Diabetics could be giving up vital home blood sugar checks because they believe they are of no use, says a researcher.

Psychologist Dr Elizabeth Peel interviewed type 2 diabetes patients, and found that many were confused over what to do with the results.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, she said that some doctors simply ignored detailed records kept by diabetics, compounding the problem.

Charity Diabetes UK called for more support for patients.

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Ready meals are no longer just for couch potatoes.

They are becoming increasingly popular with healthy eaters as manufacturers use less fat.

Britons spent more than £2 billion on ready meals last year - more than anyone else in Europe, market analysts Mintel reported.

Almost a quarter of us eat a ready meal more than once a week - compared with just 9 per cent of Germans.

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Mobile phones can take as little as ten minutes to trigger changes in the brain associated with cancer, scientists claimed yesterday.

They found even low levels of radiation from handsets interfere with the way brain cells divide. Cell division encourages the growth of tumours.

Although the researchers did not come up with evidence that mobile phone signals are harmful, the findings suggest they could be.

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Images highlighting the dangers of smoking will be printed on all tobacco products sold in the UK by the end of 2009, under regulations being set out.

Manufacturers will have to start complying from October next year.

After a public consultation 15 images, including ones of diseased lungs, have been chosen to accompany text warnings about lung cancer and heart disease.

Anti-smoking campaigners welcomed the move but smokers’ lobby group Forest said they were being “victimised”. Click here for full report.

Experts have found further evidence that cholesterol-lowering drugs can help protect against Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers in the US said they had uncovered the first direct evidence that statins - used by three million people in Britain - could ward off the illness.

A large-scale study by Boston University found the drugs may cut the risk of Alzheimer’s by as much as 79 per cent, even in people believed to be genetically predisposed to the disease.

The lead author of the study, Dr Gail Li, said hers was the first to compare the brains of people who had received statins with those who had not. The assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and her colleagues examined the brains of 110 people. They were aged 65 to 79 and had donated their brains for research. The two changes in the brain considered the most definitive hallmarks of Alzheimer’s are called brain “plaques” and “tangles”. These are protein deposits that appear to spread in the brain, although the exact cause of Alzheimer’s is not fully understood.

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Roz Savage’s attempt to row across the Pacific Ocean single handed has ended after only 10 days at sea. She was rescued by a US Coast Guard helicopter about 90 miles offshore.

Roz set off from California on August 12 seeking to become the first woman to row alone across the Pacific.

Her reason for this record-breaking attempt was to raise awareness of marine pollution. In particular, the North Pacific Gyre, a swirling vortex of currents that traps vast quantities of rubbish, mainly plastic.

Unfortunately this attempt came to a premature end after gale force winds and heavy seas caused her to capsize and she lost valuable equipment. None more so than the sea anchor that should have kept her boat facing into the waves! Even the backup line to the sea anchor, the tripline, had been severed in the storm. This meant that she had no defence against further capsizes.

According to the USCG, the weather was going to get even worse over the next 48 hours. Roz was already on the outer edge of the range of the USCG helicopters. They also told her that by tomorrow she would be out of range of a helicopter rescue, and it would not be possible to get a boat out to her in these conditions.

Althouth her insticnt was to tough it out, she could tell that the Coast Guard were very concerned. As a result, she took the decision to abandon the Brocade and try again at a later date.

Apart from a few cuts and bruises, Roz is fine and is already making plans to return to the Brocade as soon as possible and continue her journey.

UK scientists say they have discovered a new way to regulate blood pressure, offering hopes of new drugs to combat strokes and heart attacks.

One in four adults has high blood pressure and although powerful drugs are already available, few manage to achieve target blood pressure levels.

The pathway found in a study by King’s College London involves a process called oxidation, reports Science.

Until now, oxidation has largely been linked with harm rather than good. Click here for full report.

Following speculation in the British media at the beginning of the week Tim Henman OBE has confirmed that he will retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup tie against Croatia at Wimbledon at the end of September.

The announcement came at a press conference in New York where Tim is preparing for the US Open which starts on Monday.

The former British Number one said “This certainly isn’t a decision I have taken lightly and is something I have been thinking about for a long time. While I still enjoy competing it has become clear that my ability to do so has been severely compromised by my fitness – I have recently found it impossible to withstand the rigours of playing tennis at the highest level.”

Apart from his many fans and supporters, there’s no doubt that adidas will also miss this very popular man. After all, Tim has been in the Top 20 in the world every year since turning pro in 1993! Read more »

Just when you thought it was safe to forget the rain and make a break for the beach amid a possible, fleeting breakthrough in the weather this weekend, a report on sea-side pollution released today might make you think again.

Confirmation that this year’s August Bank Holiday marks the climax of a shower-soaked, dreary summer comes in a report by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) showing a distinct increase in pollution on Britain’s beaches.

According to the report, one in eight UK beaches - 71 in total - has suffered a “serious short-term pollution incident” in the first half of the summer, while 16 of the 553 beaches tested failed minimum bathing water quality standards. The tests are based on EC mandatory standards for bacteria. Last year only two of the 520 beaches surveyed failed.
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Contrary to popular belief, far from being couch potatoes, a surprisingly high proportion of youngsters play sport out of school and would like to do more when they are older, according to a report out today.

Most youngsters (68%) play games during their lunch breaks, and 88% say they regularly include sport and leisure in their out of school activities.

The study was carried out for Visa UK, a sponsor of the UK School Games, which start in Coventry today.

Football is the number one sport, with 64% of children playing on a regular basis, including more than 40% of girls. David Beckham is the most popular choice as a sporting hero (19%), polling more nominations than Lewis Hamilton, Jonny Wilkinson, Amir Khan and Paula Radcliffe combined (11% in total). The research also showed that when children play computer games 63% involve sport.

Eight out of 10 (79%) say they would like to do more, or the same amount, of sport when they are older. Half of girls (51%) want to play more sport in the future, bucking a national trend of reduced sporting activity when girls reach 16. Nine out of 10 children think sports facilities at their school are very good or fairly good, with only one in 20 saying they are poor. Click here for full report.