The number of complaints made to the General Medical Council about doctors has risen 23% in the past year, the regulator says.The GMC report showed there were 8,781 in 2011 compared to 7,153 in 2010.The rise is similar to the one the year before and continues a trend which has seen complaints jump b

(Reuters Health) – The short-term benefits of weight loss surgery are well known in severely obese people, but a new study finds that improvements in diabetes and blood pressure may hold up for years after the procedures.At six-year patient follow-ups, three quarters of people who’d undergone gastri

Up to a million people in the UK have “completely preventable” severe headaches caused by taking too many painkillers, doctors have said.They said some were trapped in a “vicious cycle” of taking pain relief, which then caused even more headaches.The warning came as part of the National Institute fo

Venomous reptiles may provide a good source for new drugs for human diseases, researchers in Liverpool say.Venom has already been used to create drugs, but the chemicals in it are often too deadly for human consumption.However, a study, published in the journal Nature Communications, has shown snake

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has issued a warning about the dangers of picking poisonous mushrooms.It says foragers should be aware that it is easy to mix up toxic with non-toxic varieties.Dozens of people seek medical advice each year after eating wild mushrooms which they have picked themsel

A new oral medication to treat patients in the early stages of multiple sclerosis has shown considerable promise in two clinical trials, researchers announced on Wednesday.The medication is on track to become just the third oral drug available to M.S. patients, and potentially the safest and most ef

Hundreds of thousands of pregnant women across the UK are to be offered a whooping cough vaccine to protect babies from an escalating outbreak of the disease.Very young babies are at the greatest risk of serious complications. Ten have died in the UK this year.The injection, available from Monday, s

(Reuters Health) – A study of nearly 190,000 young women injected with Merck & Co’s human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil found no new safety concerns.Researchers said the only side effects they observed – rare cases of skin infections and fainting – were benign and expected.“This analysis was v

(Reuters) – Sanofi’s experimental pill to treat Gaucher disease, a rare inherited condition, has met its main goal in a late-stage trial, the French drugmaker said on Tuesday.Patients treated with the drug, eliglustat tartrate, showed a statistically significant improvement in the size of their sple

(Reuters Health) – For people conscious about their heart health, a new study suggests it may be best to eat fish instead of taking individual omega-3 fatty acids in supplement form.After reviewing information on the habits and fatty-acid blood levels of more than 20,000 male doctors, researchers fo