Your Health Matters

GPs can measure their level of burnout and participate in a profession-wide survey of the level of stress and mental exhaustion by taking part in a new survey launched today by Pulse. (via Pulse launches major survey of GP burnout | News Article | Pulse Today)

The RCGP will announce a consultation of its members tomorrow on whether the college should support a parliamentary bill that would change the law on assisted dying for terminally ill people, Pulse has learnt. (via GPs to be consulted on support for legalisation of assisted dying | News Article | Pulse Today)

An association – previously identified by Scandinavian studies – between narcolepsy in children and Pandemrix®, the vaccine used to protect against influenza during the 2009/10 pandemic, has also been identified in a study of English children and young people who were eligible to receive the vaccine [1]. The results of the English study, led by HPA scientists, published in the British Medical Journal, found a 14-fold increased risk of narcolepsy following vaccination, which is of similar scale to that found in Finland. (via Health Protection Report | News Archives | 1 March 2013)

A total of 587 cases of measles with onset dates in the first quarter of 2013 (January – March) was confirmed in England (via Health Protection Report | News Archives | 26 April 2013)

Most of us have either done the South Beach Diet, Zone Diet or Atkins, or have known somebody who has tried a high protein diet. According to the International Food Council Foundation, a high percentage of women who eat more protein do not only avoid weight gain, but also report weight loss. (via Higher Protein Diets Help Weight Loss, Women Find)

(via Diet Quiz: Weight Loss, Best and Worst Foods for Belly Fat)

The MHRA is warning people not to use a particular Chinese herbal medicine, used to treat migraines, as it contains a potentially toxic herbal ingredient. (via Press release: Warning over potentially toxic Chinese herbal medicine : MHRA)

If you’ve ever had the chickenpox – and almost all adults have – there’s a good chance the virus is still at large in your body. (via Shingles Picture Slideshow: A Collection of Photos)

The study is particularly relevant to tuberculosis, which kills 1.4 million people worldwide each year. In the case of the recent Los Angeles outbreak, the findings could provide clues as to how the flu and a lack of vitamin D may have given the tuberculosis bacterium an edge. (via Wolf in sheep’s clothing: Uncovering how deadly bacteria trick the immune system / UCLA Newsroom)

UCLA scientists have shown that temporarily blocking a protein critical to immune response actually helps the body clear itself of chronic infection. (via Blocking a key protein boosts immune system’s ability to clear chronic infection / UCLA Newsroom)