Don't Let 2016 Get You Down!

Christmas holidays are over for me and the year is almost at its end. Most people have declared 2016 to be an awful year, the never ending list of celebrity deaths and countless negative political events seem to have shaped the year overview. In medical world it seems as if its even worse with junior doctors contracts being imposed, poor evidence circulating mainstream media and bombings of hospitals in the middle east (a recent BMJ editorial highlights this casting aside of moral boundaries, a dangerous development).

Its easy to think that it has indeed been a 'crap year' but I think this just highlights an underlying frustration with how things are going. Its for the first time I highly recommend we all listen to the Queen. And no not the Freddie Mercury kind, although 'don't stop me now' always made me feel hyped up in a 'tiger defying the laws of gravity' kind of way. For those who arn't familiar with it, every year on Christmas day just after lunch, the Queen gives a speech to the nation. It's usually just a well orchestrated and politically-correct summary of the charitable acts and travels around the world she undertook, this year despite not mentioning Brexit once (come on queenie, its history) and seeming to be fixated on the olympics (I bet she always wanted to compete that's why, corgie hurdles anyone?) she decided to focus on the theme of INSPIRATION.

Yes well, 2016 has left nothing to inspired from unless you are a fake news producer, a dedicated neoliberalist or loving Pokemon Go. We should all INSPIRE, take a deep breath (see what i did there) and take on 2017 with new vigor. And not just skip into 2017 like all the gym goers who will be skipping through the gym entrances on January 2nd to only find themselves two weeks later using their new running shoes to microwave pot noodles in (I might have exaggerated here) BUT to take on 2017 full on! 

What does that mean? you will ask, honestly I don't know, I'm writing in a stuffed airport lounge in Luton so its hard to be inspiring here, I guess what im trying to say is:

"Don't let 2016 get you down!" which may be hard to say to a hardcore Star Wars fan a day after Carrie Fisher (princess leia) dies (she died drowning in moonlight strangled by her own bra). 

Go into 2017:

• Prepared for the worst (yes David Attenborough will die one day) 
• Know your enemy! what is neoliberalism, best 2016 comebacks
• Make a new years resolution 
• Stick to your new years resolution (hardest challenge yet)
• Read every day (top articles of 2016)
• Always check the evidence and for gods sake don't listen to fake news

Interesting Health NEWS today

Whenever I read the paper (and if I have a pen to hand) I tend to highlight interesting quotes and healthcare related stories. Here is everything in the news today I found reading various papers. 

Facts on asthma
Asthma costs the UK 1.1 billion pounds a year.
It causes three deaths a day while more than 270 people are admitted to hospital a day because of it.
The UK has one of the highest Asthma burdens in the world, >18million people.
SMART INHALERS (for example) will be hugely benficial in the future keeping track of patient adherence and reminding patients to take their medicine, reducing exacerbations.

We need a new health tax?
Various GP surgeries, A&E departments and Units are being closed around the country to avoid a predicted 20 billion pound shortfall in 2020. Dr Dan Poulter MP reckons a new health tax or rise in national insurance could relieve the pressure on NHS budget.

Readmissions mean higher death rates?
A study presented at European society of Cardiology in Rome over the weekend compared patients being admitted 1 to 3 times to those being admitted 4 to 7 times over the study period (500,000 patients in the study). The results showed those who were admitted more (4-7 times) had almost 20% increased risk of dying.
Advice was to make sure patients were taking the correct medication after discharge and diagnosed properly. (duh?)

Ipad vs Midazolam
Results presented at the World Congress for Anaesthesia in Hong Kong showed that tablet devices with 'age appropriate games' are at least as effective than midazolam in in dropping anziety levels prior to paediatric surgery.
The Ipad group had higher parental satisfaction and nursing staff satisfaction rates than the midazolam group. Dr Chassard involved in the study quoted by the Independant "electronic devices are a non-pharmacological tool that can reduce stress around the time of the operation without any of the side effects of sedatives".

101 year old transplanted kidney
We dont know why but some transplanted kidneys are able to resist rejection. While on average most are rejected after 12-15 years. Sue Westhead (68yrs) has the worlds oldest which she received in 1973 from her 57yr mother.
3000 people are on the transplant waiting list.
58,000 are effected by kidney failure, mainly caused by diabetes and high blood pressure.
No one really understands why chronic rejection occurs, is it poor lifestyle choices?
2000 transplants a year are from deceased donors and 1000 from living donors

Sources: The Metro, London evening standard, the independant, i newspaper.