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** 10 August 2022
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** UK
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** Half of people with possible signs of cancer wait six months to contact a GP (#1)
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** ‘Disaster’ looms for council services as inflation wipes out growth (#2)
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** Massive £100k shipment of illicit vapes seized near Heathrow Airport (#3)
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** International
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** Study: Obese patients ‘being weight-shamed by doctors and nurses’ (#4)
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** Study: Swapping salt for substitutes reduces risk of stroke and heart conditions (#4)
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** UK
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** Half of people with possible signs of cancer wait six months to contact a GP
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**
Half of people with possible cancer symptoms in the UK do not contact a GP for at least six months, potentially reducing their chances of survival, a survey by Cancer Research UK found, with poorer people less likely than the better-off to see their family doctor once they have eventually sought medical help.

CRUK, in conjunction with YouGov, surveyed 2,468 people online in February and March, with the results weighted to be representative of the UK population. Of those, 1,230 experienced a possible symptom of cancer, and 443 of them had had a red flag symptom, which includes coughing up blood, a new or unusual lump and changes to the appearance of a mole. Just half of the 1,230 had contacted their GP practice after developing a possible cancer symptom in the ensuing six months. Only 48% of those who display a “red flag” cancer symptom had done so.

Of those who had rung their GP, though, 81% of those in social groups ABC1 got an appointment, compared with 74% of those classed as C2DE. Similarly, while 60% of ABC1s went back to their GP when they continued to exhibit symptoms, only 48% of C2DEs did so.

“It’s really worrying to see such a large gap in accessing services between the UK’s most and least deprived groups,” said Michelle Mitchell, CRUK’s chief executive.

With the UK persistently worse than many other European and OECD countries on diagnosing cancer early, NHS England has made improving cancer diagnosis a priority and hopes to increase the proportion of all cancer cases detected at stage one or two, when they are more treatable, to 75% by 2028. It is introducing new blood tests to spot the disease, innovating in the identification of lung cancer and running public awareness campaigns urging people to act when they spot a symptom.

Source: Guardian, 10 August 2022
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** ‘Disaster’ looms for council services as inflation wipes out growth
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The Local Government Association has today called for a surge in council funding to mitigate the potentially "disastrous impact on local services" of soaring inflation. It commented as an alarming Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report warned that inflation was rapidly reducing the real-terms increases in public sector funding - and threatening to "heighten the considerable pressures" on services this winter. IFS said the government would need to find an additional £44bn for national and local public services over three years to top up spending and neutralise inflation and cost-of-living rises. IFS senior research Ben Zaranko, author of the report, urged Conservative leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to outline their plans and vision for public spending and public services.

James Jamieson (Con), chairman of the LGA, said “Inflation is not going to come down overnight. The impact on our local services could be disastrous. This will stifle our economic recovery, entrench disadvantage, and undermine government ambitions to level up the country. Only with adequate long-term funding – to cover increased cost pressures and invest in local services - and the right powers, can councils deliver for our communities, tackle the climate emergency, and level up all parts of the country.”

Inflation, energy costs and projected increases to the National Living Wage are forecast to add £2.4bn in extra cost pressures to councils this year alone, rising to £3.6bn in 2024-25. The IFS report pointed out that the Bank of England’s latest forecasts were predicting the UK economy would experience a recession and an extended period of high inflation.

Source: Local Government Chronicle, 10 August 2022
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** Massive £100k shipment of illicit vapes seized near Heathrow Airport
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A West London council has seized thousands of vapes worth almost £100,000 before they could be supplied to local shops. Hounslow Council is calling for stricter regulations on vaping amid rising fears for young people in the borough.

Around 3,000 illicit vapes worth £98,065 were seized by Hounslow Council at Heathrow Airport and later destroyed. The products are suspected to have been shipped from China. They included fake versions of the popular brand Elf Bar.

UK regulations state vapes should contain no more than 2% nicotine, and a maximum of 2ml e-liquid in the device, equivalent to around 600 puffs. The nicotine liquid should not contain any additives or any ingredients such as caffeine or taurine. Many of the vapes seized by the council had tank sizes bigger than 2ml and appeared to offer up to 14,000 puffs per vape.

Source: My London, 9 August 2022
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** International
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** Study: Obese patients ‘being weight-shamed by doctors and nurses’
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Doctors and nurses often “weight-shame” people who are overweight or obese, leaving them feeling anxious, depressed and wrongly blaming themselves for their condition, research has found. Such behaviour, although usually the result of “unconscious weight bias”, leads to people not attending medical appointments, feeling humiliated and being more likely to put on weight.

Researchers at University College London analysed 25 previous studies about “weight stigma”, undertaken in different countries, involving 3,554 health professionals. They found “extensive evidence [of] strong weight bias” among a wide range of health staff, including doctors, nurses, dieticians, psychologists and even obesity specialists. Dr. Anastasia Kalea reported to the Guardian that a number of health professionals “believe their patients are lazy, lack self-control, overindulge, are hostile, dishonest, have poor hygiene and do not follow guidance”.

Kalea stated that this weight stigmatisation acts as a barrier to services and treatments that can aid their own weight management, adding that the problem is so pervasive worldwide that medical students, nurses and other health specialists need to be trained in “non-stigmatising weight-related communication” so they treat people more sensitively, and avoid overly individualising patients.

The researchers aimed to identify which strategies help to train health professionals to be less judgmental in how they talk to patients who are worryingly overweight.

Tam Fry, the chairman of the National Obesity Forum, stated: “Obesity has never been a ‘personal problem [...] Healthcare professionals need to get wise to the fact that many individuals affected are powerless to overcome the obesogenic environment in which they live, notably the ultra-processed food which slick advertising and relentless encourages them to eat. They are invariably cash-poor and depend on this cheap but less than healthy food to live.”

Source: Guardian, 10 August 2022
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** Study: Swapping salt for substitutes reduces risk of stroke and heart conditions
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Replacing regular salt with a salt substitute lowers blood pressure and protects against life-threatening heart conditions, stroke and death from all causes, according to an analysis of 21 clinical trials involving nearly 32,000 participants.

More than 14 million people in the UK have high blood pressure, about 5 million of whom are undiagnosed, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF). High consumption of salt composed of sodium chloride is known to drive blood pressure up, leading to poor cardiovascular health and posing a major health risk.

However, research published in the journal Heart has revealed that swapping regular salt for a substitute, in which a portion of the sodium chloride is replaced with potassium chloride, reduces these health risks. The findings were seen generally across all groups, regardless of region, age, sex, weight and blood pressure-related factors.

Source: Guardian 9 August 2022
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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