Blackhall & Peterlee Practice

News:

Out of Hours
If you need urgent medical attention when the surgery is closed call 0191 5864331. Your call will be automatically transferred to an answering machine, which will explain the options available to you

Appointments
These are made via the Reception Desk at both sites or via the phone. You may request to see a particular Doctor but this may involve a longer wait for the next available appointment. You can make an appointment at either site.

Home Visits
These are for patients who are housebound and too ill to come to the surgery. If at all possible, please make requests for these before 10.00 a.m. This allows the Health Care Professional to plan their rounds

NHS Days (MSW)

01 Nov - 01 Dec
Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Lung cancer is known as the “invisible” or “forgotten” disease but lung cancer is a stark reality for more than 37,000 new patients in the UK every year – that’s one every 15 minutes.

BBC Health

Over-the-counter Viagra bid ends

The makers of the anti-impotence drug Viagra have withdrawn an application for the medicine to be available without a prescription.

Heavy drinkers 'lie to doctors'

Almost two in five people who drink to excess lie to their doctor about how much alcohol they really consume, says a survey.

NHS 'struggling' with work laws

Surgery teams in many NHS hospitals are not ready for a possible limit on their working week, a survey finds.

Key NHS reform 'delivered little'

A flagship NHS reform aimed at developing more innovative community services has delivered little, a report says.

Rapid care 'cuts baby's HIV risk'

Rapid drug treatment of babies with HIV dramatically cuts their risk of death and debilitating disease, research shows.

Windpipe transplant breakthrough

Surgeons in Spain claim a major breakthrough by giving a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells.

Deal reached on NHS drug prices

The government has struck a deal on the cost of drugs which should save the NHS in the UK £400m a year.

Nurses warn over needle injuries

Nurses are calling for safer needles to be used after a poll suggested nearly half have been accidentally jabbed.

Lung disease diagnosis confusion

Most GPs have difficulty differentiating chronic severe lung disease from asthma, a survey finds.

What a way to go. British toilet habits revealed

Reading, chatting and texting are among the favourite activities of Britons on the toilet, a survey suggests.

Yahoo Health

Teen lives 4 months with no heart, leaves hospital (AP)

AP - D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest. "But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."

Insurers make pitch for health coverage mandate (AP)

AP - The health insurance industry said Wednesday it will support a national health care overhaul that requires them to accept all customers, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions but in return it wants lawmakers to mandate that everyone buy coverage.

Surgeon who did first US heart transplant dies (AP)

In this photo released by L.VAD Technology Inc., Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz is shown in New York in 1968. Dr. Kantrowitz, who performed the first human heart transplant in the United States in 1967 also pioneered development of mechanical devices to prolong the life of patients with heart failure, died in Ann Arbor, Mich., Friday, Nov. 14, 2008. He was 90. (AP Photo/L.VAD Technology Inc.)

AP - Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz, a cardiac surgeon who performed the nation's first human heart transplant and who also developed lifesaving medical implants, has died. He was 90. Kantrowitz died Friday in Ann Arbor of complications from heart failure, said his wife, Jean Kantrowitz.

Doctors transplant windpipe with stem cells (AP)

Undated file picture of 30-year old Colombian female recipient Claudia Castillo, taken at the Hospital clinic of Barcelona. The pioneering transplant of a windpipe stripped of its cells and seeded with recipient stem cells has given Castillo a new lease on life, according to a study released Wednesday.(AFP/LANCET PRESS OFFICE)

AP - Doctors have given a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. "This technique has great promise," said Dr. Eric Genden, who did a similar transplant in 2005 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. That operation used both donor and recipient tissue. Only a handful of windpipe, or trachea, transplants have ever been done.

Ginkgo fails to prevent Alzheimer's in large study (AP)

AP - The dietary supplement ginkgo, long promoted as an aid to memory, didn't help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the longest and largest test of the extract in older Americans. "We don't think it has a future as a powerful anti-dementia drug," said Dr. Steven DeKosky of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who led the federally funded study.

Study: Banning fast-food TV ads could dent obesity (AP)

AP - A little less "I'm Lovin' It" could put a significant dent in the problem of childhood obesity, suggests a new study that attempts to measure the effect of TV fast-food ads.

Philippine family planning bill headed for defeat: Church (AFP)

File photo shows a Philippina looking on as her children play in front of their shanty house in the Tondo neighbourhood of Manila. The Roman Catholic church on Thursday said it has sufficient support in the Philippine congress to defeat a controversial family planning bill promoting sex education and the use of contraceptives.(AFP/File/Jes Aznar)

AFP - The Roman Catholic church on Thursday said it has sufficient support in the Philippine congress to defeat a controversial family planning bill promoting sex education and the use of contraceptives.

Clinical Trials Update: Nov. 17, 2008 (HealthDay)

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of CenterWatch:

Health Tip: Is Your Child More Prone to Ear Infections? (HealthDay)

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Ear infections are common in children, and may occur for a variety of reasons.

Growth Hormone Boost May Not Slow Alzheimer's (HealthDay)

HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A compound that boosts growth hormone levels in Alzheimer's patients may not slow the disease, new research suggests.

MedPage Today

ASRM: Studies Suggest Possible Fertility Risk with Bisphenol A Exposure

SAN FRANCISCO (MedPage Today) -- Several new studies suggest that exposure to bisphenol A may reduce fertility in both men and women, but this association needs to be further examined, researchers cautioned.

Recall of Three Little Words Helps Quick Diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment

ATLANTA (MedPage Today) -- Mild cognitive impairment can be determined in less than five minutes with a three-word memory test and a clock- drawing task, according to researchers here. The words are apple, penny, and table.

Second Suicide Try May Succeed if Psychiatric Disorders Are Present

STOCKHOLM (MedPage Today) -- Following an unsuccessful suicide attempt, patients with psychopathologies are more likely to succeed on a second try than those without such disorders, a long-term cohort study showed.

Obama Taps Daschle for HHS Post in Cabinet

WASHINGTON --Tom Daschle, a former Senator from South Dakota who served as Democratic leader in the Senate, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Acute Kidney Injury Predisposes Elderly to Organ Failure

MINNEAPOLIS (MedPage Today) -- Older adults who suffer an acute injury to the kidneys -- from trauma, surgery, or illness -- are at dramatically increased risk of later end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Early Therapy Saves HIV Babies

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (MedPage Today) -- For infants with HIV, early anti-retroviral therapy reduces mortality, treatment failure, and disease progression, researchers here said.

Genetic Screening Offers Little Help for Diabetes Prediction

BOSTON (MedPage Today) -- Screening for gene variants associated with type 2 diabetes does not add much to conventional risk factors in identifying patients likely to develop the disorder, results of two studies showed.

Smoking During Pregnancy May Induce Arterial Damage in Offspring

UTRECHT, The Netherlands (MedPage Today) -- Mothers or fathers who smoke during pregnancy may create lasting vascular damage for their children, researchers here found.

AACR: Exercise and Poor Sleep Combine as Odd Cancer Risk

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- Although exercise has generally been found to prevent cancer, combining it with poor sleep may be a risk factor, a researcher said here.

Medicare Proposes Coverage of Bariatric Surgery for Morbidly Obese Diabetics

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- Medicare is planning to cover bariatric surgery for morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Daily Mail

Teenager lives for record 118 days without a heart before having transplant

A teenager survived for nearly four months without a heart until she was able to have a transplant, American doctors say.

The text nurse: Mobile phone 'diary' allows people with diabetes and asthma to monitor their own health

It may not have a bedside manner to speak of but new mobile phone software can now mimic the work of a nurse.

Cannabis 'could stop dementia in its tracks'

Cannabis may help keep Alzheimer's disease at bay. In experiments, a marijuana-based medicine triggered the formation of new brain cells and cut inflammation linked to dementia.

Having a big brother 'cuts your chances of children'

Whether you idolise or resent him, there's no doubt a big brother can really shape your childhood. But it seems an elder sibling's influence can have a much more profound effect in later life.

'I felt safer giving birth in Hungary', says mother whose first child died in NHS blunder

A mother whose newborn baby died in a botched hospital delivery today told how she has lost faith in the NHS. Adrienn Both lost her son after doctors at the Royal Free Hospital used the wrong technique during labour.

Bags of stress: Why Christmas shopping is bad for your health

Our wallets will not be the only thing suffering as we buy presents this Christmas. A study has found festive buying increased blood pressure to dangerous levels in 50 per cent of shoppers.

GPs 'waste' £100m NHS fund set aside for local care, study finds

Family doctors are failing to provide improved services for patients, despite being paid tens of millions of pounds to do so, a report claims. Cash handed to thousands of GPs to commission services ends up in practice coffers.

WORLD MEDICAL FIRST: British doctors grow woman's transplant organ from scratch using her own stem cells

A mother of two has become the first person in the world to undergo a whole organ transplant grown from her own stem cells. The British scientists are hailing a new dawn in transplant surgery.

How three cups of green tea a day can help you lose weight - even if you keep eating junk food