Sunday, 14 September 2014

social care''Cuts forcing English councils to limit social care'

'Cuts forcing English councils to limit social care'

Cyril Gillam 95-year-old Cyril Gillam no longer gets home help visits

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Almost 90% of councils in England no longer offer social care to people whose needs are ranked low to moderate, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) has said.
The group is warning cuts are making the care system "unsustainable".
The government says councils have been given an extra £1.1bn to help protect social care this year.
But charities say hundreds of thousands of people are struggling without help.
When someone applies for social care, their needs are determined as either critical, substantial, moderate or low.
In recent years the number of councils able to help those at the lower end of the scale has gone down as they struggle to balance their budgets.
In 2010-11, Adass says 72% of councils in England only offered help with care to adults with substantial or critical needs. The association says that figure has now risen to 89%.
Left on his own
Retired miner Cyril Gillam lives in a council bungalow in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The 95-year-old widower needs help to wash, cook and clean. He eyesight and hearing are failing and he can only walk with the help of a frame.
Until a year ago he was getting home help visits twice a day. But after breaking his leg last August and spending time in hospital, his local council provided help for a number of weeks before telling the family he was no long eligible for council care.
Keith Harrison says his 95-year-old father-in-law Cyril Gillam shouldn't be denied social care
His son-in-law Keith Harrison says: "They just dropped him like a hot potato and he was left on his own effectively. They couldn't resurrect his help."
Cyril's family challenged the decision but the council said Cyril would have to arrange and pay for his own home help visits with his £80 care allowance benefit payment.
Mr Harrison said the family contacted a number of care agencies for quotes and found the allowance would not cover the cost of the two visits a day.
Instead, a family friend calls on Mr Gillam to help him with daily tasks in return for expenses.
Cyril Gillam at homeCyril Gillam struggles to look after himself
Lincolnshire County Council says it has changed its eligibility criteria from "moderate" to "substantial" and that on his last assessment Cyril's needs were not substantial so he did not qualify for free care.
In a statement, the council said: "Mr Gillam declined any further assessment in April and we understood the family were managing with private and family care. We've not had any contact from the family since to express any concerns and no complaint has been received."
Chronic underfunding
Adass president David Pearson says: "Adult social services and local councils have done their utmost to protect services to older and vulnerable people.
"The scale of reductions in adult care spending, which amount to some £3.5 billion in the past three years, really does raise issues concerning the long-term sustainability of our services unless new money is introduced shortly."
Richard Hawkes, chairman of the Care and Support Alliance which represents 75 charities, says the care system is "in crisis".
He added: "Population changes mean more and more people need care, yet fewer and fewer people get it, as chronic underfunding has seen a year-on-year rationing of support.
"Every day, our 75 organisations hear horror stories of older and disabled people who struggle to get the support they need to simply get up, get dressed and get out of the house.
"This is also putting unbearable pressure on family carers.
"Our survey shows the public has lost confidence in the current system. It shows care, along with health, is where the public want the Government to invest more."
A Department of Health spokesperson said it had invested in social care.
"We have given an extra £1.1bn to councils to help protect social care services this year - that's on top of additional funding in recent years," he said.
"Councils are ultimately responsible for deciding how to spend their budgets but with a growing ageing population we know that we all need to work differently.
"The Care Act and our £3.8bn Better Care Fund will focus resources on helping people to live independently for as long as possible, which can save money and prevent people from needing more support."
This report will be broadcast on Sunday, 14 September 2014 on BBC Radio 5 live.
You can listen to other editions of 5 live Investigates on the BBC i-Player.
You can contact 5 live Investigates by emailing goldberg@bbc.co.uk or comment on this story on the 5 live Investigates Facebook page or viaTwitter.

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Sunday, 31 August 2014

The five year-old boy taken from hospital by his parents while being treated for a life-threatening tumour has been found alive in Spain, shortly after his father released a video explaining their decision to flee.
Ashya King was rushed to a specialist hospital in Malaga for urgent medical treatment while his parents Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45, were detained by officers in Spain.
The family were discovered after they checked into Hostel Esperanza in Benajarafe.
Earlier, Mr King, 51, released a 10-minute video on You Tube. In the clip, Mr King lies on a bed with his son Ashya between his legs. Ashya is attached by a tube to a drip on the side of the bed.
Speaking directly to the camera, Mr King pleads with police to call of their international search, which was launched after Ashya was taken from Southampton General Hospital on Thursday.
He said he wanted Ashya to have Proton Beam therapy which is not available for the treatment of brain cancer in the UK and therefore had no choice but to take him out of the hospital.
Mr King claimed that when he told doctors he did not want Ashya to have the treatment they recommended, they were threatened with an emergency protection order, which would have prevented them from seeing their son.
“Proton beam is so much better for children with brain cancer,” he said in the clip. “It zones in on the area, whereby normal radiation passes right through his head and comes out the other side and destroys everything in his head.
“So we pleaded with them for proton beam treatment. They looked at me straight in the face and said with his cancer - which is called medulloblastoma - it would have no benefit whatsoever."
Mr King said his son's treatment seemed like "trial and error" and claimed he was told if he questioned the treatment the hospital would seek an emergency protection order.
He said: "After that I realised I can't speak to the oncologist at all, because if I actually ask anything or give any doubt I wasn't in full accord with them, they were going to get a protection order which meant in his deepest, darkest hour I wouldn't be there to look after him, and neither would my wife - they would prevent us from entering the ward.
"That's such a cruel system I decided to start looking at the proton beam myself."
He added: "We decided to try and sort it out ourselves but now we're refugees almost.

Brett King explains why he has taken Ashya out of UK
"We can't do anything. The police are after us. The things we want to do to raise the money to pay for the proton beam, they've prevented it now.
"So my son is being treated and he's doing fine. We're very happy with his progress. We're not neglecting him. He has everything he had in hospital."
On Saturday, police obtained a European arrest warrant. Officers said the warrant was obtained on the grounds of neglect but it would be used only as a last resort.
They said they “would much prefer for the parents to come forward voluntarily”.
Police had raised concerns about Ashya’s battery-operated feeding tube, which they said would have run out on Friday night. They said it could be replaced only by medical experts, leading police to warn that “time is running out” for the youngster.
But Mr King said the family had enough feeding packs and Calpol to care for their son.
“We were most disturbed today to find his face is all over the internet and newspapers and we have been labelled as kidnappers, putting his life at risk, neglect," he said.
"As you can see there's nothing wrong with him, he is very happy actually since we took him out of hospital," Mr King said.
"He has been smiling a lot more, he has very much been interacting with us."
Mr King said his son was treated by Dr Gary Nicolin, a consultant paediatric oncologist with over 25 years’ experience.
Dr Nicolin, who has worked at the hospital for the last decade, has previously worked in Canada and South Africa.
Mr King said he told doctors he would pay for the treatment himself.
Mr King said Ashya was "responding so much better" than he did in hospital.
"We couldn't take it any more - not knowing and not being able to question anything in fear that they say, 'Sorry Mr and Mrs King, emergency protection order, you're no longer allowed in the ward'," he said.
"Under that stress, our son has grade four brain tumour, we couldn't discuss or question them at all in fear that our son would be in that ward all day long by himself without his parents being able to come in.
"We couldn't be under that system any more.
"I was going to get the money to pay for the proton beam therapy but they have prevented that now because the Spanish police are involved and I can't do want I wanted to do."
Mr King urged police to call off "this ridiculous chase".
"We're not neglecting our son, he's in perfectly good health," he said.
"My son is smiling, he's happy, we're doing things as a family. We just want to be left in peace. He's very sick. I just want to get on with his treatment. I'm not coming back to England if I cannot give him the treatment I want, which is proper treatment.
"I just want positive results for my son."
According to Cancer Research UK, Proton Beam therapy is a highly-targeted type of radiotherapy that can treat hard-to-reach cancers, such as spinal tumours (chordomas), with a lower risk of damaging the surrounding tissue and causing side effects
The Kings' eldest son was caring for his siblings while his parents were held at a police station in nearby Velez-Malaga.
Mr and Mrs King were expected to be taken to Madrid on Sunday for an extradition hearing at Madrid's Central Criminal Court.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead of Hampshire Constabulary said the boy's parents had been arrested at 10pm local time after Spanish police stopped the family's vehicle.
"We don't have many details on Ashya's condition at this point in time but what we do know is that he was showing no visible signs of distress," Mr Shead said.
"Ashya has now been taken to a hospital in Malaga. The parents have been arrested. They have been taken to a police station."
Spanish police were acting on a European arrest warrant requested by Hampshire Constabulary when they arrested the Kings.
When they stopped the family's Hyundai people carrier officers found Ashya and his parents inside.
Mr Shead said: "There are no winners in this situation. I've said all along that this must be a terribly distressing time for Ashya's family and I stand by that now."
He added that it was too soon to say when Ashya would come back to the UK but Southampton General Hospital have been contacted so they can liaise with the medical taking care of him in Spain.
"Ashya's brothers and sisters were not in the vehicle," Mr Shead said. "We have located them. They're all okay, they're fine. They are actually in a hotel about 10 miles away."
He also said that a team of Hampshire police officers would be going to Spain tomorrow to continue the investigation.
No one from Southampton General Hospital was available for comment. 
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Monday, 25 August 2014

Doctors at a hospital in north-west London have begun treating a Briton who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone.

Ebola: British man begins treatment in London hospital
British aid volunteer William Pooley, who worked with The Shepherd's Hospice to provide palliative care in Sierra LeoneWilliam Pooley, seen here, worked as a volunteer for The Shepherd's Hospice in Sierra Leone before he moved to serve on an Ebola treatment ward

Ebola outbreak

Doctors at a hospital in north-west London have begun treating a Briton who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone.
William Pooley, a 29-year-old volunteer nurse, was described by a charity he worked for as a "hero".
Mr Pooley was flown to RAF Northolt in a specially equipped military aircraft on Sunday and taken under police escort to Hampstead's Royal Free Hospital.
He volunteered to go to care for victims of the Ebola outbreak which has killed almost 1,500 people.
His is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting the virus during the current outbreak.
Tropical disease specialist David Mabey: Patient poses no risk to others
'Remarkable man'
Mr Pooley, believed to be from near Woodbridge in Suffolk, was flown out of Sierra Leone's main airport in Lungi, in a RAF C-17 transport aircraft.
He will be treated in a specialist isolation unit for patients with highly infectious disease, the only one of its kind in Europe.
A special tent ensures medical staff can interact with the patient but are separated by plastic and rubber.
Mr Pooley had worked as a volunteer providing palliative care at The Shepherd's Hospice in Sierra Leone from March until July.
He then requested to be relocated to the Kenema Government Hospital to serve on the Ebola treatment ward, after he heard reports that patients were being abandoned when health workers died from the virus.
Gabriel Madiye, the executive director of The Shepherd's Hospice, said Mr Pooley had been aware of the risks, but was determined to work there.
"We consider him a hero," he said. "Somebody who is sacrificing to provide care in very difficult circumstances - when our own health workers are running away."
Co-worker Gabriel Madiye tells 5 live: "We consider him a hero"
There is no cure for Ebola but with treatment of the symptoms, and proper hydration, patients have a chance of survival.
Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at Nottingham University, said there would be immediate testing to ensure all organs were functioning.
"He really is in the best place and will have the best possible care," he said.
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At the scene
A specialist isolation ward has been set up at the hospital in London
Jon Ironmonger, BBC News
Whisked into the Royal Free Hospital late on Sunday night under police escort was a man whose noisy arrival was quickly replaced by the everyday comings and goings of a rainy bank holiday morning.
Inside the building a rare drama is unfolding - the meticulous treatment of the first British person infected by the Ebola outbreak.
The volunteer nurse is being treated in an isolation unit which is the only one of its kind in Europe, and more sophisticated than any facility in west Africa.
Doctors will interact with him behind the plastic of an airtight tent to avoid the risk of contamination.
They will attend to his symptoms, particularly dehydration, but Ebola has no proven cure, so the main battle is down to him and his body's ability to fight the virus.
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Last week, two Americans who had contracted the disease in Liberia made a recovery and were discharged from hospital after being given an experimental drug called ZMapp in the US.
Officials in Liberia also said three medical staff have shown signs of improvement after taking the drug.
The US manufacturer of ZMapp has said supplies of the drug are exhausted, but the Department of Health said it was working to source any remaining doses.
Department of Health deputy chief medical officer Prof John Watson has said the risk of Ebola to the UK remains "very low".
Health officials insist the risk to the UK from Ebola remains "very low"
The World Health Organization has estimated 2,615 people in west Africa have been infected with Ebola since March.
Health officials have reported the first cases outside west Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The virus is spread between humans through direct contact with infected bodily fluids. It is one of the world's deadliest diseases, potentially with a mortality rate of 90%. However, the current outbreak has a fatality rate of 55%.
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Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
A fruit bat is pictured in 2010 at the Amneville zoo in France. Fruit bats are believed to be a major carrier of the Ebola virus but do not show symptoms
  • Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
  • Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 55%
  • Incubation period is two to 21 days
  • There is no vaccine or cure
  • Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
  • Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host
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Friday, 1 August 2014

Ebola crisis: Virus spreading too fast, says WHO

A Samaritan's Purse medical worker demonstrates personal protective equipment to educate team members on the Ebola virus in Liberia (undated photo) Dr Chan said that to date, more than 60 health care workers have lost their lives in the outbreak

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is spreading faster than efforts to control it, World Health Organization (WHO) head Margaret Chan has said.
She told a summit of regional leaders that failure to contain it could be "catastrophic" in terms of lives lost.
But she said the virus, which has claimed 729 lives in four West African countries since February, could be stopped if well managed.
Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected.Ebola explained in 60 seconds
It spreads by contact with infected blood, bodily fluids, organs - or contaminated environments.
Initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure.
Dr Chan was meeting the leaders of the worst-affected countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - to launch a new $100m (£59m; 75m euro) Ebola response plan.
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Ebola since 1976
Graphic showing Ebola virus outbreaks since 1976
A map showing Ebola outbreaks since 1976
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"This meeting must mark a turning point in the outbreak response," Dr Chan said at the summit in Guinea's capital, Conakry.
"Cases are occurring in rural areas which are difficult to access, but also in densely populated capital cities," she said, explaining that the outbreak was the world's deadliest and largest in terms of geographical areas.
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Ebola virus disease (EVD)
Coloured transmission electron micro graph of a single Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola fever
  • Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
  • Fatality rate can reach 90%
  • Incubation period is two to 21 days
  • There is no vaccine or cure
  • Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
  • Fruit bats are considered to be virus' natural host
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Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Right-to-die

Right-to-die Supreme Court judgement due

Paul Lamb Paul Lamb won an earlier legal battle to join Tony Nicklinson's court challenge

Campaigners for the right to die are to receive judgement from the Supreme Court in the latest round of their legal battle.
It involves family of the late Tony Nicklinson, of Wiltshire, who had locked-in syndrome, and Paul Lamb, of Leeds, who was paralysed in a road crash.
They want the law changed to allow doctors to assist patients to die.
Judgement is likely to be issued on Wednesday.
The court has had to decide if the law prohibiting assisted suicide is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights because it denies Mr Lamb, and others like him, the right to choose the timing of their death.

Analysis

image of Clive Coleman Clive Coleman Legal correspondent, BBC News
The Supreme Court judgement is seen as perhaps the most ambitious attempt yet to change the law on the right to die.
Paul Lamb took up the legal challenge brought by the late Tony Nicklinson, who suffered from locked-in syndrome.
At a hearing at the Supreme Court last year his lawyers argued the current prohibition on assisting suicides interfered with his right to a private and family life, because it prevented the most severely disabled from getting medical assistance to end their lives at a time of their choosing.
Any doctor who helped someone to kill themselves would be guilty of assisting a suicide, a criminal offence that carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
Subject to strict safeguards, including the medical assistance being sanctioned by a court, Paul Lamb wants any doctor who does assist a suicide of someone in his position, to have a defence in law.
The defence would be that of "necessity". However, many fear any change to the law on assisted suicide which would make the position of the sick, the infirm and the elderly, more vulnerable.
The fear is that members of these groups could easily feel themselves to be, or be persuaded that they are, a burden to others and decide to end their lives as a result.
A second man, known only as Martin, wants clarification of the director of public prosecutions's guidance on the position of health professionals who assist a suicide.
The existing guidance is unclear on whether they would be prosecuted.
There are nine judges on the panel, rather than the normal five.
'Unanimously dismissed' Paul Lamb, 57, has been almost completely paralysed from the neck down since a car accident more than 20 years ago and says he is in constant pain.
He has called for the law to be changed so any doctor who helped him die would have a defence against the charge of murder.
Tony Nicklinson was paralysed from the neck down after suffering a stroke while on a business trip to Athens in 2005.
After losing his High Court battle last year, he refused food and died naturally, aged 58, a week later at his home in Wiltshire. His widow, Jane, is continuing his legal battle.
Earlier last year, Mr Lamb joined forces with Mr Nicklinson's family to fight a joint legal case.
In their Appeal Court case, the decision centred on whether the High Court was right to rule Parliament, not judges, should decide whether the law on assisted dying should change.
The three Court of Appeal judges unanimously dismissed the Nicklinson and Lamb challenge.
In the judgement, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge said Parliament represented "the conscience of the nation" when it came to addressing life and death issues, such as abortions and the death penalty.
"Judges, however eminent, do not - our responsibility is to discover the relevant legal principles, and apply the law as we find it," he said.
At the same hearing a third paralysed man won his case seeking clearer prosecution guidance from the director of public prosecutions (DPP) for health workers who help others die.
Tony Nicklinson Tony Nicklinson suffered from locked-in syndrome
The man, known only as Martin, wants it to be lawful for a doctor or nurse to help him travel abroad to die with the help of a suicide organisation in Switzerland. His wife and other family want no involvement in his suicide.
The Supreme Court will also deal with the DPP's appeal against the Court of Appeal's ruling in Martin's favour.

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Saturday, 14 June 2014

NHS scan and test delays ‘worrying’

NHS scan and test delays ‘worrying’

in nhs 14 | Leave a comment

NHS scan and test delays ‘worrying’

Lung CT scanScans – like this one showing a lung tumour – are used to help diagnose cancers
 

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Health charities have called for urgent action to tackle delays in access to diagnostic tests in England.
The latest figures show that in April, nearly 17,000 patients had been waiting more than six weeks for scans and investigations – including for cancer.
NHS England says most patients are investigated promptly, despite a big rise in demand for tests.
The NHS constitution says no one should have to wait more than six weeks for a diagnostic test.
The number of such investigations has risen steeply in recent years in response to growing demand.
But the proportion of patients missing the deadline – including potentially some with cancer – has doubled in 12 months to more than 2%.
‘Top priority’
Macmillan Cancer Support said the NHS was “under strain” and there was a danger of cancer being “overlooked”.
 

“Start Quote

The vast majority of patients get their tests promptly”
End Quote NHS England spokeswoman
Ciaran Devane, Macmillan’s chief executive, said: “It is extremely worrying that the proportion of people who face delays in receiving vital tests which can diagnose cancer has doubled since this time last year, from 1.1% to 2.2%.
“Only two weeks ago we heard that more people are waiting longer to start treatment and now more people are waiting longer just to get diagnosed.”
He added: “Each individual hospital has a responsibility to meet these targets, or they risk putting a patient’s best chance of survival at risk.
“However, this government and the next also need to take responsibility. Macmillan Cancer Support is urging all political parties to make cancer a top priority at the upcoming general election.”
NHS England says there were more than 50,000 additional tests carried out in April compared with the same time last year, and that most patients wait less than three weeks.
A spokeswoman said: “Timeliness of diagnosis and treatment is what patients expect and is essential to providing high quality care. The vast majority of patients get their tests promptly.”
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Wednesday, 11 June 2014

the experts expressed concern about the medicalisation of healthy people




Scrap plan to extend statin use, say doctors

By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News
statin pill

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Proposals to extend the use of statin drugs should be scrapped, a group of leading doctors and academics says.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published draft guidance in February calling for their use to be extended to save more lives.
It could mean another five million people in England and Wales using them on top of seven million who already do.
But in a letter to NICE and ministers, the experts expressed concern about the medicalisation of healthy people.
The letter said the draft advice was overly reliant on industry-sponsored trials, which “grossly underestimate adverse effects”.
And it added: “The benefits in a low-risk population do not justify putting approximately five million more people on drugs that will then have to be taken lifelong.”
The drugs reduce levels of cholesterol in the blood, lowering the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
The signatories include Royal College of Physicians president Sir Richard Thompson and former Royal College of GPs chairwoman Clare Gerada as well as cardiologists and leading academics.
Side-effects
Prof Simon Capewell, an expert in clinical epidemiology at Liverpool University and one of the signatories, said: “The recent statin recommendations are deeply worrying, effectively condemning all middle-aged adults to lifelong medications of questionable value.
“They steal huge funds from a cash-strapped NHS and they steal attention from the major responsibilities that government and food industry have to promote healthier life choices for ourselves and our children.”
Currently, doctors are meant to offer statin tablets to the estimated seven million people who have a 20% chance of developing cardiovascular disease over 10 years, based on risk factors such as their age, sex, whether they smoke and what they weigh.
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Statins and risk
• Statins are a group of medicines that can help lower rates of so-called “bad cholesterol” in the blood
• They do this by curbing the production of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the liver
• High rates of LDL are potentially dangerous as they can lead to hardening and narrowing of the arteries, known as atherosclerosis, which increases the risks of strokes and heart attacks
• Doctors use a risk calculator called QRisk2 to work out a person’s chance of having a stroke or heart attack to decide if they should be given statins
• The calculation factors include age, weight and smoking
• If someone has a 10-year QRisk2 score of 20%, then in a crowd of 100 people like them, on average, 20 people would get cardiovascular disease over the next 10 years
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But the draft guidance suggested that people with as low as a 10% risk should be offered the treatment.
Woman taking pill
Cardiovascular disease develops when fatty substances build up in the arteries and narrow them, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.
Too much cholesterol in the blood can lead to these fatty deposits. Statin drugs work by lowering cholesterol.
Eating a healthy diet, doing regular exercise and keeping slim will also help lower cholesterol.
Like all medicines, statins have potential side-effects. They have been linked to muscle, liver and kidney problems, but just how common these are is a contentious issue.
One of the signatories to the letter is London cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, who last month had to withdraw claims he made in a British Medical Journal article that a fifth of people who use statins experience side-effects.
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‘Extremely painful’
John Cakebread
“I was prescribed Simvastatin about nine years ago following heart problems,” says John Cakebread, from Kent.
“I stopped taking the medication six years later after researching the subject on the internet and finding out about side effects.
“I have now been left with peripheral neuropathy in the feet.
“This is extremely painful.
“My GP refuses to acknowledge this condition and that it could be caused by statins.
“He still wants me to take this medication, but I have refused.”
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Mike Knapton, of the British Heart Foundation, said NICE was right to want to extend the use of statins.
“Evidence shows that statins are a safe, effective, cholesterol-lowering drug and proven to lower the risk of heart disease.”
He added that, if anything, NICE should go further by looking at the lifetime risk rather than 10-year timeframe being proposed.
NICE has consulted on its draft proposals and is expected to publish final guidance at the end of July.
Prof Mark Baker, from NICE, said as well as the consultation the recommendations are being peer-reviewed.
He also pointed out that the guidance did not say patients had to go on these drugs – as GPs and patients can also discuss lifestyle changes to reduce risk – but just gave them the option of using them.
“This guidance does not medicalise millions of healthy people. On the contrary, it will help prevent many from becoming ill and dying prematurely,” he added.
BBC News – Scrap plan to extend statin use, say doctors
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