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ALZHEIMER’S
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ALZHEIMER’S sufferers and their
families were last night given fresh
hope as scientists hailed a break-
through treatment.
It could allow patients to live longer with-
out the devastating effects of the illness.
Researchers believe beaming magnetic pulses
into patients’ brains potentially allows suffer-
ers of the harrowing disease – for which there is
no cure – vital extra months of independent
living and interaction with their loved ones.
Tests are being carried out to see how the
treatment – which involves projecting a
magnetic fi eld into sufferers’ heads while they
solve problems and puzzles – can halt the
advance of symptoms.
And “promising” early results from trials on
those suffering the early stages of Alzheimer’s
have confi rmed that the full onset of the illness
can be slowed by up to a year with the ground-
breaking method.
The treatment, which is being carried out in
Manchester on Alzheimer’s patients, stimu-
lates parts of the brain responsible for memory
and learning.
One session of the pulse treatment costs £120
with a full course starting at £3,600. Experts say
KLIEKFG8><+
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0
Hugh Ward and Barney brave the cold in Peterlee, County Durham, amid warnings of a big chill until January
Daily Express Monday October 29 2012
2
Turn off street lights to
save power? That’s not
a bad idea says Minister
COUNCILS that have been turn-
ing off street lights to save money
won backing from Communities
Secretary Eric Pickles yesterday.
And that’s despite a report
that warned thousands of miles
of roads and city streets have
been
9p
AXZb?Xkkfe
areas,
according
to
the
investigation.
The survey found that 70 per
cent of the motorway network is
now unlit at night, saving the
Highways Agency some £400,000
last year.
But motoring groups have crit-
icised the move, saying people
are being put at risk.
Paul Watters, head of public
affairs at the AA, said: “We do
know that most accidents hap-
pen in the dark. It’s also comfort-
ing for people, especially if they
arrive back from somewhere in
the night, when they have got a
late train.
“There are also suggestions
that it increases crime. So it may
save money in terms of energy
but then you have to look at the
cost in terms of security, safety
and accidents, it may be more.”
:FDD<EK1G8><()
plunged
into
total
darkness.
Some 98 of 134 councils sur-
veyed said that they had switched
off or dimmed street lights in
urban areas or were planning to.
Researchers also found that
3,080 miles of motorways and
trunk roads in England are now
completely unlit, with a further
47 miles dark between midnight
and 5am.
Last night Mr Pickles said: “I
don’t think it is a terrible idea to
turn off street lights, providing it
is done sensibly and providing it
is done in places that aren’t sub-
ject to high levels of crime.”
All of England’s 27 county
councils have turned off or
dimmed street lamps in their
A woman in a badly-lit area, which raises crime fears
Slash middle-class taxes
Tory MPs tell Cameron
DAVID Cameron was facing
mounting calls from Tory
MPs yesterday to slash taxes
for middle-class families.
The Prime Minister was
urged to exempt anyone
earning up to £50,000 a year
from the 40p tax band, up
from the current £42,500.
Tory MPs Kwasi Kwarteng
and Priti Patel want Mr Cam-
eron to reward the nation’s
“strivers” and reconnect with
Middle England.
The radical tax proposals
come amid rising concern
that the party must inspire
hard-working voters or lose
the next general election.
It also comes as the Gov-
ernment faces a backlash
over cuts to child benefit for
those earning over £50,000,
and Eurosceptic anger at the
cost of EU membership.
At the party conference Mr
Cameron delighted activists
by declaring the Tories were
the party for those “who
strive to make a better life
for themselves”. But in a
9p
DXikpe9ifne
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child benefit from the top 15
per cent of earners.
The Treasury said: “When
the Government is having to
reduce welfare spending, it is
very difficult to justify con-
tinuing to pay child benefit
to the wealthiest 15 per cent.
“The unprecedented scale
of the deficit has meant that
the Government has had to
make tough choices to
reduce public spending.
“But those with the broad-
est shoulders should carry
the greatest burden.
“Eighty-five per cent of all
families with children are un-
affected and will continue to
receive child benefit in full.”
HMRC is preparing to send
letters to a million taxpayers
it thinks will be affected by
the decision to cut benefits
for families where one parent
earns over £50,000.
Families where a parent
earns over £60,000 will lose
the money completely.
FG@E@FE1G8><()
pamphlet published by the
Tory Free Enterprise Group
today, Mr Kwarteng and Ms
Patel will press Mr Cameron
to keep to his word.
Called Motivating The
Middle, the paper says slash-
ing tax rates is the way to
appeal to “strivers”.
Mr Kwarteng said middle-
class voters were “becoming
the centre of political atten-
tion for the Tory Party – they
are the key to growth and
victory at the election”.
The 40p threshold will be
lowered to £41,450 next year,
sucking in even more voters.
Mr Kwarteng said many
“commuters, young parents,
policemen and teachers”
were in this bracket.
He said: “In 2011, 3.7 mil-
lion taxpayers paid the high-
er rate of tax. By 2014, five
million will. We should aim
for a target of taking every-
one earning less than £50,000
Help strivers, says Priti Patel
out of paying the higher rate.
This will encourage hard
work and enterprise.”
Tory MP Mark Field has
warned of a backlash against
child benefit cuts. He said he
doubted if the move would
save £2.5billion a year.
But a new poll, commis-
sioned by the Conservative
Party, claims that 82 per cent
of people support removing
Baby jabs for girls, 13
Boost for economy
9p
DXikpe9ifne
GIRLS as young as 13 have
received birth control
injections at school without
their parents’ knowledge, it
emerged last night.
In the past two years,
school nurses have given
contraceptive implants or
jabs to girls aged 13 to 16
more than 900 times.
The figures show girls
aged 13 have had birth
control on over 20 occasions.
Family health campaigners
9p
JXiX_N\jZfkk
THERE are grounds for
optimism over the economy,
the deputy governor of the
Bank of England said
yesterday.
The economy has been
“bumping along the bottom”
for two years but there are
signs of progress in dealing
with the problems of the
eurozone and banking
system, Charlie Bean said.
With expectations of lower
inflation “household
incomes won’t be squeezed
oppose implants, which last
for three years, saying they
encourage promiscuity.
But the Government
insists children under 16 are
legally allowed confidential
contraceptive services.
Underage pregnancy rates
are at their lowest since 1969
– but they are still twice as
high as France and five times
higher than the Netherlands.
as much,” said Mr Bean. In
spite of rising utility bills
and a likely spike in food
prices, the deputy governor
said: “We do think there is
reason for some optimism
going forward.”
The UK has emerged from
double-dip recession, with
the economy growing by one
per cent in the third quarter
:@KP1G8><++
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This newspaper adheres to the system of self-regulation set out in the Editor’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the
editorial content of the Daily Express, or our website, and you believe the Editor’s Code has been breached, please contact our
Editorial Code Committee promptly, including a postal address for correspondence. By email: code.committee@express.co.uk;
by post: Editorial Code Committee, Express Newspapers, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN.
***slip
Daily Express Monday October 29 2012
3
?Xccfn\\eJki`Zkcp
glkjX_\ofe
k_\O=XZkfi
Olympics
champ Louis
in a haunting
tango with
dance partner
Flavia Cacace
on Strictly’s
winning
Halloween
special
9p
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STRICTLY Come Dancing’s Halloween special
put the frighteners on The X Factorx as it
screeched ahead in the viewing fi gures.
An average 9.6 million tuned in to the BBC1
show – peaking at 10.8 million – as gymnast
Louis Smith and fellow contestants danced in
spooky outfi ts to ghostly-themed songs.
Meanwhile, the ITV1 singing show drew
8.4 million – 200,000 down on the previous week
– as viewers continued to drift away.
Despite being ahead, Strictly’s audience was
down from last year when it averaged 10.2 mil-
lion, and 2010 when it drew 10.4 million.
But X Factor’s audience fi gures, which
include viewers on the catch-up +1 channel,
have also slipped from last year when the equiv-
alent show landed an audience of 9.6 million.
And two years ago – when show boss Simon
Cowell last featured – the X Factor audience at
this stage of the contest was 12.2 million.
Last night on Strictly, judges put the nail in
the coffi n for Sid Owen, who became the third
celebrity to leave. The popular ex-EastEnders
star, 40, was the surprise exit from the show
after losing a dance-off with Colin Salmon.
;`]ÔZlck
Sid was left at the bottom of the leader board
after Saturday’s show, before the judges’ scores
were combined with the viewers’ phone votes
to decide the two couples to face the boot.
He had a diffi cult week, after dance partner
Ola Jordan had to return home to Poland where
her mother was recovering from a heart attack.
A stand-in did rehearsals with him before
Ola’s mother insisted she return for the show.
The pair danced the cha-cha to the Ghost-
busters theme song, while Salmon and Kristina
Rihanoff performed the salsa to Stevie Wonder’s
Superstition. Three of the four judges voted to
save Salmon.
Refl ecting on his exit, Sid said: “I’ve loved
every minute, thanks to Ola. She is a hard task-
master but she has been great and we have had
so much fun. Now I can even feel comfortable
going out and maybe having a little dance.”
Sid in Ghostbusters cha-cha-cha with Ola
Ola blamed herself for their exit, saying: “I feel
really guilty – I just didn’t want us to go out this
week because I’ve been away and it’s not Sid’s
fault I wasn’t here.”
But Sid insisted: “I told Ola, ‘Don’t worry
about me’. It’s more important that family
comes fi rst.”
However, he got little sympathy from judge
Craig Revel Horwood, who described his per-
formance as a “Halloween nightmare”. He said
Colin and Kristina were “dynamic and simply
better dancers”.
But stealing the show was Olympic silver
medal winner Louis, 23, who scooped 35 points
– the highest score of the series so far – for his
spooky tango with partner Flavia Cacace.
Picture: ITV/RUCKAS
‘Fag-ash breath’
jibe angers Tulisa
9p
<c`jXIfZ_\
X FACTOR judges Gary Barlow and
Tulisa Contostavlos staged “peace
talks” yesterday after he accused the
N-Dubz star of having “fag-ash
breath” in front of millions of shocked
TV viewers.
Contostavlos looked shocked after
head judge Barlow made the
accusation during Saturday night’s
ITV show and there were audible
gasps from the audience too.
The Take That singer made the
comments after she had accused him
of allowing contestant Chris Maloney
to “destroy” a string of Eighties pop
hits. He told Contostavlos: “I don’t
know what’s offended me more – what
you said or the fag-ash breath.”
Contostavlos hit back by saying:
“You’d better lay off that red wine
Gary, I can smell it from here.”
However, Barlow later used his
appearance on The Xtra Factor to
apologise.
He said: “Can I apologise to Tulisa; I
mean it. You have the freedom to be
as personal as you like to me for the
rest of the series. Insult me.”
Contostavlos then told the
X Factor spin-off show that Barlow
had once said he “loved” the smell
of cigarettes because it reminded
him of when he used to smoke.
Jade Ellis, 25, was last night voted
off the show after a sing-off with boy
band Union J.
The moment Take That star Gary Barlow made the shocking remark to fellow judge Contostavlos live on air
***slip
4 Daily Express Monday October 29 2012
How flu jab can slash risk
of heart disease by a half
Mystery
of statins
failure
is solved
SCIENTISTS have
identifi ed a substance
in the body that
prevents statins from
working in many
people, paving the
way for improved
treatment for
lowering cholesterol.
Statins, the drug
taken by millions to
reduce levels of bad
cholesterol and cut
the risk of heart
attack and stroke, do
not work in 40 per
cent of people.
Doctors have found
that this is because of
a compound secreted
by fat tissue in the
body, called resistin.
This causes high
levels of low-density
lipoprotein, the “bad”
form of cholesterol
linked to heart
disease, as well as
counteracting the
effects of statins.
The discovery of
resistin’s role could
lead to drugs that
target the protein,
claim researchers.
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THE annual fl u jab can dramatically
slash the chances of developing heart
disease, research has shown.
Not only can the vaccination protect
against the potentially lethal virus,
scientists now say it could be the key
to beating Britain’s biggest killer too.
They have found that the annual
injection can also reduce the risk of
heart attack or stroke by as much as
50 per cent – and cardiac deaths by 40
per cent.
There are almost three million
Britons blighted by ill health as they
struggle to cope with the debilitating
effects of heart disease.
Collectively, heart and circulatory
diseases cause more than one in three
of all deaths in the UK, accounting for
more than 191,000 deaths each year at
an estimated cost of £30billion to the
economy.
Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at
the British Heart Foundation, said:
“It’s still unclear exactly why the
fl u jab may hold extra heart health
benefi ts. What is crystal clear is that
the vaccine is hugely important to
many people, including those with
heart disease.
I\[lZk`fe
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The annual fl u jab could help to fi ght Britain’s biggest killer
“Flu can make people with chronic
heart disease very ill so that group of
patients should always take advan-
tage of their eligibility for an annual fl u
jab. It’s also a good idea to avoid close
contact with friends or relatives who
already have the virus.
“If you are a heart patient and do
come down with the fl u badly, it’s very
important you speak to your doctor
straight away.”
Dr Jacob Udell, a cardiologist at
Women’s College Hospital and the
University of Toronto, and his team
looked at published clinical trials on
this subject, dating back to the 1960s.
Their fi ndings have been presented to
the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular
Congress. Dr Udell said: “For those
who had the fl u shot there was a pretty
strong risk reduction.”
The fl u vaccine provided around a
A team led by Dr
Shirya Rashid, from
McMaster University
at Hamilton, Canada,
found resistin raises
the production of
LDL in human liver
cells and reduced the
liver’s ability to clear
out “bad” cholesterol.
The protein
accelerated the
accumulation of LDL
in arteries, leading to
a narrowing of blood
vessels increasing the
risk of heart disease.
Dr Rashid said:
“The bigger
implication of our
results is that high
blood resistin levels
may be the cause of
the inability of statins
to lower patients’
LDL cholesterol.”
If a way could be
developed to stop
people from being
resistant to statins,
the improvement in
treatment rates
would be marked.
Statins are taken
by at least eight
million people in
Britain every day and,
at 40p a day, are an
effective way of
reducing cholesterol.
The research was
presented yesterday
at the Canadian
Cardiovascular
Congress in Toronto.
offi cer Professor Dame Sally Davies
announced that all British children
are to be given the annual fl u vaccina-
tion in a move that could save thou-
sands of lives.
The scheme, which is expected to be
rolled out in 2014, will see all children
aged two to 17 given the vaccine
through a nasal spray.
Even if just 30 per cent take up the
offer, experts say there will be 11,000
fewer hospital admissions and 2,000
fewer deaths each year.
Currently, only the over-65s, preg-
nant women and people with a serious
medical condition, including children,
are eligible for a free annual seasonal
fl u jab.
Other people can pay for a vaccine
injection, often available at a phar-
macy or even at supermarkets.
The latest fi ndings support the fi nd-
ings of a study by the University of
Lincoln in 2010 which concluded peo-
ple who had the fl u jab were 19 per
cent less likely to have a heart attack
in the 12 months following the vacci-
nation than those who didn’t have a
shot.
Niroshan Siriwardena, a professor of
primary health care, who led the
research, said: “Flu vaccination could
be associated with a reduction in the
risk of heart attack. But the vaccine,
in itself, does not create some sort of
immunity. But not getting the fl u offers
protection because fl u may trigger a
heart attack.”
50 per cent reduction in the risk of a
major cardiac event such as heart
attack, stroke, or cardiac death, com-
pared with placebo after one year of
follow-up.
A similar trend was seen for the fl u
vaccine reducing death from any cause
– approximately 40 per cent.
Dr Udell said the research could also
potentially boost use of the vaccine,
which he believes is still woefully low.
He said: “The use of the vaccine is
still much too low, less than 50 per
cent of the general population; it’s
even poorly used among health care
workers. Imagine if this vaccine could
also be a proven way to prevent heart
disease.”
Earlier this year, the chief medical
Magnetic treatment delays start of dementia
=IFDG8><FE<
that if trials go well it could be
widely available privately in
the UK in several years.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is
so excited by the possibility of
extending sufferer’s lives it has
given £12,000 towards trials.
Professor Karl Herholz, a
clinical neuroscientist at the
University of Manchester who
is leading the research, said:
“Medical interventions using
drugs tend to have side-effects
which are a problem in the
early stages when people still
function relatively well. Even
something that can be effec-
the rate of mental decline but
can have side-effects including
severe headaches, nausea and
fatigue. This new treatment is
known as NeuroAD and was
developed by Israeli company
Neuronix Medical.
Researchers use a little-
known technique called trans-
cranial electromagnetic stimu-
lation, or TMS, to increase the
activity of specifi c areas of the
brain. Patients are given a
magnetic pulse while they
undertake a series of brain
teasers in hour-long sessions
across a six-day week. The
British scientists are now care-
fully studying whether the
treatment prompts any physi-
cal changes in the brain by
examining detailed scans of
patients.
The Daily Express last week
revealed that tens of thou-
sands of elderly sufferers are
being subdued by potentially
lethal antipsychotic drugs.
The dishing out of the dan-
gerous pills – known as “chem-
ical cosh” drugs used to sedate
dementia patients – may be
almost 50 per cent greater
than offi cial estimates.
Latest fi gures show at least
1,800 dementia sufferers die
each year from being forced to
take the drugs.
Daily
Express
article on
October 19
which
highlighted
‘chemical
cosh’ drugs
used on
dementia
patients
tive for three months or half a
year would make a substantial
difference.”
Some 800,000 people in the
UK have dementia – including
more than half with Alzheim-
er’s – at a cost to the economy
of £25billion a year. The toll of
sufferers is set to rise to one
million by 2022. Experts think
the condition is caused by a
build-up of tangles inside the
cells of the brain. Existing
treatments attempt to slow
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DE2910
Dr Chris Steele MBE
Daily Express Monday October 29 2012
5
Picture: IAIN FERGUSON/SPLASH NEWS
Savile’s Highland hideaway cottage in Glencoe was daubed early yesterday by vandals. Inset, the shamed star
Paedophile Gary
Glitter quizzed in
Savile sex probe
Gary Glitter back at his London home last night after being quizzed by police
eral Infirmary. Last night, as the net
started to close in on others alleg-
edly implicated in the scandal, it
emerged children’s campaigner
Esther Rantzen has passed to the
police emails containing allegations
of sex abuse by three “high-profile”
BBC employees.
The messages were sent to Child-
Line founder Ms Rantzen, 72, by
people who saw her appearance ear-
lier this month on the explosive ITV
documentary that first exposed
Savile as a predatory paedophile.
The allegations were “general” –
not made by victims but by those
with knowledge of the incidents.
The former That’s Life! host said
BBC staff had witnessed Savile’s
promiscuity and she had heard a
“rumour” about his interest in young
girls when she was a 21-year-old
researcher. But she said she had
never met anyone who witnessed or
experienced it. Her admission comes
POP paedophile Gary Glitter was
quizzed yesterday by detectives
examining sexual offences as part of
the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal.
The former glam rocker, whose
real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested
at his London home at 7.15am.
Glitter, 68, who has already served
a three-year jail sentence in Vietnam
for child sex offences, is the first
celebrity to be held by those work-
ing on Operation Yewtree.
Scotland Yard has identified more
than 300 potential victims of rape,
sexual abuse and molestation con-
nected to Savile, and is pursuing
more than 400 lines of inquiry.
Glitter’s questioning is expected
to be followed by other arrests in the
coming days as household names
are asked about their involvement
with underage boys and girls.
The singer, who fled to the Far
East to avoid publicity surrounding
his private life, had a string of hits in
9p
>`c\jJ_\c[i`Zb
“Jimmy the beast” and “worst beast”
were scrawled in black paint on
windows and walls of the £300,000
remote hideaway in Glencoe.
The perverted Top Of The Pops
presenter, who was honorary chief-
tain of Lochaber Highland Games
for 34 years, bought the house in
1998 and entertained guests, includ-
ing Prince Charles.
He is thought to have used the
home to abuse children.
after the Daily Express exposed the
culture of depravity at the BBC in
an interview with former EastEnd-
ers actor Ben Fellowes, who labelled
the entertainment industry a “cess-
pit of predators and paedophiles”.
The shocking revelations about
Savile’s perverted past snowballed
after the BBC pulled a Newsnight
investigation into his private life,
which has since sparked accusations
of a cover-up.
Over the weekend, BBC Trust
chairman Lord Patten broke his
silence on the situation to say: “Can
it really be the case that no one knew
what he was doing? Did some turn a
blind eye to criminality?”
Today former Court of Appeal
judge Dame Janet Smith starts her
forensic review of the culture and
practices of the BBC during Savile’s
time at the corporation. A separate
review will examine sexual harass-
ment policies at the broadcaster.
the 1970s and was one of Britain’s
biggest rock stars, selling 18 million
records. He was a friend of Savile.
Karin Ward, a former pupil at
Duncroft Approved School for Girls
in Surrey, claims she saw Glitter
having sex with a schoolgirl in
Savile’s dressing room at BBC Tele-
vision Centre during the 70s.
Glitter, who denies the allegations,
was released from Charing Cross
police station at 5pm yesterday and
was bailed until mid-December.
Detectives probing Savile’s long
campaign of sexual abuse say the
DJ was one of Britain’s most prolific
and dangerous sexual predators.
Loner Savile died exactly a year
ago today in his Leeds flat, aged 84.
Yesterday the disgraced former
Jim’ll Fix It host’s remote Highland
cottage was targeted by vandals,
who daubed it with abusive slogans.
JZXe[Xc
The cottage, called Alt-na-reigh,
was due to be converted into a res-
pite centre for the disabled. That
plan has now been shelved.
Savile was such a prolific sex
offender that his reign of terror is
believed to have involved his work
at the high-security psychiatric hos-
pital Broadmoor, Stoke Mandeville
in Buckinghamshire and Leeds Gen-
Grope ordeal in lift
BBC was warned
BBC bosses came under more pressure last night as it
emerged ex-director general Mark Thompson’s office
was told twice about Jimmy Savile and child abuse.
In May and September, Mr Thompson’s aides were
alerted to allegations over the DJ’s actions on BBC
premises – though he denies knowledge of it.
The startling revelation raises further serious
questions about what the 55-year-old knew about the
axed Newsnight investigation.
A poll showed 48 per cent believe Mr Thompson,
who becomes chief executive of The New York Times
on November 12, has not been honest. He had overall
responsibility for news until he quit last month.
In an interview last week he said he had “formed
the impression” last year that Newsnight was probing
widespread sexual abuse by Savile. But earlier he had
said he “never heard any allegations” while he was
director general.
It is claimed Mr Thompson first heard about the
Newsnight exposé at a Christmas party but later BBC
head of news Helen Boaden told him the investigation
was dropped for journalistic reasons.
FORMER BBC sports reporter Sally Jones last night
claimed she had been groped by Jimmy Savile.
The allegation adds to the growing number of
people who claim the presenter targeted them. Ms
Jones was a journalist in her early 30s when she
found herself in a lift with Savile who, at the time, was
one of the biggest names in showbusiness.
She said: “We had met previously in Leeds while I
was covering cricket and when I helped out on one of
his charity walks. But he was not a close friend. I
exchanged uneasy banter with him out of politeness,
only to find him snuggling up. He said: ‘It’s our Sal.
How about a kiss for Uncle Jimmy?’
“I proffered my cheek in gingerly fashion, only for
him to grab my chin and thrust his tongue into my
mouth. He ran one hand up from my waist and
fumbled for my breast. Anger took over. I said: ‘Take
your hands off me and don’t you ever touch me
again.’” Ms Jones, a successful broadcaster, said she
kept quiet about the incident for the sake of her
career but it had left her mentally scarred.
‘Anger took over’ said Sally Jones
Mark Thompson denies knowing
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