Tag: wellness

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

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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

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Scotland’s still far better care for those with breathing problems

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In the Observer today: Lung disease patients waiting up to 10 years for diagnosis in poorer areas of England Coincidently in the sister paper, the Guardian, in September 2023, we had this report on the same concerns. It seem little has happened in the years of Johnson, Truss and Sunak. Today in the Guardian: Overlooked lung conditions could create ‘deluge of hospital admissions this winter’ in England, with GPs unable to offer basic lung function testing, report findshttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/26/thousands-with-breathing-problems-going-undiagnosed-due-to-lack-of-tests When I read this, I was reminded of this in September 2019: In Nursing Standard yesterday this horrific news: Asthma patients are putting their lives … Continue reading Scotland’s still far better care for those with breathing problems