News from across the pond

As we mentioned late last year every couple of weeks we will post a roundup of health news from across the pond. Enjoy!
According to estimates more than two-fifths of UK health spending is spent on people over 65. With the increase in the nation’s aging demographic this is likely to grow. The data shows that an 85-year-old man costs the NHS about seven times more on average than a man in his late 30s. For more on this read The Guardian’s coverage here.
To reduce the risk of miscarriage pregnant women in the UK will get a safer and more accurate test for Down’s syndrome on the NHS. The test would prevent thousands of invasive procedures, during which one in every 200 women loses her baby. It also will reduce the anxiety women experience. Read more from the BBC.
New figures reveal that every 109 minutes a case of female genital mutilation occurs in the UK and there is concern this is “the tip of the iceberg”. The Independent has more on this story here.
Also from the Independent new evidence suggests that Alzheimer’s can be transmitted from one person to another. According to the article scientists found a link between patients who received nerve-tissue grafts several decades ago and the presence of a protein in the brain normally seen in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s.

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 8, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: DW UK Source Type: blogs