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Brit
men can now test their boys' ability to swim at home
LONDON —The
first home fertility test for men just went on sale
in the UK. The test, developed by scientists at Birmingham
University, works in less than an hour and is accurate
in 95% of cases. The kit tests a small sample of sperm
by forcing it through a barrier — mimicking a woman's
cervix. It then tests the number of sperm which make
it to the other side. Scientists believe that this kind
of test could cut the wait for fertility treatments
by up to a year. Non-scientists are reportedly excited
about the test's potential use in settling bar bets.
Forget
weed: art makes pain go up in smoke
CHICAGO —
One hour of creating art reduces pain and anxiety for
cancer sufferers, according to a study of 50 patients
at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Over a four-month
period, researchers noted significant reductions in
eight of nine symptoms — pain, fatigue, depression,
anxiety, drowsiness, lack of appetite, wellbeing and
shortness of breath — as measured by the Edmonton
Symptom Assessment Scale. Nausea was the only symptom
that didn't bow to the easel. The results were published
January 1 in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
British
doc caught masquerading as teen girl in chat rooms
LONDON —
The 42-year-old senior director of the National Institute
for Health and Clinical Excellence has been accused
of moonlighting as a young girl named "Katie" in order
to exchange illicit chat room messages about sex and
underwear with 26 real teenagers over the internet.
The doctor will face 13 charges of misconduct before
Britain's General Medical Council, who will determine
if his right to practise will be revoked. The doc was
caught by accident when an off-duty cop spotted him
emailing one of his teen objects of desire on a train.
Free
hooch for the homeless program improves general health
ottawa —
Seventeen homeless adults with long and sordid histories
of alcohol abuse are getting up to 15 free drinks a
day — all in the name of science. The Ottawa-based
program started in 2002 and after an average of 16 months,
ED visits were down 36%. Participants drank less than
they used to, and researchers noted improvements in
their sleep, hygiene, nutrition and general health levels.
Three people have died of alcohol-related illnesses,
which researchers said would have killed them anyway.
The results were published in the January 3 edition
of the CMAJ.
Deadly
maternity hospital loses its right to train midwives
LONDON —
Physicians' traditional mistrust of midwifery may be
justified after all. A hospital in London has been banned
from training midwives after it was revealed that 10
women died during childbirth there in the last three
years. The hospital delivers about 5,000 babies a year,
which puts their mortality rate well above the UK's
national average of about one in 8,700. The hospital
is being closely monitored and the training program
will be completely overhauled, say officials. An investigation
last year revealed major problems at the hospital, including
hygiene issues, overcrowding and staff shortages.
No
cigar: nicotine gum and patches imperil fetuses
COPENHAGEN —
A study of 77,000 pregnant women in Denmark has shown
that women who used nicotine gum or patches in the first
12 weeks of pregnancy have a 60% greater risk of having
babies with birth defects, compared to non-smokers.
The authors called for more research into the fetotoxic
effects of nicotine substitutes, but wrote that if they
want to get pregnant, women should still kick the habit:
the harmful effects of nicotine alone are probably less
dangerous than the combined effects of the thousands
of chemicals found in cigarettes. The results were published
in the January issue of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Toxicologists
decry 'detox' diets as utterly useless
SOUTHAMPTON, UK
— For people who've indulged a little too
much over the holidays, the detox diet promises to rid
the body of all that harmful excess. But are these regimes
all they're cracked up to be? Brit toxicologist and
dieticians say no. The detox products claim to rid the
body of toxins, but according to John Emsley, of the
Royal Society of Chemistry, this idea is false. "Our
bodies are very good at eliminating all the nasties
that we might ingest over the festive season," said
Professor Emsley, speaking to the Times of London.
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