Obesity has the same impact on life expectancy as smoking, according to a new study.
Fat lot of good
Being fat shortens your life by more than three years - twice that if you are clinically obese. The figures are as poor for women as for men, with obese smokers dying about 13 years earlier than non-smokers of normal weight.
The price of fashion
Canadian doctors have discovered a health hazard associated with hip-hugging jeans. This style of trousers has been found to trap the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, causing tingling or burning sensations on parts of the thighs. Doctors have noted the phenomenon in "mildly obese" young women.
Doubly depressing
Although new psychiatric medication has greatly contributed to the treatment of major depressive illness, it also has been found to interfere with sexual function. Sexual dysfunction was reported in between 30 and 60 per cent of patients taking SSRI/Venlafaxine medication, up to a quarter of whom changed drugs. If you are on antidepressant medication and experiencing sexual problems, you should discuss it with your GP.
Put the wind back in their sails
Heart Children Ireland, a charity set up in 1990 as a support group for families of children with congenital heart defects, has raised more than €1 million for Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. This year sees a fund-raising campaign to purchase a life-saving machine. Volunteers will sell red windmills around the country on Friday and Saturday to buy an ECMO - or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation - machine, which assists the heart and lungs following surgery on a child with a congenital heart defect. This year's Windmill Day - the campaign's slogan is, "Put the wind back in their sails" - coincides with Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day, on February 14th.
Meningitis worries
Meningitis Awareness Month continues throughout February, with symptom cards and pin badges available at all Boots chemists. Members of the Meningitis Research Foundation are also available to speak to parents' associations, community groups and college societies. Although cases of meningitis C have declined hugely since the introduction of the meningitis C vaccine, the bacterial form of meningitis, for which no vaccine is available, continues to cause huge concern, with 274 cases last year. The Meningitis Research Foundation's 24-hour helpline is at 1890-413344.
Downsize this
One king-size chocolate bar makes up 30 per cent of a nine-year-old's daily fat intake, according to research in Britain. Prof Malcolm Law of London Medical School believes they, jumbo packets of crisps and super-size soft drinks are exacerbating obesity. He is calling for them to be made 20 per cent smaller.
Lifelines is compiled by Dr Muiris Houston and Sylvia Thompson
lifelines@irish-times.ie