Pain, pain, go awayDespite popular belief, aches and pains do not signal poor weather, according to a study of fibromyalgia. Nobody knows exactly what causes the chronic condition, which is characterised by pain and stiffness in the muscles, joints and tendons, but around 1 per cent of the population are sufferers, most of them women.
The 28-day study of 55 women, which compared their pain levels with weather reports, found that women who had had fibromyalgia for less than 10 years were more sensitive to climate shifts than longer-term sufferers. Overall, however, weather changes did not significantly predict pain levels.The researchers conclude that fibromyalgia sufferers might blame the weather because it is such a prominent part of daily life, or simply because there is widely thought to be an association between the two.
Reducing prostate cancer
Some 520 men die of prostate cancer in the Republic every year. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer (after skin cancer) among men. Those between the ages of 40 and 59 have a one-in-103 risk of developing it; the risk increases to one in eight for men over 60. The figures come from new guidelines for managing prostate cancer published by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The guidelines say early detection and treatment will lead to fewer deaths. Many lives could be saved by a national screening programme for prostate cancer, according to Dr Ted McDermott, who is a consultant urologist at the Adelaide & Meath Hospital, in Tallaght. For help, contact Men Against Cancer, a support group for patients with prostate and testicular cancer (1800-200700).
Vision thing
Eighty per cent of programmes on RTÉ television between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. are now subtitled, compared with 35 per cent a year ago. The Irish Hard of Hearing Association has welcomed the figure, but it points out that those who most need the facility - available on page 888 of teletext - tend to be the ones who use it least. One in seven Irish people suffers from hearing loss; the figure rises to one in three sixtysomethings and two in five of those in their 70s. The association is at 35 North Frederick Street, Dublin (01- 8723800 or see www.ihha.ie)
Medical advance
Journalists who write about medical matters are invited to submit up to two entries for a new prize scheme, the GlaxoSmithKline Irish Medical Media Awards, which has print, broadcast and Internet categories. Entries must have been published or broadcast for the first time in 2001. Awards of €5,000 and €2,500 will be presented to the Irish Medical Journalist of the Year and the Young Irish Medical Journalist of the Year. Contact Amy Pilgrim or Niamh Garvey at GlaxoSmithKline, 5 Ely Place, Dublin (01-6690030) for more details. The closing date for entries is March 22nd.
Charity begins at home
Three charities will benefit from a concert on Thursday by Dervish, the traditional group from Sligo. The singer-songwriter Kieran Goss will join the band, in the Aula Maxima at Sligo Institute of Technology, to raise money for the Irish Sudden Death Association, the Sligo Cancer Support Group and the Sligo Bay lifeboat. Tickets, which cost €15/10, can be booked at 071-44131.
Coping with cancer
Pat Hargaden, a cancer nurse and counsellor, will talk about coping with cancer at St Laurence Community Centre, in Kilmacud, Stillorgan, Co Dublin, on Saturday at 10.45 a.m. The cancer information and support group for the Stillorgan area is at 01-2885725.
Compiled by Muiris Houston and Sylvia Thompson