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‘Alarming’ rise in strokes, Scotland nursing shortage and higher oestrogen increases men’s breast cancer risk

Front page headlines everywhere, including on the BBC, focus on a report from the Stroke Association that says there has been an alarming rise in strokes among working-age people over the past decade.

The Guardian explains there was a 46% rise in the number of strokes among men aged between 40 and 54 between 2000 and 2014. Among women, the number of cases went up 30%.

The charity said the rise of obesity was at least partly to blame.

Chief executive Jon Barrick said: ‘We’ve known for some time that obesity levels in the UK have been on the rise, putting thousands at increased risk of a stroke. This goes some way in explaining these shocking stroke rates, which are a sad indictment of the current state of the UK’s health.

‘There are now real concerns that excess weight could replace smoking as the major killer of adults in the near future.’

The NHS Scotland needs more nurses, according to another report on the BBC, after claims from one nursing agency that it is struggling to get enough staff – and is calling on former nurses to do occasional shifts.

The director of the Royal College of Nurses in Scotland, Theresa Fyffe, said there was ‘no doubt that there simply aren’t enough nurses to fill the gaps’.

She said this was down to growing patient demand, significant cuts to the number of nursing students and high rates of retirement, but also called on health boards to do more robust workforce planning.

Lastly, research has found a link between oestrogen and breast cancer in men, The Telegraph reports.

According to the study, men with the highest circulating levels of the hormone are two and a half times as likely to get the disease as those with the lowest levels.

 

 


          

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