Press Releases Saturday 13 March 1999
No 7185 Volume 318
Please remember to credit the BMJ as source when publicising
an
article and to tell your readers that they can read its full text on
the
journal's web site (http://www.bmj.com).
If your story is posted on a website please include a link back to
the source BMJ article (URL's are given under titles).
(1) IRON
SUPPLEMENTED FORMULA MILK SHOULD BE
FREE FOR INNER CITY CHILDREN INTO THEIR
SECOND YEAR OF LIFE
(2) PUBLIC
AND PRIVATE HEALTHCARE MUST POOL
RESOURCES TO BEAT CANCER
(3) PHOTOS
OVER AN INTRANET COULD CUT DERMATOLOGY
WAITING TIMES
(1) IRON SUPPLEMENTED
FORMULA MILK SHOULD BE
FREE FOR INNER CITY CHILDREN
INTO THEIR
SECOND YEAR OF LIFE
(Iron supplemented formula milk related
to reduction in
psychomotor decline in infants from
inner city areas:
randomised study)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7185/693
(Commentary: Iron deficiency and
developmental deficit
- the jury is still out)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7185/693#resp1
An iron supplemented formula milk rather
than cows' milk should
be provided to inner city children who
are not being breast fed,
say researchers in this week's BMJ.
Dr Jane Williams et al from
Birmingham Children's Hospital, along
with colleagues from The
Northern Birmingham Community Trust and
the University of
Birmingham, report that this would help
to prevent iron deficiency
anaemia and the resultant reduced development
in these children.
According to the authors, iron deficiency
anaemia is common in
infants living in inner cities who are
given unmodified cow's milk
during their first year. Based on
a sample of 100 children living in
the centre of Birmingham, the authors
found that giving an infant
an iron supplemented formula milk for
the first 18 months of life
not only prevents anaemia but also reduces
the decline in
developmental performance that was observed
in those given only
cows' milk.
In an accompanying commentary, Stuart Logan
from the University
College London Medical School argues that
the evidence of a
causal link between iron deficiency and
developmental difficulties
is still unclear and that further research
in this area is urgently
needed.
Contact:
Professor Ian Booth, University of Birmingham,
Institute of Child Health, Birmingham
Email: i.w.booth{at}bham.ac.uk
Stuart Logan,
Director, Systematic Reviews Training
Unit, Institute of Child
Health, University College London Medical
School, London
Email: slogan{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk
(2) PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
HEALTHCARE MUST POOL
RESOURCES TO BEAT CANCER
(National cancer centre is good idea)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7185/736/c
The public and private health sectors should
pool their resources
to establish a UK Cancer Centre writes
Professor Karol Sikora
in this week's BMJ. The author,
who heads up the WHO Cancer
Programme, suggests that by setting up
such a centre in London,
such an initiative could pull together
the efforts of the Institute
of Cancer Research, the Royal Marsden
Hospital, Imperial College,
the Hammersmith Hospitals, the Imperial
Cancer Research Fund
and the international expertise practiced
in many private hospitals
in west London.
Sikora argues that "what is needed.....
is political will and capital
investment from both the public and private
sectors... to create a
single site...which could co-ordinate
the new structure of cancer
centres and units that is gradually building
up throughout the UK."
He also suggests that "as well as developing
the treatments of the
future such a centre would monitor the
availability of care throughout
the United Kingdom and ensure equity of
access (and) act as a gold
standard for cancer care and form part
of the National Institute for
Clinical Excellence." The author
adds that such a site would be
attractive to the pharmaceutical industry,
which spends an
estimated £150 million a year on
cancer research in Britain.
Contact:
Professor Karol Sikora,
Chief, WHO Cancer Programme, International
Agency for
Research on Cancer, Lyons, France
Email: sikora{at}iarc.fr
(3) PHOTOS OVER AN
INTRANET COULD CUT DERMATOLOGY
WAITING TIMES
(Dermatology opinions via intranet
could reduce waiting times)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7185/737
In this week's BMJ Dr Michael D'Souza and
colleagues from Kingston
upon Thames report on a technological
initiative which has helped cut
waiting times for patients requiring referral
to a dermatologist in their
region.
During a three month study the authors
referred 26 patients to a
consultant dermatologist via a telemedicine
programme called
Dermaclinic. Digital photographs
of conditions were sent to
consultants on a confidential intranet,
of which only eight per cent
were considered unsatisfactory for diagnosis.
Using this method,
consultant opinions were obtained within
one to 18 days, whereas
the current waiting time for such a referral
is 13 weeks.
The cost of the initiative, in addition
to the software, is the time
taken by the general practitioner and
the consultant to enter and
assess each case, plus the local telephone
charges of running
Dermaclinic, as opposed to an average
local cost of £62 per
patient for an ordinary referral.
D'Souza and colleagues say that the service
would not be suitable
for any situation where visualisation
of the whole patient is required
to make a diagnosis, but for other patients,
Dermaclinic could
provide a simple, low cost alternative
which could help to reduce
NHS waiting.
Contact:
Dr Michael D'Souza, General Practitioner,
Canbury Medical Centre,
Kingston upon Thames
Email: torche{at}dial.pipex.com
FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS
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BMA House
Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9JR
(contact Jill Shepherd;pressoffice{at}bma.org.uk)
and from:
the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
(http://www.eurekalert.org)
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