Press releases Saturday 1 May 2004
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(1) Study reveals serious north-south health gap in modern Britain
(2) Large families and animals keep allergies at bay
(3) Medical research suffers under data protection law
(4) Microwave ovens should warn of exploding eggs
(1) Study reveals serious north-south health gap in modern Britain
(Is there a north-south divide in social
class inequalities in health in Great Britain? Cross sectional study using
data from the 2001 census) 21st century Britain is experiencing a serious
north-south health divide between social classes, warn researchers in
this week's BMJ. Using data from the 2001 UK census, a team
at the University of Liverpool explored social class inequalities in health
among adults aged between 25 and 64. Census respondents were asked to rate their
general health in the previous 12 months. Rates of poor heath were calculated
according to sex, social class, and region. Large geographic inequalities in health existed
across the country, with rates of poor health generally increasing from
class 1 (higher managerial and professional occupations) to class 7 (routine
occupations). Women generally had poorer self rated health than men in
the same social class. Wales and the North East and North West regions
of England fared particularly badly, with high rates of poor health for
all seven social classes. In contrast, people in all social classes
in the South East and the East, and most classes in the South West, had
lower rates of poor health than the Great Britain average for their class. The widest health gaps between social classes,
however, were in Scotland and London. This adds another dimension to the
policy debate on resource allocation and targets to tackle the health divide,
say the authors. Contact: Tim Doran, Clinical Lecturer in Public Health
Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Liverpool, UK (Cohort study of sibling effect, infectious
diseases, and risk of atopic dermatitis during first 18 months of life) Having siblings, keeping a pet, or living
on a farm helps protect infants against the development of atopic (allergic)
diseases, but early infections increase the risk, according to new research
from Denmark. This study will be available on bmj.com on Friday 30 April
2004. Researchers conducted four separate interviews
with over 24,000 pregnant women (twice during their pregnancy and again
when their child was 6 and 18 months old). Information on atopic dermatitis and infections
before 6 months of age were recorded. Data on factors associated with
exposure to microbes, such as number of siblings, pet keeping, living on
a farm, and attending day care, were also collected. The risk of atopic dermatitis increased with
each infectious disease before 6 months of age. This contrasts with the
common belief that infectious diseases early in life may protect against
the development of allergic diseases. However, the risk of atopic dermatitis decreased
with each additional exposure to three or more siblings, day care, pet ownership,
and farm residence. This protective effect remained after adjusting for number
of infectious diseases, suggesting that it is established independently and
very early in life, say the authors. These findings support the importance of
microbial exposure for preventing atopic dermatitis, but challenge the
hypothesis that infectious diseases in infancy protect against its development,
they conclude. Contact: Christine Stabell Benn, Research Fellow,
Department of Epidemiology Research, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre,
Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark (Editorial: Data protection, informed
consent, and research) Deaths will occur because of the effects
of data protection law on British medical research, argue experts in this
week's BMJ. Julian Peto and colleagues warn that the
pointless obstacles that medical researchers face when they seek access
to medical records are now causing serious damage. They describe how the law hinders their work
on cancer and suggest that the Data Protection Act and the Human Tissue
Bill should be amended to allow access to data for non-commercial medical
research without informed consent. The Data Protection Act was intended to accommodate
medical research. In practice, however, custodians of medical records are
increasingly fearful of litigation, and the current government seems unlikely
to grant the explicit exemption for non-commercial research that would
resolve their fears, say the authors. The Human Tissue Bill also threatens to hamper
medical research unless crucial sections are clarified. Lord Falconer has denied that the Data Protection
Act prevents data from being passed to medical researchers. That those
who enact and interpret radical social legislation should be so ignorant
of its actual effects is alarming, they write. Medical researchers have been allowed confidential
access to medical records throughout the ages. Many lives and a great
deal of public money would be saved if a high court judge concluded that
the novel demand for informed consent has no basis either in law or in established
common practice, they conclude. Contact: Julian Peto, Cancer Research UK Chair of
Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London,
UK (Letter: Penetrating ocular trauma
from an exploding microwaved egg) Microwave ovens should display clear warnings
about exploding eggs, suggest researchers in this week's BMJ. They report a case of a 9 year old girl who
sustained a serious eye injury from an exploding microwaved egg. The girl reheated a previously boiled egg
(with an intact shell) using a domestic microwave oven at full power for
about 40 seconds. Around 30 seconds later, as she was carrying it to the
dining area, the egg exploded with part of it hitting her right eye and
face. She sustained a full thickness corneal perforation
and rupture of the lens capsule, reducing her vision to being able to see
only hand movements. Three months after treatment, her vision recovered. In their instruction manuals, manufacturers
of microwave ovens warn against heating eggs with an intact shell and
recommend multiple piercing before cooking or heating eggs, even those already
boiled, write the authors. In view of the potential seriousness of injury
from exploding microwaved eggs, such warnings should be made more obvious,
possibly being displayed on the microwave oven itself, they conclude. Contact: Saurabh Goyal, Specialist Registrar in Ophthalmology,
Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, Kent, UK
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7447/1043
Email: timdoran{at}liverpool.ac.uk
(2) Large families and animals keep allergies at
bay
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/bmj.38069.512245.FE
Email: cb{at}ssi.dk
(3) Medical research suffers under data protection
law
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7447/1029
Email: julian.peto{at}lshtm.ac.uk
(4) Microwave ovens should warn of exploding eggs
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7447/1075-a
Email: sgoyal@doctors.org.uk
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