Cancer patients wearing medical jewellery offered new hope by freezing

Doctors in America have found they can treat cancer by freezing it.

The non-surgical method involves inserting needle like-instruments into the tumour and feeding freezing gas in to it. The cancer cells are then destroyed by an ice-like ball that develops in the tumour.

All of the 13 women who have had the treatment so far have had their cancer destroyed and stayed free of cancerous tumours for up to five years.

Many people wearing medical jewellery for different types of cancer could benefit, including those suffering from breast and prostate cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Peter Littrup, from the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, said: 'Minimally invasive cryotherapy opens the door for a potential new treatment for breast cancer and needs to be further tested.'

Dr Caitlin Palframan from the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer added that further tests were needed, saying: 'We are a long way away from knowing whether cryotherapy has potential as a treatment option.'

Children with allergy bracelets may have worse asthma

A new study has suggested that children with peanut allergies are more likely to suffer from severer or more frequent asthma attacks.

Out of 160 five-to-18-year-olds with asthma in the study, more hospitalisations because of asthma were seen among the 46 with peanut allergies than those who did not have the allergy.

After the age of three, 23 per cent of children and teenagers with peanut allergies had been admitted to hospital, compared with 16 per cent of those without the allergy.

Severe reactions to peanuts can cause anaphylaxis and can be life threatening, so many children wear allergy bracelets which identify their condition if they are to suffer a reaction while they are away from their parents.

Lead researcher on the study Alyson Simpson told Reuters that parents of children with peanut allergies should try to keep asthma under control by working with the child's doctor.

A major trial was launched by researchers in Cambridge last month to find a treatment for childhood peanut allergy.

Cancer patients with medical alert pendants 'are being denied access to drugs'

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is denying many cancer patients access to expensive drugs according to a campaign group.

The Rarer Cancers Forum has said that NICE is 'failing to follow the spirit' of guidelines implemented to increase the threshold of drugs for cancer sufferers.

There are many types of rare cancer and sufferers often wear medical alert pendants to identify others to their illness. Each type of cancer does not affect a lot of patients, but together the rarer types account for between a third and a half of cancer cases.

As there are few people suffering from each of these rarer types of cancer, it is difficult for drug companies to research and produce treatments that are cheap.

Up to 16,000 cancer patients have not been given drugs because NICE had not negotiated thoroughly with pharmaceutical companies before deeming drugs too expensive, the Rarer Cancers Forum has said.

Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician for Cancer Research UK, said: 'We're disappointed that the new end of life criteria agreed with Nice are still not giving patients with less common cancers access to treatments that are routine in other parts of the world.'

Diabetic bracelet wearers told that some diabetic drugs are 'ineffective'

Research in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that two Novartis-made drugs have little or no effect on diabetes.

US and UK researchers looked at whether using a drug that lowers blood pressure or one that lowers blood sugar could stop high-risk patients developing diabetes.

However, the drugs Starlix (nateglinide) and Diovan (valsartan) have been found either to produce no decease in the number of diabetes sufferers or failed to alleviate the health problems triggered by diabetes.

Exercise and a healthy diet is the only way to keep healthy for those at risk from diabetes, researchers said as the results show the drugs are unlikely to decrease the number of people who wear a diabetic bracelet.

Co-author of the report, Professor John McMurray from the University of Glasgow, said: 'Losing as little as fiver per cent of body weight has been shown to make a dramatic difference [in preventing diabetes].'

In the UK seven million people are at risk of developing heart disease, Diabetic UK has said.

Minorities are more likely to need an Alzheimer's medical alert

A report by the Alzheimers Association has revealed that Hispanics and black people are at the highest risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

The report, titled 2010 Alzheimer's Facts and Figures, reports that five million people in America are living with the disease. Black Americans are twice as much at risk of developing the disease as whites and Hispanics are 1.5 times more likely to develop it.

The increase in Alzheimer's is thought to be due to an increase in diabetic sufferers and those with high blood pressure, who are more at risk of developing the disease.

Maria Carrillo, senior director of medical and scientific relations at the association, said: 'African-Americans and Hispanics are particularly vulnerable, because the proportion of these two risk factors is higher even still. We can actually do something about this increased risk with better management of the conditions.'

Those who are unfortunate enough to develop the disease can benefit from an Alzheimer's medical alert bracelet which can help a patient's parent or spouse locate the sufferer if they wander off.

Medical alert bracelet wearers with cancer 'could be missing out on benefits'

Cancer patients are losing out on millions of pounds in benefit payments, a study by Macmillan Cancer Support has revealed.

Across the UK last year £90.8 million of benefits went unclaimed by terminally ill cancer patients, the findings show.

Cancer patients are given a lot of information when they are diagnosed, such as the benefits of wearing a medical alert bracelet. However, it seems that there is a lack of financial advice available to patients.

The charity is calling for financial advice to be automatically given to people when they are diagnosed and throughout their illness.

Disability living allowance, which was £70.35 a week last year, was not claimed by 32 per cent of people dying from cancer, the findings from Macmillan show.

Allan Cowie, general manager for Macmillan in Scotland, said: 'The benefits system is confusing and complex and, for someone who is unwell, it can seem impossible to navigate.'

Genetic mutation 'could mean people need trendy diabetic bracelets'

New research has revealed that a mutation which affects the body's response to the smell and taste of food could contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.

According to US researchers, the genetic alteration may mean that some people are more vulnerable to the 'gradual onset' of the condition.

Senior author of the study Vann Bennett, a professor in the departments of cell biology, biochemistry and neurobiology at Duke University Medical Centre, said that the development of diabetes 'happens through what is called the parasympathetic nervous system, not directly through eating food'.

He added that his team thinks 'this parasympathetic response is potentially very important in type 2 diabetes'.

Those who are affected by the disease could inform others of their condition should they ever find themselves in any trouble by wearing trendy diabetic bracelets.

This news comes after research presented at the American Heart Association Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention revealed that fizzy drinks can contribute to the development of diabetes.