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A new food labelling system that aims to curb the increasing obesity crisis has been introduced by the European Union.

The new system will make nutritional information compulsory in 27 countries but has left some health charities disappointed as the proposed ‘traffic light’ system has not been implemented, reports the Guardian.

Announced by Markos Kyprianou, the EU’s health commissioner, the system may also leave the European food industry unhappy as they lobbied intensively for a self-regulated system.

Individual countries will be able to choose their preferred system of display provided mandatory information was clearly on display, the report continues.

Commenting on this, Mr Kyprianou said: "We allow flexibility. There were arguments "for and against" the traffic light system"

He added that such a system can result in "oversimplification" and that the aim is to allow consumers to make their own decisions with the information provided.

In related news, a recent poll revealed that many parents are confused about the dangers of excessive salt content in foods.

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

A new centre aimed at researching and tackling the obesity problem is to be set up in Cambridge after public and voluntary sector funders awarded it a £5 million grant.

The centre will focus intensively on the role of exercise and diet and highlight the importance of selecting healthy foods and staying physically active, reports the BBC.

The Diet and Physical Activity Public Health Centre of Excellence will be staffed by a range of experts and will examine factors such as city design and finer details like office layout, the report continues.

Dr Andy Jones of the University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences said: "There is increasing evidence that the environment in which we live and work may be an important influence on how active we are and on what we eat."

He added that living in an environment which is pleasant with good facilities and the availability of healthy food are all important factors to the research.

The UEA is an internationally renowned university based in a campus that provides academic, social and cultural facilities to over 13,000 students.

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

A new initiative is to be launched in east Lancashire that will treat young men suffering from depression.

The "Calmzone" scheme is new to the area having only been introduced to a select few locations around the UK, reports the Blackburn Citizen.

The Campaign Against Living Miserably charity (Calm) has secured government funding for the project and intends to target 15 to 35-year-olds with key information in locations where they are most likely to see it.

Calm co-ordinator for Hyndburn Miles Whittaker said: "There is so much pressure on young men today to be successful, wealthy and have the perfect life, yet so many lads feel unable to live up to this expectation."

He added that Calm is specifically aimed at young men who need someone to talk to when they are feeling the pressure of modern life.

In related news, new research has found that pregnant women that suffer abuse from a close partner are more prone to depression.

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

New research published this week has put forward a model which may increase the chances of predicting virulent forms of prostate cancer.

Published in the latest edition of BMC Medical Genomics, the model was put together by a research team at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

It combines conventional Gleason score analysis with a series of structured biomarker data assessments, to give a prediction of the likely progress of the disease.

"We believe these findings will be of potential benefit to a substantial portion of the patient population diagnosed with early prostate cancer by providing valuable information regarding the risk of disease progression," said research team leader Dr Timothy McDonnell.

Prostate cancer occurs primarily in men aged over 50 years, but it is one of the forms of cancer that varies most widely in its effects. While for some men it can be fatal, for others it can show few or even no symptoms.

The biomarkers used by the Anderson team are well-known cell life cycle regulators, which are expressed variably by different forms of prostate cancer.

Genomic testing is increasingly being adopted as a means of predicting predispositions to cancer within the research and therapeutic communities.

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

Prescriptions for obesity treatments rose by a staggering eight times between 1999 and 2006, new figures show.

While just 127,000 items were prescribed for treating obesity nine years ago, 2006 saw in excess of 1.06 million items prescribed, reflective not only of the higher numbers of people suffering from excess weight, but also a greater willingness on the part of practitioners to treat it medically.

The figures have been published by the Information Centre (IC), a special NHS statistical health authority.

Late last year, Foresight warned that current trends in obesity suggest that 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women will be obese by 2050.

Nevertheless, the IC’s "Health Survey for England" found that the healthy eating and exercise messages are getting through, with more people than previously found to be eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables each day and taking recommended levels of weekly exercise.

However, social class and income were found to have a key correlation with levels of obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise.

"Marked inequalities in lifestyle and in health continue to exist in England," said Dr Jennifer Mindell of University College London, who led the team which carried out the research for the IC.

"The lower your income, the more likely you are to smoke or be obese, and the less likely to eat sufficient fruit and vegetables or be active enough."

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with obesity.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has warned that new measures on food labelling proposed by the European Commission (EC) this week do not go far enough.

The EC’s plans, announced on Wednesday, would see manufacturers obliged to display six measures on food packaging, showing the levels of energy, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugar, and salts contained.

However, the scheme excludes alcoholic drinks and does not include the widely-supported "traffic light" system.

Ruairi O’Connor, policy and public affairs manager at the BHF, said: "We believe the European Commission should have gone a step further and backed mandatory colour coded traffic lights on food labels. Research shows that these are more effective than GDA labels in helping people see what’s in the food they buy."

The EC’s scheme has yet to be approved by the European Parliament and member states, and it could therefore be some time before they become law.

Mr O’Connor added: "We urge MEPs and policy makers in the UK to build on these proposals, and ensure traffic lights are applied on UK food products."

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with obesity.

Scientists from University of California Los Angeles’ Jonsson Cancer centre have found biomarkers which can help to predict which patients with non-small cell lung cancer will respond to certain treatments.

The study may help to determine how successful the combined treatment with anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex and the growth factor receptor blocker Tarceva, according to Science Daily.

Dr Steven Dubinett, author the report, said: "We need good predictors of response to targeted therapy in lung cancer so individual patients receive the specific therapy that targets the particular molecular abnormalities of their tumors."

Researchers at the university studied samples of blood, urine and tumours to identify why some patients responded to treatment better than others, discovering that some biomarkers could be used to identify which patients are likely to respond most positively.

In related news, new figures have revealed this week that the number of people who smoke in the UK is falling.

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

Diabetes in UK Northern Ireland has welcomed a new government technology investment, but has stated other methods can help support diabetes sufferers.

The statement comes on the back of news of a £46 million investment into current technology designed to help people manage their condition, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

Commenting on the funding, health minister Michael McGimpsey states "will also allow us to strengthen our community health and social care services so that they can respond quickly to patients’ needs".

Speaking in the wake of the announcement of the £46 million, Iain Foster - director of Diabetes UK Northern Ireland - tells the paper that the funds are "good news" but continued that initiatives designed to help people manage their condition will "improve the quality of life for the hundreds of thousands of people" who live in the province.

Diabetes UK states there are currently 2.3 million people with the condition. It also estimates that 750,000 people have diabetes with out realising this to be the case.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with diabetes.

The number of smokers who kicked the habit last summer hit 165,000 using the NHS’s Stop Smoking Services, according to new research.

A report carried out by the Information Centre for health and social care (The IC) shows that this number was a 28 per cent increase on the same time in 2006.

The IC states that the reduction parallels the smoking ban, which took effect on July 1st.

Commenting on the figures, Tim Straughan, chief executive of The IC, states they show that "more and more smokers are accessing NHS Stop Smoking Services and many of these are successfully kicking the habit".

Other figures in the report included that 4,084 out of the 8,619 pregnant women who set a "quit date" with the service stopped smoking and that a total of 327,800 people quit during the course of the year.

The IC aims to supply research information that aims help the NHS "run effectively" and to help inform decisions on "the quality and efficiency of care".

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

The number of people in Scotland who survive heart attacks has risen, according to new figures.

The statistics produced by ISD Scotland show that the 30-day survival rate for people who suffer a heart attack increased by 0.7 per cent between 2005 and 2006, reports the Scotsman.

Those with life insurance policies may also be interested to read that in 2006, some four per cent of people were still alive after surviving a heart attack. In 2006, this figure stood at 81.2 per cent.

Other conditions that were assessed by ISD Scotland were hip fractures and mortality levels connected with planned operations.

Hip fracture deaths remained "fairly stable" between 1998 and 2006 when viewed within the 30-day period after surgery. Mortally for planned operations fell by 0.1 percentage point.

ISD Scotland is the "business operating unit" of NHS National Services Scotland. It states that its "vision of success for the future is to be an essential partner in providing better health and better care for people in Scotland".

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