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Studying The Anti-Cancer Capabilities Of A Special Purple Sweet Potato
A Kansas State University researcher is studying the potential health benefits of a specially bred purple sweet potato because its dominant purple color results in an increased amount of anti-cancer components.

Drugs Can Eliminate River Blindness, Study Finds
The disease onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, can be eliminated using drugs, according to a WHO study, BBC reports. The disease, which infects about 37 million people worldwide, is caused by a "nematode worm that can live inside the human body for years" and is transmitted to people through the bite of a black fly, the news service writes. The worms spread through the body and when they eventually die, the human immune system "reacts fiercely," which "destroys living tissue - especially the eye," according to BBC (7/21).
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Flawed Patient Survey Will See Millions In Funding Lost To General Practice, Says BMA, UK
Despite results which show patients are very happy with access to their GP, this year"s patient survey will result in millions of pounds being lost to general practice, potentially damaging attempts to improve GP access, the BMA said yesterday (Tuesday 30 June 2009). This year"s patient access survey results published today found nine in ten (91%) of patients were satisfied with the care they received at their surgery, nearly 17 out of 20 (84%) could get an appointment within 48 hours, and three quarters (76%) were able to book an advanced appointment. It is not possible to compare this year"s results with previous years" because the wording of the questions has changed.
Nutrition

Government Plan Could Sacrifice Equality For Choice In The NHS, UK

In a letter to this week÷´s BMJ, a researcher expresses his concern on how in order to empower NHS patients with choice, the UK government is in danger of sacrificing the principle of equality on which the service was founded. His observations come up at the same time as the Obama administration declared that US healthcare reform is "on track" and would protect the right of patients to choose their doctor. Adam Ali, a Frank Knox Fellow at Harvard University, writes that the US healthcare system is driven by the desire for choice whereas the NHS is driven by the desire for equality. "But, if choice is possible then, by definition, differences exist in the quality of care being provided in the NHS", he writes. He continues by saying that some individuals are receiving a substandard service that an informed patient would not choose. He argues that by permitting patient to choose, inequality will increase since some patients can make more knowledgeable choices than other, in other words wealthy and well educated people. These individuals are more likely to be politically active. As a result, he adds: "promoting choice seems an effective way of scoring political points in the guise of making the NHS fairer". He says in conclusion: "The fairest approach is to foster a system in which choice is not needed, by improving those services which no informed patient would choose". "Choice and equality in health" Adam M Ali, Frank Knox fellow BMJ 2009; 338:b2423 bmj Written by Stephanie Brunner (B.A.) Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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