A round-up of other health news in brief
Genetic defect could be cause of skin cancers
A CONSULTANT psychiatrist has warned that disproportionate coverage of high-profile suicides linked to the recession could lead to a spate of “copycat” deaths.
A particular genetic defect could be to blame for the vast majority of potentially deadly skin cancers, experts believe.
Scientists uncovered a biological pathway linking the mutant BRAF gene with 70 per cent of melanomas.
Malignant versions of this type of cancer kill more than 2,300 people each year in Britain alone. Overexposure to sunlight causes at least two-thirds of all malignant melanomas and up to nine out of 10 non-melanoma skin cancers. The sun’s ultraviolet rays can damage DNA and cause genetic mutations.
Research leader Prof Richard Marais, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said: “Our study shows that the genetic damage of BRAF is the first step in skin cancer development. Understanding this process will help us develop more effective treatments for the disease.”
Acquiring a defective BRAF gene may be the first event in a cascade of genetic changes that eventually leads to melanoma, according to the research reported in the journal Cancer Cell.
Call for hiring freeze to be lifted
The president of the Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery (IADNAM), Irene O’Connor, has called for the moratorium on recruiting and replacing nurses to be lifted.
She was speaking at the annual general meeting of IADNAM in Dublin yesterday.
“The failure to lift this moratorium would see a significant deterioration in the supervision and management of clinical risk and safety and could result in errors,” she warned.
Last week, the HSE announced a moratorium on all recruitment and replacement of staff, effective from March 26th last.
In a statement, Ms O’Connor’s organisation acknowledged that everyone had to “tighten belts” and that the HSE was not immune.
It argued that because nursing accounts for a significant percentage of the overall health services staff, senior nurse management throughout the services “should be involved in any discussions regarding changes in the way in which health services are delivered”.