Screening launched to help prevent deaths in Thames Valley

The scans are being run at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and all those who are eligible within West Berkshire will receive an invitation in the post.
According to the NHS, around 5,000 people, most of them older men, die in England and Wales each year from abdominal aortic aneurysms, which are formed when the main blood vessel in the body weakens and expands.
It added that men are six times more likely to suffer then women, particularly if aged 65-74.
The NHS has launched the AAA screening programme, which is also available at various hospitals and surgeries across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, in line with its 65th birthday, with an aim to prevent half of those deaths each year.
Director of the Thames Valley AAA screening programme, Jeremy Perkins, said: "The screening test is a simple non-invasive ultrasound scan, similar to that offered to women in pregnancy, it only takes around 10 minutes and you receive your result straight away.
"I would urge all men aged 65 and over in the Thames Valley to consider seriously the offer of screening, especially if they are in a high risk group.”