DANGERS OF WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY:Weight-loss surgery such as a gastric bypass can lead to memory loss and confusion, US researchers warned yesterday.
The operation can lead to vitamin deficiency which affects the brain and nervous system, according to a report in the journal Neurology, from the American Academy of Neurology.
The syndrome, called Wernicke encephalopathy, is caused by a lack of vitamin B1 and can also cause problems with vision, such as rapid eye movements.
A study found that patients who vomited a lot after surgery were the worst affected.
The syndrome can develop when patients stop taking their vitamin supplements or when frequent vomiting prevents the vitamins from being absorbed, the researchers said.
The syndrome usually struck between one and three months after the operation, although one case occurred 18 months afterwards.
INQUIRY INTO UK DEATHS:Britain's health secretary Patricia Hewitt yesterday ordered an independent inquiry into the deaths of six people with learning disabilities after a charity said they had died because of "institutional discrimination".
The inquiry would be set up without delay and Ms Hewitt said she had asked to meet the families of the deceased patients.
She called the inquiry in response to a hard-hitting report from charity Mencap detailing the deaths.
Mencap said the patients had died after medics failed to diagnose their conditions in time for effective treatment.
RT HON DAVID BLUNKETT MP:An article on February 27th last, concerning DNA tests, said in error that David Blunkett had demanded a DNA test on Lorcan Quinn in March 2005. It also inferred that he had claimed parentage of Lorcan Quinn. The Irish Times accepts that this statement and inference were in error which is regretted.
q CBT SEMINAR: The Lucena Foundation in association with UCD is holding a one-day seminar on using a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approach to working with children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.
The seminar, CBT for anxiety disorders, will be delivered by Prof Robert Friedberg, associate professor at the department of psychiatry at Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Centre, Penn State College of Medicine in the US.
It takes place on Wednesday, April 4th at the conference centre, St John of God, Stillorgan, Dublin, fee €150.
For further information, contact Marie McCourt, tel: 01-4923596/4999349, or e-mail: marie.mccourt@sjog.ie
RAISING MONEY FOR MEN'S CANCER:Vivas Health chief executive Oliver Tattan will hike to Mount Everest base camp 5,500m above sea level to raise money for the Marie Keating Foundation Give Men's Cancer the Boot campaign.
The campaign will include radio advertising to raise awareness of the cancers that affect men, the distribution of leaflets explaining the two male specific cancers, prostate and testicular, as well as a fundraising drive.
For a free information pack, call the Marie Keating Foundation tel: 01-6283726 or download fact sheets on prostate and testicular cancer on mariekeating.com
EATING DISORDER DILEMMA:Teaching teenagers about eating disorders can make them more knowledgeable about the problem, but it may also have some inadvertent effects, a new study suggests.
Yale University researchers found that when they presented female high school students with videos on eating disorders, it met the intended goal of boosting their knowledge about anorexia and bulimia.
However, the team saw that the students didn't necessarily find the results of eating disorders unappealing.
Teens who watched a video featuring a woman recovering from an eating disorder became more likely to view girls with eating disorders as "very pretty", and some thought it would be "nice to look like" the woman in the video.
The findings suggest that more research should go into the unintended effects of eating disorder education before such programmes are widely used, the researchers conclude in their article in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.