A round-up of this week's other health stories in brief:
CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS:A campaign aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of cervical cancer among women of all ages has been launched. The first All Ireland Cancer Foundation "Tell her about it" . . . Cervical Cancer Awareness Week runs from June 11th to 16th.
Nurses will man information stands at major shopping centres in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick throughout the week as part of the drive to educate people about the condition.
Approximately 73 Irish women will die from cervical cancer this year and, on average, 180 Irish women are diagnosed with the disease every year. Ireland has one of the highest cervical cancer rates in Europe. Almost 3,000 Irish women are currently living with the disease.
Speaking at the campaign launch, Dr Henrietta Campbell of the All Ireland Cancer Foundation, said: "Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. Changes in the cervix which might lead to cancer can be readily detected via cervical screening. I would encourage women to visit a 'tell her' stand in their area or speak to their healthcare professional if they have any concerns about the disease."
BREAST CANCER SURVIVAL:Breast cancer survivors who eat a healthy diet and take exercise can slash their risk of dying from the disease by half, a new study suggests.
The research is the first to look at the impact of both diet and physical activity on breast cancer survival.
It found that healthy living reduced the chances of dying from breast cancer even if a woman was obese.
US scientists from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) studied 1,490 women aged 70 and younger with an average age of 50.
The researchers found that women who were both physically active and had a healthy diet were much more likely to survive for five to 11 years more than the rest of the group.
Their death rate was 7 per cent - about half that seen for the other women taking part in the study.
INFORMATION EVENING:The Lucena Foundation is holding an information evening for parents and carers of children and adolescents with high functioning autism/
Asperger's syndrome this Thursday at 7pm at the Lucena Clinic on Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin. The speakers are Dr Vicky Slonims, lead clinical speech and language therapist, Guys Hospital London, and Prof Fiona McNicholas, Lucena Clinic.
Admission is free but those wishing to attend must register by e-mail to marie.mccourt@sjog.ie or tel: 01-4923596.
SWIMMING AND ASTHMA:Infant swimming lessons in an indoor pool may have the unintended effect of raising some children's risk of asthma later on, new research findings suggest.
In a study of 341 schoolchildren, Belgian researchers found that the 43 children who had been enrolled in a swimming programme as infants were about three times more likely to have asthma or suffer recurrent bouts of bronchitis than children who did not.
The problem, according to the researchers, is that chlorine byproducts may irritate infants' developing airways, causing changes that make them more susceptible to lung disease later in childhood.
Lead author Dr Albert Bernard and colleagues at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels report the findings in the journal Pediatrics.
IASBAH APPOINTMENT:George Kennedy has been appointed chief executive of The Irish Association for Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus (IASBAH).
Mr Kennedy specialises in developing organisations strategically to their fullest potential, according to IASBAH. "He has vast management training experience having acted as a FÁS training adviser, specialising in assisting companies in productivity improvement exercises," it said.
IASBAH is a national voluntary organisation representing more than 1,500 members from birth to adulthood. It provides information, support and advice to people with spina bifida and hydrocephalus in the State and to their families. Services also include family support, youth and respite.