After Justice Minister Alan Shatter yesterday promised legislation to allow reporting of hitherto secret decisions in children’s courts, it is now incumbent on health minister Dr James Reilly to commit to rescind the similarly secretive and outdated Fluoridation Act of 1963 before the Referendum on Children’s rights on Sat 10th November 2012. “Unless the government commits to rescind the discredited... 

We are a society obsessed with food. Overeating and obesity are, in fact, becoming an epidemic in the West. “Fast food” joints and “all you can eat” restaurants with buffets and alcoholic beverages are springing up all over the place. We see junk food dispensers in most of our schools. Everywhere we go we are bombarded with enticing ads encouraging us to eat and drink. Gluttony... 

Washington has reportedly decided to ease restrictions on the sale of medicine to Iran in fear that it may lose global support for anti-Iran sanctions, the Los Angeles Times reported. Though US rules have not imposed any bans on American firms to sell medicine and medical supplies to Iran, exporters have been required to apply for special licenses. Besides, as the aftermath of the sanctions, the impossibility... 

Bald men can regain hair with eye drops for glaucoma. Drug interactions and pre-existing diseases can make the therapy risky. However, eye drops for glaucoma have become a macho thing. It may even end one of the world’s greatest male torments, baldness. So a survey, published by researchers in the journal FASEB, reveals. Eye drops for glaucoma have become a macho thing. It may even end one of... 

Canadian doctors aim to stem their country’s obesity epidemic in a radical new way: Copying anti-smoking campaigns. They have suggested slapping threatening labels on pizzas, soda drinks and other junk food, warning of the diseases they might cause. ­The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) unveiled several mock-ups on Tuesday to promote their plan, including a pizza box with a picture of a liver... 

The Italian Supreme Court has ruled there is a causal link between mobile phone use and brain tumors in a landmark case. The ruling has set a legal precedent that could potentially trigger a deluge of lawsuits. Innocente Marcolini, a 60-year-old retired businessman argued that the excessive use of his mobile phone for around six hours every day for 12 years caused a benign brain tumor that left his... 

A little-known plant with a truly bizarre name is now making headlines as a cancer killer, with the compound of the plant vanishing tumors in mice with pancreatic cancer. Known as the “Tripterygium Wilfordii” or Lei Gong Teng sometimes called “Thunder God Vine”, the Chinese plant is actually integrated into Chinese medicine and has been used for ages in remedying a number of... 

Who doesn’t wish to live on this earth for ever? But death is inevitable. Human beings under the natural process of aging slowly move towards death. Of course, dreadful diseases like cancer often cause human beings to die young. Scientists in advanced countries are now working vigorously on finding out the ways and means to extend human life expectancy, they are even aspiring to make humans... 

A doctor looks at the meningitis-causing fungus Exserohilum rostratum at a laboratory at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on October 12, 2012. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says 19 more people have been diagnosed with fungal meningitis across the United States, bringing the total number of cases to 231. The CDC said on Tuesday that the death toll... 

European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli has resigned. The European Commission says the EU commissioner for health and consumer policy has resigned over allegations of corruption involving tobacco laws. The commission said in a statement that John Dalli stepped down from his post on Tuesday, “following an investigation by OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud office, into a complaint”... 

Naegleria fowleri surrounded by white cells in spinal fluid Pakistan’s major city Karachi was struck by an outbreak of Naegleria fowleri, also known as ‘brain-eating amoeba.’ The deadly freshwater microbe kills 98 percent of those infected. The source of the infection has yet to be identified. The amoeba is transmitted from contaminated water through the nasal cavity and travels to the brain,... 

As predicted in this column several years ago, tropical diseases have started to appear in Europe. Among these is the dreaded Dengue Fever, which can develop into an Ebola-like haemorrhagic form, causing the patient to bleed from the nose, mouth, ears and eyes. To date there are 34 cases reported on the Isle of Madeira, Portugal. The cases were confirmed by the President of the Regional Health Service... 

Beekeepers in north eastern France have been scratching their heads after the hives began to produce a weird colored substance instead of regular honey. They think candy M&Ms are to blame. The bees around the town of Ribeauville in the Alsace region have been carrying an unidentified colored substance back to their hives since August. The keepers have done a bit of sleuthing and think the Agrivolar... 

The European Food Safety Authority has rejected a controversial study by French scientists linking GM corn to cancer. Many in Europe are already calling for stricter controls on GMOs, as farmers weigh the lucrative crops against health concerns. ­In September, French scientists from the University of Caen released a study claiming that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a corn seed variety made... 

Monsanto, Bill Gates, the Rockefellers, Craig Venter and other investors are working behind-the-scenes to bring genetically engineered (GE) algae to market with products that include fuel, animal feed made with manure, human food and vaccines. The US government have a stake in this enterprise, too. Obama put a moratorium on drilling for oil on federal land and voted down the Keystone pipeline, in...