Health & Beauty

The NHS has launched a new ‘be clear on cancer’ lung cancer campaign and local doctors in Devon have urged people with symptoms that could suggest lung cancer is the underlying cause, to get it checked out.

The campaign, which will include advertisements on TV, radio and newspapers, runs for the whole of July and into the first half of August.

It aims to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer, especially a cough that lasts for three weeks or more, and to encourage people with these symptoms to consult their GP. Doctors say the earlier the cancer is found,...

More than a quarter of over 70s with type 2 diabetes could benefit simply from improving communication and education in the clinic, new research has revealed. A study led by the University of Exeter Medical School and published in the Lancet found that 27 per cent achieved better glycaemic control through individualised care alone.

At the moment, patients over the age of 70 are treated using a blanket method of aggressively reducing blood glucose levels, but that does little to take their complex needs into account.

Dr David Strain, from the University of Exeter Medical...

There are 184 people in Devon waiting for a transplant and 31 Devon residents have died due to the shortage of organs in the last four Years*. NHS Blood and Transplant is highlighting the figures to encourage people to pass on their donation wishes to their loved ones during National Transplant Week 2013 (8-14 July). This year’s theme is Pass It On, stressing the importance of having a conversation about organ donation as well as joining the NHS Organ Donor Register. To encourage people, some of the UK’s best known communicators are showing the public how important and easy it is to do....

Doctors in Devon are celebrating the 65th birthday of a “national treasure” today – the NHS.

Since the NHS launched on 5 July 1948 it has continually developed and in April this year groups of GPs and clinicians were given the responsibility of buying most healthcare services, including acute hospitals and mental health services.

In Devon, the Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is made up of member GP practices, was set up, giving clinicians and patients more of a say in local healthcare development to get services right for their...