Physiotherapists have been banned from touching their patients in a new set of initiatives set by the NHS, the Daily Mail reports.
Patients in Nottinghamshire have instead being offered ‘advice and guidance' instead of hands-on treatment after a review of services shows health bosses have stopped medics from using any physical contact.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has labelled the scheme ‘barmy'.
Chief executive Phil Gray said: 'They seem to have invented a new form of physiotherapy that no one has heard of - do-not-touch physiotherapy. Patients have been reporting back to GPs a very strong disappointment, and the physiotherapists providing this service are saying that basically "you are preventing us from doing a professional job".'
More men and boys are being taken to hospital needing urgent treatment for severe eating disorders, the Daily Mail reports.
The number of admissions for anorexia and bulimia has risen by 16% for boys and men in the last year.
Figures from the NHS Information Centre show that last year there were 228 hospital admissions for men and boys with anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders.
The number of admissions for men of all ages has steadily risen from 160 in 2007/8 to 182 in 2008/9 to 196 in 2009/10.
But charities said these figures were the tip of the iceberg as it is estimated that a fifth of the 1.6 million Britons suffering from some form of eating disorder are male.
Dangerous drugs which can cause death, such as Ritalin used for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, are being bought online to improve concentration among students, the Telegraph reports.
The report entitled Human Enhancement Drugs – The Emerging Challenges to Public Health charts unprecedented growth over the past few years in the usage of such drugs, sourced from a vast and illicit market.
The report said: "There is also the issue of over medicalisation, a phenomenon that blurs the distinction between normal life events and disease. Ageing, being overweight, sexual performance, hair loss, shyness, tiredness and being ‘too' short are some of the events that have been redefined as medical issues and ‘treated' with drugs.
