People with asthma would be prepared to sacrifice some improvements in symptom relief in return for a simpler treatment plan and an increased capacity to self-manage, according to a survey of adults with moderate or severe asthma.
Lawyers are planning a High Court challenge to the proposed closure of a hospital which helps people with complex mental health problems. Solicitors acting for in-patients at the Henderson Hospital in Sutton, Surrey, said its closure would have a serious impact.
People with diabetes should receive cholesterol-busting drugs regardless of whether they have signs of heart disease, UK researchers say. Statins cut the risk of heart attack, stroke and death in diabetic people even in those with low cholesterol levels, analysis of 14 trials shows. It means hundreds of thousands more people could benefit from treatment, the Lancet report said.
US scientists claim a drug can reverse some of the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease - with the first effects seen within 10 minutes. The Journal of Neuroinflammation reports how the memory of an 81-year-old man improved sharply after etanercept was injected into his spine. His wife described it as her husband being "put back to where he was".
A faster, more streamlined system of assessing treatments for the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland should be introduced, MPs say. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence should adopt a "rough and ready" approach, similar to Scotland, a Commons committee said.
US scientists are developing a test that dentists could use to check if patients have breast cancer.
