Health File

Sleep wavesFor those suffering from sleepless nights due to sleep apnoea, there might be a ray of hope. A California-based surgeon has devis...

Sleep waves

For those suffering from sleepless nights due to sleep apnoea, there might be a ray of hope. A California-based surgeon has devised a new technique based on attacking the cause of the condition with radio waves. Sleep apnoea is caused by excess tissue in the palate, nose or tongue, which blocks the throat during sleep, waking sufferers repeatedly during the night. The new technique involves sticking a needle-like electrode into the offending tissue. The tissue emits oscillating radio-waves that heat the tissue, denaturing the proteins in it and killing the urea.

Biting fact

It has been found that children living in areas where the rate of malaria infection is high, may actually have a lower risk of developing severe cases, than children living in areas where the risk of malaria infection is moderate, or low. In fact, findings suggest that malaria control programmes that reduce infection rates only slightly, may inadvertently increase the rate of severe malaria-relatedillnesses and death in children. The researchers do not know for certain why this is so. Since children who live in areas where infection rates are high are more likely to get infected as infants, it is thought that the ability to develop clinical immunity early in life may be a critical factor in fighting the disease.

Drop the weight belt

Don8217;t count on that hefty lifting belt to protect you against injury. In fact, back-support belts may do more harm than good, according to William Marras, Director of the Biodynamics Laboratory at Ohio State University. quot;Weight-lifters need to be specially careful because leather-support belts allow you to lift about 20 per cent more weight than you would do normally, but don8217;t offer any protection for the spine. So, you are lured into a false sense of security,quot; he says.

The only people who should use them, says Marras, are those under the guidance of an occupational physician.

Screening dilemma

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men inmany Western countries. It8217;s also the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men. What8217;s worse, the death toll is likely to rise over the next 15 years, as is the cost of treatment. The precise cause of the disease remains unknown. Doctors abroad are claiming that more cases are being detected now than ever before, thanks to screening programmes with prostate-specific antigen PSA 8212; an enzyme that liquifies the ejaculate 8212; and digital rectal examination DRE. PSA is produced by prostate cells, both malignant and benign, and is used as a marker for prostatic disease. Screening, however, is much more controversial.