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Home / Critical illness cover / - Bacterial meningitis
Definition
Bacterial meningitis is a condition resulting from bacterial infection. This causes inflammation to the meninges, which is the protective layer around the brain. There are many forms of meningitis. It is only Bacterial meningitis that is covered, all other forms, including Viral meningitis, are excluded.
NEWS
Hormone treatment 'could cause cancer to spread'
01 October 2007 16:39:55
Critical illness
cover is likely to grow in importance as new research suggests a standard treatment for prostate cancer may encourage the disease to spread.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins medical school in the US found that androgen deprivation therapy could encourage cancerous cells to produce a protein that makes them spread throughout the body.
The researchers emphasised their discovery is too preliminary for prostate cancer patients or doctors to stop using the treatment as it is effective at slowing tumour growth.
David Berman, assistant professor of oncology at the school, said the potential problem with treatments that suppress testosterone was identified after the gene coded for the protein was discovered to be active in lab-grown human prostate cancer cells.
However while cells taken from men who had surgery to remove their cancer did not contain the protein, cells from those who had died from the cancer did.
"Patients who eventually die because their disease spreads are almost certain to have received this type of therapy," commented the professor.
The finding could potentially lead to changes in the standard treatment for what can be a deadly disease.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, and critical illnesslife insurance policies online.
Research boosts development of HIV vaccine
28 February 2008 17:33:51
Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has indicated that a new technique could help the development of a preventative or therapeutic vaccine for HIV – which could have an impact upon life insurance premiums.
According to Medical News Today, the study conducted by the Scripps Research Institute included the development of glycodendrons aimed at inhibiting the transport of HIV within the body and setting up an antibody response to the virus.
Professor Chi-Huey Wong, chemistry Professor at Scripps Research, said: "This paper is about a new direction in HIV vaccine design. Results we have so far are very promising."
The breakthrough could revitalise efforts to produce a vaccine for HIV, given that a number of such treatments have failed clinical trials over the years.
According to the Department of Health, the introduction of drug therapies has helped to improve the lives of a significant number of people with HIV.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
Precedent from FP on non-disclosure
12 July 2007 15:01:26
Leading UK life insurance company Friends Provident has made the important move of confirming that critical illness claims with unrelated non-disclosure will be paid in part.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) recently issued a new guide to critical illness definitions, to protect consumers against having their claims rejected due to non-disclosure of important information.
With this new initiative, Friends Provident has agreed that in situations where the undisclosed information was not related to the cause of the claim, it will make an offer related to a proportion of the total claim.
For the claim to be successful, the undisclosed information should not be likely to have caused the insurer to have turned down the application when it was first filed.
Mark Jones, protection and actuarial manager at Friends Provident, commented: "This is one small step to restore consumer confidence in the valuable benefits critical illness cover provides.
"Friends Provident is in the protection business to pay valid claims, to be able to do that we need to rely on the customer to provide us with all the information we need."
He added: "Where we have found the non-disclosure to be a genuine oversight we will now make an offer based on a proportion of the total claim."
Friends Provident paid 483 critical illness claims for a total of just under £28 million last year.
01 October 2007 16:39:55
Critical illness
cover is likely to grow in importance as new research suggests a standard treatment for prostate cancer may encourage the disease to spread.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins medical school in the US found that androgen deprivation therapy could encourage cancerous cells to produce a protein that makes them spread throughout the body.
The researchers emphasised their discovery is too preliminary for prostate cancer patients or doctors to stop using the treatment as it is effective at slowing tumour growth.
David Berman, assistant professor of oncology at the school, said the potential problem with treatments that suppress testosterone was identified after the gene coded for the protein was discovered to be active in lab-grown human prostate cancer cells.
However while cells taken from men who had surgery to remove their cancer did not contain the protein, cells from those who had died from the cancer did.
"Patients who eventually die because their disease spreads are almost certain to have received this type of therapy," commented the professor.
The finding could potentially lead to changes in the standard treatment for what can be a deadly disease.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, and critical illnesslife insurance policies online.
28 February 2008 17:33:51
Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has indicated that a new technique could help the development of a preventative or therapeutic vaccine for HIV – which could have an impact upon life insurance premiums.
According to Medical News Today, the study conducted by the Scripps Research Institute included the development of glycodendrons aimed at inhibiting the transport of HIV within the body and setting up an antibody response to the virus.
Professor Chi-Huey Wong, chemistry Professor at Scripps Research, said: "This paper is about a new direction in HIV vaccine design. Results we have so far are very promising."
The breakthrough could revitalise efforts to produce a vaccine for HIV, given that a number of such treatments have failed clinical trials over the years.
According to the Department of Health, the introduction of drug therapies has helped to improve the lives of a significant number of people with HIV.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
12 July 2007 15:01:26
Leading UK life insurance company Friends Provident has made the important move of confirming that critical illness claims with unrelated non-disclosure will be paid in part.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) recently issued a new guide to critical illness definitions, to protect consumers against having their claims rejected due to non-disclosure of important information.
With this new initiative, Friends Provident has agreed that in situations where the undisclosed information was not related to the cause of the claim, it will make an offer related to a proportion of the total claim.
For the claim to be successful, the undisclosed information should not be likely to have caused the insurer to have turned down the application when it was first filed.
Mark Jones, protection and actuarial manager at Friends Provident, commented: "This is one small step to restore consumer confidence in the valuable benefits critical illness cover provides.
"Friends Provident is in the protection business to pay valid claims, to be able to do that we need to rely on the customer to provide us with all the information we need."
He added: "Where we have found the non-disclosure to be a genuine oversight we will now make an offer based on a proportion of the total claim."
Friends Provident paid 483 critical illness claims for a total of just under £28 million last year.