The last case of a key form of polio was seen four years ago – but another is still circulating.

A ground-breaking drug should be available within 30 days, after the NHS and the manufacturer reach a deal.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer between two routine screenings have an increased risk for other types of cancer, a new study finds.

Breast cancer detected between two routine screenings is called interval cancer, and it tends to be more advanced, more aggressive and to have a worse prognosis than cancers found during screenings.

A family history of multiple cancers

For the study, researchers analysed data from nearly 15 000 breast cancer patients who participated in one of three earlier studies (two in Sweden and one in the United States). Of those patients, 1 772 had interval breast cancer.

Women with interval breast cancer were more likely to be previously or later diagnosed with another type of cancer, such as lung, colon and skin cancer, the investigators found.

Compared to those without interval breast cancer, patients with interval breast cancer who also had another type of cancer were three times more likely to have a family history of multiple cancers. This suggests that rare genetic mutations may play a role in their cancers, according to Felix Grassmann, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues.

Their report was published online in the journal Nature Communications.

The findings may be useful in updating cancer prevention programmes, the researchers suggested in a journal news release.

That could include providing additional screenings for certain people and increasing awareness among interval breast cancer survivors and their relatives.

The study authors also said that further research is needed to pinpoint rare genetic mutations that may be associated with interval breast cancer and other cancers.

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HealthDay

Daily exposure to blue light from sources such as smartphones, computers and household fixtures could speed your ageing, even if it doesn’t reach your eyes, research in animals suggests.

Blue wavelengths produced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) may damage cells in your brain as well as your retinas, according to the Oregon State University researchers.

Impaired abilities

Their study of fruit flies found that the lives of those exposed to daily cycles of 12 hours in blue light and 12 hours in darkness were shorter than those of flies kept in total darkness or in light with blue wavelengths filtered out.

The flies exposed to blue light had damage to their retinal cells and brain neurons, and their ability to climb the walls of their enclosures – a common behaviour – was impaired.

Some of the flies were mutants that don’t develop eyes, but even those had brain damage and impaired movement when exposed to blue light. The researchers said this suggests that the flies didn’t have to see the blue light to be harmed by it.

The study was published online in the journal Aging and Mechanisms of Disease.

“The fact that the light was accelerating ageing in the flies was very surprising to us at first,” said study leader Jaga Giebultowicz, a professor of integrative biology.

“We’d measured expression of some genes in old flies, and found that stress-response, protective genes were expressed if flies were kept in light. We hypothesised that light was regulating those genes,” she explained in a university news release.

Increasing exposure to blue light

Then researchers wondered how the light was harming them.

“We looked at the spectrum of light,” Giebultowicz said. “It was very clear cut that although light without blue slightly shortened their lifespan, just blue light alone shortened their lifespan very dramatically.”

She said humans are increasingly being exposed to blue light through widespread use of LED lighting and electronic devices, but the technology hasn’t been around long enough to know its effects over a lifetime.

Results of animal testing are sometimes different in humans.

But researchers noted that eyeglasses with amber lenses filter out the blue light and protect your retinas, and that phones, laptops and other devices can be set to block blue emissions.

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The CQC found Northampton General Hospital “requires improvement” after visiting in the summer.

Audit Scotland’s report said the NHS was “seriously struggling to become financially sustainable”.

Researchers hope the study will steer work into why those with long-term health issues are affected.

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