Health Advice

The government’s Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has unveiled plans to create a £50 million cancer fund, to help patients access drugs not currently available on the NHS.

The new programme, starting in October 2010, will give greater powers to doctors working in local groups, who will be able to decide how funding is spent in their areas. Most importantly, doctors will be able to improve the quality of life for cancer patients by offering them non-NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) approved medication.

This funding is an interim measure, as it has also been revealed that a new fund for cancer drugs will be launched in 2011.

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Due to the urgent need to cut the budget deficit down to size, the government has been cost-cutting in nearly every department. Although ministers said they would not cut the budgets of frontline services like the NHS, they are still planning some important changes.

In brief, these include the following:

• £80 billion of funding will be given to GPs to manage care in their areas
• Primary care trusts will be scrapped by 2013
• Foundation Trust hospitals will allowed more freedom to treat private patients and boost income
• Health Watch, a patient champion body, will be set up
• Patients will be given more control over their medical records and care, and they will also be allowed to communicate with their doctor via email
• Hospitals will be forced to inform patients of mistakes made during their care

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You may have heard the term ‘superfood’ bandied about as much as certain newspapers like to accuse every type of food of causing cancer, but what exactly are these superfoods and why are they so good for us?

A superfood is said to be one with a high phytonutrient content, offering numerous health benefits. A good example of this kind of food is blueberries, which have high levels of:

• Anti-oxidants
• Anthocyanins
• Vitamin C
• Dietary fibre

Whilst these foods may be healthy and good for you, professional nutritionists rarely go as far as to call them ‘superfoods’. These experts believe that the term is used far too much as a marketing ploy.

So, are these ‘superfoods’ healthy? Yes. Will they give you superpowers or cure diseases? Definitely not.

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The Met Office has issued its first heat-health warning of 2010, as temperatures are expected to soar this weekend and at various points throughout the summer.

A Met Office spokesperson has said:

“While there is the possibility of daytime temperatures reaching trigger households, it is the night time values which are of real concern. High humidity and the lack of any breeze could make matters worse for people with underlying health problems.”

Most at risk from heatstroke, sunburn and existing medical conditions being made worse by the heat are young children and the elderly. The NHS is advising these people to cover up with loose, breathable clothing, to drink plenty of water and have cool washes should the temperatures become too much.

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