Health

News / UK and world by Press Association October 16, 2018, 11:31 pm FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsAppEmail Sign up to our Daily newsletter The average lifespan in the UK is expected to rise slightly from 80.8 years to 83.3 by 2040, research has shown. In the world league table of longevity, Britons are expected to move up from 26th to 23rd place. But they are easily outranked by the super-healthy Spanish, whose predicted average lifespan of 85.8 years makes them front-runners in the list. Spain is forecast to overtake Japan, ranked first in 2016, which drops into second place with an average lifespan of 85.7 in 2040. Lifespan gains around the world are likely to be checked by factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, tobacco and alcohol use, and air pollution, according to the study. African countries continue to have the worst rates of premature death. Citizens of the Central African Republic, Lesotho, Somalia and Zimbabwe are still expected to die … [Read more...] about UK beaten into 23rd place in longevity league despite increasing lifespan

Across the US, there are 127 confirmed or suspected cases of a rare-polio like illness, the Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) revealed on Tuesday. Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, says 62 cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) have been confirmed across 22 states.   Previously, the agency had reported that there were 38 confirmed cases of the mysterious virus in 16 states. Meanwhile, another 65 cases are under investigation for AFM, whose symptoms start off resembling those of a common cold and affecting children at an average age of four years old. Health officials have determined the condition is caused by a viral infection, but they have been unable to determine the specific virus it is linked to. 'We have not been able to find the cause of the majority of AFM cases...and we're frustrated that we haven't been able to identify the cause of illness,' Dr Messonnier said in a media call. … [Read more...] about More than 120 kids in 22 states diagnosed or suspected to have AFM

A Hull man has been diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer at just 26. Jack Lawson suffered with back pain, weight loss and had blood in his stools for more than six months, but due to his young age, doctors did not identify that these symptoms were as a result of bowel cancer until he had a biopsy four weeks ago. Mr Lawson is now having to undergo a stringent course of chemotherapy and has been told that his condition cannot be cured. When he found out that he would lose his hair as a result of his treatment, Mr Lawson decided to instead shave it off to raise money for two cancer charities and the Queens Centre at Castle Hill Hospital, where he is being cared for. Donations have flooded in for Mr Lawson's cause and the money he has raised has surpassed his expectations. "When I first got ill I was told that there was nothing to worry about, and I was given cream to use at the doctors thought I had piles when I told them I had blood in my stools," said Mr Lawson. "Before I was passing … [Read more...] about Hull man diagnosed with incurable cancer at 26