The Health News United Kingdom February 7 2018

• A large scale campaign to promote vaping and e-cigarettes as ‘healthy’ alternatives to smoking could help thousands of people kick the habit. An independent review has called for e-cigarettes to be licensed as medical quitting aids which would allow general practitioners to prescribe the devices to quitters. Other suggestions include allowing vaping lounges in hospitals and scrapping smoking shelters, and letting patients buy e-cigarettes in hospital shops.
• The head of the NHS has hit back at Donald Trump, saying the British people are deeply committed to a national health service which costs half that of US healthcare. At a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee about NHS cyber security, Simon Stevens asked to make “one opportunistic comment” after a day of heated debate about the US President’s claims the NHS was “going broke and not working”.
• A BBC report has revealed that people are being left in “excruciating pain” after receiving illegal teeth-whitening from beauticians. Undercover footage from the broadcaster uncovered one London beautician was using a chemical containing twenty five percent hydrogen peroxide – more than four times the legal limit qualified dentists are permitted to use when whitening teeth. In light of the report, the General Dental Council (GDC) confirmed it has seen a rise in illegal treatments across the UK.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 7th of February 2018. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/health/vaping-e-cigarettes-could-help-1169024

A large scale campaign to promote vaping and e-cigarettes as ‘healthy’ alternatives to smoking could help thousands of people kick the habit. An independent review has called for e-cigarettes to be licensed as medical quitting aids which would allow general practitioners to prescribe the devices to quitters. Other suggestions include allowing vaping lounges in hospitals and scrapping smoking shelters, and letting patients buy e-cigarettes in hospital shops.

Experts at Public Health England concluded that vaping only poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, while e-cigarettes could be contributing to twenty thousand new quits each year.

One reason behind the stall in uptake could be misconceptions about the levels of harm linked to the devices. Researchers found that thousands of smokers “incorrectly” believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking and two in five smokers had not even tried an e-cigarette. In a linked editorial, published in The Lancet, experts from PHE said: “Although not without risk, the overall risk of harm is estimated at less than five percent of that from smoking tobacco; the risk of cancer has been calculated to be less than one percent.”

Ann McNeill, lead author and professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London, said: “It’s of great concern that smokers still have such a poor understanding about what causes the harm from smoking. She stated that when people smoke tobacco cigarettes, they inhale a lethal mix of seven thousand smoke components, seventy of which are known to cause cancer.”

Current guidance on e-cigarettes in pregnancy states: “If using an electronic cigarette helps you to stop smoking, it is much safer for you and your baby than continuing to smoke”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/05/nhs-chief-hits-back-donald-trump-twitter-attacks-broke-nhs/

The head of the NHS has hit back at Donald Trump, saying the British people are deeply committed to a national health service which costs half that of US healthcare. At a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee about NHS cyber security, Simon Stevens asked to make “one opportunistic comment” after a day of heated debate about the US President’s claims the NHS was “going broke and not working”.

Earlier Downing Street had already responded to Mr Trump’s remarks, saying the Prime Minister was “proud” of the NHS and its funding was “at a record high”.Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt also hit back by attacking the US system which leaves millions without adequate health cover.

In the hearing session with Members of Parliament, Mister Stevens gave a passionate defence of the NHS, about Mister Trump’s “Twitter attack on the NHS” – and urged the President to come see the health service for himself.

Mister Stevens continued: “So our invitation in the NHS – should the President be visiting later this year – would be to spend time with brilliant doctors, hospitals, technology experts, scientists, hear about the cataract services, the hip replacements, the modern scanners, the world first liver and heart transplant,  the  genomic revolution all underway here in the NHS –  and go away understanding that healthcare for everybody, delivered at half the cost of the US healthcare system is something that people in this country are deeply and rightly committed to.”

Theresa May backed her health minister’s comments, and a spokesperson said she is proud of the NHS. The spokesperson said: “The prime minister is proud of having an NHS that is free at the point of delivery.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/is-teeth-whitening-safe-what-you-need-to-know-after-rise-of-illegal-treatment_uk_5a782a8be4b01ce33eb4e6f1?utm_hp_ref=uk-health-news

A BBC report has revealed that people are being left in “excruciating pain” after receiving illegal teeth-whitening from beauticians.  Undercover footage from the broadcaster uncovered one London beautician was using a chemical containing twenty five percent hydrogen peroxide – more than four times the legal limit qualified dentists are permitted to use when whitening teeth. In light of the report, the General Dental Council (or GDC) confirmed it has seen a rise in illegal treatments across the UK.

In the vast majority of cases teeth whitening is not available on the NHS as it is a cosmetic procedure, so you will need to pay a private dentist. The NHS will only cover the costs of teeth whitening if there’s a medical reason for it. Prices for teeth whitening will vary between dental practices, but the procedure tends to cost around two hundred fifty pounds for the upper teeth only or four hundred pounds for the upper and lower set.

Martin Ashley, a consultant in restorative dentistry at the University Dental Hospital of Manchester said the biggest risk associated with going to an unqualified practitioner for teeth whitening is that you may have “incorrect chemicals put in your mouth”. The maximum legal limit for hydrogen peroxide within teeth whitening chemicals used by dentists is six percent. The BBC secretly filmed a beautician charging seventy five pounds to administer customers with an illegal level of hydrogen peroxide at a strength of twenty five percent. Ashley said a six percent solution is effective, yet he’s seen patients with burnt gums and blisters who have been treated with a stronger solution elsewhere. The BBC reports a higher dosage can also lead to tooth loss. Needless to say this kind of damage can take a long time to heal and contribute to extreme sensitivity in the mouth.