This site is intended for health professionals only


Dehydrated children, dogs that can do the washing and why you should throw away your mobile phone

Today there was a lot of coverage on a new-found drought at the British breakfast table. Nearly two thirds of children are not drinking enough at breakfast time to be properly hydrated. Researchers in Sheffield studied 450 children aged nine to eleven and found that 60% were classed as "not sufficiently hydrated"- the stage just below "clinical dehydration". Time to re-introduce free school milk?
 
Another study that gained widespread coverage found that aspirin could be just as effective as more expensive drugs, such as warfarin, for patients with heart failure. This could help cut the cost of medication for the 750, 000 people in England suffer heart failure.
 
Costs are also being cut elsewhere, as the Guardian today revealed that a private firm who have recently taken over an NHS hospital could keep tens of millions of pounds worth of savings it seeks to make. The paper reports that Circle, which has just been put in charge of debt-ridden Hinchingbrooke Health Care Trust in Cambridgeshire, will make widescale cuts and pocket the difference. A report in The Health Service Journal found that the hospital will need to make a surplus of £70 million to clear its debts, and 44% will go straight to Circle.
 

The Telegraph led with a touching story of how trained dogs can help children with autism as well as patients with conditions that rob them of their independence. These so-called "wonder dogs" can pick up dropped items, help with dressing, turn on lights, empty a washing machine, call lifts, carry shopping bags, put a card in a cashpoint machine and even extract the money. It seems they really are a man's best friend!

According to the Daily Mail, overdue babies are more likely to suffer behavioural problems such as ADHD in early childhood. Published in the International Journal of Epidemology, the Dutch researchers say the results might be due to the placenta failing to provide sufficient nutrients and oxygen after 40 weeks, the normal length of a pregnancy. They said the findings will increase calls for mothers to be offered induction methods or caesarean if their pregnancy becomes prolonged.
 
And finally, the Sun warns of the many dangers one faces when using a mobile phone. Infertility, memory loss, sleeping disorders, brain cancer, Alzheimers. It's good to talk... or is it?