The Health News United Kingdom December 9 2017

• According to a new study, air pollution from road traffic is putting unborn babies’ health at risk. A team led by Imperial College London used national birth registers to study more than 540,000 births in Greater London between 2006 and 2010. An analysis of the data found that increases in traffic-related air pollutants were associated with 2%-6% increased odds of low birth weight and 1%-3% increased odds of being small for gestational age.
• The Health Secretary is to announce plans to hire five hundred more NHS cancer experts amid warnings of a looming “crisis” in the workforce. Jeremy Hunt will make the pledge as he says more than 6,000 people are alive today who would have died without recent improvements in cancer mortality rates. He will unveil plans to speed up cancer diagnosis, so patients can start treatment sooner.
• Mental health charity Mind has warned more than one in three (38%) people who have been in hospital after experiencing a mental health crisis feel they were discharged too early.  A mental health crisis is defined as any situation in which a person feels they need urgent help relating to their mental health, such as having suicidal thoughts or attempting to harm themselves or others. The new survey from Mind also uncovered one in five (21%) said they were given no notice at all that they were going home.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 9th of December 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/health/traffic-pollution-unborn-babies-health-risk/

According to a new study, air pollution from road traffic is putting the health of unborn babies at risk. A team led by Imperial College London used national birth registers to study more than five hundred forty thousand births in Greater London between two thousand six and two thousand ten. “Since the vast majority of the most toxic vehicles on our roads are diesel cars and vans, the UK Government must introduce a national ‘remove and replace’ diesel vehicle policy to protect the health of children – both born and to be born.” Queen Mary University of London researchers estimated average monthly concentrations of traffic-related pollutants by looking at the mother’s home address at the time of birth.

An analysis of the data found that increases in traffic-related air pollutants were associated with two  to six per cent increased odds of low birth weight and one to three per cent increased odds of being small for gestational age.

This study suggests that damaging effects of air pollution start well before birth. The study, published in the BMJ, found no evidence that exposure to road traffic noise was linked to birth weight but the authors said they “cannot rule out that an association might be observed in a study area with a wider range of noise exposures”. Researchers said the findings apply to other cities across the UK and Europe and are calling for policies to improve air quality in urban areas.….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/05/ss/

The Health Secretary is to announce plans to hire five hundred more NHS cancer experts amid warnings of a looming “crisis” in the workforce. Jeremy Hunt will make the pledge as he says more than six thousand people are alive today who would have died without recent improvements in cancer mortality rates. He will unveil plans to speed up cancer diagnosis, so patients can start treatment sooner. Late diagnosis is one of the reasons why Britain lags behind most developed nations in cancer survival.

A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed the UK to have the eleventh worst mortality rates among all thirty five countries, with rates similar to the Czech republic and Lithuania. But Mister Hunt will tell the Britain Against Cancer conference that improvements since two thousand ten mean six thousand five hundred people are alive today who owe their lives to improvements in NHS care.

It follows the announcement of plans to introduce a maximum four week wait for diagnosis by two thousand twenty. Health officials said that since two thousand ten, the number of people seen by a specialist for suspected cancer has more than doubled, with a forty nine percent increase in diagnostic tests. The figures show that the number of patients starting treatment for cancer as a result has risen by twenty four percent since two thousand ten. However there are growing concerns about shortages of NHS staff to carry out tests.
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Fiona Hazell, from the charity Breast Cancer Now, said: “While we have seen significant advances in recent decades, we believe that progress on breast cancer is now stalling.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/one-in-three-mental-health-patients-discharged-from-hospital-too-early-charity-warns_uk_5a268672e4b07324e8407c0d?utm_hp_ref=uk-health

A charity has warned more than one in three people or thirty eighty percent who have been in hospital after experiencing a mental health crisis feel they were discharged too early.
A mental health crisis is defined as any situation in which a person feels they need urgent help  relating to their mental health, such as having suicidal thoughts or attempting to harm themselves or others. The new survey from mental health charity Mind also uncovered one in five at twenty one percent said they were given no notice at all that they were going home.

This even happens when people have been an inpatient for a long time, with one in three people at thirty three percent in hospital for more than a month saying they were given less than forty eight hours’ notice that they were being discharged or no notice at all. Two out of five people at thirty seven percent surveyed said there was no plan for their further care and support after leaving hospital, contrary to official guidelines. According to Mind, the days and weeks after leaving hospital after a mental health crisis are critical.

People are at high risk of suicide in the first week after leaving hospital and if they are unsupported they could become unwell again and end up back in hospital. Therefore, is important that care plans for ongoing support are made before people leave. But the survey of more than one thousand two hundred people who have previously been in hospital after a mental health crisis found less than half at forty four percent said managing their mental health or self-care was considered in plans for leaving hospital. In addition, only half of people at fifty one percent said their accommodation needs were considered in any plans and less than a third at twenty nine percent said money and benefits were considered.