HEALTH NOTES: One in ten women admits risking deadly skin cancer by excessive holiday sunbathing
One woman in ten admits to sunbathing for five hours a day on two-week holidays – dramatically increasing the risk of deadly skin cancer.
One in four of the 2,000 British women polled said tanning is so important, the holiday isn’t ‘successful’ if they don’t return home bronzed.
Previous research has shown that getting sunburnt once every two years could triple the risk of melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer. Experts say that nine in ten cases of melanoma could be prevented by limiting sunbathing, including sunbeds.
One woman in ten admits to sunbathing for five hours a day on two-week holidays – dramatically increasing the risk of deadly skin cancer
Bad driving could signal dementia
Changes in driving ability may be an early indicator of dementia.
Mild cognitive impairment is often seen as a precursor to dementia and scientists at Columbia University have developed computer algorithms that can accurately detect it – by analysing the way people drive.
The study involved 3,000 volunteers aged 65 to 79.
Mild cognitive impairment is often seen as a precursor to dementia and scientists at Columbia University have developed computer algorithms that can accurately detect it – by analysing the way people drive
They had an in-car ‘black box’ recorder fitted, and were tracked for four years. No participants had signs of dementia, cognitive impairment or any other degenerative conditions at the start.
By the end, 33 had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and 31 with dementia. Changes in driving habits marked them out from those who didn’t develop dementia.
Results suggest it could be possible in future to detect signs of dementia using software designed for cars.
Your sensitivity to caffeine might be written in your DNA.
An Australian study has discovered that people who carry genes for heart health problems, such as high blood pressure, angina and arrhythmia, drink less coffee than those who don’t have these genes, or avoid drinking it.
Professor Elina Hypponen says their findings show our genetics regulate the amount of coffee we drink and protect us from consuming too much.
An Australian study has discovered that people who carry genes for heart health problems, such as high blood pressure, angina and arrhythmia, drink less coffee than those who don’t have these genes, or avoid drinking it
‘Someone who drinks a lot of coffee is likely [to be] more genetically tolerant of caffeine, as compared to someone who drinks little. A non-coffee-drinker is more likely prone to the adverse effects of caffeine, and more susceptible to high blood pressure.’
ANTIBIOTICS are as effective for treating appendicitis as surgery to remove the appendix, a US study has found. Appendicitis – a painful swelling of the organ connected to the large intestine – is usually diagnosed at severe stage, resulting in a hospital admission and the removal of the organ.
But the new study found no difference in outcome between those treated with antibiotics and those given the full surgery. Doctors said: ‘More than 70 per cent of patients in the antibiotics group avoided surgery.’
Think your spots are gruesome? Count yourself lucky you’re not the Russian woman whose boils turned out to be a tiny worm making its way around her face, under her skin.
First, one spot-like boil appeared below her left eye. Soon more popped up. Days later she developed a lump on her lip and sought medical help, says a report published in the New England Journal Of Medicine.
Doctors discovered a worm-like creature, known as Dirofilaria repens, usually found in pets. Infection in people is rare – the worm is not usually able to survive under human skin. In this case, it was swiftly removed.