A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
WEIGHT SURVEY:Around half the population wants to lose weight and losing 22lbs is the general target, according to a new survey conducted for the VHI.
The survey, which questioned 660 adults about their attitude to diet and exercise, found that although 50 per cent of people are not happy with their current weight, they are not necessarily prepared to address it through healthy eating and exercise.
The survey findings were launched yesterday as the VHI announced a series of health seminars to take place around the State. The seminars, which are being run in conjunction with the Ladies Gaelic Football League Association, will provide advice on how to improve health fitness and diet as well as giving tips on stress reduction and achieving a better work/life balance.
The first seminar will be held in Croke Park on March 15th, with another in the Clarion Hotel, Cork on April 18th. For further details visit www.vhi.ie
PATIENT INTERACTION:Sick children at Crumlin Children's Hospital will be able to communicate with one another, both within the hospital and at home, under a scheme launched yesterday.
Solas is an online network of e-mail, video conferencing and live chat which has been developed by Trinity College Dublin's centre for health informatics.
q OXYGEN DAMAGE: The routine use of oxygen treatment for heart attacks could actually harm patients, an expert warned yesterday.
Prof Richard Beasley said "clinical dogma" over the issue needed to be challenged as studies showed that giving pure oxygen could damage the heart.
Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, he said little evidence existed to support the routine use of oxygen. But the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said there was no need to change current practice.
Prof Beasley, from New Zealand's Medical Research Institute, wrote: "Use of oxygen to relieve angina has been available for 100 years. However, as far back as 1950, researchers have been cautioning about its routine use in myocardial infarction [ heart attack]. Research in this area is scarce but cardiologists should be concerned as the balance of evidence suggests that its routine use in this clinical situation may cause harm."
BREAST-FEEDING CLINIC:A new drop-in clinic has been launched at University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) for new mothers who may be experiencing difficulties breast-feeding, writes Michelle McDonagh.
The new midwifery service, located in St Angela's ward, offers mothers who have been discharged from hospital advice and assistance as they begin to breast-feed their babies.
Speaking about the service, clinical midwife manager Therese Hughes said: "Some new mothers, particularly first- time mothers, find breast-feeding challenging and we at UCHG have established this clinic so we can make breast-feeding easier for both mother and baby." Ms Hughes said the benefits of breastfeeding were well documented.
The new clinic at UCHG is open to all breast-feeding mothers and Ms Hughes would urge any mother with concerns or even just questions to contact the clinic. It is open every Wednesday at 2pm and no booking is required.
LEAS CROSS REPORT:A news report on the investigation of deaths at the Leas Cross nursing home in last week's HealthSupplement included a wrongly attributed quote. The reference to legal indemnity for a person undertaking a review of elder abuse should have been attributed to a spokesman for the Minister for Health.
VIVAS COVER:Vivas Health is to cover the new Hermitage clinic in Lucan, Dublin for hospital cover and OP radiology (MRI). This brings the number of hospitals and treatment centres covered by Vivas Health to 122 across Ireland.
LINGERIE EVENING:Action Breast Cancer is hosting a lingerie evening for women who have undergone breast surgery. There will be information and advice on prosthesis and lingerie, and the guest speaker is fashion stylist Celia Holman Lee. It is on this Friday (March 9th), 7.30pm-10pm, in the Clarion Hotel in Limerick. Entry is free but places are limited and must be booked at Action Breast Cancer on tel: 1-800-309040.