Health File

Mice with higher levels of ucp2 have faster metabolism and are thinner. Studies on humans are on. "If it’s of some help, drugs that increase ucp2 will be available soon," says Craig Warden, Assistant Professor at the University of California at Davis, US.

Tip for tipplers

For those who face the problem of getting high after four or ten hours of boozing, there is some good news. University of Georgia US is patterning a high speed method of clearing booze from the bloodstream. First, the patient is given an enzyme to stabilise the stomach’s gut. A catheter is then pushed down the patient’s nose or up through the rectum. This feeds pure oxygen into the small intestine. The enzyme and oxygen accelerate the conversion of blood alcohol into acetates and regenerate natural enzymes in the liver.

This technique can be useful to those down with severe alcohol intoxication.

Blame the stars

Not fond of your looks? Don’t like the bump in your nose, your elongated neck? Now you could always shift the blame on to your stars. Antique astro-texts are full of treatises on the physiognomy of the zodiac. William Lily’s Christian Astrology gave Gemini "an active body and piercing hazel eye" and Ronald Harvey in The Spindle of Meaning spends several pages noting the look and mannerism. Those who know both can look in the mirror and decide whether their gaze resembles the piercing stare of their Scorpio ascendant or the alert look of their Gemini Su. After all, they just have their mom’s eyes.

New deal

Scientists in the US are betting on a new drug which may help compulsive gamblers. Initial results of the drug have been encouraging and an over-whelming majority of gamblers cam over their habit. Scientists say that Fluvoxamine (Luvox), currently prescribed in the US to treat obsessive-compulsive disorders, helped seven out of 10 compulsive-gambling patients quit their wagering. “We saw patient improve in the third week of taking the drug,” says Eric Hollander at New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Doctors are hopeful about the effect of this drug on other addicts, and a larger study is in the offing.

Gene wars

In a few years, DNA-based drugs might bring relief to asthma patients. In animal trials, researchers have controlled asthma through gene therapy. When asthmatic rabbits received doses of the drug, their reactions were dramatically reduced. Human trials should begin shortly and the drug may be available within five years.

Colour my text

Psychologists have found that a transparent sheet of coloured plastic can help 20 per cent children read more quickly. The discovery is puzzling, because it is independent of any eyesight difficulties. Arnold Wilkins of the British Government’s Medical Research Council’s Applied Psychology unit, in Cambridge, tested children aged between seven and 12 in more than 20 schools, using a choice of `overlays’ – sheets of coloured plastic laid on top of books. In all the schools, half the children said the overlays made the text clearer and more comfortable to read. Clear overlays, grey overlays or those with only a hint of colour made no difference to reading.