Tag: wellness

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European Union Drugs Agency – drug deaths ‘must be understood as underestimations’ (as in England) proving that Scotland is only the ‘Drug Death Accurate Reporting’ capital of Europe

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Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method – Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421 By JB We all saw the MSM headlines yesterday: “ although Scotland’s drug deaths fell they still ‘remain’ the highest in Europe”. Based on what comparable statistics? From AI…”Comparable statistics allow for systematic evaluation, hypothesis testing, and data-driven decision-making by identifying similarities and differences between groups or phenomena. To be comparable, data must either be collected with  standardised methods and definitions  or have undergone a thorough assessment of differences in methodology to … Continue reading European Union Drugs Agency – drug deaths ‘must be understood as underestimations’ (as in England) proving that Scotland is only the ‘Drug Death Accurate Reporting’ capital of Europe

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Risk of dying from cancer falls by 11% in Scotland and performance leads that in England so Express headline story to claim we’re ‘lagging behind England’ today is a disgusting piece of lying propaganda and fake news to undermine SNP

johnrobertson834

Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor  John Robertson OBA The Daily Express today has a front page of awesome dishonesty, of an order that a Nazi propagandist might have baulked at: SCOTLAND LAGS ‘SERIOUSLY’ FOR CANCER TREATMENT I’ve no idea who said ‘SERIOUSLY’ but I doubt their reliability. As the Express leads, low IQ-style, with the total number increase, Here are the facts about that: First, the RISK of dying from cancer in Scotland fell by 11% From the Public Health Scotland report which the Express has based its distortions … Continue reading Risk of dying from cancer falls by 11% in Scotland and performance leads that in England so Express headline story to claim we’re ‘lagging behind England’ today is a disgusting piece of lying propaganda and fake news to undermine SNP

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Scotsman’s confusion on cancer scanning ignores major progress

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Scotsman‘s David Bol, today, has a frontpage masterclass in confusion. It seems to be about one NHS nurse claiming she’s had to go private for some unspecified cancer ‘check‘ and who is warning that ‘someone could die‘, presumably from delay in that ‘check‘. Before you can ask what the cancer in question is, so that we might look at the published figures, Bol charges straight into a piece about the apparent problem of cervical cancer screening uptake not hitting the 80% target. So, if there are delays in the cancer ‘check‘ this one nurse has … Continue reading Scotsman’s confusion on cancer scanning ignores major progress

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‘North Scotland among highest rates of Huntington’s’ – yes, but why?

johnrobertson834

Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland and STV today have short reports on the higher level of Huntington’s disease in the North of Scotland but with no useful content to inform and to educate readers in the manner they often claim to do, leaving readers with just another ‘Scotland is ****’ story that they can quietly associate with 18 years of SNP-rule. When I saw this, I thought straightaway, vitamin D deficiency, as with MS, also more prevalent in the north. While as yet not conclusive, emerging evidence can be found: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are common in older … Continue reading ‘North Scotland among highest rates of Huntington’s’ – yes, but why?

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Daily Record’s two ‘brave’ women’s experience does not undermine NHS Scotland’s ‘excellent ovarian cancer services across Scotland’

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Two deeply upsetting reports in the Daily Record today, I know, but you cannot base an evaluation of a service treating almost 500 patients every year, thousands in the last few years, on the experience of two. You can see from the above, latest data, that several waiting time targets are beaten year after year, that 7 out of 11 targets are met and that the others, especially the very important numbers 9 and 10, come close. This enabled an evaluation, based on evidence, of: The QPI results indicate that overall, the quality of ovarian cancer services across Scotland is … Continue reading Daily Record’s two ‘brave’ women’s experience does not undermine NHS Scotland’s ‘excellent ovarian cancer services across Scotland’

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BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

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This morning BBC Scotland, at 6:30am, report: Currently three out of five people with a group of cancers characterised as ‘less survivable die within a year of diagnosis. New analysis shows the average one-year for survival rate for this group of cancers, which includes lung, liver and brain cancer, is just 39% in Scotland. The overall cancer survival rates across the country show 71% are still alive after 12 months. I don’t know about you but I took that contrasting 39% in Scotland and 71% across the country to mean that the UK survival rate was 71% and the Scottish … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

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Lib Dumbs have another go at making up the numbers to reveal police Scotland staff have well below UK level of absences for ‘psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and stress’

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Today, on BBC Reporting Scotland, faithfully repeating what’s in 1919, an online mag with no peer-review and no standards of referencing, dedicated to representing uncritically the views of the police officers’ trade union and any opposition politician who will help them claim they’re hard done by, in Scotland: The number of working days lost to mental ill health in Police Scotland has surged by more than 50 per cent over the past five years. Since 2019, officers and staff have taken a total of 440,630 days off due to psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and stress. The findings come amid … Continue reading Lib Dumbs have another go at making up the numbers to reveal police Scotland staff have well below UK level of absences for ‘psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and stress’

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Chronic pain treatment levels now even higher than before pandemic but you’d never know that if you relied on BBC Scotland’s Fiona Stalker

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today: During the quarter ending 30 September 2024, 5,315 patients were referred to a consultant-led chronic pain clinic. This is an increase of 2.8% compared to the previous quarter, when 5,170 patients were referred. Referrals to a chronic pain clinic are now higher than during 2023, when on average 4,990 patients were referred each quarter. Referrals are also higher than the levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic when on average 5,197 patients were referred each quarter during 2019. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/chronic-pain-waiting-times/chronic-pain-waiting-times-quarter-ending-30-september-2024/ BBC Scotland haven’t reported on chronic pain since 2020 when they found three folk … Continue reading Chronic pain treatment levels now even higher than before pandemic but you’d never know that if you relied on BBC Scotland’s Fiona Stalker

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Potentially fatal hypothyroidism far more common in Scotland, on the prevailing sea currents from Sellafield than in England, especially London

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Many thanks to reader Alan Gordon for alerting me to this. From the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, in October 2024, Hypothyroidism:How common is it?: A review article notes that the prevalence of overt hypothyroidism in Europe varies between 0.2–5.3%, depending on the definition of hypothyroidism used. A retrospective analysis of General Practice data in the North East of England (n = 66,843) found the overall single-point prevalence of treated hypothyroidism was 4.5% in 2016. A review of UK national databases found the prevalence of treated hypothyroidism increased from 2.3% (1.4 million) to 3.5% (2.2 million) of the total … Continue reading Potentially fatal hypothyroidism far more common in Scotland, on the prevailing sea currents from Sellafield than in England, especially London

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US ferry firm used toxic paper coating on tickets with risks to children including behaviour problems, cancer and disrupting hormone levels in fetuses

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From our regular ‘Imagine CalMac did this in Scotland’ series Yesterday in the Kitsap Sun of Seattle, Washington State, USA, GDP twice that per head of Scotland: Ferry riders may want to wash their hands after being handed a receipt for a car-and-driver fare, made with a paper that’s now in the process of being phased out. After a state worker flagged a potential safety hazard, this month Washington State Ferries will be the first state agency to phase out “thermal receipts” which contain the potentially harmful substance bisphenol [BPA].  https://eu.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2024/11/19/washington-state-ferries-ditches-chemical-laden-receipts/76342951007/ Yes, yes, they’re phasing them out but imagine the … Continue reading US ferry firm used toxic paper coating on tickets with risks to children including behaviour problems, cancer and disrupting hormone levels in fetuses