Latest news with #doctors
Gizmodo
2 hours ago
- Health
- Gizmodo
Troubling Case Links Vaping to Aggressive Lung Cancer
Vaping might be safer than cigarette smoking, but they carry their own health risks. A New Jersey man's electronic cigarette habit likely contributed to his fast-spreading, fatal lung cancer, his doctors say. Doctors at the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City detailed the tragic death this month in the American Journal of Case Reports. The 51-year-old former smoker and longtime vaper developed an aggressive lung cancer that killed him just months after diagnosis. Though a causative link isn't confirmed, the authors say more studies are needed to figure out vaping's cancer risk. According to the report, the man visited a local hospital sometime in 2020 after he started to cough up blood. During the prior month, he had also been experiencing symptoms of weight loss, chest discomfort, and shortness of breath. Tests soon revealed that he had a form of non-small cell lung carcinoma, specifically determined to be squamous cell carcinoma. The cancer had already started to spread and break off into pieces that reached the heart, making surgery unfeasible. He was discharged and quickly placed on chemotherapy, but to no avail. The man's health continued to rapidly deteriorate and he died three months after his diagnosis. The man had a history of cigarette smoking, the equivalent of 10 pack-years (meaning he smoked roughly a pack a day for 10 years). But he told the doctors he quit in 2009 and switched exclusively to e-cigarettes for the next 11 years. He regularly received lung and heart check-ups, and his last chest X-ray two years earlier was normal, suggesting his cancer only recently emerged. Because of the aggressive and non-responsive nature of the cancer, his relatively young age (most cases are caught in people over 65) and the lack of recent cigarette use, the doctors suspect that vaping probably played a part in his death. 'While causality cannot be established, the case highlights a potential association between [vaping] and malignancy,' they wrote. People have gotten seriously sick from vaping before, though usually under specific circumstances. In 2019, for instance, a mysterious lung disease that affected thousands of people in the U.S. was ultimately traced back to toxic additives primarily used in THC-containing vapes (while the initial outbreak did subside, these cases still appear occasionally). Other chemicals used to flavor vapes have also been tied to rare lung illnesses. But this appears to be one of the first case reports to explicitly link vaping and lung cancer. Other isolated reports have found a connection between vaping and mouth cancer. Some studies have also suggested that people who both vape and smoke (so-called dual users) have a higher risk of lung cancer than people who only smoke. At the same time, the overall research to date doesn't appear to show a significant added risk of lung cancer among people who only vape and have never smoked. And studies have also long found that vaping is less harmful in general than smoking. Given that this case is only one anecdote, the doctors aren't pushing for formal changes to screening guidelines just yet. But they are calling for further studies to untangle the unique dangers that vaping may pose.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC pulls Gaza medics documentary due to impartiality concerns
The BBC says it has decided not to broadcast a documentary about doctors working in Gaza, due to impartiality concerns it has surrounding the Doctors Under Attack was commissioned by the BBC but produced by an independent production company. It was originally scheduled for broadcast in February, but has not yet aired on any BBC a statement, the BBC said it was "determined to report all aspects of the conflict in the Middle East impartially and fairly". BBC News has contacted production company Basement Films for comment. Its founder Ben de Pear said earlier this week the BBC had "utterly failed" and that journalists were "being stymied and silenced". The BBC said it was "transferring ownership of the film material to Basement Films".BBC News understands the decision to shelve the documentary was taken on Thursday, following public comments by De Pear at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, and another of the film's directors, journalist Ramita Navai, who appeared on Radio 4's Today programme discussing the war in Gaza.A different documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was pulled from iPlayer earlier this year after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack - also known as Gaza: Medics Under Fire - is said to examine the experiences of Palestinian medics working during the war in film is directed by Karim Shah, Navai and De Pear, a former editor of Channel 4 News. In a statement on Friday, the BBC said it had commissioned the documentary over a year ago, but paused the film in April, "having made a decision that we could not broadcast the film while a review into a separate Gaza documentary was ongoing". "With both films coming from independent production companies, and both about Gaza, it was right to wait for any relevant findings – and put them into action – before broadcasting the film."However, we wanted the doctors' voices to be heard. Our aim was to find a way to air some of the material in our news programmes, in line with our impartiality standards, before the review was published."For some weeks, the BBC has been working with Basement Films to find a way to tell the stories of these doctors on our platforms."Yesterday [Thursday], it became apparent that we have reached the end of the road with these discussions. We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC."The corporation added that, contrary to some reports, the documentary had "not undergone the BBC's final pre-broadcast sign-off processes", adding: "Any film broadcast will not be a BBC film."It continued: "We want to thank the doctors and contributors and we are sorry we could not tell their stories. The BBC will continue to cover events in Gaza impartially." Speaking at the Sheffield Documentary Festival on Thursday, before the decision was announced, De Pear specifically blamed director general Tim Davie for refusing to air the film."All the decisions about our film were not taken by journalists, they were taken by Tim Davie," he claimed while taking part in a panel, as reported by Broadcast."He is just a PR person. Tim Davie is taking editorial decisions which, frankly, he is not capable of making."He added: "The BBC's primary purpose is TV news and current affairs, and if it's failing on that it doesn't matter what drama it makes or sports it covers. It is failing as an institution. And if it's failing on that then it needs new management."Something needs to happen because they are making decisions from a PR defensive point of view rather than a journalistic one. If you make a decision on a journalistic basis you can defend it, but if you make it on a PR basis, you can't."In relation to the war, De Pear claimed staff at the BBC "are being forced to use language they don't recognise, they are not describing something as it clearly is [for fear of impartiality] and it's tragic".Responding to De Pear's comments, a BBC spokesperson said the BBC "totally reject[s] this characterisation of our coverage"."The BBC has continually produced powerful journalism about this conflict. Alongside breaking news and ongoing analysis, we have produced original investigations such as those into allegations of abuse of Palestinian prisoners and Israel's use of bunker buster bombs and in-depth documentaries including the award-winning Life and Death in Gaza, and Gaza 101." High-profile figures such as actress Susan Sarandon and presenter Gary Lineker have previously accused the corporation of censorship over the open letter, which was also signed by cultural figures such as Dame Harriet Walter, Miriam Margolyes, Maxine Peake, Juliet Stevenson and Mike Leigh, said: "This is not editorial caution. It's political suppression.""No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling," it continued. "This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors' bravery honoured."
CTV News
4 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
'I didn't see anything': 9-year-old girl describes shark attack that severely injured hand
Watch A 9-year-old girl is recovering after a shark bite off the coast of Florida left her hand nearly fully detached, but doctors were able to save it.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Five foods that might be quietly spiking your blood pressure
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Doctors advise limiting foods high in saturated fats and sodium to prevent high blood pressure, as dietary choices can significantly impact health. A new study from Johns Hopkins Medicine identified the DASH diet, a low-sodium and low-saturated fat plan, as effective in reducing blood pressure for people with Type 2 diabetes. Several common foods, often consumed without awareness, can contribute to high blood pressure due to hidden sodium or high saturated fat content. Examples of these "sneaky" foods include pickles, coconut oil, cottage cheese, bread, and commercially prepared chicken, which can contain surprisingly high levels of sodium or saturated fats.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Overseas-trained doctors ‘put off UK due to cost of living and low salaries'
Doctors are choosing not to come and work in the UK because they are put off by low salaries, the high cost of living and poor quality of life. Research by the General Medical Council (GMC) shows that doctors who shun the UK are opting to move instead to the United States, Australia and Canada to earn more and have a better life. Overall, 84% of doctors trained abroad surveyed by the GMC said that other countries were better than Britain at paying good salaries and only 5% felt the opposite was true. The UK was also seen as being very poor for the cost of living and quality of life, attracting scores of minus 44 and minus 43. Among doctors considering where to further their careers, the UK scored worse than competitor countries on 14 of the 15 issues the GMC asked them about. It also recorded negative ratings for being an advanced healthcare system (minus 26), doctors being treated with respect by patients and the public (minus 20), quality of patient care (minus 17) and having enough appropriately qualified staff (minus 17). The gloomy findings for the UK came as resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – in England were voting on whether to launch a renewed six-month campaign of strikes in pursuit of the 29% pay rise their union, the British Medical Association (BMA), claims they deserve. Consultant doctors will also take part in an indicative ballot to assess their willingness to stage walkouts over pay. Charlie Massey, the GMC's chief executive, said its findings were worrying and should spur the NHS to do more to welcome overseas-trained doctors and improve their working conditions, in order to avoid the shortages of medics which many hospitals and GP practices face. 'This research showed that issues of concern to doctors who are considering a move to the UK reflect much of what we hear from doctors who are working here now,' he said. 'It is concerning, as these factors impact on retention as well as recruitment. The UK is envied for the way it trains doctors, but there is room for improvement and we shouldn't assume that will always continue.' The NHS in England has recruited even larger numbers of doctors from elsewhere in recent years than usual. Last year 36% of all doctors there were non-UK nationals, up from 26.6% in 2016. The GMC, which regulates the medical profession in the UK, found that the UK scored highly among doctors from abroad because they find it easy to register to practise, navigate the immigration system and find a job compared with other places. Its findings are based on an online survey of 3,092 doctors in other countries. Of those, 2,556 came to the UK and joined the GMC's medical register and 536 opted to move elsewhere. The research, which probed what motivates doctors to choose which country to move to, found that some foreign doctors got disillusioned and quit the UK soon after moving there. 'Among doctors who have recently practised in the UK (since 2021) but have since left, many left sooner than they had intended to. Half of these doctors ended up practising in the UK for less than a year, when only 15% had this intention,' it said. 'Those who had left were disappointed with the UK in terms of colleagues and the friendliness of staff, adhering to different guidelines and standards, the bureaucracy and work culture/ethics.' Dr Latifa Patel, the BMA's workforce lead, said: 'The NHS is faced with a bizarre double-whammy of international medical graduates not wanting to work here due to low salaries, high cost of living, and poor quality of life, meanwhile UK trained doctors working in the NHS are feeling forced out the door to find roles in other countries where both their pay and quality of life are better.' Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has criticised the NHS for being too reliant on foreign doctors, nurses and midwives, and not hiring enough homegrown health professionals. He recently castigated as 'immoral' NHS recruitment of staff from World Health Organization-designated 'red list' countries, which are poor and have less developed health systems.
