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Health Commission Forgets The Bush In Final Report, Australia
The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission has wasted a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to fix
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Ohio Comprehensive Sex Education Program Improves Knowledge Of Safer-Sex Practices, Study Finds
Ohio students who participate in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District"s comprehensive sex education program show more knowledge and better attitudes toward safer-sex practices than students who do not participate, according to a study released Tuesday by Philliber Research Associates, the AP/Dayton Daily News reports. The school district uses a graduated sex education program for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program begins with instruction about the human body and inappropriate touching and progresses to discussions about sexually transmitted infections and relationships. The study, which was funded by the AIDS Funding Collaborative in Cleveland, found that more than 75% of parents of children in kindergarten through sixth grade approved of the program.The Collaborative for Comprehensive School Age Health, a coalition of northeast Ohio organizations that opposes abstinence-only sex education, said that the report validates the effectiveness of the city"s program. The study"s release coincides with advocates" efforts against two other sex education-related measures under consideration in the state budget plan. According to the AP/Daily News, the Republican-controlled state Senate wants to require the state Department of Education to apply for federal abstinence-only education funding. The state Senate also wants Ohio to continue to require legislative approval before any changes can be made in health education, although Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and the Democrat-controlled House want to change these requirements, the AP/Daily News reports (AP/Dayton Daily News, 6/23).
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High Doses Of Antioxidants Taken By Many Breast Cancer Patients Despite Possible Consequences
A new study finds that many women with breast cancer take antioxidant supplements while undergoing cancer treatment, even though the consequences of doing so are unknown. Published in the July 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that additional research should be undertaken to determine the effects of antioxidant supplementation on the health and survival of breast cancer patients.
Mental Health

Evidence That Cognitive Therapy Is Of No Value In Schizophrenia

Research co-led by an academic at the University of Hertfordshire, concludes that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is of no value in schizophrenia and has limited effect on depression. Professor Keith Laws, at the University"s School of Psychology, is one of the lead authors on a paper entitled: Cognitive behavioural therapy for major psychiatric disorder: does it really work? A meta-analytical review of well-controlled trials, which has just been published online in the journal Psychological Medicine. The paper reviews the use of CBT in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. The results of the review suggest that not only is CBT ineffective in treating schizophrenia and in preventing relapse, it is also ineffective in preventing relapses in bipolar disorder. The review also suggests that CBT has only a weak effect in treating depression, but it has a greater effect in preventing relapses in this disorder. The authors focused particularly on methodologically rigorous trials that compared CBT to a "psychological placebo" and also investigated the impact of "blinding", i.e. whether or not the people who assessed the patients knew if they were receiving active treatment or not. Both factors are considered essential before a drug treatment is approved for use in psychiatric disorders. The authors noted that not a single trial employing both blinding and psychological placebo has found CBT to be effective in schizophrenia and surprisingly few well-controlled studies of CBT in depression. "The results of this review are important because in March NICE re-approved CBT for use in all people with schizophrenia. The Government is also investing millions of pounds to provide CBT for depression and anxiety in 250 dedicated therapy centres across England," said Professor Laws. "Yet the evidence here is that the effectiveness of this form of therapy may be less than previously thought, to the point of being non-existent in schizophrenia." The other authors of the paper are Professor Peter McKenna, Benito Menni Complex Assistencial en Salut Mental, Barcelona and Dr Damian Lynch, University of Glasgow. A copy of the paper can be accessed here. The University of Hertfordshire is an ambitious and entrepreneurial university. It offers excellence in teaching, learning and research and puts students at the heart of its activities. It is a model of a 21st century university, international, business-facing and business-like in its approach - making it distinctive in an ever changing higher education environment. The University of Hertfordshire


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