Facebook censors group that helps women obtain abortion pills

Facebook has censored the page of an organization that helps women obtain abortion pills, citing its policy against the “promotion or encouragement of drug use”.

Women on Web, which is based in Amsterdam, helps connect women with doctors who can provide abortion pills if they live in countries where abortion access is restricted. It is a sister organization to Women on Waves, which provides abortions and other reproductive health services on a ship in international waters.

Women on Waves announced that the page had been “unpublished” on its own Facebook account, writing: “Women on Web provides life-saving information to thousands of women worldwide. Its Facebook page publishes news, scientific information and the protocols of the World Health Organization and Women on Web has answered over half a million emails with women who needed scientific, accurate information essential for their health and life.

“We expect Facebook will [undo] this action soon enough, as access to information is a human right.”

This is the second censorship row between Facebook and Women on Web. In January 2012, Facebook deleted the profile photograph of the group’s founder and director, Dr Rebecca Gomperts. The image contained instructions for inducing an abortion using Misoprostol. Gomperts was locked out of her account for two days after re-posting the image, but Facebook subsequently apologized and reinstated both the image and her account.

We expect Facebook will [undo] this action soon enough, as access to information is a human right

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With nearly 2bn users, the social media site plays a crucial role in disseminating news and information around the world. But Facebook has struggled to meet competing demands to allow for the free flow of information while cracking down on graphic material (such as the livestreamed murder of a baby in Thailand in April).

In 2016, the company faced international condemnation over its decision to censor the iconic Vietnam War photograph of a naked girl fleeing a Napalm attack. Facebook subsequently altered its policy to allow for editorial judgments about newsworthiness.

On 3 May, amid criticism over its handling of graphic videos, Facebook announced that it would hire 3,000 more content reviewers. Such content reviewers are tasked with applying the company’s “community standards”, often with uneven results.

Facebook’s has faced particular difficulty enforcing its rules for “regulated goods” – prescription drugs, marijuana, firearms, and ammunition. The company bars “attempts by private individuals to purchase, sell, or trade” such items, but has struggled to halt gun sales.

The company has cracked down aggressively on pages related to legal medical marijuana, however. In 2015, the site temporarily banned business publication Crain’s for promoting a cover story about medical marijuana.

Facebook censors group that helps women obtain abortion pills

Papaya Seeds Detoxify Liver & Kidneys, fights Cancer and helps with Digestion

Papaya is one of the healthiest fruits with an exceptional nutritional profile. Papaya is well-known to be a potent digestive aid; it contains a digestive enzyme called papain, and most digestive enzymes formulas contain this papaya extract.

Most people just throw away the papaya seeds and some people dry the seeds and use them in their pepper grinder. However, only a few know about the amazing health benefits of these seeds.

The seeds are rich in flavonoid and phenolic compounds, protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. They present potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiparasitic effects. Furthermore, they contain compounds which also helps fight cancer and helps with liver and kidney health.

Let’s take a closer look at TOP 8 HEALTH BENEFITS and USES of PAPAYA SEEDS:

1. DIGESTIVE HEALTH

Papaya seeds contain a considerable percentage of the enzyme called papain which is extremely useful for protein digestion. This enzyme offers relief from indigestion and gastric problems. The seeds also help normalize the acidic environment in your intestinal tract, which is essential for a healthy digestive system.

The seeds exhibit potent anti-pathogen activities. Eating just one tablespoon of papaya seeds can keep your intestines free of harmful microorganisms, parasites and can even help with food poisoning due to its strong anti-bacterial properties.

2. ANTI-CANCER

Several studies have shown that papaya seeds and leaves are useful in fighting cancer and preventing it from appearing. The seeds can have potential anticancer effects against a wide range of tumors, including colon, lung, breast and prostate cancer.

Papaya seed is a valuable source of phytonutrient isothiocyanate, which exhibits anti-leukemia activity. The seeds contain phenolic and flavonoid compounds which offer antioxidant activities that slow the growth of tumor cells.

Another compound called Carpaine found in papaya seeds was reported by various authors to have an anti-cancer effect. In fact, At a dose of 0.1%, it is said to be effective against cancer of the blood.

3. LIVER DETOX

In Japan, people believe that taking a teaspoon of papaya seeds every day can defend the liver from disease. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, these astonishing seeds have been used for centuries to enhance vital functions of the liver by efficiently eliminating harmful toxins.
The seeds are not only useful in detoxifying the liver but are also beneficial for managing cirrhosis of the liver. Papaya seeds contain proteolytic enzymes that help decrease the digestive load on the liver.

”Studies revealed that treatment with papaya seed extract before drug-induced liver toxicity in animals protected the liver and allowed for it to function normally throughout the trial.”

4. KIDNEY CLEANSING

Papaya seeds possess strong anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties which help protect and detoxify the kidneys. At the University of Karachi, they found that these seeds are helpful for managing kidney disease and preventing renal failure and that it is particularly useful for poisoning related kidney disease.

5. ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

Papaya seeds are also powerful anti-inflammatory agents, which makes them very useful in helping joint pain, arthritis, swelling, and redness.
In fact, two enzymes in papaya seeds – papain and chymopapain – are the key elements in lessening inflammation connected with conditions like arthritis, gout, joint pain, and asthma.

6. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Research on mice shows promising improvements in cardiovascular health. A compound found in papaya called Carpaine was found to be efficient for lowering diastolic, systolic and mean arterial blood pressure.

7. ANTI-VIRAL, ANTI-BACTERIAL

Just a handful of papaya seeds also kill bacteria such as E. Coli, Staphylococcus, and Salmonella. They help in preventing bacteria from multiplying and staying in our body. They also work very well for food poisoning.

Furthermore, they are successful in fighting viral infections and helping with dengue fever, typhoid, and some other infections. Especially the leaves of the Papaya tree help with Dengue fever. Eating papaya seeds a few times per week can reduce the chance of getting Dengue fever. In fact, papaya seeds have already been utilized broadly in Costa Rica for Dengue Fever infections.

8. POTENT ANTI-PARASITIC

Papaya seeds have large levels of proteolytic enzymes – papain and carpaine. These enzymes aid the body in getting rid of parasites. Especially the anthelmintic alkaloid called carpaine can get rid your body of intestinal parasites.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food reported that papaya seeds possess strong anti-parasitic activity:

Scientists tested the effect of papaya seeds on Nigerian children who had intestinal parasites in their stool samples. As a result, more than 75% of the children who were given a dose of air-dried papaya seeds were free of the parasites after a seven-day period.

Safety, Side Effects and Dosing:

Start slowly with eating no more than one tablespoon a day (or just a few seeds). If you can stomach it, you could eat up to two tablespoons a day without any adverse effects.

Papaya seeds act as Natural Contraceptive (studies shows that eating papaya seeds can significantly reduce sperm production without affecting the libido).

Pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid eating papaya seeds. You should consult a doctor before giving them to younger children (due to its powerful anti-parasitic effects).

In addition, a compound found in papaya seeds called Benzyl isothiocyanate may induce toxicological damage in animals at high doses (it is not recognized if the same applies to humans). However, the levels of these composites in a standard serving of papaya seeds pose an insignificant health risk.

Conclusion:

Next time you eat your papaya fruit think twice before you throw away the seeds. As mentioned above, less is more, start slowly and monitor your body reaction. Keep in mind that these seeds have strong bitter pepper-like taste and can be overwhelming at first. Also, there are GMO papayas, and sprayed papayas so make sure to consume organic non-GMO papayas.

Sources:

1. http://www.liversupport.com/papaya-seeds-for-liver-health/


2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15864757


3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17472487


4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18711992


5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14724345


6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17469845


7. http://juicing-for-health.com/how-to-eat-papaya-seeds


8. http://www.top10homeremedies.com/news-facts/eat-papaya-seeds-better-health.html/


9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/22408531_Effect_of_carpaine_a_papaya_alkaloid_on_the_circulatory_function_in_the_rat

Natural Health Investigator at MAHAJEK

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Papaya Seeds Detoxify Liver & Kidneys, fights Cancer and helps with Digestion

If ketamine helps treat depression, why can’t doctors prescribe it? | Marc Lewis

Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed drugs throughout the western world. In fact, they are prescribed more than any other drug for Americans aged 18 to 44, and they are now taken four to five times more frequently than in the early 90s. In the UK, antidepressant use has doubled over the past decade. Either more people are depressed, more people are talking about their depression, or doctors now think they have got a pill that will help.

What are these drugs? Unlike the antidepressants of 30 years ago, they are considered “clean” and well-tailored. They target a certain neurochemical and leave the rest of the brain alone. (Old-school antidepressants were notorious for their scattershot effect.)

First-line antidepressants are almost exclusively what are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), with the emphasis on “selective”. That means they keep serotonin in the connections between neurons (the synapses, where all the action is) far longer than it would normally remain. Serotonin is a neurochemical that appears to moderate the information travelling between neurons. The theory is that depression grows from too much information, consisting mainly of self-criticism, negative memories and negative expectations, cycling in an endless loop. More serotonin should diminish this unhelpful deluge.

But do SSRIs actually work? Despite great promise, the big picture reveals a mixed bag of results – and opinions. Many studies have revealed extremely limited effectiveness for SSRIs when compared with placebos. These disappointing results drew attention to studies conducted by the pharmaceutical companies, in which poor results were systematically buried. (Did we really trust the drug makers to present an unbiased picture?) Yet other well-controlled studies suggest that SSRIs do help depressed people at least some of the time. The final verdict? SSRIs help some people on a good day, according to some studies and not others. Most experts agree that it would be a very good thing to find other drugs that work more reliably.

Along comes ketamine. Ketamine has been around since the early 1960s, when it became available as an anaesthetic for use with humans and animals. Its psychotropic (mind-altering) effects were soon discovered. Ketamine changed people’s perception of themselves and the world around them to a degree comparable to LSD and other psychedelics. Thus began its career as a street drug and its designation as a controlled substance. You know how the reasoning goes: we can’t let people go around changing their reality. Nevertheless, it has been used as a party drug for decades, often under the nickname “K”.

We’re being forced to fix our own mental health. And it’s not working

Ketamine’s potential for fighting depression has been studied for years. Current reviews conclude that it is highly effective against depression – a promising new medicine, but potentially dangerous, both physically (you can lose your balance) and psychologically (it can produce psychotic-like states). But how does it work?

The main neurotransmitter for communicating between brain cells is glutamate. Little bundles of glutamate molecules, sent from one neuron to the next, tell each neuron how rapidly to fire – a very important message. But glutamate molecules have to enter the receiving cell through a doorway designed to welcome them. And one of the main doorways is called the NMDA receptor.

Thanks to swarms of glutamate molecules shooting into NMDA receptors all over the brain, an incredibly complex, incredibly subtle network of firing neurons creates our sense of reality. When the brain is functioning normally, the pattern of firing neurons matches what is going on in the world outside your brain. If you happen to be schizophrenic, then not so much.

What ketamine does is block many of those NMDA receptors, so the glutamate molecules have nowhere to land. Consequently, the network that fashions reality starts to fall apart. The harmony of synchronised neurons breaks down, and your perception of the world starts to drift. That’s why ketamine is called a “dissociative”. Ketamine has been used on the battlefield where wounded soldiers can dissociate from their pain. So ketamine’s main contribution is to free you from what’s in front of your face.

Nobody knows exactly how ketamine nails depression. Yet I don’t think it’s so mysterious. When people are depressed, they undergo the same cycling thought patterns over and over again: I’m no good. Nobody really likes me. I don’t deserve to be happy. I’m too selfish, too greedy, too unpleasant. It’s called rumination. What’s more, the negative self-thoughts reinforced through rumination promote feelings of sadness, shame and hopelessness, while those feelings reinforce the spiralling negative thoughts. A vicious circle indeed.

What ketamine might do is break the cycle, perturb the relentless repetition of depressive self-appraisals. The “reality” that you are a bad, worthless person gets fragmented, because ketamine fragments everything you think you know. Ketamine permits you to sojourn into different psychological realities. That is one of the risks associated with clinically dispensed ketamine, but for depressives, a little holiday from the daily grind of pessimism might be a welcome relief.

It would be great if ketamine-based treatment moves beyond its interminable research phase: is it really safe? Can we be absolutely sure? Let’s not forget that booze can also make you lose your balance, and it’s quite legal. And depression itself can generate psychosis, often for lengthy periods. Ketamine doesn’t look so bad on balance.

I would like to see ketamine become available, at least through the safeguards of the doctor-patient relationship, to the millions who suffer depression. But there is a lesson to be learned from ketamine’s protracted debut. We are so afraid of the drugs people take for fun, to feel good, or at least to feel different for a few hours, that we ban them almost reflexively and punish those who use them. Why? What’s so bad about adults taking a vacation from the imperious reality we call “normal” – a reality that, sorry to say, isn’t decreed by God or nature but by culture, by a semi-arbitrary history of conventions? We should divert some of our hyped-up fear of abuse potential into a societal experiment, a sandbox, so to speak, for exploring the benefits of various popular drugs – drugs (such as ketamine, marijuana, ecstasy and psilocybin) that are illegal because people sometimes want to take them. Surprise, surprise: these drugs might just help people feel better.

If ketamine helps treat depression, why can’t doctors prescribe it? | Marc Lewis

A Sweet Syrup That Helps Detox Your Body, Lose Weight, Improve Brain Function and More

Natural is always best, and this natural homemade sweet syrup is said that will help you lose up to 10 pounds in a week and also get rid of excess water and harmful toxins out of the body.

This miracle weight loss syrup is made of 5 common ingredients:

• 2-3 cm ginger


• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon


• 3 tablespoons raw honey


• 3-4 lemons


• 125g horseradish

How to Make:

Blend horseradish and ginger in a blender and add in juice from a lemon, stir them well and then add the cinnamon, honey.

Stir the mixture well until you get a syrup.

Save the syrup in a glass jar.

How to Use:

Eat 1 teaspoon of this syrup 2 times a day, one before your lunch and another before dinner. Keep taking for 3 weeks, then have a 3 week break before you repeat.

You’ll get better results by taking it together with cardio exercises. After 3 weeks, something will happen to your body.

All of these five ingredients are great weight loss contributors. Horseradish works effectively to cleanse the body and boost the metabolism to aid in weight loss. Have a cup of warm lemon water as the first thing in the morning is good for your overall health, it also helps cleanse your bowels and flush out the wastes.

Studies have found that add a teaspoon raw honey and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder to a cup of boiling water can aid in weight loss effectively.

As one of the most popular spices, ginger affects weight in several ways:

1. Ginger boosting a healthy digestion, and an efficient digestive system is essential for weight loss.

2. Ginger is recommended to treat obesity, as studies have found that it can boost metabolism by up to 20%. A faster metabolism means you can burn off more fat that stored up in the body.

3. Researchers showed ginger has a significant effect on the satiety feeling after your meal, means you’ll feel fullness quickly after eating ginger.

Besides, if you drink ginger water more often, it will also detox your body. For people who drink too much alcohol, or eat too many toxic foods, it’s highly recommended to add a piece of ginger in your water to cleanse the harmful toxins.

Cinnamon and lemon also help with your digestion and flush toxins out of your body. This syrup is also good for your heart, this is thanks to horseradish, as it contains a good amount of potassium, which helps maintain a healthy heart rate and reduce the high blood pressure.

Sources: progressivehealth.com/ healthylifetricks.com/ seekingfit.com

Read More By Author Heidi Kristoffer.

A Sweet Syrup That Helps Detox Your Body, Lose Weight, Improve Brain Function and More

The online tool that helps the public decode health research

Health concerns every one of us. We all have questions about the impact of factors such as lifestyle and diet on our wellbeing. Yet for all our collective curiosity, it is immensely difficult to sift through the mountain of claims and counter-claims we’re exposed to each day. We are bombarded with declarations about our health and wellbeing, and frequently these assertions are conflicting. Sorting the signal from the noise is no small task.

Traditionally, part of the problem has been access to information. Scientific journals charge for access to research papers, and the cost can be prohibitive to anyone – including researchers – bar institutional libraries . This has improved rapidly over recent years, with many research councils and funding bodies pushing towards open-access publishing, encouraging researchers to ensure their findings are made freely accessible to the public. This is hugely beneficial, but access is only half the battle. The vital issue of appraising medical findings still remains rather daunting for most of us.

The reality is that studies can be notoriously difficult to decode in isolation. The mere fact a study exists showing a particular result is not in itself evidence that result is robust or true. It is crucial to be aware that not all studies are created equal, and some are much higher quality than others. This is a particular concern in the medical field, where confounding factors frequently skew conclusions. For example, studies with only a small number of participants are often statistically underpowered, and results from these might give a misleading picture of reality .

Even with an adequate sample size, it can be difficult to distinguish causal relationships from mere correlation, and lurking variables or poor study design can throw out an entire analysis. Apparently conflicting findings can also occur, rendering a study’s conclusions ambiguous to a general audience, and making it difficult to draw inference with any certainty.

Addressing the difficulties in interpreting research results has therefore been a driving motivation for a project undertaken by the Medical Research Council/Central Statistics Office Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (MRC/CSO SPHSU) at University of Glasgow. The result is Understanding Health Research (UHR), a free service created with the intention of helping people better understand health research in context.

Essentially, UHR it functions as an interactive field-guide to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of any given health paper. In addition, it gives clear and understandable explanations of important considerations like sampling, bias, uncertainty and replicability. This has the potential to be invaluable for improving public understanding of science and ultimately to improving our collective well-being. After all, as Dr Shona Hilton, deputy director of MRC/CSO SPHSU says “without the tools to assess contradictory health messages and claims about new discoveries and treatments, the public are vulnerable to false hope, emotional distress, financial exploitation and serious health risks.”

This is all too true. As Shakespeare pointed out “the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose”, and this remains especially true in health science, where misguided or unscrupulous operators can hide behind a veneer of science disguising dubious ideas or therapies. It is hoped that tools such as UHR will help the general public differentiate between high and low quality evidence.

A dark example of the need for UHR is the panic over the MMR vaccine, which was partly based on what turned out to be a weak study published in the Lancet. The ensuing panic lowered vaccination rates and fuelled a persistent on-going crusade against vaccines. Over a decade later we are still haunted by the spectre of frequent measles outbreaks worldwide, many of which trace their lineage back to this debacle.

Of course, science is inherently complex and findings often shaded with nuance, so no one tool can ever be expected to serve as a surrogate for expertise. Rather, UHR serves as an excellent place to start an investigation, giving people the ability to roughly assess how much stock they might place in a health finding or media story. In this era of rapidly perpetuating misinformation, useful and considered tools like this are a welcome antidote to unabated hyperbole, and a crucial vanguard in the campaign for better understanding of science and health.

The online tool that helps the public decode health research

The psychology of luck: why Donald Trump"s superstition helps him win

You might be surprised to learn that around a quarter of Americans are superstitious. When we think about it rationally, the idea of luck may seem silly, but there are a lot of people throughout history who made significant decisions based on superstitious beliefs.

The world’s largest car manufacturer, Toyota, changed its name from “Toyoda” in the 1930s because the number of brush strokes was more auspicious in Japanese culture. Donald Trump, who has been unwavering in his belief in his own ability, describes himself as a “very superstitious person”. He is known to throw a few grains of salt over his shoulder after eating.

It’s hard to understand why large numbers of people would choose to believe in an invisible, unmeasurable force over their own agency. And we know that belief in luck has little basis in reality. So why are so many successful people believers?

“Luck is a slippery subject,” says Maia Young, associate professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. It’s a hard thing to prove or disprove.

Related: Conspiracy craze: why 12 million Americans believe alien lizards rule us

The world is not entirely meretricious, which leads many to search for answers as to why some deserving people fail while some undeserving succeed. While there is nothing objectively special about a lucky penny, lucky charms really do seem to work.

“There is no real tangible thing we can call luck,” says Joseph Mazur, mathematician and author of What’s Luck Got to Do with It? “But we create that tangible thing by transferring it to an object.”

And those lucky objects afford us the feeling of a security blanket. Lucky charms create an illusion of control for the person who believes in them, says Stuart Vyse, psychologist and author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition.

In studies of lucky charms, people perform better on tasks when they have a lucky charm with them. In one study in 2010, researchers had students putt a golf ball. Half the students were told that the golf ball they were using was lucky. The students who thought they were putting with a lucky ball were better at it than students told they were using a regular ball.

As part of the same study, a group of students who had lucky charms were recruited for a series of memory tasks. Half the students were allowed to keep their lucky charms with them, and the other half had their charms taken away. The students who were allowed to keep their charms performed better.

In a skilled activity, lucky charms boost confidence for people who believe in them, explains Vyse. Even though many people might not know how their lucky charms actually work, it is not a bad idea to carry a charm for added confidence, says Young. It is a “low cost” belief, she explains.

Personality and attitude play into luck as well. In her research, Young finds that optimism is positively associated with luck. If someone believes that they are lucky, and believes that good things will happen, they will try harder at a task, she says.

“When people view themselves as lucky, they are more likely to choose and persist at challenging tasks,” explains Young.

That persistence can have a self-reinforcing effect. The more challenging tasks people take on, the more chance there is they will succeed at some of them, giving them a sense that they are indeed lucky.

Related: Donald Trump: EU was formed ‘to beat the US at making money’

A generally positive attitude towards life also makes it seem like more happy events occur for a person, says Vyse. When someone has a sense that things are going their way in general, it makes for better interactions with other people. Those improved relationships can lead to more opportunities down the line if one of those friends becomes a useful connection for work or a romantic partner.

While it is not rational to put stock in luck, studying the psychology behind the belief can begin to explain why some people end up at the top while others end up at the bottom.

The psychology of luck: why Donald Trump"s superstition helps him win

Robot skeleton helps wheelchair-end users walk again

Sophie Morgan was 18 when she broke her back in a automobile crash. The accident left her confined to a wheelchair, unable to move or feel from her breastbone to her feet.

Now, with the assist of Rex Individual, a robotic exoskeleton, Sophie is ready to stand and stroll yet again.

Rex is built to help the body in an upright position and can stroll and climb stairs safely without having the help of crutches.

Miss Morgan stated: “I haven’t stood in 10 years. Now that the exoskeleton is right here, I’m possessing to reimagine myself and my daily life in a standing place.”

Among the advantages, Miss Morgan lists being capable to attain items on higher shelves, sleeping better and getting ready to hug folks even though standing near them.

The Rex Individual exoskeleton is offered for £89,073 topic to a healthcare check.

Robot skeleton helps wheelchair-end users walk again

Bail hostel with mental overall health staff helps residents integrate into society

St Joseph’s approved premises runs rehabilitation actions and programmes focusing on cooking, budgeting and benefits. Photograph: Don McPhee

When Barry learned he had to move into a probation-run hostel following leaving prison, he was not satisfied.

“I was really angry. My view was that I would completed my sentence so why could not I go straight back to civvy existence?” he recalls. “I just didn’t see the level of it. In fact, however, I’ve come on leaps and bounds. No way could I have sat and talked like this to strangers when I acquired right here seven months in the past.”

Barry’s property considering that completing his 5-12 months jail sentence has been St Joseph’s accredited premises in Eccles, Better Manchester. Formerly identified as bail hostels, these locations now specialise in functioning with offenders deemed a large risk to the public and likely to benefit from a gradual reintroduction into society after prison.

Amongst the UK’s authorized premises, nevertheless, St Joseph’s may be exclusive – fairly potentially the only 1 to have an on-web site mental well being group. Beneath a partnership that dates back at least a decade, the Greater Manchester West NHS believe in posts two local community psychiatric nurses (CPNs), plus a help worker, at the probation service-run hostel. They aid support its 29 male residents, several of whom have enduring diagnosed mental health issues.

In frequent with other accredited premises, residents are referred to St Joseph’s as a issue of their licence and are strictly supervised, with curfews and typical drug and alcohol testing. Breaking the principles – some of which are personalised dependent on people’s offending historical past – could result in a return to custody.

There are also rehabilitation activities: university, occupation clubs, art courses, bodily activities, excursions and programmes focusing on abilities such as cooking, budgeting and advantages. Some consider area outdoors the centre to aid develop self-confidence and re-integrate residents into society.

The mental well being assistance slots in alongside this. Adam Clayton, CPN group leader, says: “Us being here helps make sense because inside of accepted premises there are a comparatively substantial quantity of residents with understanding troubles or psychological well being troubles – and coming out of prison is a big and stressful adjust. Being here implies we can reply a lot more quickly than a neighborhood psychological health staff could. In partnership with probation, we can decide what people’s care demands are and look at how that may effect on chance management – as effectively as offering support to them at a time of enhanced vulnerability.”

When an inmate is referred to St Joseph’s, Clayton’s team members make contact with their counterparts within the jail to find out about the person, just before going to the prisoner to carry out their very own assessment. The place an offender with psychological overall health requirements is topic to multi-agency chance-planning meetings – as a lot of substantial-threat inmates are – the CPNs also attend the sessions and share appropriate details.

When inmates arrive at the hostel, the CPNs supply a familiar encounter and can talk to them about their anxiousness. Residents then have speedy access to CPNs and psychiatrists if they require – who attend in emergencies as properly as operating twice-weekly clinics.

If a resident’s mental wellness deteriorates even though at St Joseph’s, Clayton’s group would carry out an evaluation. In some instances they may possibly be taken to hospital, voluntarily or through a sectioning buy. Out-of-hrs emergency mental healthcare is provided by means of the same NHS trust’s crisis group.

Clayton says: “Our evaluation could inform regardless of whether someone’s recalled to custody but if it really is purely about psychological wellness our aim would be that it ought to be managed inside the context of current mental wellness solutions, and not always by restricting someone’s liberty.

“If someone is recalled to prison even though – and if their mental health is an situation – we have robust hyperlinks with our colleagues inside of prisons. We inform them if there is a concern about self-harm or a risk of suicide, so they know what needs choosing up. This partnership functions both techniques.”

The crew also aims to support residents to remain well and integrate into society. The support employee runs self-assurance-constructing sessions such as budgeting, buying, gardening and employing the health club. A flexible technique is necessary, with lots of person support in some instances.

Barry, an agoraphobic who barely left his home for the 15 years ahead of he went to prison, and suffers from serious social phobia, does not like groups and prefers to invest his time cleaning to maintain his mind busy. Understanding that structured appointments stress him out and preserve him awake at evening, Clayton rather engineers possibility meetings in the hallways or on the stairs whilst he is cleansing.

The CPNs also identify residents’ demands for moving on – specifically for people whose bodily or mental needs suggest they might need rehab or supported accommodation. After referrals are made they website link people with community psychological well being support in their new location. In the case of Barry – quickly to leave for an independent tenancy – the local community team is aware of his problems with formal appointments so can try to be as flexible as possible.

“I believe there should be much more spots like this,” says Barry. “If I would have gone straight house from prison I would have even now been the very same individual and would have stayed inside the whole time. Now I go for walks to clear my head. This area has aided me to get out and in other methods I do not yet know.”

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Bail hostel with mental overall health staff helps residents integrate into society

New software program helps NHS trusts track patient suggestions

Interactions with individuals appear as conversations in an inbox, whether or not a patient mentions an organisation on Twitter, leaves a comment on a trust’s Facebook web page or leaves feedback on Care Connect or Patient View. Photograph: Jonathan Hordle/Rex Attributes

Sufferers are more and more employing social media channels this kind of as Twitter, Facebook, NHS Options, Patient Viewpoint and Google+, to depart feedback about NHS services, engage right with healthcare suppliers and interact with the NHS in actual-time.

We needed to develop anything that will assist NHS experts and the public make sense of all the diverse channels by placing every thing in one area with one set of controls.

HealthBerry is a response to the Francis report and the government’s dedication to make the NHS and social care accountable to service consumers.

Putting Individuals Very first, the NHS England company program for 2014-15, describes a new concentrate on gathering direct feedback from patients, their families and NHS personnel. And Robert Francis QC stressed the require to put individuals at the centre of their care by generating confident that patients’ voices are heard and employed to provide far better solutions.

We want to assist the NHS, social care, the third sector and personal health companies measure real-time patient suggestions greater. We consider the conversation about care and the NHS on social media channels can enhance the top quality of wellness and care companies and the patient expertise.

We also want to make the monitoring of social media significantly less demanding for health and social care organisations. Monitoring and reacting to social media should be simple, and which is what HealthBerry is about.

Over the subsequent couple of months, we will be operating with our pilot web sites to make sure that all of HealthBerry’s functions – the performance, documentation, coaching, assistance and delivery – execute as anticipated, and meet personal organisations’ demands.

We signed up 18 trusts in the first four days of launching, and we have noticed comparable development in our 2nd week, with yet another eight trusts and 3 clinical commissioning groups expressing an curiosity.

I feel component of this early achievement is that NHS professionals get it. They see it will conserve time. They can see it will liberate sources and supply them with a better feeling of awareness and handle.

We also have a straightforward indicator-up approach. NHS organisations register on-line by choosing their organisation from a pre-populated record of suppliers (trusts, commissioning groups, hospitals, GPs and so on), which then automatically back links historical and true-time patient suggestions from NHS Choices, Care Connect, Patient Viewpoint and social media channels – the complete process requires under two minutes.

Organisations can get started monitoring patient suggestions from multiple channels and engage with patients right away in actual-time. Interactions with sufferers appear as conversations in an inbox, no matter whether a patient mentions an organisation on Twitter, leaves a comment on a trust’s Facebook page or leaves suggestions on Care Connect or Patient Viewpoint. Organisations obtain email notifications each time a patient commences a new conversation, and can reply right from inside HealthBerry. The application functions on desktop, mobile and tablet units.

We’re quite thrilled about the long term and grateful to be doing work with companies such as Surrey and Borders partnership NHS foundation trust, one particular of many pilot sites that have been invaluable in assisting us to improve our solution.

I believe the up coming big emphasis for us will be analytics. We’re seeing a massive possibility to generate tailored dashboards for care organisations, mental health trusts, commissioning groups, GP practices and other suppliers. Above the next couple of months, we’ll be functioning with these organisations to realize what metrics we need to be tracking to greater boost how we measure and report patient engagement and suggestions.

Dawson King is chief exectuive of HealthBerry

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New software program helps NHS trusts track patient suggestions

Dog helps Alzheimer"s sufferer to talk

Charles Sasser, of Alburqurque, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about 4 years in the past, but it was not right up until the last six months that he started to lose his speech.

He struggles to type comprehensive sentences and only speaks with a word right here and there, in accordance to his daughter Lisa Abeyta.

So when she noticed the big difference in her father when he is all around the family’s pet dog, Roscoe, she determined to movie a single of their encounters.

In the video, Charles can be observed talking calmly and obviously to Roscoe.

“Oh yeah, hey! You have got, you have received some thing! You have acquired one thing, huh?” he can be heard saying even though stroking the canine.

“Yeah, well, that … that is also undesirable, there. That is all. That’s all I’ve received.”

He adds: “Why will not I consider care. I’ll take you. And you consider me.”

Lisa advised ABC News that she developed the video with her teenage son to demonstrate the big difference that the canine created to her father and to “commemorate a gorgeous moment so that I could share it with my mom and family members.”

The clip has gone viral and has been viewed a lot more than 600,000 times because it was uploaded on Thursday.

Video courtesy YouTube/ Lisa Abeyta

Dog helps Alzheimer"s sufferer to talk

Spine implant helps paralysed guys move legs

In a new examine published in the journal Brain, researchers gave an update on Rob Summers, of Portland, Oregon, the initial to attempt the therapy, and described profitable benefits for all three of the other men who have tried it. All had been paralysed from beneath the neck or chest for at least two many years from a spinal cord injury.

The study’s lead writer, Claudia Angeli of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Research Center at the University of Louisville, mentioned she believes the device’s zapping of the spinal cord assists it to obtain basic commands from the brain, by way of circuitry that some medical professionals had assumed was beyond fix soon after extreme paralysis.

Dustin Shillcox, 29, of Green River, Wyoming, was significantly injured in a auto crash in 2010. Final 12 months, he had the electrical gadget surgically implanted in his decrease back in Kentucky. 5 days later, he wiggled his toes and moved 1 of his feet for the initial time.

“It was really interesting and emotional,” mentioned Shillcox. “It brought me a lot of hope.”

Shillcox now practices moving his legs for about an hour a day at house in addition to treatment sessions in the lab, sometimes wearing a Superman T-shirt for inspiration. He stated it has given him a lot more self-assurance and he feels more comfy going out.

“The future is really thrilling for folks with spinal cord injuries,” he explained.

Professionals say it really is a promising development but warn the experimental therapy is not a cure. When the implanted gadget is activated, the guys can wiggle their toes, lift their legs and stand briefly. But they aren’t able to stroll and nonetheless use wheelchairs to get about.

The new examine was paid for by the US National Institutes of Wellness, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Basis and others.

Sources: University of Louisville/ AP

Spine implant helps paralysed guys move legs

Guy helps make surgical history after possessing his shattered encounter rebuilt using 3D printed parts

Consultant maxillofacial surgeon Adrian Sugar stated: “We were capable to do a pretty excellent work with all his facial injuries, with the exception of his left cheek and eye socket.

“We fixed his facial fractures quite well but he had damaged his left eye and the ophthalmologists did not want us to do anything at all that might injury his sight further.

“That was a great move due to the fact his eyesight has primarily recovered. But as a end result we did not get his left cheekbone in the appropriate place and we did not even consider to reconstruct the extremely thin bones around his eye socket.

“So the end result was that his cheekbone was also far out and his eye was sunk in and dropped.”

Final 12 months, surgeons commenced organizing the surgical treatment to restore the symmetry to Mr Power’s encounter.

The undertaking was the function of the Centre for Applied Reconstructive Technologies in Surgical treatment, a partnership between Morriston Hospital’s Maxillofacial Unit and the National Centre for Solution Layout and Growth Research (PDR) at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

The crew employed scanned 3D photographs of Mr Power’s encounter to design and style guides to reduce and place the bones, as nicely as plates to hold the bones in place. All the designs – along with the finished guides and health care-grade titanium implants – were developed by 3D printing.

Mr Sugar explained: “Stephen had a very complex injury and correcting it involved bones getting to be re-minimize into numerous fragments.

“Being ready to do that and to place them back in the right position was a complex three dimensional exercising. It produced sense to program it in 3 dimensions and that is why 3D printing came in – and successive 3D printing, as at every different stage we had a model.

^{An x-ray of Stephen Power’s skull}

Mr Power, from Cardiff, nonetheless has a lengthy way to go with his overall bodily recovery. But the good results of his facial reconstruction has enormous implications for other people.

Looking at the final results of the surgical treatment, Mr Power says he feels transformed – with his face now considerably closer in shape to how it was before the accident.

“It is daily life altering,” he explained.

“I could see the distinction straight away the day I woke up from the surgical treatment.”

Possessing utilised a hat and glasses to mask his injuries just before the operation, Mr Power has stated he presently feels more assured.

“I am hoping I won’t have to disguise myself – I will not have to hide away,” he explained.

^{(Lt-Rt) A 3D mould of Stephen’s encounter was made prior to the titanium imaplants were designed}

“I’ll be ready to do day-to-day things, go and see people, walk in the street, even go to any public locations.”

Mr Sugar described it as an evolution of 3D technological innovation, taking what had been carried out prior to not just one stage but two or 3 methods even more.

“Previous efforts elsewhere to consider it to this phase have failed and so we have had to learn from these experiences.

“This is genuinely the 1st time we’ve taken it to this stage, where everything to the quite last screws becoming inserted has been planned and modelled in advance – and worked sweetly.”

Mr Sugar said the same methods would be utilised to support a lot of other individuals in future.

Design engineer Sean Peel stated the most recent advance should motivate better use of 3D printing inside of the NHS.

“It tends to be utilized for personal genuinely challenging instances as it stands – in quite a convoluted, lengthy-winded design and style approach,” he mentioned.

“The following victory will be to get this method and technique utilised far more broadly as the costs fall and as the style tools boost.”

Mr Power’s operation is at present becoming featured in an exhibition at the Science Museum in London, named 3D Printing: The Potential.

Guy helps make surgical history after possessing his shattered encounter rebuilt using 3D printed parts

HIV "s efficiency helps make it a formidable foe

An Aids victim at Kigali morgue in Rwanda. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

Antiretroviral drugs have been an astounding good results story, reprieving folks with HIV from the brink of death and making it possible for them to dwell a total and healthier existence. But despite the fact that the roll-out across the globe has saved lives and removed the distressing photos of wasted Aids victims from our Television screens, authorities know the medicines will not finish the epidemic. The hunt is on for a cure, but it is proving difficult.

Antiretroviral drug therapy suppresses the virus to such low ranges that people with HIV are no longer infectious, but it can’t get rid of it. The virus has survived virtually almost everything that has been experimented with so far to eradicate it. It evolves swiftly and efficiently if not entirely suppressed – if someone forgets to take their tablets or runs out, for instance – and gets resistant to the triple-drug regimen the patient is on. A new mixture is required. Some people – for instance those born to mothers with HIV years ago – ahead of we had drugs to cease transmission at birth, have been via many.

“Some folks in their late teens and early 20s have been by way of every thing,” mentioned Jane Anderson, an HIV advisor at Homerton hospital in east London. “They have been by means of masses of medicines.” Thankfully, the organizations preserve creating new versions of the old ones, but there are no new courses of drugs coming along.

“At the second it’s Ok, but they have nonetheless not acquired huge alternatives waiting all around the corner,” she stated.

Campaigners and HIV scientists speak of treatment method as prevention. Studies have now proved that individuals on antiretroviral treatment are not infectious. It has also been proven that taking the drugs can protect an uninfected partner of somebody with HIV. It follows that getting drugs to more people will assist avoid HIV as effectively as deal with it.

But drugs are even now a stop-gap, infections are rising everywhere and the target now of the scientists and medical professionals in the Global Aids Society, the foremost professional HIV organisation in the world, is to uncover some type of cure – either total or what they get in touch with practical – which would involve permanent suppression of the virus in the entire body. The efficiency of HIV, nonetheless, helps make it a formidable foe.

The gene treatment trial at the University of Pennsylvania is probably to cause some excitement between the scientific community that is searching for new approaches to tackle the virus, right after many failures, particularly in vaccine growth.

The researchers appear to have found potentially a new way to suppress the virus, which includes priming the body’s personal immune system to preserve it at bay.

This is not a remedy, as it stands, but could be another selection for people sentenced to a lifetime of medication. But it will also educate scientists much more about the behaviour of HIV and suggest new methods to assault it.

So far, the only man or woman thought to have been “cured” is Timothy Brown, an American originally identified as the Berlin patient. Brown, who was HIV-constructive, had bone-marrow transplants in Germany in 2007 to remedy leukaemia. His medical doctor had the foresight to use stem cells from a donor who had a genetic mutation that seems to block HIV from coming into human cells.

But hopes that bone-marrow transplants per se may possibly clear the virus have been dashed last December. Two individuals, acknowledged as the Boston individuals, who have been HIV-positive and acquired bone-marrow transplants had been originally considered to be virus-free. They had no detectable HIV in their entire body and they stopped their antiretroviral medication. But right after several weeks, the virus came back. Both are now back on medication and said to be performing effectively.

1 other recent impressive case is that of the Mississippi infant, born in Could 2010 to a female who had not witnessed a medical doctor in her pregnancy and did not know she had HIV. Dr Hannah Gay, associate professor of paediatrics at the University of Mississippi Health care Centre, who noticed the infant at thirty hrs previous, ordered exams that showed the infant had the virus and right away gave the complete three-drug remedy course.

By the time the infant was a month outdated, the virus was undetectable, but at 18 months, the mom stopped bringing the child for drug therapy. Five months later on, they returned – and exams showed the baby was HIV-cost-free and has remained that way. There is speculation that the building immune technique of a newborn could be capable of clearing the virus as an adult’s is not.

These successes are limited, but they give hope to these in the discipline that a cure is attainable – 1 day.

HIV "s efficiency helps make it a formidable foe

Let us hope Stuart Rose helps make the NHS much more like M&S

Drafting in Sir Stuart sets a thought-provoking precedent why not place up Lord Kitchener-type posters in each boardroom in the land?

Maybe not with a headshot of Wellness Secretary Jeremy Hunt, nevertheless he barely appears old enough to increase a milk moustache, never ever thoughts emulate Kitchener’s luxuriant whiskers.

Instead of the normal suspects, appointed by way of the established route of old-school-tie cronyism, government departments may well really be headed by men and women who could do the occupation.

Given a choice, flooded householders would far desire a web site pay a visit to from bish-bash-bosh Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins, who knows what he’s speaking about, than Eric Pickles wringing his hands.

The economic climate? Give it to that nice Peter Jones of Dragon’s Den. Rural affairs? Cath Kidston, your nation needs you. Justice would be Judge John Deed, Wales can have Gavin and Stacey, Andy Murray can armwrestle Alex Salmond for Scotland and, for every little thing else, there’s John Lewis, who isn’t a man or woman but ought to be.

Never ever knowingly undersold on the globe stage, we could all be stakeholders, a buzzword that as soon as on a time was continuously utilised in connection with the NHS, but looks, like providing sufferers adequate water to drink and treating the elderly with dignity, to have slipped off the agenda.

But I have large hopes for Sir Stuart, who has constantly struck me as a can-do type of chap. He started on the shop floor and worked his way up swept the warehouse, folded the pyjamas, emptied tills and served customers.

The enterprise of bringing the NHS back to complete well being will be a special challenge, but the truth he didn’t go to school with the PM is a vote-winner in my guide.

Given his hands-on strategy, ahead of he begins employing and firing the generals, it may be an thought for him to go undercover – join the infantry as a well being-care assistant and uncover what’s truly taking place on the wards and why standards of care are nosediving in as well many hospitals.

Of program, the NHS is not about profit margins, even though fees are essential in identifying the top quality and extent of care people are at its heart. But as executive chairman of M&ampS, Sir Stuart’s achievements have been exceptional, and he is really significantly a men and women individual.

I wish him luck – lives depend on him. In distinct, the lives of people inside an ambulance trip of Colchester Hospital University, Sherwood Hospital, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals or any of the other failing trusts, the place, by way of bitter irony, trust is just about the last issue sufferers come to feel when they are wheeled in the front door.

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Stars make us all want to have a go in the snow

_{Winter Olympics medal-winner Jenny Jones}

Haven’t we come a prolonged way because Eddie the Eagle symbolised our comical inadequacies when it comes to winter sports activities? Sochi, which I previously considered was some kind of martial art, is proving to be a actual revelation.

Britain’s female competitors, in particular, glow with overall health, emanate strength and radiate this kind of rosy-cheeked enthusiasm that they ought to be on the reverse of our banknotes.

These are precisely the type of role models our daughters are crying out for in 21st culture of pneumatic physique-conning celebrities and half-dressed starlets who resemble harlots.

There’s also one thing egalitarian about possessing a go in snow, even if Jenny Jones, who bagged a bronze on her snowboard, did a lot more odd jobs than Del Boy in order to pay her way on the slopes.

Lizzy Yarnold, whose glittering smile outshone the Olympic gold she won in the skeleton yesterday, received to the top by dint of hard work, application and her faithful sled, Mervyn.

Sochi runs until February 23 and I’m loving every minute of it, even however I’ve in no way ski-ed or skated or snowboarded.

I’m off with my loved ones to Scotland next week for the half-term vacation, where there is snow. We’ll be packing the normal thick socks and boots and pullovers, and, if there is room I may slip a tea tray into the roof box – just in case the mood will take me.

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He’s spared me a bunch of worries

_{Say it with flowers… or save yourself the needless cost}

So women, just how hearts-and-flowers wonderful was Valentine’s Day for you?

Yeah, me also my husband handed me a card made by our eleven-12 months-previous but did not really get round to signing it. I gave him a shop-purchased 1 but did not very get round to getting rid of the wrapper. Nonetheless, they’ll be excellent for following 12 months.

And, offered the new research revealing that an income of £50,000 almost ensures that you will discover really like, then the cash we saved could be construed as an astute investment rather than a tragic indictment.

Funds, of course, cannot get enjoy, but it absolutely generates the circumstances for fondness to flourish. All the same, I’m not certain the super-rich are any happier than the £50k brigade. Definitely a straw poll of Lottery winners would recommend they aren’t.

As Mr Micawber so succinctly place it: “Annual revenue twenty pounds, yearly expenditure nineteen, nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual revenue twenty lbs, annual expenditure twenty lbs ought and six, result misery”.

So, would I have wished my husband or wife to fritter his sixpence on flowers? No. Yes. Really, no, since they are so evident. Or am I just becoming a cynic and a sourpuss? Yes. Or no.

Anyway, it is academic, actually, as my husband has spared me the horrible cognitive dissonance by not presenting me with a huge bouquet to agonise above. Now that is what I get in touch with the best gift of all.

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My pension is going to pot

_{The middle lessons have been pushed into buying poorly performing annuities}

As if there weren’t sufficient to fret about in life, now we find out that, getting shopped close to for auto insurance and house insurance coverage and mortgage loan prices and utility suppliers, we must include pensions to our ever-lengthening checklist.

In accordance to sector watchdog, the Economic Conduct Authority, the middle classes are being fleeced by unscrupulous pension companies that push them into getting poorly executing annuities. And because an annuity – do pay out focus at the back, even if you are beneath thirty and thus immortal – can’t be modified, retirees locate themselves locked into dismal returns for the rest of their daily life.

Shedding £10,000 of cash flow on a £100,000 pension fund is scandalous, but the excellent news is it is avoidable – if you place the hours in by investigating the industry and buying around.

I’m hoping by the time I attain retirement I will not only have one thing resembling a pension pot, but that there will be a whizzy annuities comparison web site to do the challenging graft for me.

Then once again, it’s most likely only a matter of time just before the comparison internet site sector watchdog blows the whistle on nefarious practices in that discipline, also, so exactly where does that depart us? Apart from duped and broke, certainly.

I concern the single lesson we can discover from all this is deceptively straightforward: believe in no one.

Let us hope Stuart Rose helps make the NHS much more like M&S