Under-15s shouldn't drink alcohol

It appears that `early drinking' leads to alcohol problems.

One theory is that fast changes in teengers' brains means that alcohol affects long-term development, causing alcohol problems.

The chief medical officer has launched a 5-point plan for parents to help them.

Alcohol can damage the prefrontal and hippocampus areas of a teenager's brain.

Paracetamol shouldn't be given to children

Analysis of data on 200,000 children suggests that giving paracetamol to young chilren may increase the risk ot those children developing asthma,eczema and hay fever

Doctor linked to AIDS deniers loses libel case

Dr Matthias Rath, who claimed that his nutritional supplements could cure AIDS,cancer and other ilnesses, has losed a libel case against the Guardian and may have to pay £220,000.

It is said that because of his activities saying antiretrovirals were toxic and useless,some people have died sooner than they would have.

Low birth weight linked to depression

Schoolchildren who were underweight at birth are more likely to suffer anxiety, depression and be more withdrawn during school years, according to a study in the US journal Archives of General Psychiatry of over 800 children in Detroit, Michigan.

Health abstracts 27 August 2007

Doctors should look at the family history of hose with high cholesterol in order to track down those with the familial hypercholesterol gene(FH).

50% of men with this gene will die before they reach 50 years old, and 30% of women with the gene will die before 60.

There are an estimated 110,000 people with this gene.

Those with the gene ideally shouldn't smoke and have an appropiate diet.

Statins may also be prescribed.

A fifth of Ayurvedic medicines avaible on the internet contain arsenic ,lead or mercury, according to reseachers who analysed randomly chosen 193 products from various websites and tested them for metals.

A new drug called Lucentis has been approved for use to prevent people with age-related wet macular degeneration.

It could save the NHS a lot of money long term because suffiers need a lot of expensive care.

An aspirin a day may keep ill health at bay

Researchers have calculated the ideal age for a daily dose of aspirin to reduce the risk of heart attacks,heart disease and strokes which cause 208,000 deaths a year in the UK.
It is 47 for males and 57 for females.

Aspirin can also reduce the risk of dementia.

2.5 million-years-old mastodon found in Romania

A 2.5 million-year-old skeleton of a mastodon was found by miners at a coal mine in a village called Racosul de Sus approxiately 100 miles northwest of Bucharest.
About 90% of tthe skeleton was intact,digging it out of the ground will take about 2 months.

It will then be displayed in the Baraolt museum after research has been done on the remains.