More health news in brief.
Exercise alone will not cut risk of heart disease
Exercise will not cut the risk of heart disease in those who are overweight unless they also slim down, according to a study of thousands of US women published last night.
"Even high quantities of physical activity are unlikely to fully reverse the risk of coronary heart disease in overweight and obese women without concurrent weight loss," according to Dr Amy Weinstein and her colleagues at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The study, appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was based on information from a study of almost 39,000 women.
HRT increases chance of stroke
Middle-aged women who take hormone replacement therapy to ease menopausal symptoms increase their risk of stroke, researchers said yesterday.
But the overall risk of stroke is low for women in their early 50s just entering menopause and the heightened risk may be minimal if they follow recommendations to take lower doses of the hormones for the shortest possible time.
Using data from 121,700 female nurses participating in the Nurses' Health Study, which began in 1976, researchers found women taking oestrogen had a 39 per cent increased risk of stroke compared with women who did not take the hormone.
Solas celebrates first birthday
The Republic's first dedicated diagnostic and assessment centre for children and families affected by autism celebrated its first birthday yesterday.
The centre said more than 250 children had been diagnosed with autism at the Solas Centre in Clontarf, Dublin 3, which was opened in April 2007 by Irish Autism Action with support from O2 Ireland.
Gene therapy used to improve eyesight
Breakthrough gene therapy could improve the eyesight of hundreds of thousands of people who suffer from inherited blindness.
A medical trial, which began last February, involved inserting genes into patients' eyes to correct a genetic fault that stops their retinas detecting light properly.
After treatment, the three patients involved experienced vision at least equivalent to before the operation, but one patient benefited significantly.
Steven Howarth (18), said: "At first I could not see anything really in the eye that was operated on, but it got much better after a week, then gradually even better until it was back to normal.
"Now, my sight when it's getting dark or it's badly lit is definitely better."
Known as Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), the inherited disorder causes progressive deterioration in vision and can lead to blindness in teenagers.
The research was carried out by the University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Day care lowers leukaemia risk
Children who attend day care or playgroups have about a 30 per cent lower chance of developing leukaemia, new research released last night has suggested.
A review of studies found that children who interact with other children early in life are at lower risk of the most common type of childhood leukaemia.
Dr Patricia Buffler, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health of the University of California, Berkeley, said the review revealed evidence of a link between social contact and lower risk of the disease.
One theory is that children exposed to common infections, including from being around other children, gain protection from leukaemia.
"We don't completely understand the mechanisms but immunological data is emerging which suggests a strong association," she said.
Dr Buffler reviewed 14 published studies involving 6,108 children with leukaemia and 13,704 without the disease.
Waterford Healing Arts
A photo caption in Healthpluson April 1st inadvertently attributed an artwork which was part of the Waterford Healing Arts Trust exhibition to Mr Aidan Dunne.
In fact, the work, called Wishing Balloons 11, was created by the artist Brigid Teehan when she was artist in residence in Waterford Regional Hospital (WRH).