Experts say that a new more accurate test for Down’s syndrome has been developed and can be used earlier in pregnancy to determine if the baby has Down’s syndrome.

The study that looked at 1,000 pregnancies found that the test is almost certain to show if the baby has been affected by Down’s.

In the UK there are around 750 babies born with Down’s syndrome each year.

The condition actually happens by chance and cannot be prevented as it is caused when an extra chromosome 21 is created.

Prof Kypros Nicolaides, who is leading the research said: “This test is nearly diagnostic. It tells you almost certainly your baby has Down’s or almost certainly it does not.

“From a woman’s perspective, that is a much more clear message about what to do next.”

A plan to be unveiled at Holyrood will ban Scots from smoking in their vehicles if children or child under the age of 16 are present.

Lib Dem MSP Jim Hume hopes to introduce a private member’s bill that would see the smokers £60 if they took the law into their own hands.

Jim Hume’s said: “We have all seen it. A mum or dad on the school run with their child in the rear of the car.

“As they drive a cigarette is sticking out of a small gap in the window, but mum and dad probably have no idea just how much tobacco smoke is building up in their car despite the rolled down window.

“Research by academics in Scotland, New Zealand, Canada and the United States has shown that in various conditions of in-car ventilation, tobacco smoke levels far exceed World Health Organisation guidance levels for indoor air quality.”

The ban comes just weeks after it was confirmed that retailers can’t put tobacco on display.

Hume suggest that these are the right steps to take to reach full tobacco control saying:  “If we want to build a fairer society for our children and our families it is time to act.

“Children can’t choose alternative means of travel to school, to swimming practice or to see their friends.

“The consultation will close at the end of August and I hope that people from across Scotland will read the proposals and have their say.”

Over 750 patients have been victims of some astonishing mistakes made by NHS doctors in the past four years.

Probably the worst blunder that was done the most was leaving instruments in the body of the patients and this was done 322/762 times and you would have thought they would have learnt from their mistake.

Other mistakes include wrong site surgery, misplaced feeding tubes and wrong implants/prosthesis and the depatment of health have labelled as ‘never events’ as they are that serious that they shouldn’t happen.

There was over 200 cases of surgery on the incorrect part of the bady which is astonishing and could be fatal for some patients.

One patient named Donna Bowcett had a constant abdominal pain that would not go away and once she had an x-ray it turned out to be a pair of seven inch forceps.

Dr Mike Durkin, director of patient safety for NHS England said: “Every single ‘never event’ is one too many.

“We need to understand what it is, in some systems and in some hospitals, that the team working hasn’t produced an effective outcome and a mistake, and a ‘never event’ has occurred.”

Reports have suggested that David Cameron has decided to scrap plans to introduce standardised cigarette packets in a hope put people off smoking cigarettes.

Officials have been weighing up the plan for weeks but it is understood that the initiative will be announced during next weeks queens speech.

But now reports have emerged and it is thought that David Cameron has ordered for the proposed law to be abandoned during the speech on May 8.

A Whitehall source told The Sun: “Plain packaging may or may not be a good idea, but it’s nothing to do with the Government’s key purpose.

“The PM is determined to strip down everything we do so we can concentrate all our efforts on voters’ essentials. That means growth, immigration and welfare reform.”

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “For a Whitehall source to say that improving public health and reducing premature mortality is no longer one of the Government’s key purposes is shocking.

“Smoking remains the major preventable cause of death and disability and measures to reduce smoking prevalence are popular and effective. Over 60 per cent of the public support standard packaging for cigarette packs.

“It will take a lot of explanation if this crucial public health measure is not included in the Queen’s speech on 8 May.”

Australia was the first country to put the plan in place by putting cigarettes in a standard colour just showing the warnings and the logos.

 

 

Youngsters who missed out on the measles vaccination are being urged to have the jab to end the spread of the disease.

Many children would have missed out on the vaccine during the late 1990s and 2000s due to the fact it was thought that the vaccine was linked to autism.

Dr Alison Teale, a member of Staffordshire County Council’s public health team, said: “Around 95 per cent of Staffordshire children under the age of five years old have had the MMR jab and are fully protected, which is a reassuringly high figure.

“However, a national catch-up programme is being introduced to vaccinate 10 to 16 year olds who have not had the full two doses of MMR. Many in this age range missed out on the jabs when public concern about MMR, which has now been disproved, was at its highest.”

Elaine Michel, Derbyshire’s director of public health, added: “Measles is an extremely serious but completely preventable disease so it is reassuring that the vast majority of parents in Derbyshire have been making sure their children are immunised.

“We want that to continue so I would urge parents to check their children have had the MMR vaccination and, if not, urgently ensure they get at least one dose from their GP.

“Our main target group is children and young people, but it’s never too late to get vaccinated. It’s so easy to protect yourself and your family and there’s no shortage of vaccines.”

A new study has found that both the consumption of beetroot and green vegetable will lower your blood pressure.

The study published in the journal Hypertension in which 15 men and women with high blood pressure were tested.

The researchers from Queen Mary University of London, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry gave participants 250 ml of beetroot juice a day and found that their blood pressure had fallan around 10mm Hg. The reduction of blooad pressure was at the highest between three and six hours but after that the effect lasted 24 hours.

Researchers say that other nitrate-rich vegetables including cabbage and lettuce are likely to have the same effect.

lead researcher Amrita Ahluwalia said: ”I don’t think anybody would have liked it if we’d juiced lettuce leaves and cabbage,

“Beetroot isn’t unique in being able to alter the cardiovascular system. Rocket has a very high inorganic nitrate content; fennel has a high inorganic content.”

 

Georgi Readman, from the Isle of Wight  has a selective eating disorder where she avoids vegetables and fruits and opts for packets of noodle.

It is estimated that the teenager eats the 30 miles of noodles every year and just cannot stand for any other foods such as fruits and vegetables.

She says that her noodle craze addiction come about 13 years ago when she was 5 and now at the age of 18 she still claims to eat nothing but noodle packets.

Mrs Readman said: “I hate the texture of fruit and vegetables, I can’t go to my friends’ for dinner or go out for meals because I don’t want them to see me freak out if the side salad touches the stuff I eat.

“Mum goes to the supermarket and brings back as many packets as she can afford.

“I always fancy noodles and could easily eat two packets at once. I’ve even eaten them dry and uncooked before!”

 

George king the baby who was born almost twice the size of an average baby has now returned to his home with his parents in Reddings, Cheltenham. He was born weighing 15 lbs 7 ounce.

He was born naturally at Gloucestershire Royal hospital but he was given a 10 percent chance of survival because his shoulders were so wide they he got stuck during the delivery.

He is now six weeks old and is 2ft 2in tall and has to wear baby cloths that are suitable for a six month-old baby.

The parents of the baby Jade and Ryan were left gutted after the traumatic birth when there giant baby could not breath for 20 minutes and had to be resuscitated.

But Big George Kind beat all the odds where he made a full recovery at a special baby unit at St Michael’s hospital in Bristol and now has been sent home to his grateful parents.

A report has shown that official health guidelines could be over exaggeration the importance of taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy.

The study looked at 4,000 pairs of mother and child and found that maternal vitamin levels are not associated with bone health later in life.

Professor Debbie Lawlor of the University of Bristol said: “We believe that there is no strong evidence that pregnant women should receive vitamin D supplementation to prevent low BMC (bone mineral content) in their offspring, although we cannot comment on other possible effects of vitamin D in pregnant women.”

The NHS recommends that pregnant women and women who are breast feeding should take ten micrograms supplement of vitamin D each day. They also say if it is not taken their child could be a subject to soft bones.

The whole recipe for the sprite we drink today is to be scrapped to make way for a new natural recipe that will have less calories.

The recipe of the drink is being changed to lower the number of calories an issue called upon by the government but critics fear that the drink will not taste the same and could have a strange after taste.

The Coca-Cola company will be issuing their first TV ad to stress the affects of being obese and how they are going to do their bit to help the UK cut down on calories.

Coca-Cola have stated that this new recipe will hit the shops in this month of march.

The statement reads “We are introducing Sprite with Stevia in the UK. This will contain 30 per cent fewer calories and, instead of being added as a mid-calorie addition to the Sprite range, it will completely replace the current Sprite,”

‘It is an extract from the leaf of the stevia plant which is native to Paraguay. Stevia has been used for centuries as a source of intense, natural sweetness.’