The Insurance Helpline
Totally Insured Group // 0800 377 7763

Men seeking to improve their prostate cancer options could begin by opening up more, it has been suggested.

Everyman, a campaign group run by the Institute of Cancer Research, claimed that the males of the population are "notoriously bad" when it comes to talking about their health, leading the disease to have a low profile.

Hannah Crabtree, the fundraising and research specialists’ representative, highlighted that 10,000 men die every year as a result of prostate cancer, equivalent to one every hour.

"Considering it does have such a huge impact, the profile is very, very low and this is partly because men are notoriously bad at talking about their health; it is something they feel uncomfortable about," she confirmed.

"What is desperately needed is more research because at the moment there is a conclusive test that we could really recommend. A lot of people say that research into prostate cancer is ten years behind other major cancers," she added.

By raising awareness amongst men and women alike, Everyman aims to break the taboos surrounding prostate and testicular cancer, with prostate the most common form of the disease found in men throughout the UK after non-melanoma skin cancer.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer

A UK family face losing their home after failing to qualify for a critical illness insurance payout.

When Pete Nash from Kings Langley had surgery this year to remove a cluster of blood vessels from his brain, he had to quit working.

He turned to Norwich Union to make a claim on the critical illness policy for which he pays £80 every month.

"We have paid our critical life insurance for years and you can’t be any more critically ill than Pete was," his wife, Julia, told the Hemel Gazette.

However, her husband’s condition did not, according to the insurer, fall into its four critical illness categories.

"Mr Nash contacted Norwich Union to make a claim on his critical illness policy as a result of a stroke," a spokesperson for the provider told the local newspaper.

"Having investigated the case we did not uphold the claim as there was no medical evidence that Mr Nash had suffered a stroke. This was clearly set out by Mr Nash’s neurosurgeon at the time," the representative continued.

Presently unable to keep up mortgage repayments on their house, Mr Nash and his family have been warned by their bank that they face repossession.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with medical conditions

A surprising solution to cancer insurance difficulties may have arrived in the form of a mouse.

Scientists created a creature that is resistant to the disease and could potentially help find ways to fight it in humans.

Developed following the discovery of a tumour-suppressor gene called Par-4 in the prostate, researchers at the University of Kentucky claimed the mouse resists even highly-aggressive types of cancer.

They placed Par-4, which kills cancer cells but not normal cells, into an egg which was then planted into a surrogate mother, who produced offspring with the gene.

Each of her babies grew normally, had no defects and lived a few months longer than normal mice, heralding the possibility that the Par-4 molecule could be used to fight cancer cells in patients without the toxic side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Explaining that this may be achieved through bone marrow transplantation, researcher Vivek Rangnekar commented: "We are thinking of this in a holistic approach that not only would get rid of the tumour, but also not harm the organism as a whole."

A spokesperson for Cancer Research UK stated that further work is necessary to ascertain if the rodent success can be effectively translated to humans.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with cancer

Scientists believe they have uncovered the key to reducing the heart problems associated with diabetes.

Researchers at UC Davis Health System investigated the inflammation of blood vessels in patients with type-one diabetes.

Their findings suggested that, with good diabetes control, this inflammation may be reduced and thereby contribute to a reduction of cardiovascular disease as well.

Known as a "pro-inflammatory state", type-one diabetes is connected to increased heart deaths, with inflammation playing a key role in all stages of atherosclerosis, the progressive narrowing and hardening of the arteries over time.

"Inflammation is central to heart disease, playing a pivotal role in plaque formation and stroke," confirmed Ishwarlal Jialal, professor of internal medicine at UC Davis.

"We may well find that a byproduct of controlling diabetes is the simultaneous control of this new pathway, leading to less inflammation and lower risk of heart problems."

According to the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, diabetes-related complications including cardiovascular disease, as well as kidney failure, lower limb amputations and blindness, are the reason for the significantly reduced life expectancy and quality of life of sufferers.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with diabetes and other medical conditions

Hope may be on the horizon for those interested in Alzheimer’s insurance as a major charity calls for better standards of care for sufferers.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, all care staff should be given mandatory dementia training to reduce inequalities in care levels and improve the quality of life for the quarter of a million people living with the condition.

Care homes should operate as specialist dementia care providers, stated the charity, as the average individual with dementia currently spends just two minutes in every six hours socially interacting with other people in a home.

"We hear the horror stories, but also the hope among people with dementia and their carers about the difference good dementia care can make," said Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Neil Hunt.

In a survey of more than 3,500 people including those affected by dementia, care home staff and managers, it was revealed that more than half of people with a relative in residential care feel there is not enough for their loved one to do each day.

A quarter of family carers polled admitted they do not receive enough information about the care and treatment of the person they look after.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with dementia

Women on the lookout for an affordable breast cancer insurance premium may want to consider moving away from urban areas, according to new research.

A study by the London Breast Institute at the Princess Grace hospital looked at digitised mammograms of 972 women from urban, suburban and rural areas.

Scientists found that females living in London have significantly denser breasts, consisting of fatty tissue, glandular tissue or a mixture of both, than those living outside the city.

More glandular breasts show denser tissue on a mammogram and have been linked to nearly four times the risk of developing breast cancer than women with fatty breasts.

"Women living in cities need to pay more attention to having regular breast screening," stated Dr Nicholas Perry.

"Currently, women who live in urban areas are known to have lower attendance for breast screening programmes than women in outlying areas," he added.

Professor Stephen Duffy, Cancer Research UK’s professor of screening, pointed out that although there is not necessarily an increased risk of breast cancer for women living in London, careful attention must be paid to the quality of breast screening X-rays there as "greater breast density makes mammography a more challenging job."

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with breast cancer

Individuals who have encountered depression insurance difficulties because of unsuccessful treatment attempts could be facing a breakthrough.

Researchers in the US investigating a non-drug treatment with minimal side effects are optimistic about its potential for patients with major depression who have not benefited from other remedies.

Although there have been previous studies of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s work is the largest so far to explore TMS as a standalone treatment for major depression.

A non-invasive technique that excites neurons in the brain via magnetic pulses passed through the scalp, TMS is believed to be safe and effective.

"TMS provides a well-tolerated treatment option to patients whose depression is otherwise treatment-resistant," confirmed Dr John O’Reardon, associate professor of psychiatry at the university.

"Since TMS is administered via the scalp and therefore goes directly to the brain, it allows the patient to avoid bodily side effects such as weight gain, sedation and/or sexual function," he added.

Recent data from the Institute of Psychiatry revealed that depressive illness is widespread in Latin countries including France, Italy and Spain, while Germanic countries including Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands have lower levels.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with depression

Rates of HIV infection in gay men, a high-risk group which often encounters insurance difficulties, continued to rise in 2006, it has emerged.

New figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed that the rise followed a steady increase year-on-year since 2003.

In its report, Testing Times, the agency claimed that efforts to reduce sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV have not been succeeding overall.

According to the HPA, there were over 2,700 new cases of HIV infection in gay men in 2006; roughly a third of the total number of HIV cases in the UK.

Furthermore, a total of 73,000 adults are now living with HIV in the UK, 21,600 of which are unaware they have the virus.

"In recent years we have seen steady increases in all STIs, including HIV, in gay men and since 2003 the number of HIV diagnoses reported annually has consistently increased and exceeded the annual number of diagnoses throughout the 1980s and 1990s," confirmed Dr Valerie Delpech, HPA head of HIV surveillance.

Meanwhile the latest statistics from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control showed Britain to have one of the highest rates of new HIV/Aids cases in the European Union last year.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with medical conditions

Men exploring their prostate cancer insurance options are likely to be interested in how they can maximise the treatment they are offered for the disease.

According to a new study, many prostate cancer patients are reluctant to discuss problems related to their condition, such as urinary, bowel or sexual function, with their doctor.

This has implications for the treatment offered to any given individual as such problems can affect its efficacy.

"Prostate cancer patients experience the same fears and hard decisions as all cancer patients do, but prostate cancer treatment directly affects very personal things that most people aren’t comfortable talking about - urinary, bowel and sexual function," confirmed Dr James Talcott from Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Centre, who led the study.

"In this case, however, having that information matters because the three major treatments available to patients have different patterns of potential side effects.

"Knowing if patients already have problems in these areas should help guide treatment decisions," he continued.

Standard treatment options for early prostate cancer are external radiation therapy; brachytherapy, in which tiny radioactive particles are implanted into the prostate gland; and prostatectomy, surgical removal of the prostate gland.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with prostate cancer

Individuals wanting to ward off obesity or lower their blood pressure may do so with the help of a pedometer, it has been claimed.

US researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine found that using the pocket-sized device can help ordinarily sluggish people become more physically active, lose weight and reduce blood pressure.

With a pedometer counting the number of steps an individual makes each day, the researchers looked at a wide range of studies and concluded that its use increased physical activity by 2,183 steps.

Of those observed by the academics, almost all pedometer users lost weight and experienced improvements in blood pressure.

Lead author Dr Dena Bravata pointed out that such reductions in blood pressure are linked to reduced risk of death by stroke or cardiovascular causes.

"Just over 2,100 steps might not sound that much, but it equates to a 27 per cent increase in physical activity," she commented.

Another study by US and UK researchers has shown that the death rate owing to heart disease is beginning to climb for young women across the Atlantic.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with obesity, high blood pressure or heart disease