Media Centre

NAPC News 13 July 2012

eGuidelines App

eGuidelines have now developed a Guidelines app for use by healthcare professionals that is available to download for free on iPads and iPhones.

The Guidelines app contains all of the content from the Guidelines handbook, the three times yearly publication containing summaries of clinical guidelines for primary and shared care, including NICE guidelines, working party guidelines and independent professional body guidance.

The Guidelines app provides those involved in developing and implementing practice or locality guidelines with a valuable reference source in a convenient, easy-to-use format.

Other useful benefits of the Guidelines app include:

•    Fully searchable content
•    No requirement for an internet connection once the app is installed

•    Bookmark feature to keep track of most used/favourite guideline summaries

•    A notes feature to annotate relevant guideline summaries

•    Updated content three time a year to coincide with the new issues of the Guidelines handbook.

To download the Guidelines app for free, please click here.

The Guidelines app will be useful for GPs, nurses and other healthcare professionals implementing clinical guidelines.

Germ-killer That Could Banish Fillings For Good

A chemical which may stop people from ever needing a filling again has been developed by scientists.  Called Keep 32, the chemical is designed to destroy the bacteria that cause cavities. 

Developed by researchers, Jose Cordoba from Yale University in the US and Erich Astudillo from the University o fChile, it could be on the market in fourteen months.  The product has been undergoing testing for seven years and is now being tried out on people.

Its developers hope to license the patent.  The researchers say they are in talks with five companies to market the chemical, which could be added to any dental care product, turning toothpaste, mouth wash or chewing gum into ‘super cleansers’.

Pay When You Die Loans For Care Homes

The government is to introduce a ‘pay when you die’ scheme by 2015, under which elderly people will be able to borrow money from the government to cover the cost of moving to a nursing home rather than having to sell their property to pay for care.

Delay in Care Plan Will Not Cut Costs

Delaying the reforms of old age care will result in greater costs as more people end up in hospital, ministers have been warned.

The NHS Confederation and Saga, the social care and financial services company for older pepope, said that shelving the reforms until 2015 would not save money.

Role Of Pharmacy

According to a study, a fifth of GP appointments is unnecessary, as patients complain about ailments that could be dealt with by a pharmacist.

NHS figures, collated from GPs across England and Wales, showed one in five visits were unnecessary, a waste of time and raining resources for more important work, such as the elderly, the seriously ill or emergency cases.

NHS Trust Runs Care Boot Sales

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is reportedly hold boot sales in order to raise additional funds, which currently are recorded at £5,000 a year.

Katherine Murphy of the Patients’ Association, said: ‘Patients want to see the NHS focusing on providing the best and safest care possible, not holding car boot sales to try and raise money.’

GSK Beats World Leader In Trials For HIV Drug

An experimental HIV drug from Glaxo and its partner, Shionogi, proved superior to Gilead’s Atripla, in a late-stage clinical trials, increasing hopes for the new product.

The GSK durg, dolutegravir, proved better at suppressing the presence of the virus in the bood when used in combination with two older GSK drugs.  Furthermore, it had fewer side effects than Gilead’s drug, which causes notorious ‘vivid dreams’.

JP Morgan suggested that if the drug was successful, GSK and Pfizer could eventually spin off their joint venture in HIV treatment, which was created in 2009 under the name of ViiV.

Alcohol Can Ease Menopause

Research suggests that losing weight can alleviate the symptoms of the menopause, while a separate study has suggested that moderated intake of alcohol reduced the risk of osteoporosis, another effect of the menopause.

A study of 17,473 women by the Women’s Health Initiative found that those who lost 10 per cent of their weight on a low-fat diet that was rich in fruit and vegetables suffered less from hot flushes and night sweats a year later.

A separate study of 40 postmenopausal women who usually had one or two drinks a day found that when they stopped drinking for two weeks their bone turnover, that rate at which bone tissue is replace, went up.  Once they resumed drinking, their bone turnover dropped to normal within a day.  High bone turnover is known to increase the risk of breaking a bone because of osteoporosis.

Urszula Iwaniec, one of the researchers at Oregon State University, said: ‘Drinking moderately as part of a healthy lifestyle that includes a good diet and exercise may be beneficial for bone health, especially in postmenopausal women.

Tsunami Of Child Diabetes

Children as young as seven are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes due to unhealthy lifestyles, a panel convened by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has warned.  The panel said a ‘tsunami’ of diabetes is engulfing the country.

Type 2 diabetes, in which the body gradually loses its ability to produce insulin and tolerate high glucose levels, used to be called ‘mature onset’ diabetes.  But the panel said the label can no longer be used because of the number of children being diagnosed with the condition.

High Blood Pressure Danger For Teenage Girls

Teenage girls who are on the Pill are at risk of having high blood pressure in later life, according to research.

Scientists have found that even those who have been taking the contraceptive for only a few months have readings, which are significantly higher than those of other girls.  Although the girls’ blood pressure was still within a healthy rand, the Australian researchers expressed concern that it might rise further when they got older, putting them at risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Earliest Signs of Alzheimer’s

Researchers say that the five key signs of Alzheimer’s disease can be detected up to 25 years before patients begin to suffer memory problems.

It is hoped that the signs, changes in spinal fluid and the brain, will help scientists understand how the disease progresses so that treatments can be developed for the common, non-inherited form of the disease.

A study of 128 people at risk of inheriting the genes that can cause Alzheimer’s disease helped the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis to develop a timeline of the disease.  The earliest sign was a drop within the spinal fluid in levels of a substance that forms plaques in the brains of sufferers.

Rare Gene Is Key To Dementia

A rare genetic mutation could hold the key to slowing Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at deCODE Genetics, in Reykjavik, Iceland.  New research has found people carrying the mutant version of a gene crucial to developing the devastating form of dementia are less likely to suffer from it. 

The normal version of the gene makes a chemical which stops nerve cells from communicating, leading to classic symptoms, including memory loss and speech problems.  But the researchers found that healthy patients aged between 80 and 100 with the variant version of the gene had better memory and speech.

Chief executive, Dr Kari Stefansson, said the findings supported current theories that targeting the gene with drugs might prevent dementia.

Plans To give Terminally Ill Free Help

A government White Paper has proposed giving terminally ill people free care at home for the first time.

The White Papers acknowledges that many people who would like to be discharged for the final days of their lives are unable to go home as a result of means testing and bureaucracy.  New laws would force NHS trusts and social services to work together and pool resources to support people with terminal illnesses at home.

Claire Henry, director of the NHS national end of life care programme, said: ‘For many, this additional support will mean they can die in a familiar place, treated with dignity and cared for compassionately.’