‘Tis December and therefore open season for being jolly. No? Recent news does not lend itself to yuletide joy. Will the credit crunch crush Christmas? Retailers are pulling out all the stops to offer bargains, especially on food and drink, but the health news this month warns of the dangers of eating and drinking too much. The papers widely reported the revelation (!) that if we get plenty of exercise, sleep and fruit and vegetables the New Year will be off to a flying start.

As this is the final top 20 of 2008, Aurora would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy festive season. We'll be back in 2009.

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Much like the football Premier League, the usual suspects held the top four places in November, with only slight movement. Organ transplant/donation made its first reappearance since April 2008, when it only made 18th place. There were six other re-entries this month for cholesterol-related issues, asthma, superbugs, sexually transmitted diseases, depression/anxiety and arthritis. Lung cancer made its first appearance since the top 20 began. Heart disease was the highest climber while Alzheimer's disease and diabetes fell seven and ten places respectively.

Read on to find out more about November's health headlines:

The publication of an independent report from the Organ Donation Taskforce pumped organ transplant/donation into fifth place. The year-long review looked at the potential impact of an opt-out system for organ donation in the UK. Following discussions and engagement with academics, health professionals, members of the public, organ recipients, families of donors and faith leaders, the Taskforce rejected the option of switching from the current opt-in system of donation, to one of ‘presumed consent'. It did, however, make 14 recommendations to the Government, which could see a 50 per cent increase in organ donation in the UK within five years - resulting in an additional 1,200 transplants a year. The Government's chief medical officer criticised plans to abandon the reform of organ donation laws and it was widely reported that, despite the Taskforce advising against it, Gordon Brown may still push ahead for automatic organ donation if numbers do not improve.

Asthma was back in the news following a study by the Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, which found that children born in the autumn months, just before the cold and flu season, are 30 per cent more likely to go on to develop childhood asthma than those born at other times of the year. The findings, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine led researchers to believe that the risk could be because the children are exposed to common viruses at a young age, which could trigger the disease.

Heart disease leapt seven places to number six due in part to a study by Glasgow University, which found that living in green areas can lengthen your life. The Guardian, Independent and Daily Telegraph all reported on the findings, showing that the difference in life expectancy between rich and poor is less in populations living in the greenest areas compared with those in built-up places. Deaths from circulatory disease, heart disease and stroke were particularly less likely in green areas. Further afield, scientists from the Jichi Medical University in Tochigi, Japan, found that sleeping for less than seven-and-a-half hours a night can raise the risk of heart disease by up to four times. The researchers wrote in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine: "A good sleep of adequate duration is essential because sleep fragmentation and sleep deprivation, commonly seen in contemporary society, are associated with multiple health disorders, including cardiovascular diseases." The researchers identified the problem among those with high blood pressure. "Shorter hours of sleep and rising overnight blood pressure appeared to act together to increase the risk of heart problems", said the researchers. Back home, heart MOTs are planned for the over 40s, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Within five years, those in the prime of life could be screened in pharmacies or even supermarkets to determine whether at low, moderate or high risk of heart disease.

Obesity refuses to diminish from the chart with wide-ranging coverage this month. The World Cancer Research Fund stated that unless obesity is tackled, cancer cases could double in the next 40 years. Good news then that the Government has teamed up with the food industry to launch a major three-year public health campaign in response to Britain's obesity epidemic, called Change4Life. The campaign will include advertising as well as a loyalty scheme, where people will be awarded 'points' for doing activities such as walking their children to school. It was also reported that two economists have suggested that Britons' increasing waistlines can be attributed to people subconsciously trying to ‘keep up with the weight of the Joneses'.

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Aurora strives to apply quantitative, qualitative and emotional understanding of health issues to client communication programmes. Dove-tailing informed PR activity with the media's appetite enables us to assist clients with communicating their vision.

To find out more, contact Neil Crump or Claire Eldridge on +44 (0) 20 7424 7940.

The top 20 chart provides our interpretative snap-shot of health stories in the national press and is based upon a quantitative process. Analysis based on news from the 26 October to 25 November 2008.