Newsround: app-ealing gadgets, tables and animations
Published: 17 December 2012
NICE launches neutropenic sepsis guidance
NICE has published clinical guidelines for evidence-based advice on the prevention, identification and management of neutropenic sepsis in patients having anticancer treatment. Various versions of the clinical guidelines can be found on the NICE website. There is also a webpage for the consultation documents and responses and to illustrate the interactivity and media innovation of the organisation, you can listen to a podcast via this NICE webpage.
Cancer fatalities to fall by almost a fifth
Advances in cancer screening, diagnosis and care, years of research and changes in smoking habits have all contributed to a considerable drop in cancer death rates, which looks like it will be sustained to a significant 17 per cent over the next two decades. Cancer Research UK has presented its recent data as an excellent animation, available on its YouTube channel or in the more conventional webpage and paper version, accessible via the Cancer Research UK website.
Over three times as many with breast cancer by 2040
The number of older people living with breast cancer is likely to more than triple by 2040, rising from the current 340,000 women over 65 years of age with breast cancer to almost a million and a quarter women, according to research funded by Macmillan Cancer Support.
"Projections of cancer prevalence in the United Kingdom, 2010–2040", recently published in the British Journal of Cancer, suggests that by 2040, nearly 75 per cent of all breast cancer survivors will be 65 and over (an increase from 59 per cent today).
Older women are presently more apt to be diagnosed later with advanced breast cancer; they are also less likely to experience breast conserving surgery as compared to a correspondingly younger person. Only a small percentage undertake breast reconstructive surgery, suggesting a role for nurses to advocate better for this population’s health care needs.
Leader boards, league tables, champion care?
Using data from the 2011/12 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, a league table analysis of the patient with cancer’s experience of health care has been developed and published by Macmillan Cancer Support.
The patients’ experience was measured according to items such as whether diagnosis and treatment options were described clearly; whether they felt they received suitable support; and whether they considered they were treated with respect during their treatment period and disease trajectory. You can access the full document of ‘League table and tumour group variations’ via Cancer Research UK’s website [add link: www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/mortality/mortality-projections/]
You can also download the Macmillan Patient Experience Survey 2012 (PDF 542 KB).
End of life care for LGBT people
Created by the National End of Life Care programme, Route To Success In End Of Life Care – Achieving Quality For Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender People aims to provide a sensible and realistic guide for everyone working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and for LGBT people themselves, whether giving or receiving end of life care. The guide can be accessed via the NHS website’s publications pages.
Safe tan? Don’t you believe it
As the sun fades and winter’s longer nights draw in, the need to advise and alert people to the risks of sunbed use is emphasised once again by research.
In a meta-analysis reported in the British Medical Journal, US researchers have confirmed that sunbed users are also at increased risk of developing the much more common forms of skin cancer, namely basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell skin cancer, as well as the long-established risk for melanoma. The risk to sunbed users of developing squamous cell cancer increased by 67 per cent and their risk of basal cell carcinoma by 29 per cent; the risk of developing BCC was particularly high in people who started using sunbeds before the age of 25.
Does this app-eal?
AstraZeneca has launched a new app for smart phones and tablet computers that helps patients with prostate cancer to monitor their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.
“Prostate Assistant” allows the patient, after consultation with their doctor, to input their PSA levels (the blood test that helps to detect and monitor prostate cancer) into their smart phone or tablet. This then helps them to record and graphically follow the levels. The app also makes a variety of health care information on prostate cancer available to patients and purportedly allows men to directly contact their GPs and hospitals. It is available in both iTunes [add link: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/prostate-assistant/id541591612?mt=8] and Google Android formats.