By Charlotte Barnes
Our roundup of health news headlines on Thursday 6 January.
Andrew Lansley could face a mutiny after senior medics challenged his ‘damaging' reforms and called on GPs to 'thwart' the NHS shakeup, reports The Guardian.
More than 100 doctors signed the letter addressed to the BMA, which has been published in the British Medical Journal. The letter also criticises the leadership of the BMA and says ‘fighting the changes is a great opportunity for the BMA to achieve redemption for its opposition to the inception of the NHS in 1948'. See the story in Pulse here.
Green tea is another way to ward off cancer, reports Metro. According to the paper ‘a daily cup of green tea could help stop cancers in their tracks'. The research conducted at Newcastle University studied how chemicals would affect the body once the tea was digested. They found ‘digested compounds had anti-cancer properties'. As well as this, digested green tea helped ‘ward off Alzheimer's'.
Dr Anne Corbett, of the Alzheimer's Society, said: ‘It's fair to say that at least one cup of green tea every day may be good for you'. We're off to stockpile our supply now.
The Independent's big health story of the day is the discovery of a ‘mutant gene' which caused ‘Charles Byrne, the most famous giant in medical history' to grow to 8 feet tall and still causes ‘excessive growth in the same area of Northern Ireland where he was born'.
Doctors screened four families in the area carrying the same genetic mutation and ‘identified three patients in the early stages of excessive growth who had not realised they were affected'. Even though Charles Byrne made a living flaunting his gigantism, doctors will not reveal where the ‘race of giants' reside, although we think they wouldn't be that hard to find.
The Daily mail continues to flog the flu stories. Today, it leads with the headline that there is an ‘eight-month wait for more flu jabs as stocks run out'. The paper reports that ‘at risk patients are being turned away' as ‘only a few thousand doses remain across Britain' and the Government considers ‘shipping in stock from abroad'. Scare stories still flood in as The Mail reports of ‘eighteen victims in a single hospital'.
Spotted a story we've missed? Let us know, and we'll update the digest throughout the day...
Daily Digest - 6 Jan 2011
