Vitamins bad for your health?

Or a biased study?...........




A yahoo report today;http://uk.news.yahoo.com/28022007/140/vitamin-pills-increase-risk-death.html states that rather than helping increase your life expectancy, taking Vitamins A and E increases your risk of death! I've put a comment at the end of this article.


Millions use antioxidants Beta carotene and Vitamins A and E across the globe and it
has previously been alleged they helped protect against heart disease and cancer.

Scientists in Denmark, now say that antioxidants "significantly increase mortality". BUT critics said the finding was based largely on studies of people who were already chronically ill before they were treated with supplements!

The study related only to synthetic supplements and not to fruits and vegetables, which are natural and contain less concentrated levels of antioxidants.

Researchers did not pinpoint any biochemical mechanism that may be behind the increased death risk. But it may be that "by eliminating free radicals from our organism, we interfere with some essential defensive mechanisms," the study concluded.

The report stated that those taking Beta carotene and Vitamins A and E had a 5% higher death risk than those not using them.

It also found no evidence that Vitamin C increases longevity. Although Selenium tended to reduce mortality, more research is needed on that topic.

Speaking as someone who takes vitamins (not A or E but C), I'm always interested in these sorts of articles but this one has been taken out of context and reported correctly but incorectly, if you see what I mean? The results are absolute and truthful however this report needs to be added to many others before a declaration is made about the vitamins concerned.

1-66, so what is the question?

A) The speed my first ever car would travel in approximately 3o minutes? (Not 10 seconds like most modern cars!)..... ....Ah and there is my first car.

B) The numbers of the houses in my street?

C) The odds you could get on Helen Mirren walking away with the OSCAR for best actress for playing Queen Elizabeth II ........... No, that is Helen Mirren playing Betty I, I said Queen Elizabeth II! ....That's better.

The answer is A............No, it is actually A and C to be honest with you but A is only correct if you are going downhill. Yes one bookmaker is giving the staggering odds of 1-66 whereas others are being more cautious with 1-14. Dame Judy Dench has decided not to even turn up to this year's event and instead is staying at home while recovering from a knee op. Don't blame her to be honest. I feel rather sorry for Kate Winslet though, if only it was any other year then maybe she may have been more lucky? maybe there should be a catagory in the oscars for those who have multiple nominations and never seem to be the cats that get the cream? Penelope Cruz and Meryl Streep are also in the same catagory but lets be fair, Meryl has lots of awards, as does Judy and Penelope is a stunning woman and can afford to wait a while longer for an oscar and personally I don't like her as an actress anyway. There are better acresses in the supporting role for instance Jennifer Hudson who I've liked since American Idol days (Does it show I'm a big Idol fan?)

I am not going to be blogging with the results as the come up as I really cannot be bothered to stay up till the early hours, but if the bothersome mouse makes an appearance in my house then I may be up and about. We shall see.

Good luck to KATE and JENNIFER.

http://www.oscars.org/

Deadly trip

Yesterday evening 84 year old Margaret Masson from Glasgow died and eight others were seriously injured when several carriages were left on their sides after the Virgin London to Glasgow service derailed at Grayrigg, near Kendal in Cumbria UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6392181.stm

The link is for the story in pictures which were taken this morning at the remote site which could only be reached by a single track road. Obviously that made things much harder for the rescue services who struggled to get to the passengers - But DID!

The focus at the moment is on the points but as of yet there is no definative reason as to why the Pendolino type of train derailed. It was travelling at 95mph and is capable of travelling at 125mph and is one of those 'tilting' trains which makes journeys more comfortable normally and in fact Virgin who run this service have an excellent safety record.

My thoughts go out to those affected by this however, a heart-rendering concern which happened over on the other side of the world was the funeral for the twenty-three unidentified people who lost their lives in the Indian train fire caused by a bomb last Sunday. The reasons were quite simply because the bodies were beginning to decompose and if families come forward and can prove identification via DNA at a later date, the bodies can be exhumed and re-buried. Both Islamic and Hindu religious verses were recited during the sombre ceremony in the village of Mehrana in Haryana.

68 people died in total last Sunday. I wish them well as they leave this life and head onto the next.

Amreican Idol

Thought I'd lighten the mood up as I'm mouse infested and could do with a break right now.

http://www.americanidol.com/

I have really enjoyed American Idol or shold I say I loved it up till last year and then it blipped big time when the grey ferret or whatever he's called won the show.

I don't have a favourite as of yet and so I can be completely impartial. It looks as Chris Sligh, who is a larger than average, geeky looking, curly haired....(Oh that's it - A bit like Alan Davies for the Brits who haven't seen him,) odd looking young man with a good voice, well he appears to have a strong fanbase and if you've got one of those then you have the battle half won............Antonella somebody has had some pictures posted of her over in the states and alledgedly she's pi**ed as a fart and not showing her best. It was when she was 21 so the moralists are on to it!.......Blake Lewis is a 'Hottie' but I cannot recall him at this moment in time? Don't always need a good voice do they though?

American Idol is on tonight at 8.30pm on ITV2

Auditions over, 2 boys and 2 girls go out. Who's going to be in the dogpound and who's going home!

Giveth with one hand.....

And taketh away with the other.

1,600 British troops will soon be coming home from Basra but what's this?

"More UK soldiers for Afghanistan"

Why and how many?

1000

This is according to a BBC News report ; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6388717.stm

Afghanistan is a frightening country and I cannot understand why we should send any more troops when it is in my opinion a dead end cause. The Taleban have been fighting in that country for decades and if the Russians and their mighty power could not cause a surrender then how the heck are the might of the current peacekeeping force plus an extra one thousand men and women going to help matters?

The one aspect that people in this country are possibly not thinking about is also how much does it cost to keep 6000 troops in Afghanistan, 7000 if the rumours are to be believed? Then we have our brave soldiers in Iraq too. I would never knock the bravery of those who are out there but I just cannot fathom out the cost of all of this.

No wonder the hospitals and schools have so little money?

Still no date?

Yesterday I was full of hope that Blair would announce a date for the removal of our troops from Iraq. Call it one of the last acts of honour before he resigns as leader at some point this year and Gordon the so called 'leader in waiting' takes over.
But no, 1,600 service people will be coming home which has got to be a good thing however we are swapping them with Prince Harry. I imagine those already serving hope he's good!
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=642&id=286822007

Back to being serious. I was hearing a statistic today that 800 civilians per week die in Iraq. Who are we, the Americans and our fellow allied troops protecting? That's an unfair question because terroists play dirty games, nevertherless, I remember this being talked about before 'we' invaded?

What is the answer? I don't know. My grandmother, s German single mother, got together with my grandfather, a British army officer, while he was based out in Germany. Some Germans still did not accept the way the way the war had ended and did not accept English squadies in it's towns and cities.

60 years on we still have troops in Germany.

Our boys coming home

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6373087.stm

BBC News reports that finally our troops will be coming home soon from Iraq now that the Iraqis are taking the the lead in frontline security in Basra. All is "completed" and "successful"., Tony Blair is quoted saying!

My feelings on the whole Iraq business are very mixed because I didn't like the fact that we had troops over there in the first place and then yesterday I happened to be going past the church (by pure chance), when the 100th British soldier was having his service of rememberence before being laid to rest. I don't talk openly to my American friends for fear that my feelings would be in conflict with theirs and I so not want to offend? I don't know how differently we all feel and how strongly anyone feels? It's a hard call.....But the truth is I've hated this whole affair. The 45 minute rule business led to the suicide of a man who was never able to explain himself but who was made to look guilty by our government.......In fact I don't like our government but haven't liked ANY government yet!!!! The thought of the tories with their namby pamby rules getting in makes me fill with dread because as much as they are critical they would be just as bad.

So our troops will be home soon?

What about those innocents who are dying every day? Yesterday it was over 20, the day before 60 people dead......in total thousands but still not as many as Saddam had killed (Maybe?)

We still have troops in Afganistan and there is no word on when they are coming home......I'd like to hear that?

Costly remedies

Lots of puns today on our UK national health service and how apparently is is paying £500 million too much for medicines and all this is according to the Office of Fair Trading.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=437279&in_page_id=1770

How they worked this out was this, they looked at the price and of what value - sorry not value, that's another pun! what benefit iw was to patients. by looking at some sort of technical graph that us normal folk would not understand (I should imagine), OFT, worked out that some drugs were up to 10 times overpriced?

I take a medication which is not widely used in this country for nerve pain but it works for me. It may cost my GP practice a lot of money but they allow me to have to have this drug each month and because of it I have more of a life - MEASURE THAT!

Tragedy on the Friendship Express

Two bombs have killed dozens on an Indian train


Last Thursday saw a monumental breakthrough in links between Pakistan and India. The popular Samjhauta (Friendship) Express arrived in the border station of Attari, India from the Pakistani city of Lahore, marking the resumption of rail links between the two nuclear rivals after a gap of two years.
The two countries broke off most ties in 2001 after India blamed Pakistan for involvement in an armed attack on the federal parliament in Delhi

Today, that same service was hit with tragedy when two homemade bombs exploded on board killing at least 65 passengers. Television pictures showed one large plastic suitcase with wires and a plastic bottle attached. Another suitcase was stuffed with plastic bottles, which officials said contained some kind of flammable liquid, possibly petrol or kerosene.
Police said that although the explosions were relatively small, the apparent intention had been to cause a deadly fire on at least four of the trains coaches.


Most of the victims were Pakistanis but included some Indians, officials said. They described the attack as an apparent attempt to undermine the peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Pakistan demanded that India act to catch those responsible for what both governments said was a terrorist act.
The blasts happened a day before Pakistan's Foreign Minister was due in Delhi for talks with Indian leaders.
The minister, Khurshid Kasuri, said the explosion was a "horrendous act of terrorism" but it would not change his plans to visit India from 20 to 23 February.

Oooh I say Richard and Judy in the dock

UK's Channel 4 has launched an investigation into The Richard and Judy show following allegations that viewers are being cheated out of thousands of pounds in a phone-in competition.

Viewers who pay £1 a time to enter the popular You Say, We Pay competition have been encouraged to phone the premium rate number after the potential winners have been chosen, it has been alleged.

Oh deary dear! A Sunday tabloid has leaked the story and nothing good can come of that and now we all know why last Friday's competition was mysteriously pulled "because of a technical problem with our telephone supplier", (Or so viewers were told.)

'Alledgedly' 32,000 people phoned the programme in the week beginning February 5 after they had no chance of winning.

In a statement, the channel said: "We take these claims seriously and will be investigating them fully.
"Channel 4 is committed to ensuring all our on air competitions are conducted fairly and transparently and we reject any suggestion that we would knowingly mislead viewers in any way."

As if Channel 4 haven't had enough on their plates with Big Brother........What am I saying? This is going to INCREASE viewing figures isn't it!

Britney Bald

Tis TRUE...................................LOOK!

Home safe and well

The brother and sister who went missing earlier today are reported to be safe and well after they went missing from their home.

AMBER ALERT - MISSING CHILDREN

Urgent Alert over two missing children .

A brother and sister aged seven and 10 have gone missing from their home.

Police issued an urgent alert on Saturday to find Jack and Stephanie Parkes. Officers were searching with dogs and a helicopter was scrambled.

Officers said their mother had reported the pair missing from their Medway home after 1100 GMT on Saturday.

Kent Police said she woke at about 0900 GMT to find they were not in the flat in Gun Lane, Rochester. She called police after checking with relatives.

Stephanie has light brown, shoulder-length hair and is believed to be wearing black trousers, beige boots and a blue T-shirt.
Jack is believed to be wearing blue jeans and a navy top with an Adidas logo on it and blue Velcro trainers.
CCTV is being studied from the surrounding area.

Any sightings of the pair PLEASE contact Kent police.

Baby brains

An article on yahoo this morning (for full details check out) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070217/ap_on_sc/infant_amnesia;_ylt=AhuPHKXmeQZ3VKubR9sYKJLMWM0F

states that babies are capable of forming memories........unfortunately, they forget them.

It's all to do with something called ' infant amnesia' or in laymens terms the puzzling inability of people to remember events early in life. Yes that is what the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science do for those who thought of joining. Patricia J. Bauer of Duke University quotes "The reason why babies do not remember is because their rates of forgetting are faster than that of adults

Alledgedly, from the age of 6 months to 2 years,a baby's memory increases from 24 hours to a year.

The tests they base this on are to do with a cup and a block and observing the chidren to see if they will remember which one had a block put in it. though. Supposedly scientific but you can make reults like that read what you want them to read.

.
Tracy DeBoer of the University of California, Davis, said babies born to diabetic mothers are at increased risk of memory loss. Such children may have shortages of oxygen and iron before birth and that can cause impaired memory when they are growing.
That impairment did not occur in cases where the mothers' diabetes was controlled during pregnancy, she added.

Go and read the whole artifle it's very inyeresting

American Idol - FIX!

Controversy always helps viewing figures and although American Idol hardly needs a gaurantee, this will be the outcome.

Would you believe it but the millionaire mogul has now been accused of planting someone who once signed for him back in the UK into the auditions for American Idol. That someone is ex Take That backing singer. Tom Lowe who at that time had moved onto a band called North and South. Anyone recall either him nor them because neither can Simon????

Tom auditioned this year Seattle as he's now a fully fledged American citizen and wowed ALL THREE judges. At the end of the audition Tom piped up that he was at BMG at the same time as Simon! Let us remember that he has a GOOD voice everyone and not just one judge put him through.

Simon SIGNED Tom's band not just worked at the same place so there is some cause for contoversy I suppose but realistically how many jaded popstars does Simon see through his doors? This lot had four minor hits and the highest one only getting to number seven before Tom went off to do stage work in the West End; or should I say the band couldn't cut it with the big boys and so BMG probably cut THEM.

The British tabloid press love to see a hullaballoo and to even consider that maybe Tom is a plant, well they must be rubbing their hands together with glee at bringing down Simon 'smarty-high-waisted-pants' Cowell. Personally I don't see it though?

Don't the public vote for the eventual winner not the judges?

PS.......British tabloid press need to catch up with the latest news too. Watch tonight (Friday 16 February 9pm ITV2) for the result.

Viagra two up

Shy guys

Yesterday if you were a man struggling to ........''get it up" and happened to be in Manchester and also happened to be between the ages of 30 and 65, you could have visted one of three branches of Boots in Manchester because from February 14 you will be able to buy four tablets of Viagra for £50 and no longer have the hassle of going to your GP. Of course you must satisfy the pharmacist of your medical history, blood pressure and cholesterol and glucose levels are satisfactory.



Viagra used to save baby's life

We all know this 'normal' use for viagra but there is another amazing use for the little drug. Viagra has been used by doctors on Tyneside as a last resort to save the life of a premature baby.

Lewis Goodfellow was born at 24 weeks weighing just 1lb 8oz. One of his lungs had failed and not enough oxygen was able to get into his bloodstream.

His parents feared he may not survive and had even begun planning a funeral.
Doctors at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary then tried Sildenafil, also known under the trade name of Viagra, and Lewis is now home with his parents.

Ms Goodfellow said: "Doctors said he couldn't be given any more oxygen.
"They were just clutching at straws basically. They explained it was experimental and may not have any effect at all."

Alan Fenton, consultant neonatologist at the hospital, said: "The problem we see in premature babies with breathing difficulties is although we can blow oxygen into their lungs to help them, there isn't enough blood supply to various areas of the lungs to take the oxygen around the rest of the body.
"What Sildenafil does is open up the blood vessels so they can capture the oxygen and take it around the body."

Lewis was born in August 2006 and was finally allowed home in January, to the delight of his parents.

His mother said: "I don't think you could put into words how we feel.
"The doctors are worth their weight in gold. We admire each and every one of them for what they have done."

Good luck and best wishes to baby Lewis and his family who have been on every television set since this story broke yesterday! Let's hope his life is now successful with the start he's been given and with the coverage this gets let's also hope it saves other lives.

St Valentine's Day

I could not let today pass without mentioning St Valentine. I imagine most of us would like the hearts and flowers aspect of it , but how many of us know the true story of St Valentine?

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day.

Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball.
In the USA, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the date is very commercialised. The town of Loveland, Colorado, does a large post office business around February 14. The spirit of good continues as valentines are sent out with sentimental verses and children exchange valentine cards at school.

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.
The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270. At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.
The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feaSt. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.

UK = Worst place for child welfare

The UK is the 5th wealthiest country in the developed world yet according to a Unicef report announced today the UK is also the WORST place for children to grow up in.

According to the UN, we have the unhappiest, poorest, unhealthiest and most neglected children of the world's 21 richest nations. says the UK lags behind in terms of relative poverty and deprivation.

Britain also fares poorly when it comes to the quality of children's relationships with their parents and peers, child health and safety, behaviour and risk-taking and young people's own sense of wellbeing.

The country rated higher for educational wellbeing but languished in the bottom third for each of the other measures, giving it an overall placing at the bottom of all 21 countries, along with the US.

The assessment, titled Report Card 7, Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Wellbeing in Rich Countries, is the first study of childhood across industrialised countries, Unicef said.

Countries who fared better were the north European countries who dominated the top half of the table, with child wellbeing at its highest in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

Unicef UK executive director David Bull said: "All countries have weaknesses that need to be addressed and no country features in the top third of the rankings for all six dimensions.
"By comparing the performance of countries we see what is possible with a commitment to supporting every child to fulfil his or her full potential.

We have a huge divide in our country which is nicely hidden but cannot continue to be when reports like this are released. I watched a program last night about modern parenting. It showed delightful middle class people with middle class voices talking how supposedly we nowadays we are terribly busy taking children to Manderin classes at the age of two and flute and piano at the age of three but it showed nicely that pompous class divide.

Yet I know children who's parents cannot afford to put a proper dinner on the table every night!

I've just heard on a latest news report that a 'Government spokesman' has stated that "Improvements have been made but growth is still required" You're telling me! Here's some facts for you Labour government seeing as child poverty is was one area you wanted to 'fix'

FACTS:

• There are 3.6million children living in poverty in the UK today, that's one in four children

• Child poverty is THREE times higher than it was twenty years ago

• One in five children lives in a family where no one works at all

• Children born into a poor family are more at risk of being poor themselves

• One in eleven 16 to 18 are not in education, training or employment

• Children from poor backgrounds lag 14% behind better off children in eduational development at 22 months

• Diminished expectations of what of what their parents can afford lead children in poor families to reduce their own hopes and aspirations for the future

• In the school holidays the complex webs of involvement and support that is provided by schools and related agencies falls away from children's lives

Addiction

UK pop star, Robbie Williams has been admitted into a rehab clinic in the US on his 33rd birthday, to be treated for a dependency on prescription drugs. It is not the first time he has entered rebab, after leaving Take That in 1995 he became addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Pop stars, actors and those with money can afford to spend time in world renown clinics but what about those who find themselves addicted to prescription medication,other and are not so lucky? I also find this subject quite close to my heart because being a person who needs to take serious doses of serious medication, I find family members fear for me and worry for my 'addiction' which of course does not exist. There is a fine line between addiction and dependence and mine is dependence. The difference was described to me once:
Those who are addicted need to take medications either presciption or illigal, to make them feel normal or need to get that 'high' they crave; dependence is a bit like a person who takes Insulin for diabetes, you would not stop them taking Insulin would you? No. I for instance need to take pain relieving meds to relieve some unrelenting pain. It never goes completelybut that's what blogs like these are for because they help to take one's mind off!!!!!

Here's a few statistics for you;

Estimated number of regular users of heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs worldwide 50m

Annual value of the global illegal drugs trade $400bn

Percentage of the 28 musicians behind the top 10 best-selling albums of all time who have
admitted regular illegal drug use 89%

Number of children under 14 who have taken illegal drugs 14m

Percentage of banknotes in circulation in London that have traces of cocaine 99%

Annual cost to society of drug abuse in England and Wales Up to £18.8bn

Number of people in Britain who are dependent on alcohol 1 in 13

Percentage of young men and young women who binge-drink regularly 37, 23%

Number of people who have witnessed a fight after people have been drinking 7 in 10

Percentage of people in the 16-24 age group who are unable to remember if they had sex the night before 10%

Number of beds in male hospital wards occupied by someone with an alcohol-related illness
1 in 4

Number of people killed per week because of drink-driving 10

Percentage of GPs and Practice Nurses who do not know how to treat dependent drinkers 71%

Annual cost to the NHS of alcohol abuse £3bn

Anna Nicole Smith, the model who was famous for being famous, died last week from what the preliminary autopsy report stated 'No natural causes'; however there is speculation because she had several prescription drugs; Methadone, Provigil, Xanax and fentanyl found in her hotel room. Reports were that Anna Niole Smith had been drinking heavily the night before and the toxic combination could well be that the alcohol and medications could had caused her death. Methadone stays in your body a long time and Smith had been prescribed this a couple of days before because a fall in which she injured her back. It is a very strong pain medication though but who am I to judge? Anyway, if Smith was not aware of how dangerous this drug was she may had unintentionally taken more than she needed but I find that hard to believe because her own son dies of a drugs overdose?
(Methadone and Fentanyl are strong painkillers, Xanaxi s a benzodiazepine and Porvigil is a stimulant).

Addiction.............I could go on forever........

Too fat?

Don't operate on smokers and the obese says Patricia Hewitt, Britain's Health Secretary.

Unbelievably she then went on to say that it was right refuse care to those whose lifestyle choices could make treatment ineffective.

Miss Hewitt insisted the Government wanted to see people taking greater personal responsibility for their health. Oh I love it when the wordy ones use patronizing language, don't you?

It is the first time a minister has explicitly endorsed the controversial policy, which has already been adopted by some health trusts and we all know it's to do with finding ways of cutting costs as so many health authorities are in the red.

Health trusts in Suffolk were among the first to announce that obese people would be denied hip and knee replacements on the NHS and I bet they loved this announcement of Ms Hewitt's!

Personally I hate this whole business as I think it should be up to the surgeon to decide as he/she knows the patient and they are in a better position to call it than an accountant who probably smokes and is clinically obese! I'm not trying to be 'thinnest' here but could it be that there is a situation of a surgery between two people one is underweight but has blood pressure issues and food issues and and the other is obese but otherwise in perfect health? So who gets chosen?

The truth is though that in general the risks of operating on obese patients are higher and the treatment may be less effective, with replacement joints wearing out sooner. But consider the fact that the reason obesity is because of inactivity by the prospective patient who has arthritis. I have spinal condition and I'm unable to exercise, I also have an under active thyroid gland which meant I started to put on weight. I didn't have clue why I was putting on weight until the diagnosis a week ago and now that I am having treatment I I hope it will stop. Others in my position with back injuries and/or who suffer with other painful disabling conditions may not be as lucky. They cannot exercise pre operatively to loose weight but are desperate for the surgery so that they can exercise post operatively. They are in a catch 22 situation.

I've been looking for the evidence on which the Government based their reasoning's on and all I have come up is that some health trusts are already denying surgery to those with a body mass index of 30+. This figure accounts for one in five adults. I cannot find any evidence to show why people should be refused treatment if they have a body mass index of 40 or below. (Based on BMI figures.)
A British Medical Association spokesman said: "We would not want to see blanket rules. What about people who diet down from a body mass index of 40 to a BMI of 30 - would they still be denied surgery?"
Recent studies have highlighted shortcomings of the BMI measure, with experts increasingly agreeing that being heavy may not necessarily raise the risk of dying prematurely if the weight is muscle, not fat. Some doctors now suggest waist circumference, or waist-to-hip ratio, which indicates levels of abdominal fat, should be adopted as a more accurate guide. Additional fat around the abdomen releases more of the acids that raise heart disease risk.

I suspect that people will be denied treatment because of their 'lifestyles' as the health secretary puts it. It will be that simple and it is because of money and money alone. I don't care how money government authorities, voices etc come out in support of this it comes down to that one factor. But it is a case of shutting the gate once the horse has bolted.

The Government's drug rationing body, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), has said lifestyle choices - and even age - can be taken into account if they directly affect the effectiveness of a drug or procedure.
It said in a recent report: "If... self-inflicted causes of the condition influence the clinical or cost effectiveness of the use of an intervention, it may be appropriate to take this into account."

Nice one NICE!

We all know that NICE have been called into question many times in recent months because they will not sanction a medication because of cost.

If the government is going to state one rule then it should support a structure than helps those people lose weight. The giving up smoking campaign is good one and as a non smoker I find it hard to identify with smokers. I've lost both my parents to smoking related diseases and this is a total turn off. Losing weight however is something I can identify with strongly and it is hard. I've never had surgery cancelled because of my weight and I live in a authority that is 30 million pounds in the red........I suspect that now they will be using this rule though.

I'd like to know when I was struggling to find help to shed those pounds, where was my help? I keep seeing that it is available but it is sporadic and most of it based on EXERCISE - No good for those who are disabled with arthritic hips and knees waiting for transplants but who can't go on those lists now because they are obese smokers!

BAFTAS 2007 Kings and Queens

Helen Mirren won a Bafta! NO you don't say? I didn't see that one coming?

The BIG winners were -

Best film - The Queen
Best Actor - Forrest Whitikar (The last King of Scotland)
Best Actree - Dame Helen Mirren (The Queen)
Best Support Actor - Alan Arkin (Litle Miss Sunshine)
Best Supporting Actress - Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

I know Dame Helen, to use her official title, is a brilliant actress but I can't help thinking the only reason this film has won the accolade of best film is because of the subject matter? The Princess of Wales' death was a tragedy and one that a huge proportion of this nation found difficult if not impossible to deal with. I, personally took a train ride up to London and placed flowers up at the gates of Kensington Palace. I found the experience eiry and to see thousands of others feeling the same way was awsome.I queued for over 2 hours to sign a book of rememberence and made friends with people I'm never going to see again but I know how strongly people felt back then and I know that some would still carry such strong passion about this sensitive subject.

Whatever the case, the awards this side of the world are over and it's up to the Americans now.


Full List of Winners:

THE ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP - Anne V Coates

THE MICHAEL BALCON AWARD for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema - Nick Daubeny

FILM - THE QUEEN - Andy Harries/Christine Langan/Tracey Seaward

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the year - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel/Kevin Macdonald/Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film - ANDREA ARNOLD (Director) - Red Road

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction - UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Michael Arndt

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGEAPOCALYPTO - PAN'S LABYRINTH - Alfonso Cuarón/Alvaro Augustin/Guillermo del Toro

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM CARS - HAPPY FEET - George Miller

ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE- FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland

ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE- HELEN MIRREN - The Queen

ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE - ALAN ARKIN - Little Miss Sunshine

ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE - JENNIFER HUDSON - Dreamgirls

THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music - BABEL - Gustavo Santaolalla

CINEMATOGRAPHY - CHILDREN OF MEN - Emmanuel Lubezki

EDITING - UNITED 93 - Clare Douglas/Christopher Rouse/Richard Pearson

PRODUCTION DESIGN - CHILDREN OF MEN - Jim Clay/Geoffrey Kirkland/Jennifer Williams

COSTUME DESIGN - PAN'S LABYRINTH - Lala Huete

SOUND - CASINO ROYALE - Chris Munro/Eddy Joseph/Mike Prestwood Smith/Martin Cantwell/Mark Taylor

ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - John Knoll/Hal Hickel/Charles Gibson/Allen Hall

MAKE UP & HAIR - PAN'S LABYRINTH - José Quetglas/Blanca

SHORT ANIMATION FILM - GUY 101 - Ian Gouldstone

SHORT FILM - DO NOT ERASE - Asitha Ameresekere

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD - EVA GREEN

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