Other stories in brief:
• Salt Content:Shoppers should boycott processed foods that still contain "unnecessary" amounts of salt, a campaign group in Britain said yesterday.
Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) wants consumers to buy lower-salt options which are better for their health.
Its analysis of 127 goods previously "named and shamed" for being too salty shows that manufacturers have reduced the salt content of 66 per cent of items.
Cash advises shoppers not to buy bread containing more than 1.25g of salt per 100g because lower-salt alternatives are readily available.
• Liposuction numbers:The number of people undergoing liposuction in Britain has risen by 90 per cent in just one year - prompting experts to warn it is not a solution for obesity.
The operation has jumped from being the eighth most popular cosmetic procedure in 2005 to the third most popular in 2006, behind breast and eyelid surgery.
According to figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), 3,986 liposuctions were carried out last year - up from 2,099 in 2005.
BAAPS, which is based at the Royal College of Surgeons, said other operations - such as breast surgery and nose jobs - had also seen a rise.
• New Life:In the New Life interview on Tuesday, January 23rd, the name of the American self-help guru was incorrectly spelt. It should have read Louise L Hay. See also www.hayhouse.com
• Zinc Absorption: High-dose iron supplements do not impair zinc absorption in pregnant women, according to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by UK researchers.
"Iron supplements do not have an adverse effect on zinc nutrition, provided the diet is adequate in zinc," Dr Susan J Fairweather-Tait, Institute of Food Research, Norwich, told Reuters Health.
She and colleagues investigated whether consuming daily iron supplements (100 mg/day) from 16 weeks of gestation until delivery affected zinc absorption or zinc status in apparently healthy, pregnant women. Six women received the iron supplements and seven were given placebo.
Iron supplementation had no significant impact on fractional zinc absorption, the authors reported.
• Reversing effects of obesity:A new study shows that people who are obese can reverse some early heart and blood vessel dysfunction by adopting a healthy lifestyle and losing weight. But exercise alone, without weight loss, does not appear to be enough to improve cardiovascular function.
Dr Chiew Y Wong and colleagues, from the University of Queensland in Australia, had 106 obese men and women with no cardiovascular disease complete an eight-week lifestyle intervention programme. Sixty-two cut their calorie and fat intake and exercised, while 44 exercised but did not change their diet.
Some 48 of the participants lost an average of 4.5 per cent of their body weight, while the remaining 58 kept their weight stable or gained weight.
Among those who lost weight, the researchers noted improvements in their arteries' response to changes in blood pressure.
• Rehabilitation unit launches stroke website:Ireland's only outpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Unit at Baggot Street Community Hospital, Dublin has launched a website as an information resource for people living with or affected by stroke and aphasia.
The site, www.strokerehabunit.ie, provides medical information, practical help, tips and advice on all aspects of stroke and living with stroke.
"The idea of a website was driven by an obvious gap in the knowledge of stroke and rehabilitation by the people we came across," said Aisling Carey, senior occupational therapist at the unit.
• Cervical smears:In last week's Check-Up column which dealt with cervical smears, it incorrectly advised that women have a cervical smear test performed every two to three years. Although a National Cervical Screening Programme will not be in place until 2008, it is currently recommended that women between the ages of 25 and 60 years have a smear test done every three to five years.