Drink And Obesity Behind 60 % Rise In Liver Death Toll
Binge drinking and obesity are fuelling a surge in deaths from liver disease, experts have warned.
The number of lives claimed by damaged, diseased and worn-out livers has soared by 60 per cent in only a decade.
Liver disease, including cancer, claimed 9,719 lives in England in 2008 – up from 6,058 ten years earlier, a report by MPs says today.
The fifth biggest killer, it is the only one that is claiming more lives year after year.
Soaring rates of binge drinking, obesity and the viral disease hepatitis C mean the number of deaths is predicted to double in only 20 years.
Alcohol is 75 per cent cheaper now in real terms than in 1980. Heavy drinking can inflame the liver, causing jaundice, and leading to comas and even death. Read more
Scientists Use Synthetic Corneas To Restore Vision
Scientists in Canada and Sweden have used laboratory-made biosynthetic corneas to restore vision to patients in a small human trial, and shown for the first time that they can help to repair damaged eye tissue.
The scientists, whose work was published on Wednesday in the Science Translational Medicine journal, said their findings offered hope for the millions of people who go blind each year because of a worldwide shortage of corneas for donation.
“This study … is the first to show that an artificially fabricated cornea can integrate with the human eye and stimulate regeneration,” said May Griffith of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, who led the study. Read more
Vulnerable Children At Risk Of Being Placed With Unsafe Carers
The extent of the failures in the foster care system has been highlighted in an unpublished report which reveals that vulnerable children in the southeast are at risk of being placed with unsafe carers.
This internal audit conducted by the Health Service Executive follows a number of other critical reports which highlighted major problems in childcare in the Dublin and Cork areas.
This latest report, completed in December of last year, found:
No evidence of formal assessments of foster families or Garda clearance in up to a quarter of cases examined, increasing the risk of unsuitable people working as foster carers. Read more
So Who’s The Biggest Celebrity? Kate Beckinsale, Gwen Stefani Join Their Husbands On Double Date
As a Hollywood A-lister it must be hard finding friends who aren’t jealous of your success.
So who better to dine with than your fellow celebrities.
Gwen Stefani and her husband Gavin Rossdale dined with actress Kate Beckinsale and her director husband Len Wiseman in the ritzy beach side town of Malibu yesterday.
Dressed in black harem pants and a long beige cardigan with her hair pulled back in a bun, Gwen, 40, looked casually chic, while Gavin, 44, just looked casual in his jeans and bulky jacket.
Len, 37, was rocking the casual look in basic black, while Kate, 37, dressed up her black pants with a pair of killer black heels.
Earlier in the day Gwen and Gavin had eaten lunch in Malibu with their sons, Kingston, four and Zuma, two. Read more
Hollywood’s Highest Paid Actresses
She may have had a tough year personally, but Forbes.com has named Sandra Bullock as Hollywood’s highest earning actress of the past year.
Bullock, who split from cheating husband Jesse James in a very public and messy way earlier this year, earned a whopping US$56 million (NZ$76.3m) in the 12 months from June 2009 to June 2010.
The 46-year-old had two box office hits that helped her earnings along – romantic comedy The Proposal and The Blind Side, for which the actress won her first Oscar this year.
Forbes’ annual list is based on talking to agents, managers, producers and lawyers to establish what actresses earned as upfront pay on movies they are currently shooting, back-end pay earned after a movie came out and any extra earnings for ad campaigns, perfume and clothing lines. Read more