Farmers should use protective equipment when applying herbicides, as exposure to certain chemicals may be linked with cancer, according to a study carried out by the department of health promotion, NUI Galway. While it stressed the need for further research, the study found that Galway farmers made extensive use of herbicides and this could be linked to certain cancers.
A third of Irish mothers give up breast feeding after one week, according to a study carried out by two Dublin GPs, Dr Joe Murphy and Dr Anne Flanagan. Over three-quarters of mothers supplement their natural milk with formula feed during the first week of breast feeding and these are twice as likely to abandon breast feeding within one week. Six out of 10 mothers did breast feed at some stage, but almost three-quarters gave up after three months.
GPs who are thinking about prescribing for drug addicts should realise that they are in for a long haul, as treating addicts is a long, slow process, said Dr Tony Geoghegan, director of the Merchant's Quay Project. Merchant's Quay has 25 patients on its methadone programme. Originally, in 1996, it was thought a short period of intensive support would stabilise drug addicts, but it found that drug addicts required a long, support-filled period to stabilise. Of its patients, two have jobs and one is in full-time education. The remainder still need high levels of support, with nine in FAS courses and 13 in the project's counselling service.
More than a quarter of women in a relationship have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse in the past year, according to research conducted by an Australian researcher, Dr Daniella Mazza.
Her research, carried out in Australia, found that a woman who was abused as a child was more likely to be a victim of domestic violence or sexual abuse. The study also found that patients that are being abused are more likely to be prescribed Valium or other anti-depressive drugs.