Health and Medicine

An inventive breakthrough from the Applied Optics Group at the University of Kent at Canterbury (UKC) is set to revolutionise current methods of eye examinations.

Professor David Jackson, Dr Adrian Podoleanu and Dr John Rogers, who gained his doctorate at Kent, have developed an instrument known as an Optical Dual Channel Tomograph. The instrument blends together two imaging technologies. Although in its early stages, it is already being used by ophthalmologists and researchers at New York`

The tobacco industry has deliberately deceived the public with “low tar/light” cigarettes, reveals an analysis in a special supplement to Tobacco Control. Industry documents show that companies recognised that low tar products were as dangerous as regular cigarettes, yet marketed them as healthy alternatives.

The authors analysed trade sources and internal US tobacco company documents. These show that the industry feared mounting evidence linking tobacco with lung cancer would discourage smo

Virtual organ image beamed into OR.

Liver surgeon Rory McCloy carries a wad of CAT scans into his operations. “I spend my life looking at 60 slices of salami,” he says. Peering at the light-box, he constructs a mental picture of a tumour before making a cut. “I’m trying to do a 3D operation with 2D images,” he protests.

Despite the wide availability of 3D graphics programs, they rarely penetrate operating theatres. Frustrated by the technology void, McCloy, of Manchester Roy

Most smokers are disenchanted with smoking and would not smoke if they had their time again, according to a letter in this week’s BMJ. It also shows that smokers’ expectations of how soon they will quit greatly exceed rates of quitting observed in recent history.

A national sample of 893 smokers were asked: “If you had your time again would you start smoking?” Over 80% said that they would not (79% men, 87% women). Those aged 45 to 64 were most regretful, with 90% saying that they would not

Patients on new Angina Plan report 40% reduction in angina attacks per week New research published in the British Journal of General Practice revealed that patients on the York Angina Plan, compared to those receiving a conventional educational session, reported a 40% reduction in the number of episodes of angina per week (a reduction of three from the baseline mean of seven attacks). This was despite the fact that they were more active. They also showed a lower level of anxiety and d

Microbes, not the worms that carry them, aggravate the immune system.

Stowaway bacteria inside parasitic worms, and not the worms themselves, cause river blindness, according to new research. The finding could lead to better ways of preventing or treating the debilitating disease.

River blindness, or onchocerciasis, affects some 17 million people throughout central Africa and in parts of Arabia and South America. Sufferers develop inflammatory conditions. When inflammation