We older people are always a footnote | Brief letters

As one of your older readers, I was looking forward to reading the interesting article on the five epochs of brain development (Brain has five ‘eras’, scientists say – with adult mode not starting until early 30s, 25 November). But why was I not surprised to find the final two epochs given just one sentence between them?Dave HeadeyFaringdon, Oxfordshire I was delighted to find out that the Royal Opera House is replacing its 26-year-old stage curtains. Perhaps the old ones could be reused to make new riser cushions for the stage of Huddersfield town hall. We’re still waiting to be levelled up. (See my Guardian letter, 14 February 2022

Expert panel advises against prostate cancer screening for most men in UK

Prostate cancer screening should not be made available to the vast majority of men across the UK, a panel of expert government health advisers has said, to the “deep disappointment” of several charities and campaigners.The UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) has instead recommended that there should be a targeted screening programme for men with a confirmed BRCA1 or BRCA2 faulty gene variant, which means they are more at risk of faster growing and aggressive cancers at an earlier age. Men in that category could be screened every two years between the ages of 45 and 61, they said.The committee found that the “harms would outweigh the benefits” if it were to recommend prostate cancer screening for all men or for men with a relevant family history of cancer, as it could lead to a small reduction in the number of prostate cancer deaths but “very high levels of over-diagnosis”.When it came to screening black men, who have an elevated risk of prostate cancer, the committee found current evidence to be “lacking and uncertain”

What is prostate cancer and should I be worried if I wee a lot at night?

Prostate cancer is cancer that starts in the prostate gland, a small gland that sits just below the bladder and makes part of the fluid that forms semen. It is the biggest cause of cancer in men in the UK, with about 55,300 diagnoses and 12,200 deaths a year. It is the second most common form of cancer, after breast cancer. In many men, prostate cancer grows slowly, but in some it can grow and spread more quickly.The incidence of prostate cancer has risen by 55% since the early 1990s

Wes Streeting calls BMA ‘impossible’ and says they made ‘misleading’ claims

Wes Streeting has accused the British Medical Association (BMA) of being “impossible” and issuing “misleading” information in an escalation of tensions with the doctors union.In an unusual move, the health secretary wrote on Thursday to England’s 50,000 GPs to convey his frustration with the BMA over recent changes that from last month made it easier for patients to contact them online between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday.He has underlined his concern about the union’s behaviour by ending its longstanding role as the sole negotiator of the annual GP contract that covers doctors’ pay and terms and conditions.Streeting’s letter was prompted by a recent speech by the head of the BMA’s GP committee, Dr Katie Bramall, in which she accused ministers of being “traitors” to their profession and of betraying and lying to them

Ministers set aside £75m to fix failures that caused carer’s allowance crisis

Ministers have set aside £75m to fix systemic failures that caused hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers to be hit with huge bills after unwittingly breaching complex and confusing benefit rules.A damning independent review, published on Tuesday, found that outdated technology, unclear guidance and a failure of leadership by ministers and senior welfare officials had led to punitive sanctions on vulnerable families.It followed a year-long Guardian investigation into how hundreds of unpaid carers had been criminally prosecuted and hundreds of thousands penalised for errors the review concluded were mostly not “wilful rule-breaking”.Pat McFadden, the welfare secretary, promised this week that the government would fix the “mess” he said had been left by previous administrations.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said it will reassess 145,000 cases in which people were overpaid carer’s allowance, with some of those debts likely to be struck off or reimbursed

Severe asthma can be controlled by a monthly injection, trial finds

A monthly injection could allow people with severe asthma to stop taking daily steroid tablets, a clinical trial has found.More than 260 million people are thought to have asthma worldwide. While most can control their asthma with inhalers to treat immediate symptoms and preventive ones to reduce inflammation, those with the most severe asthma often take daily doses of oral corticosteroids as well.But long-term use is associated with serious health conditions, including osteoporosis, diabetes and increased vulnerability to infections. Now an international clinical trial has found that participants who received injections of tezepelumab every four weeks were able to reduce or even stop taking their steroids entirely with no ill effects