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The purpose of this study was to assess the success of neurolinguistic programming in reducing the need for general anaesthesia in claustrophobic patients who require MRI and to consider the financial implications for health providers. This was a prospective study performed in 2006 and 2007 at a teaching hospital in England and comprised 50 adults who had unsuccessful MR examinations because of claustrophobia. The main outcome measures were the ability to tolerate a successful MR examination after neurolinguistic programming, the reduction of median anxiety scores produced by neurolinguistic programming, and models of costs for various imaging pathways. Neurolinguistic programming allowed 38/50 people (76%) to complete the MR examination successfully. Overall, the median anxiety score was significantly reduced following the session of neurolinguistic programming. In conclusion, neurolinguistic programming reduced anxiety and subsequently allowed MRI to be performed without resorting to general anaesthesia in a high proportion of claustrophobic adults. If these results are reproducible, there will be major advantages in terms of patient safety and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the study which conducted by the researchers at the University of Leeds, England on the relation of meat consumption and the risk of breast cancer. The study found out that post-menopausal women have the higher risk of cancer due to the higher ratings of meat consumption compared with non-meat eaters. The author asserts that the increase of cancer risk is the result of the fat content of the processed meat.

Background: The death of a patient is a significant event that occurs often enough in general practice for it to have the potential to tell us much about the care we provide. There are few large series in the literature and we still know little about the collaborative use of this outcome measure., Aim: To determine the pattern of deaths and potentially preventable factors in our practices., Method: We completed a standard data collection form after each death in four general practices over a 40-month period. The results were discussed at quarterly meetings., Results: A total of 1263 deaths occurred among our registered patients during the period of the audit. Preventable factors contributing to deaths were considered to be attributable to: patients (40%): mainly cigarette smoking, poor compliance, and alcohol problems; general practice teams (5%): mainly delayed referral, diagnosis and treatment, and failure to prescribe aspirin to patients with vascular disease; hospitals (6%): mainly delayed diagnosis and perceived treatment problems; the environment (3%): mainly falls, principally resulting in fractured neck of femur., Conclusion: A simple audit of deaths along the lines that we describe gives important information about the care provided by general practice teams and those in hospital practice. It has both educational value and is a source of ideas for service improvement and further study, particularly when carried out over several years.

Death is a major outcome measure, and the value of an audit of the preventable factors leading to individual deaths is accepted in secondary care. Although approximately 20 of a typical general practitioner's patients will die every year, audits of deaths in general practice are seldom published. This is probably partly due to the difficulties posed by comparability, partly due to the wide range of causes of such deaths and possible contributory factors, and partly due to confidentiality considerations. We describe an audit of all death occurring in our practices over a 12-month period. Although cigarette smoking was considered to exceed all other contributory causes of death, preventable factors occurred in both primary and secondary care sufficiently often for important conclusions to be drawn. Comparison of causes of death between general practices is possible, and such enquiry can demonstrate important quality issues for both primary and secondary care.