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Week of February 5, 2001


Patients with irritable syndrome were treated with antibiotics for 10 days, and symptoms were eliminated in more than half of them. This leads researchers to the conclusion that the cause is too much bacteria in the small intestine. About 20% of adults in the developed world are believed to have irritable bowel syndrome. The symptoms include gas, bloating, and abdominal pain.

Despite a widespread campaign to alert parents to the dangers of putting babies to sleep on their stomachs, a new Canadian study shows that more than half of the victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome were put to bed that way by their parents or caregivers. The study looked at the sleeping positions of 157 SIDS babies in Montreal in the 90’s. Although there’s no conclusive evidence that sleeping on the stomach causes SIDS, international campaigns that push the non-prone sleep position have dramatically reduced the numbers of infant deaths. Researchers say it’s clear from this study that the message is not getting through in some pockets
of the population.

We know that donating blood will save a life, but I bet you didn’t think it would also be healthy for the donor. But there’s strong scientific evidence that blood donation lowers iron levels, and the risk of heart attack. The large amounts of iron we store away can increase the risk of heart disease, liver cancer and perhaps brain diseases such as Alzheimer. Blood loss is the only way to eliminate stored iron from the body, and although women do this regularly through menstruation, men have no safe way of losing blood, except by donating it.

 

 

 


 
 
 

© TVOntario, 2003

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This website contains general information on the stories featured on Your Health. Although it’s our goal to provide comprehensive information on health and medical issues, please be advised that we cannot provide individual medical advice on specific health problems.
  


© TVOntario, 2000