The British Blood Scandal: Poisoned at School — an utterly damning film
Forty years since the NHS's worst medical disaster emerged, the details are horrifying us all over again. Sure, it's hardly as if the scandal of how infected blood killed some 3,000 British people went away (the Sunday Times campaign has been banging the drum for decades), but there may be many today only vaguely aware of it, even after last year's inquiry findings. Until last night at least.
Now ITV has got on it and it's being billed as 'the Mr Bates of the NHS'. The channel is becoming the market leader in fuelling national outrage, and all power to it. Anyone who hadn't known much about this national disgrace will have been left dumbfounded by The British Blood Scandal: Poisoned at School, a
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
It's high time Britain had another conversation about cannabis
The findings of the London Drugs Commission are welcome after a decade or more of static drug policy in the UK (Worried about weed: should London follow New York and decriminalise cannabis?, 31 May). While the report focuses on London, the suggestions resonate across the UK and beyond. Cannabis was reclassified from class B to class C in 2004, reducing the penalties for possession, after the home secretary (David Blunkett) took the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Unfortunately, the Labour government asked the council to reconsider its advice based on protests about the risks of cannabis to health. The council, headed by Sir Michael Rawlins, confirmed its advice that the drug should stay in class C. The government disagreed this time and returned it to class B. Police Scotland some years ago announced that it would concentrate on more serious issues and reduce attention on simple possession-of-cannabis offences. Returning the drug to a class with a lower sentencing tariff clearly makes sense. The requirements for a functioning education and health service regarding drug use and addiction are clearly the next target and at present it is hard to identify anything but inadequate provision in primary or specialist services. Scotland is innovating in the establishment of a safer injecting room and a heroin assisted-treatment programme in Glasgow, but across the addiction field progress is slow. The commission didn't recommend legislation but without a national approach progress in addiction policy is fragmented and RobertsonProfessor of addiction medicine, University of Edinburgh Your article about decriminalising cannabis in London doesn't take into account the impact on people who don't want the smell of weed all around them. I've recently been on a short break to New York, which was marred by the inescapable smell of weed everywhere. It was in the streets, the shop doorways and even permeated the shops and restaurants as people smoked their joints outside. It's bad enough that we have to breathe in the sickly smell of vapes on the street without having to endure the pungent odour of pot everywhere. This is more than an issue about not prosecuting people for drug use, it's a quality-of-life issue for everyone. If it's decriminalised in London, the rest of the country is sure to follow Ludlow MooneyBacup, Lancashire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
What about fitness tips for those of us aged 90 and above?
Hannah Coates' article (From strength training in your 20s to yoga in your 80s: how to reach peak fitness at any age, 31 May) covered ages up to 80, as did another similar article earlier in the week (28 May). What about those over 90 like myself, 94, still active on the rowing machine (11 minutes 16 seconds for 2,000 metres)? In the same week, there was also an article describing a very fit 105-year-old. Our county, Surrey, is home to Britain's oldest person at 115. Don't forget the over-90s in your articles on BentleyEnglefield Green, Surrey I and my 80-plus-year-old friends fell about (voluntarily) laughing when we read that we can consider ourselves 'in good form' if we can walk unaided for 10 minutes. Since many of us regularly hike, garden, swim, cycle and play tennis, we clearly need to examine much more closely the fitness standards for our age group. Or maybe we should just retire to our Bath chairs?Shirley FosterSheffield I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read your article. Yes, my 82-year-old neighbour can walk unaided for 10 minutes – he's just completed two complete circuits of Richmond Park on his bike. My wife, a 77-year-old whippersnapper, walks six miles with our dogs each day, has recently completed the Couch to 5K running programme, attends barre and yoga classes each week and teaches pilates. These are healthy people of a certain age. There are many just like them. Please don't confuse ageing with KayeSunbury-on-Thames, Surrey Hannah Coates describes a terrible cliff edge at 80, when we should apparently be pleased if we can walk for 10 minutes. I first joined a rambling club 20 years ago, when I was in my early 60s. I can walk 10 miles unaided, thank you for asking. It may take me five hours VauxLondon It was great to read about Sarah Roberts ('Never think you're too old': meet the world's fastest 75-year-old woman, 31 May). As a 61-year-old, I was reminded of a recent run I did on holiday. After I had finished, I looked at my new GPS-enabled sports watch my wife Tracy had recently bought me and was astonished to see I had run the last three miles at an average of 4 minutes 15 seconds per mile! It was only a short while after, I reminded myself I had been running around a cruise ship and we had been sailing at around 20 AdamsCirencester, Gloucestershire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Subtle warning signs of 'silent disease' 16m Americans are living with and don't know
Nearly 16 million people have the most deadly type of liver disease, yet 80 percent of them have no idea. About five percent of adults worldwide have metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) a serious liver condition caused by fat buildup, inflammation, and scarring. It's the most dangerous type of fatty liver disease MASH triggers liver scarring, which can progress to cirrhosis, and significantly increases the risk of heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and liver cancer. Just one in five Americans with the condition are actually diagnosed. Most patients do not experience symptoms until the damage is irreversible, making it a 'silent disease'. However, as the condition progresses, individuals may experience fatigue, pain or discomfort in the upper right belly, unexplained weight loss, weakness, and in some cases, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes). A coalition of researchers from the US, Europe, and South Africa said that MASH-related liver failure and other complications, including deaths, are becoming more severe and common. The scientists behind the report, published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, are calling for a doubling in MASH diagnosis rates from the 2022 level, about 13 percent (the current rate is just under 20 percent). They estimated that about 2.6 million people in the US, UK, Germany, and France have been diagnosed with MASH. But if testing were adequately improved and scaled up to become more accessible and commonplace, that figure could balloon to 6.1 million. People with type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease should be prioritized for blood work and other screening tests, which will need to skyrocket from about two million to 36 million. Follow-up testing also needs to jump by nearly 1,300 percent to meet patient needs, and in more settings than liver clinics, such as family doctors' offices, and with diabetes and heart doctors. People with diabetes are especially prone to liver damage leading to MASH. Around 30 to 60 percent of diabetics also have MASH. Obesity is another leading risk factor, with estimates suggesting that 75 percent of overweight people and 90 percent with obesity will develop the condition. People with MASH also have a tripled risk of also developing heart disease, including coronary artery disease, stroke, and heart failure, compared to people without the condition. MASH diagnosis is poised for a major shift, mirroring past breakthroughs in chronic disease management. With new treatments approved and others on the horizon, the focus now turns to fixing systemic roadblocks. Currently, limited access to non-invasive tests and reliance on specialists leave most cases undetected until late stages. MASH arises from a cascade of liver damage typically linked to a buildup of fat in the liver, which triggers inflammation that damages liver cells and activates scar-forming cells. What was once healthy liver tissue becomes stiff, progressively crippling the liver's ability to detoxify blood. Though this is often painless until the damage becomes too severe to be reversed. If caught early, people can live normal lifespans with MASH. Lifestyle changes - eating a healthier diet, exercising regularly, and losing between five and 10 percent of one's body weight - can slow down the progression of MASH and repair some of the damage. Doctors may prescribe resmetirom, the first FDA-approved medication for MASH, to work hand-in-hand with those lifestyle changes. But severe damage can cause deadly conditions that cut a person's life drastically short. 'Each late-stage MASH diagnosis represents a missed opportunity for earlier intervention to prevent disease progression, threatening worse [liver] and [non-liver] outcomes for people living with the condition and greater costs for individuals, health systems, and societies,' researchers told a Barcelona medical conference this week. The solution requires concrete changes from moving diagnostics to implementing automated tools in electronic records. The researchers said that success in improving diagnostics goes beyond devising better tests. A fundamental reworking of methods of care is needed that catches at-risk patients before irreversible damage occurs. 'Paradigm shifts do not occur in a vacuum, but arise when leaps in science, technology, and innovation are coupled with changes in perception and understanding within a community,' they said. 'A confluence of factors in 2024 and expected drug approvals in many European countries in 2025 point to a near term tipping point for MASH diagnoses; nonetheless, focused and sustained efforts are needed to turn such opportunities into reality.'
