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Home / Critical illness cover / - Motor Neurone Disease
Definition
Confirmation by a Consultant Neurologist of a definite diagnosis of Motor Neurone disease.
What does this mean?
Motor Neurone disease causes a rapid deterioration of the motor neurones. These are the nerve cells in the brain, brain stem and spinal cord, which are responsible for the movement of the body. The disease advances quite quickly and leads to severe disability and death usually within three to four years. Unfortunately, there is no treatment that can alter the outcome of this serious condition.
NEWS
University students contract TB
11 July 2008 17:02:51
A university is at the centre of a tuberculosis scare after a former student tested positive for the infection.
Another three students at Manchester Metropolitan University have tested positive and it is believed a member of staff may be infected.
This would have an impact on all the affected student's life insurance policies.
Talking about the risk of infection Dr Erika Duffell, a consultant with the Health Protection Agency (HPA), said: "As a general rule, it is not easy to contract TB as it does not spread easily from person-to-person."
She continued: "To be at risk, one must usually spend hours in close contact with someone who has active disease, is infectious and has a cough."
Experts are currently trying to contact about 150 people they believe may have been in contact with the ex-student.
Gareth Holliman, a spokesman for the university, said that lists of students and staff who may have been in close contact with the victim were being compiled.
TB is a bacterial infection that most often affects the lungs and there are approximately 8,000 recorded cases in England and Wales every year.
UK life insurance policies will take into account if a patient has suffered from TB.
Obesity may affect male fertility
09 July 2008 18:31:40
Obesity may affect male fertility
Obese men can encounter a number of health issues that could affect life insurance policies and scientists have suggested it could have a negative impact on sperm quality.
A research project by the University of Aberdeen examined the sperm of 2,000 men where the couples were have difficulties conceiving.
There was a high proportion of abnormal sperm in the heaviest men, the BBC reported.
Dr Ghiyath Shayeb, head of the research team, said: "Our findings were quite independent of any other factors and seem to suggest that men who are trying for a baby with their partners, should first try to achieve an ideal body weight."
Dr Shayeb said that this was one of many reasons for people to ensure that their Body Mass Index was within the recommended guidelines of between 20 and 25.
The findings also suggest that type 2 diabetes, often found in obese people, could have a strong negative effect on fertility.
UK life insurance policies may require patients to disclose if they are obese.
Drinking and smoking speeds onset of Alzheimer's
18 April 2008 12:21:05
People who drink and smoke heavily develop Alzheimer's disease years earlier than those that do not, new research claims.
According to the Alzheimer's Society, there are around 417,000 people suffering from the disease - which may affect their life insurance policies - in the UK.
For the study, researchers gathered information from family members on drinking and smoking history for 938 people aged 60 and above who were diagnosed with possible or probable Alzheimer's disease.
They also determined whether the participants had the Epsilon 4 gene variant of the APOE gene, which increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The combination of heavy drinking and heavy smoking was found to reduce the age of onset of Alzheimer's disease by six to seven years.
"These results are significant because it's possible that if we can reduce or eliminate heavy smoking and drinking, we could substantially delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease for people and reduce the number of people who have Alzheimer's at any point in time," said study author Ranjan Duara, from the Wien Centre for Alzheimer's Disease in Florida.
It has been predicted that a delay in the onset of the disease by five years would lead to a nearly 50 per cent reduction in the total number of Alzheimer's cases," he added.
The study was supported by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs.
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
11 July 2008 17:02:51
A university is at the centre of a tuberculosis scare after a former student tested positive for the infection.
Another three students at Manchester Metropolitan University have tested positive and it is believed a member of staff may be infected.
This would have an impact on all the affected student's life insurance policies.
Talking about the risk of infection Dr Erika Duffell, a consultant with the Health Protection Agency (HPA), said: "As a general rule, it is not easy to contract TB as it does not spread easily from person-to-person."
She continued: "To be at risk, one must usually spend hours in close contact with someone who has active disease, is infectious and has a cough."
Experts are currently trying to contact about 150 people they believe may have been in contact with the ex-student.
Gareth Holliman, a spokesman for the university, said that lists of students and staff who may have been in close contact with the victim were being compiled.
TB is a bacterial infection that most often affects the lungs and there are approximately 8,000 recorded cases in England and Wales every year.
UK life insurance policies will take into account if a patient has suffered from TB.
09 July 2008 18:31:40
Obesity may affect male fertility
Obese men can encounter a number of health issues that could affect life insurance policies and scientists have suggested it could have a negative impact on sperm quality.
A research project by the University of Aberdeen examined the sperm of 2,000 men where the couples were have difficulties conceiving.
There was a high proportion of abnormal sperm in the heaviest men, the BBC reported.
Dr Ghiyath Shayeb, head of the research team, said: "Our findings were quite independent of any other factors and seem to suggest that men who are trying for a baby with their partners, should first try to achieve an ideal body weight."
Dr Shayeb said that this was one of many reasons for people to ensure that their Body Mass Index was within the recommended guidelines of between 20 and 25.
The findings also suggest that type 2 diabetes, often found in obese people, could have a strong negative effect on fertility.
UK life insurance policies may require patients to disclose if they are obese.
18 April 2008 12:21:05
People who drink and smoke heavily develop Alzheimer's disease years earlier than those that do not, new research claims.
According to the Alzheimer's Society, there are around 417,000 people suffering from the disease - which may affect their life insurance policies - in the UK.
For the study, researchers gathered information from family members on drinking and smoking history for 938 people aged 60 and above who were diagnosed with possible or probable Alzheimer's disease.
They also determined whether the participants had the Epsilon 4 gene variant of the APOE gene, which increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The combination of heavy drinking and heavy smoking was found to reduce the age of onset of Alzheimer's disease by six to seven years.
"These results are significant because it's possible that if we can reduce or eliminate heavy smoking and drinking, we could substantially delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease for people and reduce the number of people who have Alzheimer's at any point in time," said study author Ranjan Duara, from the Wien Centre for Alzheimer's Disease in Florida.
It has been predicted that a delay in the onset of the disease by five years would lead to a nearly 50 per cent reduction in the total number of Alzheimer's cases," he added.
The study was supported by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs.
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