health news update

Health news update

We here at Canadian Medicine have rounded up some of the most

interesting recent health news. Keep reading for updates on

schadenfreude, frog eating, the plague, noisy airports and more.

Web of lies

Youtube is rife with anti-vaccination messages, says new University of

Toronto research.

"The green-eyed monster"

Simon Baron-Cohen (Borat's cousin) summarizes a recent study on the

brain correlates for schadenfreude and gloating. The study itself,

published in Brain, has a wonderful title: "The green-eyed monster and

malicious joy: The neuroanatomical bases of envy and gloating

(schadenfreude)."

Don't let it get you down

We knew severe depression was associated with bone damage and

osteoporosis, but a new study found the same is true of even mild

depression.

A heart-wrenching moral debate

The British debate allowing lesbian couples to have IVF, with no

father. A new proposal would remove wording that requires fertility

doctors to consider "the need of that child for a father." During the

debate, one Lord had a heart attack and needed resuscitation from a

fellow Lord surgeon.

Fundraiser extraordinaire

Liberal MP Belinda Stronach, recently treated for breast cancer

herself, raised $1 million for breast cancer reconstructive surgery

for the University Health Network.

Say what?

The noise people are exposed to from living near airports can cause

high blood pressure.

The straight dope, maybe

One marijuana joint is the equivalent -- in terms of lung damage -- of

a whole pack of cigarettes, according to one new study from

Switzerland. One blogger, at Med Journal Watch, points out another

study, from New Zealand, that estimates the damage at about three to

six cigarettes' worth.

Yum yum

A Chinese man solves his intestinal problems by eating live frogs and

rats. (Can this possibly be true? Another story, from China, appears

to corroborate it... Don't miss the photos.)

Gimme a (tax) break

The Canadian GST tax discriminates against publicly funded hospitals,

clinics and other healthcare facilities, several groups allege.

Killed by a dead mountain lion

An American biologist died of the plague in early November in Arizona;

he apparently contracted it from a mountain lion carcass.

Still hunting

Nazi doctor Aribert Heim may still be alive, say authorities.