Why weight loss jabs might not be a wonder drug
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Recent years have seen the advent of weight loss drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy. They work by suppressing users' appetites, leading to weight loss.
They've been described as wonder drugs but now, new figures from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show they may be associated with inflammation of the pancreas, which could lead to death.
Niall Paterson speaks to Sky's science correspondent Thomas Moore about these new findings and how cautious they should make us. We also hear from Lorna, a mother who got acute pancreatitis while she was on a weight loss drug - she believes the drugs are not worth the risks.
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Times
5 minutes ago
- Times
UK slides down women's health rankings for fourth year in a row
The UK has dropped down a worldwide women's health league for the fourth consecutive year, as countries such as Lithuania, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia perform better. Experts described the change as 'alarming' and 'unacceptable', as it was also revealed women in the UK were more likely to experience poor emotional health and chronic pain than the EU average. There has been a year-on-year decline in how women in the UK rate their pregnancy care, and they were less likely to be screened for conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer than in comparable countries, the global study found. The UK now ranks at just 41 out of 142 countries in the Hologic Global Women's Health Index, down from 37 last year and 30 in 2023. The annual league table is based on surveys of more than 78,000 women globally. The UK is also below the US, where women's healthcare has been hit by restrictions on access to abortion in many states. The report found women living in the UK were now more likely to experience negative feelings such as sadness, stress and anger than they were in 2020 during the pandemic, with 39 per cent saying they felt 'worry'. The number of women in the UK who thought their pregnancy care was 'high quality' has also dropped every year since the survey began, falling from 79 per cent four years ago to 72 per cent in this year's report. • Hilary Rose: Gynaecology is seen as a lifestyle medicine — women are being betrayed And a record 29 per cent of UK women said they experienced daily physical pain, up from 24 per cent four years ago. More than 25 per cent said they were limited in daily activities by ongoing health issues. Janet Lindsay, the chief executive of the charity Wellbeing of Women, said: 'These figures are unacceptable for one of the world's wealthier nations and reflect long-standing underinvestment in women's health. 'Women's health should not be treated as an afterthought. It requires sustained political leadership, better access to care, increased research funding, and a shift in culture that truly values and listens to women.' Lindsay called for women's health to be put at 'the heart of our national agenda' in the government's forthcoming ten-year plan for the NHS. • NHS drops dementia and women's health targets to end 'overspending' Researchers blamed the rankings slide on the UK's failure to act to improve women's healthcare since the pandemic, despite the creation of a women's health strategy. 'While the women's health strategy, now nearly three years in, has delivered some progress, it is yet to deliver significant impact,' the report's authors said. 'The latest data exposes a widening gap between policy ambition and the everyday experiences of women.' Professor Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, added: 'Too often, systemic, operational, structural and cultural issues mean women do not get the care they deserve. The government's ten-year health plan offers a vital opportunity to change this.' For the index, each country was assigned a score based on its performance in five areas of women's health and wellbeing: preventive care (such as screening for cancer and high blood pressure); basic needs (including ease of access to food and housing); health and safety (including how safe women feel walking at night and the quality of pregnancy care); individual health (including how pain affects women's daily lives); and emotional health. The UK scored 59 out of 100, putting it below the EU average of 60 and on a par with Iceland, Bulgaria and France. Although the UK ranked in the top third of countries worldwide, it was in the bottom third in Europe, placed at just 23 out of 31 European countries. Other countries have made progress and moved ahead. Slovenia, for example, was ranked at 27 out of 31 European countries last year, but has now edged in front of the UK into 19th place. 'This is a four-year decline that no one can ignore,' said Tim Simpson, a senior director at Hologic. 'Women's health must remain a national priority, yet this data shows we are losing ground.' The top-ranked countries globally were Taiwan (68), Kuwait (67), Austria (66), Switzerland (65) and Finland (65). • Women left in pain by healthcare no better than Kosovo, poll finds Other countries which outperformed the UK included Bahrain, which was eighth overall with a score of 64, Kazakhstan (13th with a score of 63), Saudi Arabia (14th with a score of 63), Slovenia (31st with a score of 60) and Kosovo (35th with a score of 60). New Zealand was ranked at 37th and the USA at 38th, both with a score of 60, while Australia dropped to 43rd place, with a score of 59. The worst countries for women's health were Afghanistan, with a score of 30, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (34), Chad (35), Sierra Leone (36) and Liberia (37). Globally, the average score was 53. This year's index was compiled based on data obtained from interviews carried out in 2023 with around 500 women in each country by the global analytics firm Gallup and Hologic, a medical technology company specialising in women's health. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said that the previous government was in power at the time the surveys for the report were carried out. 'Women have been let down by a health service which was not focused on their needs, which is why we are on a mission to get the NHS working for women,' the spokesman added. 'Equality will be at the heart of our ten-year health plan to fix the NHS. 'We're making progress, including adding 4.2 million extra appointments, tackling gynaecology waiting lists using the private sector, trialling AI for breast cancer screening, and from October this year, making emergency hormonal contraception free in pharmacies. 'There's still more to do, and we are committed to turning commitments into tangible action.'
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
How is your NHS hospital doing on waiting times?
Doctors and patient groups warn that the NHS in England is facing an uphill struggle on the government's number one NHS priority – improving hospital waiting are concerned about the lack of progress towards hitting the 18-week waiting time target, one of Labour's key election pledges. It has not been met since the election, the proportion of patients waiting less than 18 weeks has improved, but by less than a percentage an analysis of hospital trusts by BBC Verify found over a third are seeing a smaller share of patients within 18 weeks since the NHS improvement plan was announced in the government said it was premature to suggest progress was too slow as the NHS had only started to push forward with the government's improvement plan in April. Before that, it had focussed on other priorities, including tackling the very longest waits. It said the fact waiting times had continued to improve even during winter - the first time this had happened for 10 years - was in an interview with the BBC, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said progress would go "further and faster" in the coming years, helped by the extra money being invested and the 10-year NHS plan, due to be published next said lots had been achieved so far, including millions more appointments being carried out and the total number of patients on the waiting list dropping to below 7.4 million, its lowest level for two the 18-week target, he acknowledged there was "much more to do", before adding: "There's a big challenge here. Are we going to meet it? Absolutely. We are not going to let people down."The government has promised to hit the target by March 2029, which requires 92% of patients to be seen within 18 January, every hospital trust was given their own individual performance targets to meet by March 2026 as the first step in achieving that Verify is launching an interactive tool, which we will update when there is new data, so you can find out how well your local NHS services are doing. We have included NHS trusts in England that had at least 5,000 cases waiting in November. 'I've forgotten what it is like to not be in pain' John Winnik does not know when he will get treatment for a problem with his grandfather from West Yorkshire, who has arthritis, has been on an NHS waiting list for nine months so far - much longer than the 18 weeks the health service says should be the 73-year-old paid privately to go to Lithuania for a right hip replacement last year, having spent more than a year on the NHS waiting also having injections in his left hip, which will eventually need replacing."I'm living in constant pain," said Mr Winnik, a self-employed consultant in the glass lamination industry. "I've forgotten what it is like to not be in pain, to be honest. I haven't played golf for two years and if I do five minutes of gardening, I'm shattered." Royal College of Surgeons of England president Tim Mitchell said: "The NHS is changing course, but the sails still lack wind."Progress is being made in some parts of the country, but it's too slow to meet the government's ambition of hitting the 18-week target by the end of this parliament."Delayed operations mean patients left waiting in pain, with their condition potentially deteriorating."He said the extra money being put into the NHS in the coming years would help, but "serious underinvestment" in infrastructure like operating theatres over the years is hampering Alsina, chief executive of the patient group Versus Arthritis, also has doubts, saying there was scepticism about whether the rapid progress needed could be she added: "It is impossible to overstate the personal, physical and mental toll of being stuck on a waiting list in daily pain, sometimes for years."There's also a wider impact on society, with many people on waiting lists having to drop out of work, despite wanting to stay in employment, and becoming increasingly reliant on others."The interim targets for March 2026 mean trusts either have to be seeing 60% of patients within 18 weeks of referral or improve on their November 2024 position by five percentage points - whichever is the NHS overall in England is expected to ensure 65% of patients do not wait longer than 18 weeks - currently less than 60% majority of trusts have already started making progress, however a BBC Verify analysis shows 50 - more than one third - are now further away from the target since November the trusts that have improved are taken into account the overall trend though is positive. A handful of trusts have already got to where they need to be by next March - as long as they can keep their waiting lists and West Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust had more than 48,000 patients waiting less than 18 weeks so far for treatment, 64.2% of the total, in April. That is up from 58.7% in Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust also reached 60.1% in April, up from 54.9% in biggest target for improvement was set for The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in Harlow, according to our analysis. In November, 41.8% of its patients were waiting less than 18 weeks. By April, that had risen to about 48.8% - one of the biggest improvements in England so far. But it needs to rise further by more than 11 percentage points by next chief executive Thom Lafferty said they were "delighted" with their progress."We recognise the impact for patients who are waiting for care and we are enhancing integration and collaboration with our partners to ensure that patients can access the right care, in the right place, at the right time."Some trusts have a higher mountain to climb because their figures have dipped since and South Essex NHS Trust started out with 52.8% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks in November. But when the clock started in April, it had fallen to 47%.Two of its theatres at Basildon Hospital have been closed for work along with some of the trust's procedure rooms and it has had an increase in executive Matthew Hopkins said it was putting on extra clinics and had a new orthopaedic procedure room opening soon, adding: "We are confident we will improve our waiting times and improve patient experience."Others that have fallen despite requiring large improvements include the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) in Shropshire (down from 48.3% to 44.9%) and Countess of Chester, down from 49.6% to 47.1%.Cathy Chadwick, chief operating officer for Countess of Chester, said more clinics and investment in new technology would bring down waiting lists and the trust was confident of meeting the target by next March.A spokesman for RJAH said: "We have a clear ambition to hit the target of 60% by March 2026, and are confident that the plans we have put in place will enable us to do so." Targets in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are different and the interim targets for next March set by the UK government do not the NHS is not meeting the waiting time targets in any Scotland aims for 90% of patients to be treated within 18 weeks of referral, in Wales the target is for 95% of patients to wait less than 26 Northern Ireland, 55% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for day case or inpatient treatment. Interactive tool produced by Alli Shultes, Rebecca French, Ollie Lux Rigby, Chris Kay, Adam Allen, Avi Holden and Rebecca Wedge-Roberts What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
Glasgow DJ remembered with new osteosarcoma research fund
The family of a young Glasgow DJ who died from a rare bone cancer say her love of music got her through the toughest times of her terminal Jobson was a prominent figure in the city's club worked throughout her illness for seven years, undergoing chemotherapy and losing her leg to the disease before dying in January, aged family have now raising money for research into the cancer which killed her. 'Horrendous times' Born in Hong Kong, Niamh spent part of her childhood on the Isle of Eigg before settling in Glasgow, where she became immersed in the city's club played some of Scotland's most respected venues including Sub Club, as well as festivals such as Kelburn Garden Party. She was a resident at Slam's Return to Mono club night, and co-hosted the Dub Series show on Radio Buena Vida alongside close friend and fellow DJ, mum, Jackie Jobson, said: "Even when she was in severe pain, she still went out and performed DJ sets."She always said 'if I don't do it, that'll be even worse.'"Jackie described how Niamh was determined to keep going despite everything she was facing."She didn't want the illness to define her," she said. Niamh was particularly close to her siblings, Finn and Betsy-Mae."Obviously not having Niamh around anymore is a really difficult thing, especially for a brother and sister who are 20 and 15," said family say they are still coming to terms with life without her but are committed to keeping her spirit and values have set up the Niamh Jobson Research Fund to raise money for research into osteosarcoma, which is a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer that mostly affects teenagers and young adults. Finn says one of the reasons behind launching Niamh's fund was because his sister believed more needed to be done to improve treatment for the said: "The treatment hasn't changed in like 40-50 years. All patients do is just go through chemotherapy for ages and then end up having to amputate limbs. And then they end up not surviving anyway."Finn described how much pain his sister was in during her final year."Sometimes it was so severe that she didn't really sleep at all."So we would take turns as a family staying up all night at the hospital."He hopes the fund will lead to new treatments and spare other young patients from going through what Niamh did. The Niamh Jobson Research Fund will be part of the Bone Cancer Research Trust and contribute to international research into new forms of says: "Our goal now is to completely change the trajectory of osteosarcoma research. We're going to go global with it."The fund will launch on Saturday at Glasgow's SWG3, with a day of music curated by Niamh's family and line-up includes Kairogen, Danny Greenman, Timescape, VXYX, Harry Mawby and LAZLO."All the people who are playing were close to Niamh and played with her," says Finn."It's a very Niamh-inspired sound, and we're carrying on what she started." Sub Club DJ, Domenic Cappello, recently released a track in Niamh's honour.'Niamh's Song' features on the Galactic Praise EP by Cyphon said: "When I first made the track, I sent it to Niamh and she loved it. It's deep, electro, and definitely something she would have played in her own sets."Domenic described Niamh as an important part of the Sub Club family."We all loved her. She would dance at the same spot on the left-hand side of the DJ booth, and I'd turn around during my set and she'd be going nuts."I miss looking to the left and seeing her." Following Niamh's death, her family created "Niamh Day", which has become a monthly event, held on the mother told BBC Scotland News the idea came from a desire to give people a way to remember Niamh with joy, not just sadness."The number 22 just kept appearing," she said. "She was born on 22 January, she died aged 22, even her hospice room was number 22." "So it just felt right, like a natural anchor point for people to focus on something positive in their life."
