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Her
majesty's secret service
LONDON
— The Queen's former gynecologist, Sir George Pinker, passed away
at age 82. Sir George was appointed royal gynecologist in 1973 and attended nine
of the family's births, including those of Princes William and Harry. He stepped
down from his post in 1990 and was knighted shortly afterwards for his excellent
services. "Lead as normal a life as possible without indulging in excesses, neither
eating for two nor walking two miles a day if you are not used to it," Dr Pinker
used to tell his royal patients. One
woman's busted plans
LONDON —
A London man who kidnapped his wife to prevent her from undergoing breast augmentation
surgery has been sentenced to 20 months in jail after he submitted a guilty plea
last week. In early February, staff at London's St Bartholomew's Hospital watched
as James McCarthy, armed with a knife, dragged his reluctant wife away, saying:
"I like you as you are. I will kill you now." Mr McCarthy claims they subsequently
had "a chat" and agreed that she would not undergo the operation. His wife, who
arrived at the hospital with a black eye, has since changed her name. Lessons
in mass hysteria
MEXICO CITY —
Mexican doctors and public health authorities have, hesitantly, diagnosed 600
teenage girls with mass hysteria. The girls, who attend a Catholic boarding school
of 3,600 in the Mexico City suburb of Chalco, have succumbed to a mysterious affliction
that makes them feverish, nauseous and impairs walking. Adolescent girls are considered
a high-risk group for collective hysteria. The school typically administers a
disciplined regimen, keeping the students isolated from family, but the afflicted
students were allowed to return home for a week. The malady disappeared in the
girls who returned home to convalesce. Chocolate
in the blood
COLOGNE —
It's official: dark chocolate may be almost as effective as common antihypertensive
drugs at lowering blood pressure. A review in the April 9 issue of Archives
of Internal Medicine concluded that dark chocolate, which is rich in polyphenols,
reduced blood pressure. In fact, eating three and a half ounces of it daily --
the equivalent of about two chocolate bars -- had an effect comparable to that
of beta-blockers like atenolol. "I've been eating a little more dark chocolate,"
Dr Dirk Taubert, lead author of the study, told the New York Times. "And
my blood pressure has gone down." Asthma
brought on by abuse
BOSTON —
Harvard scientists have uncovered another environmental risk factor for asthma
in India: domestic violence. In a survey of 92,000 households administered in
18 different languages, researchers found a high prevalence of asthma in violent
households. The study, to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology,
says the effect appears to be dose-dependent, with asthma risk highest in people
who experienced violence, and lower in people who lived in a violent household
but hadn't experienced violence. Researchers suggest the asthma may stem from
immune system dysregulation caused by stress, although, alternatively, it could
be due to unhealthy coping behaviours such as smoking. Recycling
results in records row
MONTREAL
— To save paper, the human resources department at the University
of Montreal's teaching hospital has been making notepads out of paper recycled
from the institute for years. Unfortunately, an embarrassing letter found its
way into one of the notepads last week, implicating an employee in a sexual harassment
case. In the past, other incidents with the recycled notepads have involved confidential
patient records. Now, administrators have decided to abandon the recycled notepad
program. Now
that's chutzpah
TORONTO —
Toronto rabbis are urging their congregations to sign their donor cards. Because
Jewish burials have to take place as quickly as possible, many Jews assumed that
organ donation is out of the question. But with 1,748 people waiting for a transplant
in Ontario, saving a life is more important, Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich insists. "We
always look after the living first," he told the Toronto Sun. A rabbinical
group has created pamphlets and posters for distribution in synagogues, Jewish
schools and community centres to encourage organ donation. More
Katrina blues
MARRERO, LA —
Doctors at West Jefferson Medical Center are suing the state for $100 million
dollars for care they provided to uninsured patients following Hurricane Katrina.
Up to 30% of the patients the doctors saw after the storm were poor or uninsured,
they claim. The state has reimbursed hospitals to the tune of $120 million for
caring for those patients, but just $8 million has gone to physicians. The doctors
claim the lack of government money is severely straining their practice and driving
away young doctors. |
