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The Irish Medical Times Blog: May 2008

BBQ's new secret ingredient

Barbeque season looms, and with or without the appropriate weather, there’s a new ingredient that should grace the grill of every meat-eater with even the remotest interest in health: rosemary. Family doctors may soon be giving cooking tips, if research... Read more

Do not prescribe Mentos and Diet Coke and a video camera to your patients

By now, most of the world has learned via YouTube that when you mix Mentos and Diet Coke, you get an explosion. But a quick glance at some other clips shows that the real problem is when you give human... Read more

Next week in the Dáil: mud wrestling

Now that Bertie Ahern has exited stage left, people could be forgiven for expecting inadvertent comedy to disappear from otherwise long-winded and boring debates in the Dáil. But don’t worry—it looks like new Taoiseach Brian Cowen will be equally, or... Read more

Irish man prescribed cannabis for MS can't come home

A Galway man being treated for multiple sclerosis in Holland cannot return to his home in Ireland because of his pain-killing drugs. Mr Noel McCullagh, originally from Ballinasloe, has been legally prescribed cannabis under Dutch law, but if he returns... Read more

Actors' extreme weight changes need monitoring

Irish actor Colin Farrell is currently shedding weight for a role. A recent photo snapped in Spain shows an emaciated Farrell with hollowed cheeks, sunken chest and stick-thin legs. It is believed that he shed the weight for his latest... Read more

Attack of the cancer-sniffing clone dogs

A black lab in Japan that can (allegedly) sniff cancer is being cloned in a Korean biotech lab, according to the Discovery Channel. If the experiment is successful, the company plans to make clones of the dog available for "worldwide... Read more

Buy a sunflower for hospice care: the HSE can't touch it

Hospices and palliative care services throughout the Republic will benefit financially from Sunflower Days, which take place on June 13 and 14. On those dates volunteers throughout the State will be selling sunflower pins for €2 each. The fundraising drive... Read more

Explain a 'cybrid' to your friends

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, if it gets through British Parliament, will permit the creation of IVF-conceived children for the purpose of creating tissue-matches for sick siblings, and it will reduce the legal time limit on abortion from 24... Read more

Cytology lab association slams tender award to US company

The decision to award Quest Diagnostics with a contract to provide all of Ireland's cytology screening is not just bad; it's a potential disaster - according to the Irish Association for Clinical Cytology (IACC). According to an IACC press release,... Read more

The genetics of happiness

A recent article in Psychological Science has argued that subjective well-being (happiness and unhappiness) is linked to personality by common genes. Brain Blogger weighs in on it:... Read more

Peer training helps reduce teen smoking: Lancet

Peer trainers are more likely to encourage teenagers to quit smoking compared with a conventional teacher-led educational approach, according to an article in the Lancet. Listen to the podcast.... Read more

Mary Harney: il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

Mary Harney has been Minister for Health since 2004 and now, thanks to new Taoiseach Brian Cowen, she's about to do what no female politician has done before: enter another five years on the job. The only other two female... Read more

Study could result in relaxed UK abortion guidelines

Abortions could soon be more accessible for Irish women travelling to the UK, under plans by the Government to reduce waiting times for early medical abortions (EMAs). The British Department of Health have published the results of a pilot study... Read more

Hiccup... Hiccup... Hiccup... Hiccup... etcetera

Hiccups are often the cause of mirth, but you just have to feel really sorry for this guy.... Read more

No hope is better than false hope

The National Strategy for Service User Involvement in the Irish Health Services was launched yesterday by the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm. A document containing very laudable... Read more

Asthma Society marks World Asthma Day

To highlight World Asthma Day today, the Asthma Society of Ireland held a seminar for members of the Oireachtas to highlight that Ireland has the fourth highest level of asthma incidence in the world. New research conducted by the... Read more

Genetic therapy for cancer

The Times on the refinement of cancer diagnosis through genetics.... Read more

Long-term use of ibuprofen protects against Alzheimer's: research

Long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - particularly ibuprofen, has been linked to lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to research published in Neurology. Medical News Today has the full story.... Read more

Naked Gun: The Return of the HSE

The Health Service Executive has held its National Achievement Awards 2008! It reminds me of the scene in one of the Naked Gun films - I can't remember which - where Detective Frank Drebin (brilliantly played by Leslie Nielsen) has... Read more

Need a promotion? Get a facelift

A large number of corporate executives are choosing to get cosmetic surgery in order to be more successful - get promotions, land contracts, get a raise, compete with younger competition - according to Director. After all, "unattractive men earn 15... Read more

Time to face down privatisation?

A backlash is underway in Britain among nurses who are convinced that private companies should no longer be allowed to clean hospitals in the fight against infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile. The Royal College of Nursing in that... Read more

What do your keyboard and toilet seat have in common?

A new study by UK consumer group Which? has found that many keyboards carry more harmful bacteria than a toilet, and can cause food poisoning and gastroenteritis. Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson, from University College London, on behalf of Which?, swabbed... Read more