Minerva

When researchers asked patients to compare a "virtual colonoscopy" (using computed tomography) with the real thing, they were surprised that most patients said neither test was particularly painful or embarrassing, despite bowel insufflation with gas for the "virtual" procedure. When pressed to make a choice, 58% of patients said they would go for the virtual option next time. Bowel preparation was most patients' least favourite bit (American Journal of Gastroenterology 2003;98:578-85)[CrossRef][ISI][Medline].

Minerva buys organic vegetables for their flavour. She could also buy them for their flavonoids, according to food chemists from California. Their study of corn, strawberries, and marionberries found that organically grown fruit and vegetables contained more flavonoid antioxidants than regular varieties (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2003;51:1237-41)[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]. Flavonoid production, part of a plant's stress response, is suppressed by pesticides.

A bad case of the yips can ruin your golfing handicap. The involuntary flinching, jerking, or freezing usually happens just before an important putt, but experts can't decide whether it's psychological or some kind of dystonia. Most golfers think that yips are a physical problem, although about a fifth of respondents in one survey blamed performance anxiety. Golfers said they treated themselvesusually with a stiff drink (Sports Medicine 2003;33: 13-31)[CrossRef][Medline].

The European Center for the Epidemiological Surveillance of AIDS reports an east-west divide in the incidence of HIV in Europe. In 2001, countries in eastern Europe, including Latvia, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine, reported 349 new cases of HIV per million population, compared with 55 new cases per million population in western Europe (Eurosurveillance 2003;8:57-64).

A link between asthma and thunderstorms has been reported in England and Australia. Thunderstorm asthma also happens in Canada, according to a study in Chest (2003;123:745-50)[Abstract/Free Full Text]. The number of patients with asthma visiting one emergency department in Ontario went up (in line with atmospheric concentrations of fungal spores) by 15% during the 151 thunderstorms between 1993 and 1997.

Children in the developed world are getting fatter, but they are also getting increasingly prejudiced against their fat peers. When researchers asked children to rank drawings of other children for likeability, the drawing of the fat child was ranked lowest (Obesity Research 2003;11:452-6)[ISI][Medline]. The drawing of the fat child scored significantly less than it had in a similar experiment done in 1961.

Aspirin can inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori, in petri dishes at least. Recent experiments show that adding aspirin or salicylate to a culture medium slows the growth of bacterial colonies in a dose dependent way (Gut 2003;52:490-5)[Abstract/Free Full Text]. It also makes H pylori more susceptible to amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and metronidazole. As yet, it's not clear what this means for people.

Intensive inpatient rehabilitation can help stroke survivors recover at least some of their quality of life. Six months after discharge, though, most of the gains have been lost, say researchers from Canada (Stroke 2003;34:801-5)[Abstract/Free Full Text]. Patients and carers from their longitudinal study blamed fatigue, lack of support (social and professional), mood swings, and unrealistic expectations for the unexpectedly disappointing results.

There's limited evidence that occupational therapy can help stroke survivors too, mostly with activities of daily living. There's a lot more work to be done, however. A recent meta-analysis combined 32 studies, but only a third of them were of decent quality and none extended beyond the end of the interventions. Worse, the interventions varied wildly between studies, limiting the results still further (Stroke 2003;34:676-87)[Abstract/Free Full Text].

Trichloroethylene, a highly volatile industrial degreasing agent, has been found in seminal fluid from eight mechanics (Drug Metabolism and Disposition 2003;31:301-11). They were all infertile, and heavy exposure to trichloroethylene may have been partly responsible. Bigger studies including fertile controls should help clarify the link, which is biologically plausible: a p450 enzyme that metabolises trichloroethylene is found in testicular Leydig's cells and in epididymal epithelium.

If your boyfriend goes a bit distant when he sees a Porsche, it's because his brain cannot process your image properly when it's busy processing the image of his favourite car. Male students who like cars are the most vulnerable to this kind of interference, according to a paper in Nature Neuroscience (www.nature.com/natureneuroscience advance online publication 10 March; doi: 10.1038/nnlo29). There's no cure.

Preventing relapses in people with a history of depression costs more if you add cognitive therapy to standard treatment with antidepressantsbetween £4328 and £5027 more for each relapse prevented, says a recent economic analysis from the United Kingdom (British Journal of Psychiatry 2003;182:221-7)[Abstract/Free Full Text]. The sum of £12.50 for each extra day of wellbeing won't sound very much to patients. But it won't be patients who get to decide whether it's too much for the NHS.

A 54 year old greyhaired man was diagnosed with an adenoma of the pituitary gland in 1998, which was resected twice. After its recurrence in 2001 radiotherapy was administered to the pituitary gland area. One year after radiotherapy he was in complete remission. The new hair growth in the radiation fields on the temples was black, the patient's original hair colour. In this case radiotherapy recoloured grey hair. F Momm, intern, A Tsekos, consultant, department of radiotherapy, University Clinic, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany

Marriage makes most people happier, according to a longitudinal study (Personality and Social Psychology 2003;84:527-39). But not by much, and not for long. Researchers studying 24 000 Germans detected a small increase in happiness after marriage (0.1 points on a scale of 1 to 10), but it quickly disappeared. They blame adaptationa theory which says that happiness is more or less preset, like a thermostat. Whatever happens, we all return to baseline eventually.

Footnotes

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