News round-up: Experts blast lack of Alzheimer’s support

Dementia, our ‘immoral neglect’: Experts blast lack of Alzheimer’s support

Dementia patients are being left with no support after diagnosis, medical ethics experts have warned.
It is ‘morally wrong’ that sufferers are not getting anything like the support that those with cancer expect, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics said in a report.
It found ‘ample evidence’ that, in many cases, patients are diagnosed and then ‘simply told to come back in a year’s time’.

Read more in the Daily Mail

Media accused of scaremongering on cancer jab death

Public health experts have criticised the “irresponsible” coverage of the death of a girl who died within hours of being given a cervical cancer vaccine, warning that “scaremongering” headlines could cause more harm than good.

There were many reports today that health authorities had pulled the plug on vaccination programmes after the death of 14-year-old Natalie Morton in Coventry on Monday night.

Read more in The Guardian

Regular exercise ‘can cut chance of developing breast cancer’

Researchers found that older women who worked out for an hour a day, or just seven hours a week, could cut their chance of developing the disease by 16 per cent.

The exercise had to be of moderate to vigorous intensity but could include walking, hiking, swimming and some strenuous forms of gardening to have the protective effect.

Read more in The Telegraph

Aging population heralds rise of the ‘supercentenarian’

England and Wales will be home to around 100 people in the age group by 2034, a 14-fold increase, it was claimed.

The Office for National Statistics put the rise down to projected improvements in life expectancy combined with a dramatic “baby boom” after the First World War.

Read more in The Telegraph

Ban on drinking in the street: Entire towns and cities to become public alcohol-free zones

Drinking in streets and parks will be banned in a fightback against ‘Binge Britain’.
Town halls are drafting new laws to introduce the first blanket bans on public drinking applying to entire towns.
The move comes after Labour finally admitted that the 24-hour drinking it introduced – which the Mail campaigned against – was ‘not working’.

Read more in The Daily Mail

One in eight Britons is working beyond retirement age

One in eight British people now works beyond retirement age, as they seek to save more for their pension or simply because they enjoy their job.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics found that 12 per cent of men and women aged over 65 and 60 respectively were still employed, compared with 8 per cent in 1992. Demand to work beyond the default retirement age has forced the Government to bring forward a review of the law, which requires employees to apply to their manager if they wish to carry on working.

Read more in The Times

Older People’s Day marks start of hunt for inspirational Britons

To mark Older People’s Day today and to encourage the thousands of active people over the age of 70 who make a significant contribution to society, The Times is again to offer an Active Life Award.

Sponsored jointly with Sir Sigmund Sternberg, the 88-year-old philanthropist and co-founder of the Three Faiths Forum, the award offers a prize of £5,000 to the winner and five prizes of £1,000 to the runners-up.