GENE THERAPY BOOST: Gene therapy has been successfully used to treat a four-year-old boy with no immune system, a team of British scientists has revealed.
The boy, named only as Mustaf, had the rare life-threatening immune disorder known as ada-SCID. Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, according to BBC Health News, used a harmless virus to deliver stem cells containing a corrective gene. It is the first successful treatment of ada-SCID in the UK. Five children have been treated in Milan, Italy.
Children with ada-SCID have no working immune system. They are susceptible to even the most minor infection.
YOGA FUNDRAISER: Now in its third year, The Good Friday yogathon offers yoga enthusiasts a chance to join in or complete 24 hours of yoga while also raising money for charity. Held at the Seraph yoga studio, 15 Heytesbury Street, Dublin, the yogathon is open to those who practise yoga from 6am on March 25th to 6am on March 26th. Donations by participants or sponsors will go to the anti-bullying research and resource centre, Trinity College Dublin. Tel: 01 4539971 for more details. See also www.seraph.ie
PHARMACY ACCESS: An initiative aimed at improving the experience of people with disabilities visiting Irish pharmacies has been launched. The initiative, developed jointly by the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) and the Equality Authority, builds awareness of disability issues among pharmacists and provides practical guidance on what steps they can take to make it easier for people with disabilities to access the service.
A guide entitled Community Pharmacies Servicing People with Disabilities, which outlines various recommendations to comply with the Equal Status Act, has been circulated to all IPU members. A follow-up pilot training programme for pharmacists and their staff will be carried out in the coming weeks.
ASTHMA AND MARGARINE LINK: A link between adult-onset asthma and intake of margarine has been found in a study which followed the dietary and lifestyle habits of 25,000 adults over six years. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) found a high intake of the fatty acid, oleic acid, was associated with asthma. The authors suggest that this fatty acid may serve as a marker of margarine- derived trans fats. Synthetic trans fats are made when liquid oil is converted to a spreadable fat by a chemical process known as hydrogenation.