#GPnews: New junior doctor leader pledges to continue to fight for rights

16:30 Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya, a specialty trainee 2 in general practice at the Homerton Hospital, London, has been appointed leader of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee (JDC).

He said in a BMA news bulletin: ‘I realised I am taking on this role at a difficult time for junior doctors. While we remain opposed to the imposition of the 2016 contract, we must also remain united in our efforts to protect the rights of doctors now working under it.’

He added that there is ‘a great deal of work we need to do to rebuild your faith in the BMA to represent and fight for you’, referring to last year’s junior doctor dispute with the Government over a new contract.

‘I appreciate that this will be challenging, but I know that the JDC and its executive committee is committed to working hard to deliver on this,’ he said.

As the bulletin says, the Government started rolling out the new employment contract for trainees in October, despite junior doctors rejecting a BMA and Government-negotiated deal in a ballot in July.

15:00 Researchers from the University of Bath have found that excess glucose damages a vital enzyme which should prevent against the build up of plaque in the brain – suggesting a link between sugar intake and developing Alzheimers.

ITV News quotes Dr Omar Kassaar, one of the researchers, who said: ‘Excess sugar is well known to be bad for us when it comes to diabetes and obesity, but this potential link with Alzheimer’s disease is yet another reason that we should be controlling our sugar intake in our diets.’

11:15 Breast cancer screening coverage has increased in England for the first time since 2011, according to NHS Digital.

The latest data showed that in March 2016, 75.5% of women aged 53 to 70 who were eligible for breast cancer screening had a test with a recorded result within the last three years. This was up from 75.4% in 2015, but down since a peak of 77% in 2011.

London had the worst screening coverage at 69.3% and East Midlands the highest at 79.8%. All England had above-70% update except for London.

In all, 2.16 million women aged 45 and over were screened in 2015/16, including both those invited via the programme and self/GP referrals, compared to 2.11 million in 2014-15.

09:40 People should be advised to eat 10 portions of fruit and veg a day if they want to live longer, rather than the recommended five, a study has found.

If everyone ate this much greens, Imperial College London researchers estimated that 7.8m premature deaths could be avoided each year, reports the BBC News website.

They went further to analyse what fruit and veg prevented specific diseases, finding that to avoid heart disease you should eat appleas and pears, and to avoid cancer you should eat cauliflower and peppers.

Dr Dagfinn Aune, one of the researchers, said: ‘Fruit and vegetables have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and to boost the health of our blood vessels and immune system.

‘This may be due to the complex network of nutrients they hold.

‘For instance, they contain many antioxidants, which may reduce DNA damage and lead to a reduction in cancer risk.’