Chew on it

Dodging the knife

Surgery to relieve BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) can result in side effects such as impotence. But a recent study suggests that medication may lower the need for prostate surgery by a third. The drug – finasteride – isn’t new: it’s widely used to treat acute urinary retention in men with enlarged prostates.

No moreneedling?

There’s good news for those prone to allergies. A recent study suggests that allergy shots may be a thing of the past. It was found that a daily oral dose of ragweed extract was more effective than a placebo in relieving sneezing, congestion and runny noses after four weeks. But don’t rush to the chemists just as yet. Further studies are needed to determine the dosage for long term safety.

BP blues

Adults who take calcium channel blockers and certain kinds of diuretics to control blood pressure don’t perform as well as other patients on tests of intellectual function, a new study suggests. They also tend to have a greater number of white matter hyper-intensities, brain lesions that are sometimes a sign of inadequate blood flow to the brain. However, it’s not yet clear if the drugs are to blame, or some other factor associated with high BP. But it is worth it to ask your doctor about it in case you find yourself feeling faint or unable to concentrate as well since you were out on themedication.

Hear, hear

Hereditary deafness may occur because of a genetic mutation. It has been discovered that this is the cause of 1 per cent of all cases of hereditary deafness, according to a new report. The gene normally makes a protein called pendrin, which appears to play a key role in the development of the inner ear before birth. A mutation in the pendrin gene also causes the Pendred syndrome, a disease characterised by deafness at birth and the development of goitre or the enlargement of the thyroid gland of the neck. This provides knowledge about a common cause of hereditary deafness.

Magnet magic

Using magnets to relieve pain may sound far-fetched, but it works, reports The Times of London. In a study conducted by Dr Carlos Valbonna of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, the pain of polio patients, who often suffer from chronic muscle and joint aches, less than halved when they were asked to apply magnets to the affected areas for 45 minutes. Some of thesubjects said the magnets also diminished pain for areas in the body that were quite far from the parts on which the magnet was applied.

Insulin therapy

If you are young and a diabetic, stick with insulin therapy, says Andrew Morris and his colleagues from Dundee, UK, in Lancet.

According to the doctors who surveyed 89 young patients, variable adherence to insulin treatment, particularly in young people, is thought to contribute to the poor control of blood sugar (glycaemia) concentrations in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

The researchers found that 25 of the 89 patients obtained less than their prescribed dose of insulin and that the adherence index was inversely related to hospital admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis and all hospital admissions related to acute diabetes complications.

They say the detericration in glycaemic control observed in patients aged between 10 and 20 years was associated with a significant reduction in the adherence index.’