Other health stories in brief
RISING SYPHILIS RATES:Syphilis has risen sharply among gay and bisexual men in the United States this decade, driving up the country's rate for the disease and placing men at higher risk of Aids, federal health officials have said.
Since dropping to the lowest level on record in 2000, the US rate of syphilis, a sexually transmitted bacterial disease, has risen steadily, said officials from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Gay and bisexual men accounted for 7 per cent of syphilis cases in 2000 but more than 60 per cent in 2005, CDC experts estimated.
CDC epidemiologist Dr James Heffelfinger said syphilis, like many other sexually transmitted diseases, raises the likelihood of infection by or transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes Aids. Syphilis raises these risks by an estimated two to five times, he said.
CLINICAL TRIAL WEBSITE:The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it is improving access online to data on clinical trials in the wake of high-profile cases of drugs being tested with possibly harmful side effects.
A new website aims to help researchers, doctors and patients obtain reliable information on high-quality clinical trials, it said in a statement.
Currently a "significant proportion" of trial research is never published, meaning doctors can lack information about treatment options, according to the United Nations agency.
Initially, data from 50,000 clinical trials provided by three registers - in Britain, Australia/New Zealand and the United States - have been put on the WHO site, which is www.who.int/trialsearch.
Registers submitting data must ensure they meet a minimum quality standard and that all trials are registered before any participants are recruited. Data will not be accepted directly from drug companies.
DIABETES AFFECTS SPERM:Diabetes causes genetic damage to a man's sperm that may affect his fertility, scientists have said.
Researchers found unusually high levels of broken DNA in sperm samples from diabetic men. It is the first clear evidence that diabetes damages DNA in sperm.
Previous studies have suggested that defective sperm DNA can lead to male infertility, pregnancy failure and miscarriages.
The scientists from Queen's University in Belfast compared sperm from 27 type 1 diabetic and 29 non-diabetic men in their 30s.
When the researchers looked at the DNA in sperm nuclei, they found striking differences. More than half the DNA was fragmented in the sperm from diabetic men, compared with 32 per cent in the healthy samples.
UNEXPECTED STATIN EFFECTS:Cholesterol-lowering "statin" drugs, such as Lipitor or Zocor, may protect the eyes as well as the heart.
In a study of older adults, people who took statins had almost a 50 per cent reduced risk of developing a cataract, a clouding of the lens of the eye.
"Because a protective influence from statins on cataract could have potentially important healthcare implications, this relationship needs confirmation and exploration," researchers conclude.
Oxidative stress is thought to play a role in the development of cataracts. Therefore, researchers say it is plausible that treatment with statins, which are thought to have antioxidant as well as cholesterol-lowering properties, could protect against this common age-related eye problem.
READING FACES:Are you good with faces? Can you tell someone's personality from looking at their face? Would you like to be able to diagnose health problems by examining facial features? Well-known face reader Lillian Bridges is holding a three-day modular workshop on facial diagnosis and face reading at the Camden Court Hotel in Camden Street on May 11th, 12th and 13th.
Ms Bridges, a professor of Chinese medicine, runs the Lotus Institute in California.
The workshop is open to all health practitioners, and costs €320 for the basic course (two days) and €420 for the three-day basic and advanced course. For further details, contact the Institute of East West Medical Sciences, tel: 01-2092961 or e-mail info@eastwestmedicalsciences.com