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Vaping: New study launched into long-term impact on vascular health
A new study, which will take 18 months to complete, will investigate the body's response to e-cigarettes. Specifically, researchers will look at the blood vessels.
Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University will assess health markers in people who use e-cigarettes compared to those who smoke and those who do neither.
Dr Max Boidin, researcher at the university's Institute of Sport, said: "The study will look at the chronic and acute effects of using a vape on vascular health. We know already the long-term impact of smoking behaviour on cardiovascular health but for e-cigarettes it is not the case yet. From discussions with clinical experts, they have mentioned already they have seen some symptoms like coughing, chest pain or lung dysfunction. So, we can see the early markers of this dysfunction of using a vape at the moment."
There is also speculation the government might ban disposable vapes to curb use among young people. Adult smokers have been encouraged to vape as a means of quitting cigarettes.
"It is definitely much less harmful than smoking but that doesn't mean to say it is risk-free," said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health. ‘’We do need longer-term research to show what the impact is so that people who have never smoked know the risks they are putting themselves to by vaping."
Source: Sky News, 1 October 2023
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Government unveils £1.1bn funding for 55 towns
On the first day of the Conservative party conference, the government announced that 55 towns would each get a £20m “endowment style” fund for regeneration projects over a decade.
Each area will set up a town board to bring councils, community leaders, businesses and MPs together as part of the government's Long Term Plan for Towns.
Funding was allocated without a competitive process. Areas were selected using the Department for Levelling UP, Housing & Communties’ needs index, which takes into account metrics covering skills, pay, productivity and health alongside the Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Town boards will receive funding over 10 years and be expected to focus on:
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Improving transport and connections to make travel easier for residents and increase visitor numbers
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Tackling crime and anti social behaviour
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Enhancing town centres to make high streets, “including repurposing empty shops for new housing, creating more green spaces, cleaning up streets or running market days”
The government said that the new town boards would “have access to a range of levers and flexibilities”, with a full toolkit promised in “due course”.
Some of these powers have previously been announced. In England, these powers will include:
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auctioning empty high street shops using new powers from the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
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reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants for example, enabling more high-street businesses to benefit from the al-fresco dining rules introduced in the pandemic.
Source: Local Government Chronicle, 1 October 2023
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UK families ‘eating less healthily’ due to cost of living crisis
Families are eating less healthily and turning to ready meals and processed foods due to the cost of living crisis, a study has found.
More than two-thirds of people (69%) said they considered themselves to be healthy eaters but 28% said they were eating less nutritious food because it is too expensive, according to the BBC Good Food Nation survey.
The survey, which looks at shopping, cooking and eating habits, found that three in five people (60%) have changed what they eat due to the rising cost of ingredients. This includes 16% who said they have cut back on organic ingredients and 12% who said they were eating less protein as they struggled to cope with higher food bills.
The study found that 15% are taking more packed lunches to work to save money.
Overall, 61% said the cost of living had affected their healthy eating habits in some way, including being more conscious of eating healthily because they cannot afford to get sick (18%) and eating less healthily due to stress (15%). The poll found that 13% said they were eating less healthily due to having less time to cook because of working longer hours.
Christine Hayes, editor-in-chief of BBC Good Food, said the survey shows that “we consider ourselves a nation of healthy eaters and we care about what we eat.’’
“However, rising costs have impacted choices and compromises have had to be made with people buying more processed food and ready meals and swapping supermarkets to save money.”
Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy, said: “These findings echo our own research findings that many people are finding it more difficult to eat healthily as millions struggle with increased food prices and other high household bills.’’
“Supermarkets have an important role supporting people through this crisis. This includes helping customers who rely on more expensive convenience stores by ensuring they stock a range of budget products that enable people to have a healthy diet.”
Source: The Guardian, 2 October 2023
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Five key rows to watch out for at Tory Party conference
Rishi Sunak arrived at the Tory conference on Sunday hoping that his party can put on a show of unity a year from the next general election.
The Telegraph looks at five simmering rows Mr Sunak will hope to keep a lid on as the party’s grassroots and MPs come together in Manchester.
Taxes: One of the biggest ideological divides that runs through the Tories is over whether to cut taxes and, if so, how quickly and by how much.
HS2: The most immediately awkward subject on the Prime Minister’s plate as he arrives in Manchester will be questions over the future of HS2.
Downing Street is poised to axe the northern leg of the rail project, which would have terminated in the city, over concerns at its spiralling cost.
Immigration: Mr Sunak also risks opening up another rift within the Conservatives after authorising Suella Braverman to talk up the idea of Britain leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. That is what backbenchers on the right of the party have been calling for as part of a pitch to voters that the Government is serious about stopping the boats. But doing so would spark huge opposition from the One Nation group of MPs, which numbers up to 100, and which would fiercely fight such plans.
Net zero: The Prime Minister is planning to take the fight to Labour with a series of big policy announcements, the first of which was on net zero last week. Mr Sunak announced he was delaying or watering down some targets, including the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales and the phasing out of gas boilers.
Benefits: Both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have put cutting joblessness and getting Britons back to work at the centre of their drive for growth. But whilst Conservative MPs all agree that the huge toll of economic inactivity needs to be drastically reduced, they are divided over the means. The most contentious area is whether to cut unemployment benefits and increase the sanctions for those claimants who do not try to get a job. Some backbenchers believe a crackdown would be popular with voters, but others argue that punishment is not an effective way to incentivise work.
Source: The telegraph, 2 October 2023
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