Syndrome without a name: The boy who baffles doctors

Syndrome without a name: The boy who baffles doctors When five-year-old Charlie Parkes from Corby was in the womb, a scan revealed a problem with his brain. He spent his first two years of life in hospital having tests. His parents were desperate for answers - but they never came.

"We have lots of little pieces of a puzzle, but they don't quite fit together. We haven't completed the picture yet," says his mother Laura.

Charlie is one of about 6,000 children born every year with a genetic condition so rare that doctors can't identify it and instead classify it as a Swan (Syndrome Without a Name). BBC Northampton

Social care 360

Social care 360 People often complain about the lack of data about social care; there is, in fact, a significant amount but it is often held in fragmented databases that are rarely explored.

This review outlines and analyses 20 key trends in adult social care in England over recent years. The King's Fund

See also:

• Social care at 'crisis point' as fewer people getting the care they need, study finds The Daily Telegraph

The NHS and climate change: a decade of distraction

The NHS and climate change: a decade of distraction Ten years ago, the NHS published its first carbon reduction strategy. In doing so it became the first major health system anywhere in the world to develop a strategic vision outlining how health care needs to evolve as part of the transition to a low carbon economy and to commit to progressively reducing its own carbon emissions. The King's Fund

Building communities that care: A blueprint for supporting people severely affected by mental illness in their local communities by 2024

Building communities that care: A blueprint for supporting people severely affected by mental illness in their local communities by 2024 The report found that people severely affected by mental illness wanted most support in getting benefits, staying active, and accessing free community initiative such as gardening or peer support groups. But many people we surveyed reported that they are not being offered this support. Rethink Mental Illness

Caring alone: why Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic young carers continue to struggle to access support

Caring alone: why Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic young carers continue to struggle to access support This report reveals that young Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children who care for ill or disabled relatives are more likely than other young carers to be isolated from support services. The research says that BAME young carers in England are missing out on their childhoods because of the additional responsibilities and stresses they have to deal with. Barnardo's 

Local authority spending on homelessness: understanding recent trends and their impact

Local authority spending on homelessness: understanding recent trends and their impact According to this report, nine years of government cuts have left local services for single homeless people with a shocking £1bn a year funding gap. It warns that cuts to council budgets are leaving increasing numbers of people at risk on the streets, and calls on the Government to act now to make up the funding shortfall – or inevitably face missing its target of ending rough sleeping by 2027. St Mungo's

A taxing question: how to pay for free personal care

A taxing question: how to pay for free personal care Independent Age commissioned Grant Thornton UK LLP to create a model that would identify how much money would be generated by a number of different policy options available to the government to fill the ever-widening social care funding gap in England. At the same time, the Social Market Foundation looked at the financial impact these policy options would have on individuals of different ages, with different income and wealth. This report contains an analysis of the relative merits of nine different funding policy options that have been proposed.

Malaria: Africa pilots world's first vaccine in major trial

Malaria: Africa pilots world's first vaccine in major trial A major trial of the world's first malaria vaccine is under way in Africa - starting with Malawi, followed by Kenya and Ghana.

The disease which is spread by mosquitos kills more than 400,000 people every year, most of them young children.

Almost $1bn has gone into developing the vaccine over three decades.

Initial testing of RTS the world's first anti-malaria vaccine has indicated it reduces cases by about 40%. BBC News

Cancer test treats patients with precision

Cancer test treats patients with precision Scientists at Glasgow University have developed a cancer testing technique that they say could transform the way we treat the disease.

The medical team based at The Glasgow Precision Oncology Laboratory are able to extract huge amounts of information from tiny fragments of DNA.

The information could identify the type of cancer tumour as well as any genetic variations and its resistance to drugs. BBC News

GPs are ‘missing lung cancer symptoms’ in non-smokers despite them making up one-in-seven victims

GPs are ‘missing lung cancer symptoms’ in non-smokers despite them making up one-in-seven victims Lung cancer is on the rise among non-smokers as experts warn that GPs are missing the symptoms.

Leading health officials said the issue received far too little attention – despite the fact 6,000 Britons who have never smoked die of lung cancer every year.

Smoking remains by far the biggest cause of lung cancer, but one in seven victims is a non-smoker, and scientists predict that within a decade, people who have never smoked will overtake smokers among lung cancer patients. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Lung cancer in never-smokers: a hidden disease (abstract) Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
• One in six people dying of lung cancer in UK are non-smokers, experts say The Guardian
• Pollution contributing to ‘thousands of lung cancers deaths in non-smokers', experts warn The Independent
• GPs refer more patients than ever for urgent cancer tests Pulse

Health Secretary Matt Hancock won't rule out BANNING unvaccinated children from schools

Health Secretary Matt Hancock won't rule out BANNING unvaccinated children from schools Health Secretary Matt Hancock has refused to rule out children being kept out of schools if they aren't vaccinated against measles.

Speaking on talkRADIO this morning, Mr Hancock said he 'wouldn't rule out anything' when asked if he would consider the drastic step.

MMR vaccinations last year dropped for the fourth year in a row in the UK, while measles cases in England more than trebled in a year in 2018. The Daily Mail