A round-up of today's other health stories in brief
Five-year-olds phoning Childline:Children as young as five in Britain contacted Childline about mental health problems last year, and nearly four out of five calls about suicide were from girls.
One in six of some 6,000 calls from youngsters to the helpline about mental health problems came from girls who talked about suicide.
There were 256 calls about suicide from boys. But despite the lower figure, separate research has shown that suicide rates among 15- to 21-year-olds were around three times higher for males than females, the charity said.
Mental health concerns generally ranged from depression to eating disorders, family troubles, bullying, living with someone who has a mental illness, and physical and sexual abuse.
Stress and worry linked to IBS:Stressed people and those who worry about getting ill are more likely to develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), researchers have said.
Driven individuals are also more prone to the condition, which can cause diarrhoea and stomach cramps, a study found.
The authors suggested that a form of counselling called cognitive behavioural therapy could be an effective treatment.
The research involved 620 people who had gastroenteritis caused by a bacterial infection.
None had had IBS before nor any other serious bowel disorder.
The participants filled out detailed questionnaires on their mood, stress levels, whether they thought they were a perfectionist and their beliefs about illness.
They were monitored three and six months later to see whether they had developed the typical symptoms of IBS, which include diarrhoea and/or constipation, abdominal pain and bloating.
In all, 49 people were found to have IBS at both points, with women more than twice as likely to suffer as men.
Optometry centre opens:Ireland's first dedicated clinical optometry education facility has officially opened at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Kevin Street, writes Hélène Hofman.
The National Optometry Centre (NOC) will be used primarily to train optometry students at DIT, but will also be available for research and for further training of qualified optometrists.
The centre, which was funded by DIT and the Department of Education and Science, features 15 eye examination rooms and the latest imaging technology. DIT is the only third-level institution in the Republic which provides training in optometry.
"The facility has been purpose-built and the equipment is state of the art," said NOC manager Dr Mary Cregg.
The clinics are open to the public and patients can be referred by other optometrists. The NOC offers both basic and specialist optometric services, which includes fitting standard and non-standard contact lenses and spectacles.
Owners to blame for dog bite injuries:Children should not be left alone with dogs, a British paediatrician has warned.
Instead of always blaming dogs for their behaviour, owners should be made more accountable, she said.
Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ),paediatrician Rachel Besser called for "mandatory classes for expectant dog owners to teach them about the responsibilities of dog ownership".
Ms Besser said data from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) showed that 70,000 people attended A&E in the UK in 2002 for dog bite injuries.
Many such attacks were on children and took place in the family home, she added.
Ban on junk food adverts:Junk food TV adverts aimed at school-age children will be banned in Britain from next year, the UK's media regulator has said.
Watchdog Ofcom is imposing the new rules as it tries to combat the rise in obesity in Britain's children and wean them away from fatty foods and sugar-laden fizzy drinks.
According to the Health Survey for Englandby the Department of Health, 32 per cent of boys and 31 per cent of girls aged two-15 are overweight or obese, and the situation is expected to get worse.
Ofcom has extended its ban on adverts for food and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to those aimed at teenagers as old as 15 years of age.