A round-up of this week's health news in brief
CANCER BREAKTHROUGH: A leap forward in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer has been predicted, after a genetic breakthrough by British-led scientists.
Within four years a reliable screening test for identifying men at high risk of the disease could be available for the first time. This will in itself help doctors tackle prostate cancer at the earliest possible stage, before it becomes dangerously advanced.
But the discovery of seven previously unknown genetic code variations linked to the disease could also open the door to completely new drug treatments.
Although having a father or brother with prostate cancer quadruples the risk of developing the disease, the genetic factors involved are still largely unknown.
The ground-breaking new work, funded by the charity Cancer Research UK, has identified genetic markers that may be present in more than half of all men with prostate cancer.
Individually the variations have little effect, but combined, their influence is substantial. Each increases a person's disease risk by 60 per cent.
They were found by screening thousands of DNA samples for individual letter changes in the genetic code that occur more frequently in men with prostate cancer.
The "single nucleotide polymorphisms" (SNPs) were found on seven chromosomes - the coiled strands of DNA and protein that house the genes.
A number were in regions occupied by four key genes that may influence susceptibility to prostate cancer.
AID WORKERS HOST INFORMATION EVENT: Medical humanitarian aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will hold an information evening in Dublin on February 19th. Returned MSF aid workers will share their experience of providing independent medical relief on the ground with MSF and a video featuring the work of the organisation will be shown. The event is an opportunity to find out how you can get involved with MSF and ask questions about their approach to humanitarian relief.
It will be held at the Carmichael Centre, North Brunswick St, Smithfield, Dublin 7 at 7pm. For more information see www.msf.ie.
BABY SWAP: Hospital managers have apologised to two mothers after they accidentally swapped their babies. One of the babies was breast-fed by the wrong mother and had to undergo a range of checks, including an HIV test.
The mistake happened at Nottinghamshire's Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop. The hospital has now apologised to the mothers, one of whom is believed to be Polish. The other is thought to be a local woman.
The error happened after the babies were separated from their mothers for an unknown reason. When they were returned they were accidentally swapped before staff realised the mistake.
HIP ROBOT: A surgical robot that makes hip operations so simple even medical students can get good results is being tested in Britain.
The robot could eventually replace traditional techniques of carrying out complex operations which take surgeons years of study and experience to perfect.
The robotic navigation equipment - the Wayfinder - is used in hip-resurfacing procedures - a method for correcting painful hip bone deformities by coating the femoral head with a cast of chrome alloy.
Up to 5,000 hip-resurfacing operations are carried out each year in Britain.
Surgeons rely on years of experience and cameras, lasers and hand-held tools to help them navigate during an operation.
The Wayfinder uses similar technology to Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking equipment to help the user to navigate by plotting correct surgical incisions. It also calculates the correct angles for inserting chrome alloy parts needed to repair hip bones.
ACUPUNCTURE SUCCESS: Women having acupuncture while undergoing IVF increase their chances of getting pregnant, according to a review of studies published last week.
Experts found evidence of success for women who had acupuncture within one day of embryo transfer.
The study, by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the US and the VU University Amsterdam, involved a review of seven published trials.