Pudding throwers battle for prize

Black puddings are thrown at Yorkshire puddings on a ledge

Competitors from across the world have gathered at a pub in Greater Manchester for the World Black Pudding Throwing Championship.

Thousands are watching entrants from as far afield as Hong Kong, Africa and Sweden compete at the Royal Oak in the village of Ramsbottom, Bury.

The aim is to knock Yorkshire puddings off a 20ft ledge by throwing black puddings at them.

The contest is supposed to represent the Lancashire/Yorkshire rivalry.

Organizer Elaine Singleton says you need real ability to take part.

“It is skillful for a start. You can’t throw overarm – you’ve got to throw underarm and it’s got to be precise otherwise you won’t hit any puddings.

“You try lobbing a pudding underhand 20ft up – you’ve got to have some weight behind you to do that!”

The crowd watches one of the younger competitors

She added that the unusual competition was attracting as many participants as ever.

“Plenty want to do it. I get phone calls from all over the world to come here.”

The popular competition was saved in 2003 after the previous venue closed.

Black pudding is traditionally made of cooked pig blood, fat and rusk, encased in a length of intestine.

The contest dates back to the 1850s and is believed to be a revival of the Lancashire-Yorkshire rivalry.

Historically Bury, now part of Greater Manchester, was in Lancashire.

Vitamin linked to brain shrinking

Many people are deficient in vitamin B12

A vitamin found in meat, fish and milk may help stave off memory loss in old age, a study has suggested.

Older people with lower than average vitamin B12 levels were more than six times more likely to experience brain shrinkage, researchers concluded.

The University of Oxford study, published in the journal Neurology, tested the 107 apparently healthy volunteers over a five-year period.

Some studies suggest two out of five people are deficient in the vitamin.

The rate of shrinkage of the brain as we age may be partly influenced by what we eat Professor David Smith Oxford University

The problem is even more common among the elderly, and recent moves to supplement bread with folic acid caused concern that this could mask B12 deficiency symptoms in older people.

The Oxford study looked at a group of people between 61 and 87, splitting it into thirds depending on the participants’ vitamin B12 levels.

Even the third with the lowest levels were still above a threshold used by some scientists to define vitamin B12 deficiency.

However, they were still much more likely to show signs of brain shrinkage over the five-year period.

Liver and shellfish

Professor David Smith, who directs the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing, said he now planned a trial of B vitamins in the elderly to see if taking them could slow brain shrinkage.

He said: “This study adds another dimension to our understanding of the effects of B vitamins on the brain – the rate of shrinkage of the brain as we age may be partly influenced by what we eat.”

Shrinkage has been strongly linked with a higher risk of developing dementia at a later stage and Rebecca Wood, the chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said further research was needed.

“This study suggests that consuming more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk as part of a balanced diet might help protect the brain. Liver and shellfish are particularly rich sources of B12.

“Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common problem among elderly people in the UK and has been linked to declining memory and dementia.”

Dr Susanne Sorensen, from the Alzheimer’s Society said: “Shrinkage is usually associated with the development of dementia.

“As vitamin B may be given as a food supplement, it may be useful to include tests of vitamin B levels in the general assessment of health of older individuals.

“This is another example of why it is crucial for people to lead a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet rich in B vitamins and antioxidants.

“The best way to reduce your risk of developing dementia is to keep active, eat a balanced diet, don’t smoke and visit your GP to get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked.”

Vein tubes ‘fitted needlessly’

Cannulas are used to help take blood and to give drugs and fluids

A third of patients have unnecessary tubes inserted into veins when they are in hospital, pharmacists have warned.

Researchers from Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University said this needlessly exposed them to serious complications, such as infections and blood clots.

Just under 350 patients were studied over six weeks, the majority of whom had the tubes, called cannulas, fitted.

An A&E expert recognized cannulas should be used less frequently and for shorter periods.

It’s entirely reasonable to look at their use Dr Martin Shalley, emergency medicine consultant

The study was presented to the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester.

Cannulas – hollow plastic tubes with a needle at the tip which cost around £1.70 each – are used to give medication and fluids to people who cannot swallow because they are unconscious or being given nil by mouth, and it has been estimated that around 80% of hospital patients have them fitted.

Drugs may also be more easily absorbed if given this way.

But potential complications include problems with veins (phlebitis), drugs leaking into tissues around the site of the tube, serious infection and blood clots.

‘Common practice’

Of the patients studied – who were all treated in the acute medical assessment unit of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, 91% of patients had a cannula inserted. But 28% of the tubes were never used.

The researchers also found that in 71% of patient records there was no documentation of a cannula being inserted, while in 57% there was no documentation of it being removed.

Four patients had developed blood poisoning, which infection control specialists said was likely to be linked to the cannula.

The researchers, led by Dr Yash Kumarasamy, said that in many UK hospitals, it has become common practice to insert an intravenous cannula when the patient is admitted, irrespective of need.

He said: “We would like to see the introduction of a formal procedure under which hospital pharmacists review patients and their medications and make recommendations to the treatment team about whether or not a cannula is needed.”

Dr Martin Shalley, a former president of the British Association of Emergency Medicine, agreed there had been an over-reliance on cannula use.

He said many trusts had policies saying cannulas had to be removed after 72 hours

“It used to be a knee-jerk response to insert a cannula – but we now recognise there’s a need to think if fitting one is a benefit for that patient.

“It’s entirely reasonable to look at their use. That’s the case in A&E medicine and across acute medicine too.”

And Dr Shalley said he thought the level of use of cannulas had increased the level of hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA.