Peezy is designed for women who are fed up with being given a narrow and difficult-to-use bottle whenever the Doctor asks a urine sample. Peezy means no more start-stop-start – thanks to its clever design means you can just let go trusting Peezy to do the rest. The best part is that a pure mid-stream will mean quick, accurate diagnosis and the right treatment first time. Dr Vincent Forte, a GP, explains how he came in to invent this revolutionary and hygienic way for women to deliver mid-stream urine samples.
Peezy won Best Industrial Product and Best of Show at the Design Week Awards in 2009. Looks like there will be more good news in 2010.
Routine breast screening is fairly well established in many countries, but there has been recent controversy regarding its benefits. All types of medical screening have their drawbacks including missed diagnoses, further investigations that turn out to be unnecessary, anxiety caused by recalls, and treatment for conditions that would have never caused any problems if they had been left alone.
For breast cancer the only type of screening that has proven to be effective is regular routine mammography according to leading London breast cancer expert Mr Nicolas Beechey-Newman Consultant Surgeon and Clinical Director, The Lister Hospital. A mammogram is a breast X-ray so an additional problem with this type of screening is the exposure to radiation. However breast cancer is a major health problem and an effective form of screening is very desirable. It is the commonest type of cancer that affects women, with 1 in 9 females in the UK being diagnosed with the problem during their lifetime.
Screening for breast cancer should be particularly effective because it is one of those cancers where catching it at an early stage makes a huge difference to the chance of cure. There are a number of reasons why the survival rates from breast cancer have improved steadily over the last thirty years, but it is thought that the most important factor has been early diagnosis.
Nicolas Beechey-Newman has written about Breast Screening - his article answers common questions such as:
Taking care of the simple things for patients can often get overlooked in the modern world of high-tech healthcare, however, patient care should be complete and unequivocal. Accurate diagnostic testing is fundamental to this, but is often compromised, particularly for female patients, at the sample collection stage.
The established ways for women patients to provide a urine sample are inconvenient, undignified and unhygienic and often contribute to contamination of the sample. This can result in false-positives, the need for re-testing, delayed or inaccurate testing and mis-diagnosis. There are serious associated consequences for patients.
The Peezy urine sample collection system helps to overcome the problems outlined above, but first and foremost meets patient needs. It is a uniquely designed funnel that is shaped to fit the female body. It features a duct that screws into the standard universal container, or preferred laboratory primary tube and is therefore compatible with pathology testing equipment. There is no need for the patient to think about anything other than simply releasing her urine stream as the Peezy does the rest. The first-burst urine exits via a void at the base of the device, which is fitted with a compressed cellulose sponge and the mid-stream is collected into the required container. The Peezy and protective gloves can then be placed in the usual waste disposal units. In this way the Peezy ensures that sample collection is safe, clean and patient-centred.
Please click here to read an article by Dr Forte. If you would like to request a free Peezy or obtain additional information then please email us or call on 0203 358 0359
Dual Source Definition CT is required for detecting cardiovascular disease
The Medical Editor of the Telegraph in June 2009 reported: “Hundreds of cases of serious heart disease are being missed every year by the NHS, which is putting thousands more through needless tests which waste around £40 million a year.” The article went on to say, “The current tests used to identify people at risk of a major heart attack – because their blood vessels are dangerously narrowed – are inadequate, costly and even risky.”
The report was based on information from Prof Lahiri of the Wellington Hospital who said: “Patients with chest pain are referred for initial tests and then sent for an angiogram which involves injecting dye into the veins and then taking a series of x-rays to find narrowing.”
So what exactly is the problem with the usual heart screen?
40% of the angiograms show nothing, meaning the waste of a £1,000 procedure.
1 in 10 patients with chest pain perform well on other tests due to false negatives and are therefore discharged.
The bottom line according to Prof Lahiri is, “It is not uncommon for the NHS to turn patients away and them drop dead of a heart attack.”
So what’s the solution?
Dual Source Definition CT – this imaging configuration, according to Prof Lahiri provides the greatest information on the state of the coronary arteries, unlike an angiogram it is non-invasive and at £400 a screen is considerably more cost-effective as well as accurate.
The article, Latest Cardiac Diagnostics and Treatment Methods has been written in plain English for anyone who is concerned about chest pain and would like to rule out the possibility of cardiovascular disease.
A urine sample or blood test is normally the first medical step, and so it seems odd that such little thought has up to now gone into this fundamental procedure. For example, the size and neck of urine collection bottles make it almost impossible to get a sample into the bottle let alone the required sterile, mid-stream sample. The accuracy of the diagnosis depends to a great extent on the quality of the sample and yet doctors will still often insist that their patients use an archaic system that involves so much fuss that obtaining an unadulterated mid-stream sample is both undignified and unlikely.
Women’s Health Experts switch to Peezy
As a result, London’s top doctors are now switching to the Peezy system. Peezy was invented by an NHS GP, Dr Vincent Forte who listened to his patients and used his skills to invent a simple device that was possible to aim at and automatically took the required sample – without any mess or stress. Doctors on Harley Street including leading Gynaecologist, Mr Adrian Lower immediately spotted the fact that Peezy would not just improve the quality of the medical service that they could provide their patients, but would also offer improved levels of care. Patients and staff alike are delighted with the new system.
In an article by London hernia expert Arjun Shankar, “Latest Expert advice on Surgery for Hernias” we find out what a hernia is and how unless treated properly they can recur and cause complications. Surgical expertise and experience is naturally the most important factor to determine whether the operation is successful first time.
If the groin hernia recurs then any subsequent re-repair is far more complex. Once a repair has been performed the anatomy of the groin is permanently changed with dense scarring around the groin structures. This is why it is so important to reduce recurrence rates to the lowest level possible. The scarring found makes identification of the anatomy far more difficult and hence complication rates are far higher. Nerves are more commonly damaged and the risk of injuring the blood supply to the testicle is not insignificant (up to 5% in some series).
This article is important for any patient who finds that they have done themselves an injury as it will inform the choice of treatment.
Arguably the gold standard diagnosis for heart disease is the pathologists’ report! The problem is that the heart moves so quickly it is difficult without the right imaging equipment to get a sufficiently good image of the coronary arteries. In the obvious absence of being able to stop the heart in order to get a good picture, the widely accepted alternative is CT and an angiogram, but these are not accurate and are highly expensive and invasive procedures.
That was until the recent arrival and approval of Dual CT Infinity Scanning. This scan incorporates twin x-ray with CT, the temporal differential of this configuration allows the effective ‘freezing’ of the image in all stages of the heart beat. Furthermore, Dual CT Infinity is quicker, cheaper and non-invasive. If you want to know if you have any heart disease, this is what you need. But the only unit in the UK to have one is The Cardiac Imaging and Research Centre at The Wellington Hospital.
There are other systems in development including a portable magnetometer being developed at the University of Leeds, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It is reported that, due to its sensitivity to magnetic fluctuations the device will be able to detect a number of conditions, including heart problems in foetuses, earlier than currently available diagnostic techniques such as ultrasound, ECG (electrocardiogram) and existing cardiac magnetometers. It will also be smaller, simpler to operate and able to gather more information and significantly cheaper than other devices currently available.
“Early detection of heart conditions improves the prospects for successful treatment. This system will also quickly identify people who need immediate treatment,” says Professor Varcoe.
However, putting this development in context, leading UK Cardiologist, Professor Lahiri says: “We have seen many of these types of machine subsequently fail during clinical validation. The magnetometer seems similar to impedence cardiography which ended up going went nowhere. Proof of diagnostic efficacy and advantage over current cardiac MR, CT and echo will need to be proven.”
1. Don’t use the wrist straps on your poles unless you’re in deep powder, You will usually find your pole again but you won’t be able to hold it without a fully-functioning UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament)!
2. Wear a helmet but don’t think it will improve your overall skiing ability – it won’t.
3. Tell the truth about your weight and ability when you rent your skis. Lying to the ski-rental guys may not be as dangerous as telling a few porkies before bungee-jumping but release tensions in bindings must be correct if you’re to avoid the risk of serious injury.
4. Opt for the carving skis. These are shorter which will reduce the risk of crossed tails and an ACL (acromio-clavicular joint) tearing fall.
5. When you do fall don’t try and get up when your skis are still moving or you might hear a holiday-ending ‘pop’!
6. Listen to all the usual pre-ski advice. Get ’ski-fit’ before you go and make sure you balance the strength in your quads and hamstrings. Do a lot of stretching because big muscles cause short tendons – think of all those bodybuilders who can’t get their arms or legs straight! – which increases the chance of a tear. Warm up, not just with Gluwein, and don’t ski tired.
Accidents will happen so you can always contact Richard Sinnerton should you or one of your party return injured from the ski-slopes.
The Cancer Reform Strategy meeting, part of the Westminster Health Forum, was held yesterday at the British Medical Association and included presentations from some of the most senior political and healthcare figures. It ended with a summary address from Cancer Tsar, Professor Mike Richards. The key points to come out of this meeting were as follows:
With the downturn in the economy the UK is now in operation ‘Reset’. This means that the onus is now on ‘cost-effective’ service delivery.
There has been an improvement in UK Cancer services in terms of one-year and five-year survivorship data, but the NHS still lags behind the rest of Europe according to these data.
Under current government leadership there has been financial profligacy – Professor Jonathon Waxman identified a “stinking hole of £278 Million per PCT” in NHS expenditure caused by PCT administration, he criticised NICE for delays in new drug approval and suggested that the funds for the NHS should be placed in the hands of experts (as opposed to PCTs).
The biggest recent positive change in the whole cancer care approach has been ‘stakeholder engagement’.
Going forward, all presenters underlined the need for improved early detection rates and this to be achieved via improved patient information and communications.
Every year in the UK there are 10,000 cancer deaths that could have been prevented with earlier detection and 90% of all cancer patients are initially diagnosed by GP’s. Therefore, the two things that can be done to improve on this situation are as follows:
a) Engage the public – Help patients to feel more inclined to come forward as soon as they think there might be a problem (e.g. a lump or a persistent cough)
b) Help GP’s feel less restricted about making referrals to specialists and give them better guidelines and access to diagnostics.
Many of the questions related to latest diagnostic and treatment technologies and their planned roll-out. At the moment, there are only two Cyberknife units in the UK (there are 300 in the USA). However, the theoretical central plank of current strategy ‘Patient Choice’ was not mentioned and Prof Mike Richards, emphasised ‘surgery’ as the best traditional treatment option and underlined the need to make better use of current assets.
On a positive note for vegetarians, other questions related to better lifestyle education, for example how quitting smoking is the single biggest contributor to improved cancer statistics. Diet was the next most important factor and Prof Waxman reminded us that becoming vegetarian reduced the risks of various cancers such as breast and prostate by 50%.
The senior medical team at In Capital Health field hundreds of GP and patient queries every week. Every request is given special attention, but as we are in the middle of the ‘rugger’ season, we thought that shoulder injuries might be of special interest.
A concerned mother asked: “My 16 year son has a posterior sternoclavicular dislocation. This happened at school this year during a game of rugby. My local hospital is selecting conservative treatment. Having done a lot of research I have discovered that in all these rare cases a reduction is always used as a form of treatment. Can you please advise as to what you would consider necessary treatment to safe guard my son from any further long term difficulties?”
Shoulder expert Richard Sinnerton replied: “This is a very rare condition. I have only seen it myself once in 10 years and, although the books make it out to be highly problematic and fraught with danger, it really is not such a big deal. So as long as it stabilises there shouldn’t be any problems. Surgery is always avoided because of the high risk of complications. Shoulders in these cases mostly relocate very easily with a gentle manipulation.
If your son’s shoulder has been left dislocated then it is probably best to leave it where it is as the benefits of putting it back in place are probably outweighed by the risks of the surgery.”
