Daily digest June 9 2015

E-cigarettes face ban in enclosed public places

Using e-cigarettes in enclosed public places could be banned in Wales under radical plans to prevent the ‘renormalisation’ of smoking, the Telegraph reports.

The Welsh government said it wanted to bring the devices in line with existing smoking laws.

Welsh health minister Mark Drakeford said e-cigarettes were a ‘gateway’ to people smoking tobacco.

The proposals form part of a new Public Health Bill, which also aims to make it illegal to sell tobacco to under 18s as well as introduce licensing laws for tattooists.

Read the full story on the Telegraph website

Therapy works better than pills for insomnia

A trip to a therapist could be a more effective solution to insomnia than drugs, Australian researchers have found.

Researchers from the Melbourne Sleep Disorders Centre reviewed 20 studies, involving more than 1,000 people, that looked at solutions to insomnia including herbal supplements.

The research identified that cognitive behavioural therapy – an intervention in which patients talk through the processes that drive their insomnia – was among the most effective treatments and has no side effects.

(£) Read more on the Times website

Hospital bugs spread by wet wipes used to clean wards

Medical wet wipes used to clean hospital wards are helping to spread deadly superbugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, a study has shown.

The Mail Online reports that the majority of UK hospital infection control policies support the use of clinical detergent wipes in the routine cleaning of wards, however scientists at Cardiff University have found that wipes are ‘not up to the job’ of eliminating superbugs and actually spread the bacteria.

Read more on the Mail Online

More than half of UK women have a drink problem

More than half of British women and almost two-thirds of men have a drink problem, a survey shows.

In a poll of nearly 7,000 adults, 55% of females and 63% of men were either alcoholics or at risk of becoming one.

The figures were part of the Global Drug Survey 2015, which gathered information on the lifestyles of more than 102,000 people from around the world.

Read more on the Express website