Cancer charity to expand nutrition lessons after trial cut NHS waiting lists
A leading cancer charity will offer nutrition lessons to patients across Great Britain after a trial showed the classes help them to negotiate the disease’s dietary challenges – and cut NHS waiting times.Many people with cancer find that the disease or their treatment changes the taste of their food, dulls their appetite or leads to them losing weight.Maggie’s cancer centres have been advising patients about food in a partnership with the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust in London since 2020.It plans to extend its dietary support to anyone attending its 27 centres in Great Britain amid growing awareness of how good nutrition can help cancer patients cope with and recover from the disease and the effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy.Maggie’s centres in Manchester and Southampton also provide sessions, which often include cookery classes.
The workshops – led by a cancer specialist dietitian – help patients by debunking popular myths about cancer and nutrition, such as that sugar “feeds” and helps spread the disease and that they should avoid dairy products.Maggie’s is urging Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to ensure the government’s forthcoming cancer strategy encourages every NHS trust in England to collaborate with it after the Marsden found that the classes helped reduce waiting times to access its own nutrition service.Patients who previously faced a delay of several months to attend were instead referred to the sessions Maggie’s instigated, which brought together 10-15 people at a time, which enabled those with more complex nutritional needs to be seen one-to-one by Marsden staff.Maggie’s said: “Cancer treatments can impact appetite, tastes and nutritional needs and many people worry about what they should and shouldn’t be eating during treatment and beyond.“Group nutritional workshops at Maggie’s help people with cancer identify fact from fiction, encouraging them to follow a healthy, balanced diet but ultimately empowering them to make the best decisions for their individual needs,” said Laura Lee, the charity’s chief executive.
In a plea to Streeting – who was treated for kidney cancer in 2021 – Lee added: “This approach … is a win-win: people with cancer get timely, trusted nutrition support, which is vital, while the NHS benefits from reduced waiting lists.”The national cancer plan for England is due to be published on 4 February, which is World Cancer Day.“Cancer can turn food and drink into a daily struggle.When appetite and taste change, or eating becomes uncomfortable, people can lose weight and feel too tired to cope”, said Isobel Booth, head of health information at the World Cancer Research Fund.“Many people experience major taste changes, sore mouths or no appetite at all, while others need help finding ways to increase calories and protein to stay strong during treatment.
”She welcomed Maggie’s plans to expand its nutrition, cookery and myth-busting sessions.“Misinformation is everywhere and when someone is going through cancer treatment or in recovery it’s even more important to get it right.“Appointment with NHS dieticians are in high demand, so support from charity services like these can be invaluable.” Booth added that 98% of callers to the World Cancer Research Fund’s cancer and nutrition helpline found it made them more confident managing their diet.Streeting believes charities can provide some healthcare in a more patient-friendly way than the NHS.
He cited Maggie’s as an example when talking to the media after a major speech last year on health inequalities.“The NHS should try to work in partnership better with charities.Sometimes, charities are better placed to deliver services and are more approachable.I think about Maggie’s … that supports people with cancer and their families, you go in, it’s warm, it’s welcoming.“You don’t feel like you are in a clinical service.
They would never describe themselves as a service.And whenever I go into one I think everyone should have this, but I’m glad they’re providing it, not the state.”Cally Palmer, the Marsden’s chief executive and a former NHS England cancer director, said its nutritional and diet support service alongside Maggie’s had helped ensure “healthier long-term outcomes form patients.“We are delighted that it will now be extended to other Maggie’s centres to benefit cancer patients across the UK.”
The return of measles: how a once-vanquished disease is spreading again
The measles outbreak in South Carolina now stands at 664 cases, more than doubling in a few weeks, officials said this week. The highly contagious virus has also spread onward to North Carolina, Ohio and Washington state, and similar outbreaks are unfurling in Arizona and Utah as well.The outbreak, which first began in Texas a year ago this week, has spread to most US states – and as the US passes the one-year mark, its measles-elimination status will probably end, a symbol indicating an expected wave of year-round preventable disease. The outbreak has been plagued by misinformation, with Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and longtime vaccine critic, framing measles vaccination as a personal choice and promoting unproven treatments.The vast majority of those infected are children, and most of them did not receive the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR vaccine)
UK glaucoma cases will rise to 1.6m by 2060 amid ‘demographic timebomb’, experts say
New estimates predict at least 1.6 million people in the UK will be living with glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, by 2060.The figure is much higher than the current 1.1 million people estimated to have the condition, research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests.The sharp rise will be driven by an increasingly ageing population and growth in the proportion of higher-risk ethnically diverse groups, prompting a need for an expansion in eye health services to meet demand
Prostate cancer is most commonly diagnosed cancer across UK, study finds
Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer across the UK, surpassing breast cancer, according to a leading charity.There were 64,425 diagnoses of prostate cancer in 2022, an analysis of NHS figures by Prostate Cancer UK found, and 61,640 new cases of breast cancer.The analysis found there to be a discrepancy at which stage men with prostate cancer were diagnosed, with 31% of men in Scotland diagnosed with prostate cancer at stage 4, compared with 21% of men in England.About one in eight men across the UK will be affected by prostate cancer in their lifetimes, with approximately 12,200 deaths each year caused by the disease.One in four black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes
Study debunks Trump claim that paracetamol causes autism
Taking paracetamol in pregnancy does not increase the chance that the child will be autistic, or have ADHD or an intellectual disability, a “gold standard” review of the evidence has found.The findings debunk Donald Trump’s claims last September that the painkiller causes autism, which were condemned by medical, women’s health and scientific organisations around the world.The US president’s remarks triggered anxiety among pregnant women because paracetamol is the drug that health authorities worldwide recommend they use to treat pain, such as headaches, and fevers.“This systematic review and meta-analysis found no evidence that maternal paracetamol use during pregnancy increases the risk of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD or intellectual disability among children”, says the study, which is published in the Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women’s Health.It has been undertaken by a team of seven researchers from across Europe, led by Asma Khalil, a professor of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine at City St George’s, University of London, who is also a consultant obstetrician at St George’s hospital in London
NHS expands access to prostate cancer drug in England to save thousands of lives
The NHS has expanded access to a prostate cancer drug across England in a move expected to save thousands of lives.Abiraterone, which starves cancer cells of the hormones they need to grow, will be offered to men who are newly diagnosed and whose disease has not spread beyond the prostate.Previously, the drug was available only to patients with advanced prostate cancer that had spread to other parts of the body. It is already prescribed more widely in Scotland and Wales, a disparity charities said had created a postcode lottery.The NHS said the rollout in England had been secured with the support of campaigners including Prostate Cancer UK
NHS limiting ADHD assessments to save money despite soaring demand
The NHS is restricting people’s ability to be assessed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in order to save money but not telling GPs or patients, despite soaring demand for the service.More than half of the NHS’s 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) in England have imposed limits on how many people can be assessed for ADHD during 2025-26, freedom of information responses show.Of the 22 ICBs who have imposed limits, 13 had not told GPs and 12 had not informed patients awaiting an ADHD assessment.The charity ADHD UK, which obtained the figures, said the NHS’s lack of communication showed it was trying to hide that “cruel” curbs on assessment were being widely used to help it cope with a squeeze on its budget.Henry Shelford, ADHD UK’s chief executive, said: “Waiting times for assessments are already horrendously long and it’s shocking to see how the NHS is further rationing people’s care to save money
Tell us: has a chatbot helped you out of a difficult time in your life?
Barbecues, ballboys and oranges: Australia tennis greats pass ‘strong tradition’ to next generation | Simon Cambers
‘We played to 8,000 Mexicans who knew every word’: how the Whitest Boy Alive conquered the world
Sally Tallant appointed as new director of London’s Hayward Gallery
Australian shares shoot up after Trump walks back tariff threat
Elon Musk floats idea of buying Ryanair after calling CEO ‘an idiot’