Behind the Headlines

New strain of norovirus detected

Thursday Jan 10 2013

The emergence of a new Australian strain of norovirus – the ‘winter vomiting bug’ – has featured in most newspapers today. The Daily Telegraph reports that the new strain is to blame for the record number of cases of the virus seen this winter...

Breast cancer drug studies 'subject to spin'

Thursday Jan 10 2013

The Daily Telegraph reports the alarming news "Breast cancer drug trials 'spun for impact'," saying that trial results are spun to make treatments appear more beneficial than they actually are...

Jabs 'more upsetting' for babies of first-time mums

Wednesday Jan 9 2013

"Babies with anxious mothers 'feel more pain' during jabs," was today's headline in The Daily Telegraph. The story comes from a study looking at whether a baby's "pain behaviours"...

Claims ginseng is 'new Viagra' just don’t stand up

Wednesday Jan 9 2013

'Forget Viagra, a tablet made from ginseng could boost a man's love life' is misleading speculation in the Daily Mail as they report on a study which actually found that the ginseng was no better than placebo in treating erectile dysfunction…

Is children's asthma made worse by inhalers?

Tuesday Jan 8 2013

Genetic tests could pave way to 'personalised' asthma drugs The Guardian reports while warning that current treatments may make symptoms worse. They report on a study which found that children with certain genes responded better to specific treatments…

Pollen in pregnancy could be linked to infant asthma

Tuesday Jan 8 2013

'Pregnant women exposed to pollen shortly before birth are more likely to have children with severe asthma,' is the somewhat alarmist headline in the Daily Mail. The news is based on a large Swedish study...

Do epilepsy and migraine share a genetic link?

Monday Jan 7 2013

'Epilepsy and migraine could have shared genetic link' BBC News tells us after researchers publish the findings of a study which suggests there is a link between family history of epilepsy and an increased risk of severe migraines…

Fatness in older women 'may not be their fault'

Monday Jan 7 2013

'Why women pile on the pounds as they age – and it may not be their fault,' is the headline in the Daily Mail. The story is based on a mouse- and laboratory-based study that found that the enzyme Aldh1 plays a key role in fat formation...

Are 'turbocharged' immune cells key to cancer cure?

Friday Jan 4 2013

"Immune system 'booster' may hit cancer," BBC News reports. The headlines follow Japanese research where stem cells were used to clone and produce large numbers of a specialised type of white blood cell...

1 comment about ‘Are 'turbocharged' immune cells key to cancer cure?’:

Dubious claims that crying babies 'self-soothe'

Friday Jan 4 2013

'Want a good night's sleep? Let the baby cry' is the deeply misleading headline in the The Daily Telegraph as they report on a study that presented absolutely no new evidence on whether leaving a baby to cry was either good or bad for the baby…

1 comment about ‘Dubious claims that crying babies 'self-soothe' ’: