A round up of today's other health stories in brief.
OBESITY CANCER RISK: Ovarian cancer is more aggressive and deadly in obese women, scientists have learned. A US study found that obesity reduced survival rates, hastened recurrence of the disease and led to earlier death.
The finding adds to the evidence that being overweight can worsen outcomes for a range of cancers, including breast, womb and colorectal.
Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal, since it is often only diagnosed at an advanced stage. In 70 per cent of cases, the patient will die in five years.
Some recent studies have suggested that obese women with ovarian cancer are likely to have a worse prognosis than those of normal weight.
The new research indicates that this is due to more aggressive tumours rather than delays in diagnosis.
Scientists examined data from 216 patients with ovarian cancer, comparing 35 obese women with 108 women who were of ideal weight. They found that 29 per cent of obese women and 10 per cent of the "ideal weight" group had localised disease. Obesity was shown to have a significant impact on both disease recurrence and death rates in women with advanced cancers.
AGEING ARTERIES: People suffering advanced heart disease have arteries that are biologically 40 years older than their real age, experts have warned.
A 50-year-old man with the most advanced form of the disease would have the arteries of a 90-year-old, the study from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) suggested.
Researchers from Cambridge University examined tissue from heart bypass and transplant patients to map the ageing process of artery cells.
They hope their findings will mark a step forward in research aimed at preventing heart attacks.
MISSED APPOINTMENTS: Patients miss over 11 million GP appointments and five million practice nurse appointments each year in the UK, according to a survey.
The poll, by Developing Patient Partnerships, found even offering same-day appointments was often not enough to solve the problem.
Most of the 329 GP surgeries that took part said missed appointments caused them problems.
The survey also found that 30 per cent of practices said there was an increase in missed appointments when patients were able to pre-book appointments.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, GP and DPP spokesman, said: "People are still missing appointments, even when they make them for the same day. Appointments cost the NHS money. Missed appointments are a waste of valuable resources.
"With the move to offer the public more services, and more expensive services through the GP, the issue of missed appointments is an increasing problem for practices."
TV DISTRACTION: When it comes to comforting a child during a painful medical procedure, television apparently does better than mammy, according to a new study. A team of Italian researchers randomly divided 69 children aged 7-12 into three groups, then took blood samples with a needle. One-third of the children were not distracted, one-third were distracted by their mothers, and one-third watched cartoons on television.
The children who were allowed to watch TV reported experiencing the least pain. The pain scores of those who were not distracted were about three times as high as those recorded by children who watched cartoons, the researchers found. "TV watching was more effective than active distraction," they wrote in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, adding that the findings do not mean parents are useless in such situations.
LOUD PHONES: Eircom has launched a phone aimed at those who are hard of hearing or who suffer hearing loss. The dB30 phone has a very loud ringtone (up to 30 times louder than normal phones) and extra large buttons. Eircom says it is also suitable for the visually impaired. Other features include a signal processor which minimises background noise. The Eircom dB30 retails at €64.95, including delivery, and has a two-year warranty.
Alternatively, the company says, if you are an Eircom social benefit customer renting a standard telephone, you can exchange it for the dB30 without charge. Further information from freephone 1800-202073.