Chronic fatigue clues: Researchers at Hammersmith Hospital in London believe they have found the first scientific evidence for chronic fatigue syndrome.
Brain scans of sufferers showed enlarged gaps in fatty acids, echoing findings in Scotland and Japan. "The damage is probably the result of a virus attack. Some people bounce back without too much difficulty, but others might be low in essential fatty acids when they fall ill. When we corrected their essential-fatty-acid imbalance by giving fish oils, they started to feel better," says Dr Basant Puri, who led the study.
Slippery customer
A woman in England has had her bone graft cancelled because she waxed her legs in the week before the operation, putting herself at risk of infection. The surgeons have advised patients to neither shave nor wax surgical areas before admission to hospital.
Design feet
A new type of sock could help avoid one of the serious complications of diabetes: amputation of the foot, which can become necessary when the disorder damages nerves. (Between 60 and 70 per cent of Ireland's 100,000 diabetics have mild to severe nerve damage in their feet and poor circulation to the extremities.) The designers of the Legend Care sock, which is made in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, hope it will help prevent some of the 1,800 diabetes-related foot amputations performed each year in Ireland.
What's in your remedy?
Poor labelling means it is not clear what is in some herbal remedies. US researchers who checked the quality of popular herbs such as echinacea, ginkgo biloba, garlic, aloe and valerian found that most brands offered several products for the same herb but that their strengths were not directly comparable, as their ingredients varied so much. They suggest that even when patients tell their doctors they are using herbal products, the variation in product labelling means neither may be fully aware of what has been ingested.
Saving sight
The Orbis sight-saving campaign will begin work in Eastern Europe this year. The international charity, which has Irish ophthalmologists and nurses among its core staff and volunteers, will develop educational programmes, provide equipment and train locals. See www.ukorbis.org.
Compiled by Dr Muiris Houston and Sylvia Thompson