A roundup of today's other health stories in brief:
LEADING SCIENTIST TO SPEAK AT UCC
One of the key figures who discovered the adverse medical impacts of a drug to treat arthritis is the keynote speaker at a medical conference to be held at University College Cork on Friday, October 12th.
Leading international bio-medical scientist Prof Garret FitzGerald, chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will speak about the controversial COX-2 inhibitors, in a paper entitled The Collapse of Coxibs: Cardiovascular Consequences of Inhibiting COX-2.
The COX-2 inhibitors were introduced as a potentially safer treatment for arthritis and while they effectively dealt with the condition, they pose serious concerns regarding heart disease.
Prof FitzGerald was one of the key investigators in a process that uncovered the drug's potentially serious side effects.
COMMUNITY SUICIDE SUPPORT
:Responding to suicide and/or attempted suicide is the theme of a public seminar on Saturday in the Hudson Bay Hotel, Athlone, Co Westmeath. The aim of the seminar, which is organised by Mental Health Ireland, is to equip people in communities to offer direct and specific support to prevent suicide and help those bereaved by suicide.
Speakers are Geoff Day from the Office of Suicide Prevention; Dr John Connolly from the Irish Association of Suicidology; Dr Terry Lynch, GP and psychotherapist; and Ruairi McKiernan from the young people's website, Spun-Out.ie, and Ruth Kelly, suicide resource officer with the HSE. Booking on tel: 01-2841166.
CAMPUS COMPANY GETS RESEARCH FUNDING
Pharmatrin Ltd, a campus company of Trinity College Dublin's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, specialising in developing small molecules to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, has been given €1.5 million by the Wellcome Trust. The money is to be used to develop clinical candidate compounds to treat inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
The company utilises a pharmacological rather than target-based approach in its focus on complex diseases with uncertain or multi-factorial causes, according to Pharmatrin. The Wellcome Trust is the largest independent charity in the UK and the second-largest medical research charity in the world.
PUMPKIN BALL
The RMCC Ireland Pumpkin Ball in aid of The Ronald McDonald House, Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin takes place in the Four Seasons Hotel on Friday, October 19th. The Ronald McDonald building provides accommodation for the parents of children who are seriously ill in hospital.
Check www.rmcc.ie, e-mail: admin@rmccireland.com or tel: 01-4560436.
SPINA BIFIDA AWARENESS CONFERENCE
The Irish Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus is holding its Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus annual awareness conference in the Mullingar Park Hotel on October 12th and 13th.
The aim of the seminar is to establish a best practice procedure in the transition from paediatrics to adult medical services, that is a user-centred service. "This procedure should focus on aspects of care, assessment of needs, health management and the development of medical services for the future," according to the association.
Several national and international experts in the field will address the conference. Speakers include Dr D J Richard Morgan, clinical director of medicine and therapeutics in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and Frances Halligan, clinical nurse specialist at Urodynamics Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Clinic.
MIDWEST MENTAL HEALTH WEEK
Mental Health Week takes place throughout the midwest on October 6th-13th, with skill-based workshops and seminars designed for the public and health and educational professionals, though many of the events will have a wider appeal, particularly in the workplace setting.
For more information, see www.mentalhealthweek.ie or contact Jane Hennessy at 087-4105596 for Limerick events and Anne Buckley 065-6865847 for Clare and north Tipperary events.