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The dangers lurking in teaspoons, and the risks of a large derriere

By Lilian Anekwe

Our roundup of health news headlines on Thursday 15 July.

I've been away on holiday and consequently this is my first Daily Digest in a while. I went to the west coast of America and drove a 4,000-mile round trip in search of adventures and tales with which to dazzle and inspire future grandchildren.

Top tips I intend to impart include: remember tent poles if planning to camp, don't toss your mobile phone into a river, never attempt to drive a 20 hour journey with three hours sleep and you can't necessarily trust airport 'security' staff not to help themselves to your luggage.

Since I've been gone it seems like there's been nothing but change and upheaval in the NHS, but certain things haven't changed, and the component parts of a good Daily Digest are still to be found in today's papers.

  • A pantomime villain GP: A damning report by the Care Quality Commission out today finds ‘wide failings' in the standard of care offered by foreign GPs and says they must be closely monitored, lest they kill us all, the Daily Telegraph warns.
  • Zany bit of research: The Daily Mirror shatters the time-honoured, Bob Hoskins-touted (whatever happened to him, anyway?) adage that it's 'good to talk', and says it's better for children to text – as this method of telecommunication is far less likely to ‘fry youngsters' brains'.
  • Scare story: Parents are unwittingly overdosing their children by using sinister, murderous yet innocent-looking kitchen teaspoons to dose out medicine, the Daily Mirror says.
  • Miracle cure: Scientists have discovered a gene that makes an aggressive form of breast cancer spread around the body, the Daily Mail says.
  • Bizarre ‘scientific' relationship between two seemingly-unconnected body parts: women with large behinds are more likely to suffer memory loss.

Spotted something we've missed? Let us know, and we'll update the digest throughout the day...

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