Many women are suffering from hormone imbalance, which can result in a "war within", according to Dr Helena Waters of the UK-based Life Foundation School of Therapeutics. In a seminar for women of all ages, Women's Health - Naturally, Waters will provide practical information and self-help techniques to empower women to take their health "back into their own hands". The seminar is next Saturday, 10.30 a.m.4.30 p.m., at the Ambassador Hotel, Military Hill, St Luke's, Cork. Admission, £25. For booking, tel 021-291127. Proceeds will go to the Concern Kosovo appeal.
A drug currently used to treat depression and to help people give up smoking may help with weight loss, according to US research. In a trial of 18 women with no signs of depression, all lost four times more weight than women taking a placebo, while on a 1,600 calorie-a-day diet. It is thought the anti-depressant drug bupropion SR may make a person feel satisfied after eating a small amount of food, although they are not necessarily full. Unlike anti-depressants such as prozac, bupropion has no effect on the brain chemical serotonin, which controls mood, and works by increasing levels of other brain chemicals which are linked to reward and pleasure pathways. (EurekaAlert)
Seventy thousand Irish children under 12 were admitted to hospital last year, and for those with chronic illness, hospital stays are a regular part of their lives. The Bubble Gum Club, which arranges special outings and surprises for children who are suffering from life-threatening illnesses, has launched the Pocket Money Appeal for Sick Children to raise money to take 60 children on holiday to Alton Towers. For donations/further information, tel 01-6796060.
One of the most common medical problems in the Republic is cystitis (inflammation of the bladder lining), with one in four women developing the condition. According to recent research, 30 per cent of sufferers feel anxious or depressed by it and 14 per cent miss work or school/college because of it - yet only 37 per cent of Irish women, and 9 per cent of men, know what causes it (usually bacterial infection or physical/chemical irritation). A leaflet, Cystitis: your questions answered is now available from chemists or by sending an SAE to Seton Scholl Healthcare, 86 Broomhill Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24.
Looking for health information on the Internet can be overwhelming - it is estimated there are more than 20,000 general medical sites (as well as condition-specific sites and newsgroups). Increasing numbers of Irish health organisations are going online - the most recent is the Arthritis Foundation of Ireland, www.arthritis-foundation.com. For a step-by-step guide to researching medical conditions, check out the Patient's Guide to the Internet (www3.bc.sympatico.ca/me/patientsguide).
"The person you're looking at is your brother Bill," say your "memory glasses". Or: "You should stretch your left leg for 10 seconds, not five," says your digital rehab trainer. These interactive health devices (to help sufferers of Alzheimer's and those in physical rehab programmes) are some of the projects being researched at the US Centre for Future Health, which engineers and doctors hope will bring high-tech, low-cost health-care into our homes. Other projects include "smart socks" which alert the wearer when an ulcer is imminent (for diabetes sufferers), sensors which detect whether food or drink is safe, and a melanoma monitor which gives an alert if a mole starts growing. Whatever next?
Gene therapies are revolutionising treatments for many serious conditions. US researchers have discovered a gene which appears to be linked to a protein that may control bone density - offering hope to sufferers of the brittle bone disease, osteoporosis. Scientists in the UK may have discovered how to destroy prostate cancer, by using gene therapy to replace mutated genes combined with boosts to the immune system. (BBC)