DR Paul Carson is the new editor of Irish Doctor. Dr Carson is based in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, where he runs an asthma and allergy clinic for children. His many books include Coping Successfully With Your Child's Asthma; How To Cope With Your Child's Allergies; Coping Successfully With Your Hyperactive Child; and, most recently, Beat Your Allergies. He will celebrate 21 years as a practising doctor this June, and is well known throughout Ireland for his regular contributions to the medical press, newspapers, radio and television.
THE ninth Natural Health and Complementary Medicine Exhibition takes place next weekend, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 2. The exhibitors include reflexologists, rebirthers, polarity therapists and crystal healers. Lecture topics range from panic attacks to Reiki. Admission is £3.50.
THE Irish Cancer Society is launching a men's cancer support this week. Entitled MAC (Men Against Cancer), the group is intended for men with prostate or testicular cancer. The group is calling for a national screening programme for prostate cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death in Irish males. Tel: 01 6681855.
SINCE 1966, every child born in Ireland has had a test within three days of birth which has been analysed for inherited metabolic and genetic disorders at the newborn screening laboratory at the Children's Hospital in Temple Street, Dublin. Since then, 813 babies have been diagnosed shortly after birth with PKU or other metabolic disorders, as well as hypothyroidism. Without the programme they may have died, or spent their lives in a mental institution. Instead, many are leading normal lives. This week the Children's Hospital in Temple Street celebrates 30 years of screening. On Thursday there will be a lecture on PKU by Dr Harvey Levy of the Children's Hospital, Boston, at 6.30 p.m. in St George's Hall, Temple Street Hospital, Dublin. Tel: 01 8720325.
"IMMUNISATION, Is It Right for Your Child?" is the topic to be discussed at a meeting tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in the Regency Airport Hotel, Dublin. Organised by Cuidiu - Irish Childbirth Trust, the meeting will be addressed by Dr Darina O'Flanagan, a specialist in public health medicine, and homeopath Gillian Dunlop. Admission is £2. Tel: 01-8375380.