South West tops long-life table

South West tops long-life table
Elderly people

People in the South West are more likely to live into their mid 70s than those living elsewhere in England and Wales, official data shows.

The Office for National Statistics compared the current likelihood of living to 75 with the early 1980s.

It found survival chances increased from 47% to 66% for men and 66% to 77% for women in England and Wales.

Survival was generally higher in the south but there were signs the gap with the north was narrowing.

See breakdown of best and worst from area to area

The North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber all saw the largest improvements in the probability of surviving to 75 when comparing 1981-3 and 2004-6.

However, this could be because areas in the south already had more people surviving to 75 and, therefore, had less scope to improve.

Overall, in the South West men now have a 70% chance of survival to 75 compared with a 62% probability in the North East. For women, it stands at 80% and 74% respectively.

"People can make healthier choices and government can put health programmes in place"
Professor Alan Maryon Davis
Faculty of Public Health

On a local authority level, residents of East Dorset topped the long-life league. Women had a 86% chance of survival and men 78%.

At the other end of the spectrum, men in Manchester had only a 52% chance, while women in Blaenau Gwent in south Wales had a 67% chance.

Professor Alan Maryon Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: "It is the big north-south divide again.

"The reasons are complicated. It is really a combination of factors, lifestyle, access to health services and the environment, including employment and housing."

But Professor Maryon Davis said it was wrong to point the finger of blame because everyone had a role to play.

"People can make healthier choices and government can put health programmes in place."

And Dr Tim Crayford, of the Association of Directors of Public Health, added: "Health inequalities largely come about through differences in people's family environment, education and personal wealth.

"These affect the values people place on health and life and knowing the importance of making healthy choices.

"For example, smoking is one of the behaviours that has the biggest impact on your health and people from deprived backgrounds are more likely to smoke."

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BEST AND WORST SURVIVAL RATE BY AREA FOR MEN

* North East - Berwick-upon-Tweed 71.9%, Hartlepool 57.1%
* North West - South Lakeland 72.5%, Manchester 51.7%
* Yorkshire and the Humber - Hambleton 73.2%, Hull 59.2%
* East Midlands - Rutland 75.5%, Corby 55.6%
* West Midlands - South Shrops 72.1%, Sandwell 57.1%
* East of England - South Norfolk 76%, Luton 63.3%
* London - Kensington and Chelsea 74.2%, Tower Hamlets 54.4%
* South East - Horsham 75.5, Portsmouth 61.5%
* South West - East Dorset 78.1%, Plymouth 63.7%
* Wales - Ceredigion 70.6%, Blaenau Gwent 59.6%


BEST AND WORST SURVIVAL RATE BY AREA FOR WOMEN

* North East - Berwick-upon-Tweed 81.9%, Hartlepool 69.7%
* North West - Eden 84.1%, Manchester 68%
* Yorkshire and the Humber - Craven 82%, Hull 70.2%
* East Midlands - Rutland 84.3%, Lincoln 71.1%
* West Midlands - South Shropshire 82.4%, Stoke 72.1%
* East of England - South Cambs 84.5%, Luton 74.3%
* London - Kensington and Chelsea 85.2%, Newham 71.8%
* South East - Fareham 83.1%, Thanet 74.8%
* South West - East Dorset 85.5%, Bristol 75.7%
* Wales - Monmouthshire 80.9%, Blaenau Gwent 67.4%

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Experts Revive Debate Over Cellphones and Cancer
By TARA PARKER-POPE

What do brain surgeons know about cellphone safety that the rest of us don’t?

Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears. “I think the safe practice,” said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an earpiece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.”

Dr. Vini Khurana, an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University who is an outspoken critic of cellphones, said: “I use it on the speaker-phone mode. I do not hold it to my ear.” And CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital, said that like Dr. Black he used an earpiece.

Along with Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s recent diagnosis of a glioma, a type of tumor that critics have long associated with cellphone use, the doctors’ remarks have helped reignite a long-simmering debate about cellphones and cancer.

That supposed link has been largely dismissed by many experts, including the American Cancer Society. The theory that cellphones cause brain tumors “defies credulity,” said Dr. Eugene Flamm, chairman of neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Center.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, three large epidemiology studies since 2000 have shown no harmful effects. CTIA — the Wireless Association, the leading industry trade group, said in a statement, “The overwhelming majority of studies that have been published in scientific journals around the globe show that wireless phones do not pose a health risk.”

The F.D.A. notes, however, that the average period of phone use in the studies it cites was about three years, so the research doesn’t answer questions about long-term exposures. Critics say many studies are flawed for that reason, and also because they do not distinguish between casual and heavy use.

Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, waves of energy that are too weak to break chemical bonds or to set off the DNA damage known to cause cancer. There is no known biological mechanism to explain how non-ionizing radiation might lead to cancer.

But researchers who have raised concerns say that just because science can’t explain the mechanism doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. Concerns have focused on the heat generated by cellphones and the fact that the radio frequencies are absorbed mostly by the head and neck. In recent studies that suggest a risk, the tumors tend to occur on the same side of the head where the patient typically holds the phone.

Like most research on the subject, the studies are observational, showing only an association between cellphone use and cancer, not a causal relationship. The most important of these studies is called Interphone, a vast research effort in 13 countries, including Canada, Israel and several in Europe.

Some of the research suggests a link between cellphone use and three types of tumors: glioma; cancer of the parotid, a salivary gland near the ear; and acoustic neuroma, a tumor that essentially occurs where the ear meets the brain. All these cancers are rare, so even if cellphone use does increase risk, the risk is still very low.

Last year, The American Journal of Epidemiology published data from Israel finding a 58 percent higher risk of parotid gland tumors among heavy cellphone users. Also last year, a Swedish analysis of 16 studies in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine showed a doubling of risk for acoustic neuroma and glioma after 10 years of heavy cellphone use.

“What we’re seeing is suggestions in epidemiological studies that have looked at people using phones for 10 or more years,” says Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, an industry publication that tracks the research. “There are some very disconcerting findings that suggest a problem, although it’s much too early to reach a conclusive view.”

Some doctors say the real concern is not older cellphone users, who began using phones as adults, but children who are beginning to use phones today and face a lifetime of exposure.

“More and more kids are using cellphones,” said Dr. Paul J. Rosch, clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College. “They may be much more affected. Their brains are growing rapidly, and their skulls are thinner.”

For people who are concerned about any possible risk, a simple solution is to use a headset. Of course, that option isn’t always convenient, and some critics have raised worries about wireless devices like the Bluetooth that essentially place a transmitter in the ear.

The fear is that even if the individual risk of using a cellphone is low, with three billion users worldwide, even a minuscule risk would translate into a major public health concern.

“We cannot say with any certainty that cellphones are either safe or not safe,” Dr. Black said on CNN. “My concern is that with the widespread use of cellphones, the worst scenario would be that we get the definitive study 10 years from now, and we find out there is a correlation.”

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研修医バイトに厚労省が罰則、定員削減決める

　医師法で禁じられている臨床研修医のアルバイト診療をめぐり、厚生労働省が、今年度にアルバイトが発覚した研修先病院に対し、罰則として今後の研修医定員を削減することを決めた。

　近畿地区で昨年度に実施した調査の結果、３４病院の研修医１５７人のアルバイトが判明したため、同省は対策の強化が必要と判断。定員削減は、研修医の数に応じて交付される補助金の減少や診療体制の縮小につながり、病院運営にも影響を与えそうだ。

　医師法に基づく臨床研修医制度は基本的な診療能力の習得が目的で、医師免許取得後、国が指定する病院や大学病院などで２年間、内科や外科などの研修を義務付け、昨年度は全国で約１万６０００人が研修を受けた。同法は研修への専念義務を定めており、別の病院でのアルバイト診療は認められない。

　しかし、同省近畿厚生局が昨年度に近畿地区で行った調査では、同地区の研修医約３０００人のうち大阪府内２７病院の１２６人、兵庫県内６病院の３０人、奈良県内１病院の１人のアルバイトが判明。大阪大付属病院が１９人で最も多く、大阪市立総合医療センターと神戸大付属病院もそれぞれ１４人だった。

　大量違反の判明を受け、同省は再発防止策を検討。今年度以降、アルバイトが発覚した研修先病院に対し、違反者の人数に応じて次年度の研修医定員を減らすことを決めた。

　今回の調査では、過去にアルバイト問題で同厚生局から厳重注意を受けながら新たにアルバイトが確認された兵庫医大病院など４病院が、国の補助金計３０００万円を返還した。

　同省は「病院が、研修医の管理指導を適正に行っていないとみなす。医師不足の中で、定員削減は病院にとって影響が大きく、研修医の管理を徹底するのではないか」としている。

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後期高齢者医療：所得割り軽減も与党が大筋合意

　自民、公明両党は２日大筋合意した後期高齢者医療制度の見直し案で、収入に応じて徴収している保険料の「所得割り」部分の減額措置について、国が特別交付金を配り、制度を運営する各都道府県の広域連合に減額をさせたうえで国が補てんする形をとる方向だ。

　見直しの柱は、一律負担の「均等割り」を、年収が基礎年金水準（約８０万円）以下の低所得者については９割軽減（０８年度は実質８割５分減）することだが、これに加えて年金額が年間２０８万円以下の人については所得割を１００～２５％減額する。

　▽１５３万円超～１６８万円以下１００％▽１７３万円以下７５％▽１９３万円以下５０％▽２０８万円以下２５％－－の４段階で減額している、東京都独自の軽減措置を援用するよう、広域連合に求める。制度の変更ではなく、広域連合の軽減措置に国が補助する形を想定している。ただ、０８年度は混乱を避けるため、減額幅を一律５０％とすることなども視野に入れている。