THE FINNISH WAY: Finland had the world's highest mortality from heart disease in the early 1970s with a diet not dissimilar to the traditional Irish diet.
Over 25 years, deaths due to heart disease fell by 75 per cent following massive public exercise and healthy eating campaigns.
That country's success at tackling obesity is cited in the Irish Medical Journal as a note of encouragement as the Obesity Task Force begins its work in Ireland.
SMOKING PERILS: Smoking causes gum disease, according to a new report from the US. Smokers may also be more susceptible to periodontitis, a serious gum disease that can result in the loss of teeth and bone loss because smoking affects the body's ability to fight infection and repair tissue. The US report also linked smoking to leukaemia, cataracts, pneumonia and cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas and stomach.
FASHION RISK: Dublin-based anaesthetists highlight the risks associated with a new fashion trend of jewels glued onto teeth. Jewels pierced into the tongue and lips are already widely recognised as a hazard that should be removed before surgery. But there was a recent case in which a patient didn't want a diamond accessory on her tooth removed before surgery.
Writing in the Irish Medical Journal, the anaesthetists point out that any such oral jewellery can be dislodged and swallowed during general anesthesia and result in a blockage to the airways.
lifelines@irish-times.ie