UK News 11-03-2005 who: Transplant patient Richard Lane what: Cured of diabetes by landmark operations where: King`s College Hospital, LONDON when: September, October and January snippet: The 61 year-old from Bromley, Kent, has suffered from type 1 diabetes for 30 years, says The Scotsman, but "can now live a normal life without jabs after becoming the first person in the UK to undergo an islet cell transplant". Mr Lane says: "I have to pinch myself to ensure I am not dreaming". In other health news, The Guardian says official figures showed that MRSA infections in the last six months were down 4% on the same period last year (although opposition critics accused the government of juggling the numbers); a report in Tuesday`s Scotsman says the largely unknown blood-clotting condition venous thromboembolism (VTE) "is a bigger killer than breast cancer, HIV/AIDS and traffic accidents combined"; and The Mirror reports on a study commissioned by Nicorette which predicts only 8% of adults will smoke by 2050. Meanwhile, Labour and the Tories continued to trade blows over the health service and in particluar the case of pensioner Margaret Dixon, who says her shoulder operation was postponed seven times. The government published the timetable for implementing its White Paper on public health while the Tories promised they would launch a publicity blitz to reverse an "epidemic" of sexually transmitted infections. Finally, The Telegraph looks at the ubiquitous problem of body image amongst young girls after research in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology found that children as young as five had expressed an interest in dieting to lose weight. [... more]

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