# Other health news 15/01/09



## Admin (Jan 15, 2009)

*Postcode lottery' for gene screening funds*
More than half of couples seeking embryo screening to protect their offspring from inherited genetic diseases such as breast cancer are being prevented from doing so, researchers say. Evidence from one of the country's leading gene-screening clinics suggests that local health authorities frequently refuse to fund treatment for patients who wish to avoid passing defective genes to their children. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5519507.ece

*Why being depressed can be good for you*
Sadness is good for the health because it helps people change their lives for the better, a study claims. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencea...7/Sadness-is-good-for-you-scientists-say.html

*Start drinking coffee and cut your risk of Alzheimer's*
Four cups of coffee a day could keep Alzheimer's at bay. Drinking three to five coffees daily in middle age cuts the risk of developing the disease in old age by two-thirds, a study has found.

*The dyslexia 'myth'*
Labour backbench MP Graham Stringer has claimed dyslexia is a myth invented by education chiefs to cover up poor teaching methods. He added that children should be taught to read and write by using a system called synthetic phonics.

*Menopause: the survivors' guide*
First we were told HRT could cause cancer. Now, herbal remedies for the menopause have been branded dangerous, too. So what SHOULD we be doing? Here, writers who?ve coped in very different ways share their wisdom. When did 'menopause' become a dirty word? It is a stage every healthy woman will face, so why do we allow it to remain clouded in confusion? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...-whove-coped-different-ways-share-wisdom.html

*Ketamine tops cocaine as new drug of choice*
The horse tranquilliser ketamine is increasingly replacing cocaine as the substance of choice among Britain's recreational drug users, according to charities and experts. Use of the drug, known as "Special K" or "Raver's Smack", was found to be on the rise in nine out of 20 areas surveyed by the charity DrugScope. The British Crime Survey shows that use of the drug last year increased nationally by 10 per cent on 2006-07. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ps-cocaine-as-new-drug-of-choice-1366714.html

*Safety checklist to cut errors in operations*
Surgeons in England and Wales will be ordered today to carry out a safety checklist before every operation they perform, after a study showed it cut surgical deaths and complications by a third.  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...alved-death-rate-at-one-hospital-1366705.html


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