With growing concerns over vaccines triggering autism in young toddlers, the last thing that parents want to hear is about another vaccine; however in light of ground-breaking research, a new vaccine has emerged to fight against gut bacteria which, it is said, can also fight against autism symptoms. The gut bug known as Clostridium Boltae is said to caught disorders in the gut, which are also said to be found commonly in autistic children, with over 90% of children suffering from chronic, severe gastrointestinal symptoms and another 75% suffering from diarrhoea. Whilst it is unclear as to why autistic children are susceptible to the bacteria, the vaccine is an attempt to reverse the effects. With autism cases rising sixfold within the past two decades, the rising concerns and sheer mystery as to why remains unclear. Whilst some researchers claim that it is the environment, others believe that the gut is the primary cause – even though they are not sure why. The vaccine is the first of its kind that is designed to fight this type of gut bacteria. There are some suspicions that the bacteria inject toxins or metabolites into its host, which may then control or trigger the symptoms and causes of autism – in particular, regressive autism. The downside to this vaccine is that it may take more than ten years to go through pre-clinical and human trials – longer still will be the process of making the drug marketable. It is uncertain as to whether this two-decade increase will continue to grow within the next decade. For researchers however, this is the first – and significant – step into resolving the autistic mystery. With the vaccine able to introduce antibodies quickly for the body's immune system to detect and identify, the toddler can be protected from the risks of intestinal infections and also, perhaps more importantly, the lifelong risk of autism. For them, it is better late than never at all.

How a nation pays for its health care is a problem that has been exercising – and continues to exercise – the best political and economic brains in the world. But even providing basic at-point-of-need care for everyone won’t solve how to care for disabled children in the US, many of them from families who have health insurance but not enough to provide for the 24-hour care their child needs. A child with autism, for example, is likely also to have other special needs that require specialist care. A lifelong development disability, autism affects how a person communicates with and relates to the world and other people around them. Autism is also a spectrum condition so while each person with autism may show similar problems, the condition will affect the individual in different ways and to a greater or lesser extent. Some of the more severe conditions associated with autism include cortical vision impairment and developmental cognitive disability. The American charity, Autism Speaks, has calculated that the cost of caring for someone with autism over the course of their lifetime is $2.3million. With little or no state help available, that means the burden of providing that care falls squarely on the shoulders of families. And as estimates suggest that around 1 in 50 children will be born with autism, it is clear that this is a problem that is only going to grow. John Nadworthy and Cynthia Haddad are the authors of The Special Needs Planning Guide. Each has a special needs child so the book is written with their own personal experience very firmly behind it. The book aims to give parents the tools to providing the right care for their child and getting the family finances in shape to deal with the burden of taking care of a special needs child for all that child’s life. Theirs is a chronological guide, starting from birth through to adulthood, offering advice on finance, insurance, legal matters, state benefits and – importantly – dealing with the family and emotional issues around a disabled child. Even a family with no financial worries can benefit from advice on dealing with the care of a special needs child.

A new government scheme has been designed to tackle the problem of long term sickness absence. It is all too common an occurrence, according to government sources, that workers go on sick leave and end up being absent for months at a time. This can affect family wellness as it leads to the worker feeling a lack of dignity and self-worth, as they are not able to work and support their family. Carl Lightbown has been on the receiving end of this new pilot scheme, after falling victim to a work-related injury. His wellness was affected by shoulder problems, which are very common in manual workers but often see people signed off for weeks and even months whilst they await NHS treatment. Fortunately, however, Car lives in Leicester, where they are piloting the new government scheme. When Carl saw his GP, he was referred to the scheme, known as Fit For Work, where his wellbeing was assessed by a free occupational health service. The service is designed to help people get back to work quickly, in the knowledge that the longer they are out of work, the harder it is for them to return and the less likely it is that they will be able to return to the same job. It is also a money-saving enterprise, as sick leave costs the UK approximately 15bn per year in lost economic output. The service, which is due to spread across England, Wales and Scotland next year, offered Carl immediate physiotherapy sessions rather than him having to join the rather long waiting list to receive help on the NHS. He was also given a phased return to work, to enable him to return to his job quickly but also safely. Despite doctors predicting that his leave would have to be long term, Carl was back at work in less than four weeks.

Your family doctor has probably given a placebo to at least one patient. This is according to a survey published in PLOS One, which found that most family doctors hand out a placebo at some point in their career. Of 783 GPs polled, 97% admitted that they have advised a patient to take a sugar pill or treatment with no established efficacy for the ailment they came in with. Roughly one in 10 of the GPs reported giving a patient a sugar pill or an injection of salty water rather than a real medicine at some time in their career, whilst one in 100 of them even admitted that they did this at least once a week. However, the study authors, from the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton, asserted that doctors are still doing this with family wellness in mind, and are not simply trying to deceive patients. According to the Royal College of GPs, there is a place for placebos in medicine, but some may be inappropriate and could cause side effects or issues such as drug resistance. Antibiotics for suspected viral infections, for example, was one of the placebo treatments identified in the study but not only are these powerless against viruses, but doctors are actually told not to use them. Yet the placebo effect, in which you get better just because you’ve taken something, can be very strong. Studies have found that even when IBS patients take a dummy pill knowingly, they still report wellness improvements. Dr Clare Gerada, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, commented that, as long as placebos don’t cause harm to a patient’s wellbeing, and aren’t expensive, they’re perfectly acceptable to use. ‘Lots of doctors use them and they can help people. If you think about it, a kiss on the cheek when you fall over is a placebo,’ she said. ‘But there are risks. Not all of the placebo treatments that the researchers looked at in this study are inert. If you take too many vitamins, for example, some can cause harm.’ She added that it is never acceptable to fob patients off with an ineffectual treatment, ‘But admitting to your patient that you do not know exactly what is going on, but that a therapy might help is.’

Pet owners are well-known for their devotion to their animal friends, often treating cats and dogs, rabbits and budgies as part of the family. The British in particular are recognised worldwide for their love of animals. Now a survey by the social networking site My Social Petwork has confirmed that UK pet owners are just mad about their animals, cancelling dates and even calling in sick for the sake of their pet. More than 1,100 pet owners took part in what was described as the UK’s “first pet census”. Around half admitted they’d rather cuddle their pet than a close relative when they are feeling down. One in five say they have ditched nights out and other social occasions to be with their pet while a third confessed to spending up to 30 days a caring for their moggies, pooches and other pets. Of those quizzed, 7% said they had cancelled a date because they preferred to spend the time with their pet while 4% have called in sick to work when Fido or Tiddles is ill. My Social Petwork has been dubbed “Facebook for pets” and its survey revealed that one in 5 UK pet owners happily uses social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to share images and updates about their pets with friends. And if you have ever taken your pet along when you’ve gone to a wedding or a christening, you are not alone – apparently 10% of pet owners have done the same thing. The reality is that for many people, their pet is hugely important to their emotional wellbeing – a quarter of those who took part in the survey said they regarded their pet as more like a child than a pet and one in 6 even admitting confiding their problems in their animals. The health, emotional and psychological benefits of pet owning are well-known and it seems in the UK that animal lovers are both giving and receiving an incredible amount of love from their pet.

Some people are just animal people and others aren’t. For those that aren’t it, can be confusing and a little bemusing as animals lovers fuss and moon over their pets or go to the ends of the world to make sure an animal charity is supported. Alternately, animal lovers can find the seemingly callous nature of others cruel and uncaring. The two groups generally don’t clash as animals aren’t something which comes up regularly in most places but when they do, the debate can get fairly fierce. The economy has been bad for a long while now and people are really starting to feel the fiscal bite of the recession. Without as much disposable income available to us, certain ambitions have to be put on hold. People simply cannot afford new cars, new homes or children. Surprisingly children are hugely expensive and people have estimated an expenditure of around £25,000 to feed, clothe and educate a child until the age of 18. Most people simply don’t have that kind of money and they believe, rightly so, that if they can’t afford kids then they shouldn’t be having them. Expecting the rest of the country to carry your progeny is wrong. To fill the void until they afford children, many people are adopting pets instead. This is great news for the adopted animal and cats and dogs do have a lot of the same needs as kids do. They certainly lap up all the attention you give and dogs certainly reflect it back at you in the form of endless and boundless love. The issue is when this is taken too far and you start feeding your dog as you would a baby. The fact is at hat a lot of human food is incredibly bad for animals and feeding it to them could be potentially deadly. Chocolate for example is poisonous to dogs.