A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
COMPULSIVE FAMILY TRAITS:Scientists have discovered new evidence on why obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) runs in families.
They studied people with OCD and their close family members and found they shared distinctive patterns in their brain structure.
The experts, from the University of Cambridge, said it was the first time an anatomical trait had been linked with familial risk for the disorder.
Their findings, published in the journal Brain, could help predict risk and lead to more accurate diagnosis of OCD.
Sufferers experience recurrent thoughts about subjects such as contamination and germs.
They may also take part in rituals, such as repeated hand-washing, checking windows are locked or lining items up in a specific order.
OCD is known to run in families but little is known about how genes contribute to the disorder,although one theory is they may influence brain structure.
A free public lecture on OCD and the family will be held in the main lecture theatre, St Patrick's Hospital, James's Street, Dublin 2, tomorrow night at 7pm.
OUT-OF-HOURS SERVICE:A new cross-Border general practitioner out-of-hours service began yesterday.
The service, which is being set up on a pilot basis, enables people living in the south Armagh Border areas who require a GP outside normal practice hours to attend a GP in the NEDOC out-of-hours centre in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.
ROYAL APPOINTMENT:The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has appointed Dr Stephen Patchett, MD, FRCPI as Dean of Examinations.
Dr Patchett is a consultant physician and gastroenterologist at Beaumont Hospital. The Royal College of Physicians says he has been "an enthusiastic contributor to all aspects of medical training and education throughout his career".
He has worked with the college both as the national specialty director for gastroenterology and as a member of the General Professional Training committee of the college.
Dr Patchett succeeds Dr Fidelma Dunne in the role of Dean of Examinations.
WHOLE GRAIN BENEFITS:Eating more whole grain and fibre-rich food may lower the risk of pancreatic cancer by about 40 per cent, study findings suggest.
Dr June M Chan, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues identified that this reduced risk among adults who ate two or more servings of whole grains each day compared with those who ate less than one serving a day. They also noted about a 35 per cent reduction in risk among those who ate the highest amount of fibre (26.5g per day or more) compared with those who ate the least (15.6g per day or less).
"There is a possibility that diet can affect one's risk of pancreatic, as well as other cancers," Chan said, "and that eating a diet rich in a wide variety of grains is likely to not only help in the prevention of diabetes and heart disease, but also this very deadly cancer." Overall, the results of the study suggest that eating more whole grains may protect against pancreatic cancer.
INNER PEACE LECTURE:Paul Fleischmann, a psychiatrist and Vipassan mediation teacher, will give a public lecture on Cultivating Inner Peace at the Milltown Institute, Sandford Road, Dublin 6, on Monday next, December 3rd, at 7 pm.
The organisers say he will be exploring "the psychology, wisdom, and poetry of Gandhi, Thoreau,the Buddha and Yeats". Admission is free. For further information, e-mail info@ie.dhamma.org.
POOR SEXUAL HEALTH:The picture of sexual health across Britain is getting worse, according to a new report.
Figures showed particularly worrying trends for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people, gay men and some ethnic minorities.
A total of 376,508 new sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in 2006 - up 2.2 per cent on the 368,341 figure for 2005.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) report also revealed that the total number of STI diagnoses increased 2.4 per cent from 606,600 in 2005 to 621,300 in 2006. Those aged 16-24 are particularly at risk and made up most new cases of chlamydia.