DEDICATED CANCER WARD: An oncology ward which is due to open at Cork University Hospital (CUH) this morning will be the first dedicated public medical ward for cancer patients in the HSE Southern Area, writes Olivia Kelleher.
It is hoped having cancer patients in the same ward will result in a more favourable hospital experience and better delivery care for people who require oncology treatment in the region.
The 10-bed ward is being opened in the wake of a damning letter written by a consultant oncologist at CUH which claims patients in the last stages of cancer were being left to die in their homes due to a shortage of hospital beds.
In a letter to Minister for Health Mary Harney, Dr Seamus O'Reilly highlighted the difficulties faced by cancer patients in the southern area, compounded by the lack of a dedicated inpatient oncology ward at CUH, the region's main cancer treatment centre.
Dr O'Reilly said patients who were dying from cancer had been admitted to a ward surrounded by people recovering from alcohol intoxication. He also expressed concern about what he described as "geographical discrimination" in relation to breast cancer care in Munster.
Meanwhile, work is due to begin this summer on a dedicated 47 million cardiac, oncology and renal unit at CUH which will include a dedicated 30-bed oncology ward.
SINS OF FATHERS: Fathers visit the sins of smoking and poor diet on the health of their sons and grandsons, according to a new study. The inherited effects are thought to be due to subtle genetic changes caused by the environment.
These chemical influences, known as "epigenetic" factors, could have major implications for public health, say scientists.
People who live unhealthily today could be stacking up problems for future generations. Evidence of such effects has been seen before in women, but not men.
British and Swedish researchers analysed the findings of a survey of British couples who had babies in the early 1990s. More than 5,000 fathers in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were or had been smokers. Of this group, 166 started smoking before they were 11.
The researchers discovered that men who smoked when young had sons who were significantly fatter than average by the age of nine. A similar effect was not seen for daughters.
The scientists also looked at historical records from a remote area in northern Sweden, tracing families back three generations and assessing their diets from harvest records.
People whose grandparents had eaten less between the ages of nine and 12 seemed to live longer, New Scientist magazine reported.
The effect was sex specific - the diet of grandfathers was only linked to the lifespan of grandsons, and that of grandmothers only affected grand-daughters.
AWARE LECTURE: Dr Tony Bates will give a lecture entitled Defeating Depression - Engaging the Heart tomorrow night at the lecture theatre, Swift Centre, St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin. The lecture begins at 7.15pm and is the first lecture of the year in the Aware monthly lecture series. Admission is free.
VACCINE TRIALS SUCCESS: Hopes have been raised for new vaccines to protect young children against severe and potentially fatal cases of sickness and diarrhoea.
The results of trials of two vaccines to combat rotavirus gastroenteritis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggested thousands of lives could be saved worldwide if children were immunised.
A study involving more than 68,000 children found RotaTeq, an oral vaccine developed by Merck, could prevent 98 per cent of severe cases of rotavirus. The results of another oral vaccine, Rotarix, developed by GlaxoSmithKline, found it was able to prevent 85 per cent of severe cases.
Rotavirus kills almost half a million children under five around the world each year, particularly in developing countries.
AYURVEDIC COURSE: Dr Donn Brennan, practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine, will give a one-day introductory course on the many practices and theories that make up this ancient Indian system of healthcare in the Kingston Hotel, Adelaide St, Dún Laoghaire on Saturday from 9.30am to 4.30pm.
The course will focus on a healthy daily routine in the context of viewing good health as achieving a state of balance between the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual dimensions of our lives. There will be demonstrations of yoga postures and massage. The course costs €95. For booking, tel: 01 2845742.
Dr Brennan will also give an introductory talk on the Healing Powers of Ayurveda on Thursday at 8pm in the Stillorgan Park Hotel, Stillorgan, Dublin. Admission is€€10. See also www.ayurveda.ie