18. Session 2291, 2:00 3:50 PM

BACKGROUND: Coping with the aftermath of war is challenging for returning soldiers and their families. Psychologists will offer ways for individuals and their families to handle post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems that may arise.

Darwin will present the estimated numbers of family members affected by the deployments and describe a program she co-directs, SOFAR: Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists, that aims to build resilience in families and help soldiers and their families adjust to the ways a family changes after a deployment. The program also offers ways to prevent or lessen trauma in children of families experiencing a deployment.

Penk will present several models of work therapies that have been effective in treating acute stress disorder and PTSD resulting from trauma in war. These models teach individuals to overcome their helplessness by (1) increasing a sense of mastery in coping with the challenge of living; (2) overcoming isolation and avoidance; (3) providing meaning in work and purpose in life that has been changed by trauma and traumatic loss in war and in killing.

These models are endorsed by the VAs strategic mental health plan of the Veterans Health Administration and are being empirically validated by VA researchers for combat veterans returning from war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the worlds largest association of psychologists. APAs membership includes more than 148,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare. More…

New weekly web talk radio show “Solutions to Aging” premiers Tuesday, August 7, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tropic Wave Radio.net. Hosted by Stuart Spangenberg, LCSW, PA, optimal wellness and longevity coach, this one hour show will feature interviews with health professionals, anti-aging luminaries and developers of advanced health and beauty products from around the world.

ADVERTISEMENT

Melbourne, Florida (PRWEB) August 5, 2007 — Stuart Spangenberg, LCSW, PA, hosts a new one hour talk show on Tropic Wave Radio.net premiering Tuesday, August 7 at 9:00 p.m. “Solutions to Aging” (www.SolutionstoAging.com) will reveal secrets to longevity and age reversal focusing on the latest research in medicine, nutrition science, body hygiene, exercise, skin care, oxygen supplementation, home water purification, mental and spiritual practices. Every week health experts will be interviewed with the purpose of informing and teaching the listening audience how to turn back the biological clock and maintain a youthful appearance, optimum health, vigor and vitality.

Stuart Spangenberg relates: “After pursuing an anti-aging program in earnest since age 40, I tried numerous products that promised a lot, but turned out to be a waste of money. Now, after eight years of trial and error, I wanted to share with my coaching clients the things that really deliver results.”

This led to the development of Solutions to Aging.com, which provides free information on age reversal, including books, articles, products, the latest nutritional supplements as well as links to anti-aging resources.

“After all of my own research over the years, I was surprised just how much is now known about slowing and even reversing the aging process. With my website I wanted to create a clearing house of resources for my clients and other health seekers. The radio show on Tropic Wave Radio.net is a natural extension in my goal to educate the over-forty audience about optimum health, longevity and age reversal.”

“Solutions to Aging” on Tropic Wave Radio.net will appear weekly on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. and features a live video feed. Each radio show will be archived and available for download at www.SolutionstoAging.com.

# # #

Stuart Spangenberg
321-726-0982
E-mail Information

Trackback URL: http://prweb.com/pingpr.php/SGFsZi1Qcm9mLVByb2YtU3F1YS1UaGlyLVplcm8= More…

THURSDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) — “Smart” devices that communicate
health information to doctors and family may soon be commonplace, thanks
to new technology announced by the University of Florida and IBM.

The technology could eliminate the need for some doctor's visits by
regularly updating physicians on their patients' health information –
such as blood pressure, temperature or respiration — by text message or
e-mail. This information could also help share real-time information about
a person's health or well-being with absent loved ones.

“We call it quality-of-life engineering,” Sumi Helal, professor of
computer engineering and the project's lead UF researcher, said in a
prepared statement. “It's really a change of mindset.” More…

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The bill will pave the way for Scottish GPs to get a new UK wide contract, giving them greater flexibility in their working hours and in the services they provide to patients.

Most people don’t realise that GPs, known as ‘Primary Care Provider’ in health jargon, are not employed by the NHS.

They contract with the health service as independent employers and businesses.

In a recent ballot of GPs, nearly 80% voted in favour of the new contract.

As well as getting a guaranteed budget increase of 33% over the next three years, doctors will be given more choice over the services they provide.

Practices specialise?

Some practices may specialise in certain treatments. GPs will also be able to opt out of providing 24-hour cover for their patients, with responsibility for out-of-hours cover being handed over to local health boards.

The British Medical Association has given the deal a warm welcome.

The contract promises billions more for general practice

It says the new deal will cut down on bureaucracy and paperwork, allow GPs to manage their workload better and help them deal with the increasing demands placed on primary care, caused by the move to treat more people in the community rather than hospitals.

The BMA says the deal is much needed.

It points out that the profession is facing a ‘recruitment crisis’, with vacancies running at the highest levels for years.

Decline in GP numbers

The number of GPs in training is on the decrease, falling from 330 a year in 1990 to just 284 in 2002/03.

“We need to attract medical students into the family doctor sector”, the BMA says, and the new contract will help do that.

But this week some MSPs expressed doubts about the contract.

The Scottish Socialist Party pointed out that GPs being independent from the NHS was part of a historic compromise dating back to when the health service was first set up.

It was a way to get sceptical doctors on side.

Socialist health spokesperson Carolyn Leckie says it’s time to bring GPs fully into the NHS fold as employees rather than contractors.

She is worried that the new flexible working practices could mean cuts in services to patients.

Highland Lib Dems Jamie Stone and John Farquhar Munro are also concerned about the effect the new contract could have on out-of-hours services for their constituents.

Politics Show

This week The Politics Show Scotland looks at the new GP contract and asks whether it will help doctors and patients.

Have your say

What are your views - Let the Politics Show know by using the comment form below.

The Politics Show will be looking at the issues which have hit the headlines.

Tune into the Politics Show Scotland, on BBC One on Sundays at Noon, with reporter Amber Henshaw and presenter Glenn Campbell.

Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.

Originaly from Source

I have been told I have end stage disease - which means I’m terminally ill, although I prefer to call it a life-limiting disease.

After all we all start dying from the moment we are born - we just go a different speeds.

I am on oxygen 24 hours a day which is fed through a nasal tube.

At the last count, there are 32 different drugs which keep me alive - it seems that for every drug you take you need two others to control the side-effects.

I am on two types of morphine to control the pain in my lungs when I breathe. The pain is a bit like having a rat gnawing on my lungs.

The pain is a bit like having a rat gnawing on my lungs.

I also have angina, gout, osteoarthritis, and many allergies. Nonetheless, I feel that life is worth living.

At the end of the day life is what you make it. It’s not easy, but you have to stay positive.

And if you stay positive then your life extends. I was told I wouldn’t live till I was 30 but I have.

‘I must carry on’

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been taken into intensive care.

I know that I must carry on, especially for the sake of my two wonderful sons Craig and Daniel.

Friendship is also very important. I met a wonderful friend called David who has terminal liver cancer through the Help the Hospices movement.

He’s my soul mate, a buddy, and we help keep each other positive.

‘No right to take a life’

I am opposed to the bill on Assisted Dying for many reasons.

First there is the risk of it being abused.

Then there’s the pressure it would put on other people to help kill you.

It’s written in the Ten Commandments, “thou shalt not kill” and you’ve no right to take another person’s life.

Then there’s always new medical research. Look at stem cells. Someone you love might kill themselves and then the next day you read there’s a cure and how would you feel then?

I do get depressed. I call them my black dog days and I’m at the bottom.

Then I think I have a mum and dad and children and I know I must carry on. There’s so many things I still want to do. I have a wish list.

My son Daniel composes and plays the piano and we both enjoy musicals.

I’ve been to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang but I’d love to see Mary Poppins.

There’s still so much to do.

Originaly from Source

A public meeting has been called in a final attempt to save a medical co-responder service in Cornwall.

Trained firefighters are called out to medical emergencies to administer first aid before the ambulance crew arrives.

The service on the Lizard costs 30,000 a year, but no-one so far has been able to guarantee the money for 2007.

The fire brigade can no longer afford to pay for the service and funding from Kerrier Council will soon run out. Each call out costs about 100.

The South West Ambulance Services Trust has also said it does not have enough money to pay for the service.

Steve Prior, the trust’s director of operations, says more than 200 people on the Lizard were helped by co-responders last year.

He said if the service vanishes, it will be replaced with volunteers known as First Responders.

The public meeting is being held in Mawgan in Meneage village hall at 1930 GMT on Friday.

Originaly from Source