It is no longer necessary to go to Dublin to browse at Clarendon Medical, the specialist medical bookshop - all you need is an Internet connection. Clarendon Medical's online bookstore, launched today, contains details of more than 17,000 titles of medical interest, and orders can be placed online via a secure server or by fax. Anyone who accesses the website to inquire about a book or place an order will be entered in a free draw for books worth £500, on September 1st. See: www.clarendonmedical.com or www.medical-books.com
Applying virgin olive oil to your skin after sunbathing could protect you against skin cancer, claim Japanese scientists who found that using it as an after-sun lotion slows tumour growth in mice. The researchers wanted to know if olive oil, a potent source of antioxidants, could protect against the ultra-violet (UV) radiation in sunlight that creates free radicals which dam- age DNA in skin cells and can lead to skin cancer. Hairless mice who were daubed with virgin olive oil following three UV sessions a week for 18 weeks were cancer-free for six weeks longer than mice with no after-sun protection. Researchers point out that ordinary olive oil had little effect - and that virgin olive oil is not a sunscreen. (New Scientist)
The debate over the effectiveness of the herbal remedy St John's Wort in treating depression continues with the announcement of the results of a US government-funded study at the American Psychiatric Association. In a study of 200 patients with depression, researchers at the Vanderbilt University in Tennessee found St John's Wort was no more effective than a sugar placebo pill. However, the American College of Physicians and American Society of Internal Medicine recently stated the herb may be effective against mild depression in the short term. It is agreed, however, that patients should inform their doctors if they are taking herbal remedies. --(Reuters)
Do you know anyone who has made a contribution to the understanding, knowledge and support of marriage or relationships at either a local or national level, over the past year? If so, you might like to nominate them for the inaugural Canon Maurice Handy Award launched by the Marriage and Relationships Counselling Services. Canon Maurice Handy set up the Republic's first counselling service in 1962, for people experiencing relationship difficulties. Nomination forms, available from Marriage and Relationships Counselling Services, 24 Grafton Street, Dublin 2 (01-6799341), and must be returned by June 30th.
A surgical breakthrough could mean an end to insulin injections and strict diets for many diabetics. The technique, successfully carried out on eight patients who once had chronic diabetes by a British surgeon, James Shapiro, involves transplanting insulin-producing islet cells from the pancreas of a healthy donor. The patients, who had needed up to 15 injections a day, were quickly able to live without any. Future cloning could overcome the problem of getting enough cells, Shapiro told surgeons at a Chicago conference. --(BBC Health)