Fed: CheckUp Column for Friday, April 9

AAP General News (Australia)
04-09-2004
Fed: CheckUp Column for Friday, April 9

A ROUNDUP OF ISSUES AFFECTING YOUR HEALTH

By Kylie Walker, National Medical Writer



DEMON DRINK CATCHES UP TO EVIL WEED

Australia's great drinking tradition could be shaken by the World Health Organisation's
finding that direct harm from alcohol almost equals that of tobacco.

In Australia, WHO said, up to six per cent of all deaths are attributable to the health
effects of alcohol - and that's not including car accidents or domestic violence.

But grog has for the large part escaped the stark health warnings and public health
backlash that have tarred cigarettes - a phenomenon in part due to the health benefits
of a moderate intake.

Alcohol policy experts have told the international journal Nature that the WHO finding
shows beefier measures, such as increased taxation and restrictions on the sale of alcohol,
are now needed.





PHONE RADIATION CHANGES CELL ENERGY

Radiation from mobile phones appears to cause a massive increase in the forces that
cells exert on each other, a finding by Swedish scientists that could explain how phones
might cause cancer or other health problems.

Researchers have long suspected that mobile phones could harm health but they haven't
yet been about to figure out how that might happen.

The new discovery was made when the Swedish team looked at the positive and negative
electric charges that create an attraction between cells, New Scientist reported.

They found these normally weak charges are made strong by electromagnetic fields created
by radiation, forcing the molecules inside cells to change their position within the cell.

That could damage tissue by making cells clump together or causing blood vessels to
contract, the scientists hypothesised.

Now they hope to test the theory by exposing different types of tissue to mobile phone radiation.





MUMS AND DADS UNDER OBESITY SPOTLIGHT

Parenting skills will come under close scrutiny by scientists embarking on a new study
of the growing problem of obesity in children.

Armed with a scholarship from the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity and
National Health Foods, Adelaide PhD student Rebecca Haigh will undertake a three-year
study into whether teaching adults new parenting skills makes any difference to their
child's weight.





BRAIN TUMOUR BONNET CALL

In an echo of the traditional Easter bonnet parade, Australians with brain tumours
are being asked to doff their headgear from this weekend to symbolise new beginnings.

Brain Tumour Australia is asking for caps, beanies, bonnets and other hats from patients
and those who've lost a loved one to a brain tumour, to be made into a travelling display
to promote awareness and research.

In Australia 1,400 people each year are newly diagnosed with a primary brain tumour.

Many do not survive.

"We are aiming for a total of 1,400 hats, to symbolise that dreadful annual statistic,"

the group's chairman Denis Strangman said.

"Brain Tumour Australia wants to go forward to find new forms of treatment, to seek
a more optimistic prognosis for those diagnosed, and to raise community awareness about
brain tumours."

Hats - along with a note giving details of the owner - should be sent to Bronwyn Beattie,
c/- Yarrawarrah Public School, Old Bush Rd, Engadine, NSW 2033.



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KEYWORD: CHECKUP

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