New weight loss surgery down the throat

The Daily Mirror, Monday 18 April

Article

A new weight loss surgery offers hope to obese people. This new procedure uses a flexible tube which goes down your throat. This tube folds the stomach so that the capacity decreases. This new surgery guarantees no more cutting open patients’ stomachs plus no scars!

The procedure won’t cause as many infections and pain as people who get a surgery at NHS. Anselm Agwunobi, of the private Alexandra Hospital in Manchester says that this ‘widens options to people who have struggled to control their weight through diet and exercise, and those who don’t meet the NHS requirements.’ A lot of people have signed up for the surgery so the hospital hopes to carry out the first procedure within a few weeks.

I think it’s interesting to see how many different surgeries are available for obese people. Of course everyone can try diets and/or sports, but some people just don’t manage to lose any weight. All these surgeries can finally give a solution to these people. This new procedure sounds best I think. You don’t get any scars and the doctors even say you can have an operation on Friday, go home the same day and be able to work again on Monday. This cuts down the recovery time which might sounds interesting to a few people. I’m curious which procedure will pop up next!

BBC editor giving unwanted attention to a colleague

The Daily Telegraph, Friday 15 April

Article

BBC editor Jonathan Steer, who suffers from a bipolar disorder, is fired because he had paid unwanted attention to a male colleague called ‘Andrew’. Mr. Steer had sent Andrew messages through Facebook under pseudonyms such as ‘Lionheart’, trying to discuss their ‘sexual chemistry’. But because of the disorder Mr. Steer suffers from, he couldn’t remember sending those messages. Mr. Steer was confronted with the messages, but he claims he had never read them before. Andrew says he is shocked by the natures of the harassment. Jonathan Steer claims that having this bipolar disorder is a ‘very dark experience’, which even caused him losing his job.

I’ve never heard from this disease before, but I can imagine this is a very difficult disorder. I guess it’s very confronting to read what you have written before, without knowing that you did. It’s also difficult for judges to check whether he really cannot recall the things he did. I understand Andrew’s point of view that this can be very intimidating and I understand that he wanted somebody to know what was happening. These messages are indeed unwanted, so it’s understandable that Andrew is afraid that he might turn up at his home. It’s a difficult case, but it’s clear enough that Mr. Steer should leave Andrew alone.