Photographing the gut:
An Israeli company has developed a video camera patients can swallow. It travels through the intestines in four hours, taking pictures as it goes. If approved for use by medical regulators, it could offer an alternative to conventional fibre-optic telescopes as a method of medically imaging the gastroentestinal tract.
- British Medical Journal
Underage drinking:
More than 40 per cent of all individuals who reported drinking alcohol before age 14 became alcohol-dependent. The National Longitudinal Epidemological Survey in the US also found that only 10 per cent of those who first drank alcohol at age 20 and older developed alcohol problems. The researchers say this is clear evidence of the need for intervention programmes to delay early alcohol use.
- American Journal of Psychiatry
Osteoporosis:
Can diuretics (water tablets) help prevent osteoporosis? This is the intriguing possibility raised by researchers who found that bone density of older men and women taking a common brand of water tablet was superior.
Normally prescribed for high blood-pressure, diuretics are cheap and relatively safe. Could they be used to prevent osteoporotic fractures in people with normal blood pressure? Further research is now awaited.
- British Medical Journal
Heart disease:
Irish people are dying from heart disease at twice the rate of their European counterparts. Heart disease accounts for 42 per cent of all deaths here, according to the most recent figures. The often cited risk factors are smoking, high intake of alcohol, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity and physical inactivity. Healthy Heart Week, which begins today, will bring these issues to the public's attention through talks, information stands and a free magazine. Also, as part of a two-year campaign, the Health Promotion Unit is sending healthy heart handbooks to every Irish home. Tel: 01-6685001 for details of talks and information stands.
- Dr Tony Humphreys looks into the love of learning this weekend
Learning:
Do you feel you have lost a love of learning? Perhaps you never had one? If so, and you wish to gain insights into why this happened and how to move forward, next Saturday's seminar by Dr Tony Humphreys may be for you. A clinical psychologist, author and Irish Times columnist, Humphreys will share his thoughts in a day-long seminar entitled Adventure into Learning. Themes to be covered include family influences on learning, self-worth and learning, the "success" culture, embracing failure and positive learning. The venue is the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, 10 a.m.5 p.m. Cost: £45. Booking on tel: 01-4911711.
Mental health:
Whose responsibility is mental health? Is it a medical condition, a social breakdown or a spiritual crisis? The new Mental Health bill - who will it protect? These are some of the issues which will be explored in forthcoming programmes in the Mind Body Spirit radio series, which will be broadcast on Anna Livia 103.2 fm on Tuesdays at 9.30p.m. and on Tallaght Community Radio 107.2 fm on Wednesdays at 3.30 p.m. Commentators over the next few weeks will include Tom Cooney, medical law lecturer UCD, Dr Patrick McKeon, consultant psychiatrist, St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin and Deirdre de Burca, psychologist and Green Party county councillor. Tours for blind: The National Gallery, Merrion Square, Dublin runs tours on alternate months for people with a visual impairment and those with hearing impairments. The next sign-language tour is on Thursday at 6.30 p.m. Two guides will take a group to look at the early Renaissance and Baroque paintings in the gallery. Admission is free. The gallery also organises tours for the Irish Wheelchair Association and children with learning difficulties.
lifelines@irish-times.ie