ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION: Up to 65 per cent of men with high blood pressure experience erection problems, according to recent estimates. Erectile dysfunction can be one of the earliest clues to heart disease.
However, it can also be caused by alcohol overuse, smoking, obesity, depression, diabetes and side effects of prescribed medication. A new leaflet, Sexual Health & his Heart, explains the links between sexual dysfunction and heart disease. Contact the Irish Heart Foundation on tel: 01 6685001 or see www.irishheart.ie
EATING DISTRESS: An imbalanced focus on obesity can lead to eating disorders in children and teenagers, according to the Marino Therapy Centre which is organising a conference on eating distress this week. Health professionals, nutritionists and members of the eating disorders support group, Bodywhys, will speak at the day-long conference on Friday in the Crown Plaza Hotel, Santry, Dublin. Bookings on tel: 01 8333126. See also www.marinotherapycentre.com
SENIOR HELPINE: The Senior Helpline has received more than 10,000 calls, the majority of them from older people suffering from loneliness and a sense of abandonment. Hidden Truths, Silent Cries, a conference exploring the issues of isolation, loneliness and elder abuse in Ireland, will be held in the Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Co Dublin on Tuesday, November 1st.
Karl Pillemer, sociologist from Cornell University, New York, US, is the keynote speaker. Other speakers include Mamo McDonald, the honorary president of Age & Opportunity, and Bob Carroll, director of the National Council on Aging and Older People. Contact the Senior Helpline on 1850 440444 or see www.seniorhelpline.ie
BENEFITS OF CRANBERRIES: A symposium examining the role of cranberries in disease prevention will take place in the Royal College of Surgeons, St Stephen's Green, Dublin at 6.30pm on Wednesday, November 2nd. It will review the science behind discoveries of how cranberry works to help prevent urinary infection, periodontal disease, gingival and its potential to treat stomach disorders and coronary atherosclerosis.
Speakers will include Dr Amy Howell, research scientist, Rutgers University, Dr Martin Starr, scientific adviser to the Cranberry Institute (US), and Stuart Stanton, Emeritus professsor of urogynaecology, St George's Hospital Medical School, London.
SPRING INTO GOOD FORM: Feeling a little blue, forgetful or stupid? Pleasant weather and spending time outdoors are virtually guaranteed to brighten your mood as well as improve your memory and other cognitive functions - but only in the spring.
A research team at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics found that warmer temperatures or higher barometric pressures are "related to better mood, better memory and 'broadened' cognitive style" as spring arrives and time spent outside increases.
But sunny days don't produce sunnier moods in other seasons. "The same relationships between mood and weather were not observed during other times of year, and indeed hotter weather was associated with lower mood in the summer," the researchers said.
Lifelines is compiled by Sylvia Thompson