Interesting Facts

The WHO (World Health Organisation) has new rules for avoiding offensive names for new diseases. (The new guidelines are aimed at removing the stigma that can be inflicted by diseases that use the names of people, places, and animals. The new guidelines called “The Naming of New Human Infectious Diseases” would discourage names like Spanish flu, German measles, Ebola, swine flu , bird flu, Rift Valley Fever, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, monkey pox, and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and encourage the use of more neutral, generic terms, such as severe respiratory disease or novel neurologic syndrome. Under the new guidelines, Marburg disease (named after a city in Germany) might have been called filovirus-associated haemorrhagic fever, while Ebola (named after a river) might have been filovirus-associated haemorrhagic fever.) Source

According to studies conducted at King’s College London, junk food kills bacteria that protect against obesity, heart disease,  cancer,  diabetes, inflammatory bowel conditions and autism. (The human gut contains around 3,500 difference microbial species, which together make up some three pounds in weight, but a limited range of highly processed foods, rather than those found in a balanced, healthy diet, can wipe out the number of stomach flora by more than a third. Other studies suggest that Belgian Beer, garlic, coffee, leeks and celery are ideal foods for promoting healthy gut flora. Mmm - beer.)

Ports in the UK are on alert for the Asian tiger mosquito. (This species of mosquito can transmit up to 23 infections - including West Nile virus and dengue fever. It is not native to the UK, and is believed to have stowed away in used tyres being shipped from the Far East to the UK for retreading. It is slightly bigger than a native mosquito, and has distinctive black and white stripes.  With another report that there are 800,000 illegal immigrants currently living in the UK, I don't think the port authorities will have much luck stopping illegal mosquitoes.)

Researchers compiled a World Death Table from the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study, and  found that rising levels of drink and drug abuse are turning Britain into one of the sickest countries in the Western world. (According to research, which compares premature death rates in 19 wealthy nations, only Finland, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark and the US have worse premature death rates. The really worrying thing for me is that there is a "World Death Table". )

According to a review published in the British Medical Journal, adding 17.5% VAT to unhealthy foods in Britain could cut up to 2,700 heart disease deaths a year. (One US study showed a 35% increase in the price of sugar sweetened drinks – working out at 28p per drink – in a canteen led to a 26 per cent decline in sales. Dr Oliver Mytton and colleagues at Oxford University said so called fat taxes would need to be at least 20 per cent to have a meaningful effect on population health. In the past year, Denmark has introduced a fat tax, Hungary a junk food tax and France a tax on sweetened drinks. Other countries,  notably Ireland, are also considering such taxes. I want to know why they're not considering a champagne tax or caviar tax.) Source

According to researchers at Harvard Medical School, a diet high in red meat can shorten life expectancy. (Simply by adding an extra portion of unprocessed red meat to someone's daily diet would increase the risk of death by 13%, of fatal cardiovascular disease by 18% and of cancer mortality by 10%. The figures for processed meat were even higher at 20% for overall mortality, 21% for death from heart problems and 16% for cancer mortality. The researchers concluded that saturated fat from red meat may be behind the increased heart risk and the sodium used in processed meats may "increase cardiovascular disease risk through its effect on blood pressure".  So, you might want to reconsider what you're having for Sunday lunch today.  Nut cutlet anyone?)

According to  Professor Mark Wilcox, Clinical Director of Microbiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, whether you close the toilet lid before you flush, could have an impact on the spread of infections. (Seemingly leaving the lid up when you flush can allow a cloud of bacteria to explode into the air, settling on nearby surfaces. I won't go into the specifics, but they tested  the hospital superbug C. difficile, and  found that when flushing, bacteria was transported up to 10 inches above the toilet seat when it was open, and was found on the cistern, to the right and left of the toilet seat, and on the floor, in fact it was still detected in the air up to 90 minutes later, but when the lid was closed no C. diff. was recovered on any surface.  So, men, now you know why us women get so annoyed when you leave the lid up.) Source

The black death, still kills 2,000 people a year. (It's caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, a plague that is primarily a disease of wild rodents and is spread by their fleas. It is one of the "oldest identifiable diseases known to man", according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and believe it or not, it has never been wiped out. Luckily nowadays, almost all cases are curable if diagnosed in time.)