New research shows heroin use falling across Scotland
A new report by the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow reveals that the number of people misusing heroin in Scotland has dropped. The research shows a near 8% drop in the number of problem drug users since 2000. ...... The report entitled 'Estimating the National and Local Prevalence of Problem Drug Use in Scotland, 2003' found that the estimated number of people misusin...Young people face increasing risk of suicide in Scotland
Suicide rates for young people have increased dramatically in Scotland's most deprived areas, according to research in this week's BMJ....... During the two decades 1980 2000 young people became more than four times as likely to commit suicide in Scotland's poorest areas than its least deprived sectors....... For young women the gap increased the most. The rate of suicide for young women as a wh...Postcode prescribing is alive and well in Scotland
Drug availability in Scotland continues to depend on local health board decisions, despite one of the intentions of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) being to ensure that NHS patients have equitable access, argue doctors from Lothian in this week's BMJ....... For example, Imatinib (for the treatment of chronic leukaemia) is available to patients in Fife, yet Lothian Health Boa...General decline in death rates from skin cancer in Scotland over past two decades
A UK study published on THE LANCET's website today shows an increased five-year survival from invasive skin cancer for men and women in Scotland, and a reduced yearly death rate from the disease among women, despite an overall increase in the incidence of melanoma over the past two decades. Authors of the study highlight the need for public-health programmes to try and reduce the incidence of ski..................................................................... Acute myocardial infarction (death of part of the heart muscle) is most often due to coronary thrombosis (a blood clot). Thrombolytic treatment to try to dissolve the clot is a matter of urgency and, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), should be given to patients within 90 minutes of their calling for medical assist...