Health: Vital Signs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A dinner including almonds and turnips and a strategic application of ambergris may be all that is necessary to spice up your love life. A guide to aphrodisiacs included in the new edition of Regaining Potency: the answer to male impotence by the Independent's former medical editor, Oliver Gillie, says experiments on rats at King Saud University suggest that these are among the most promising preparations for stimulating the sexual appetite. And it saves on champagne and candles. Available from Self-help Direct, PO Box 9035, London N12 8ED, pounds 10.95 (inc p&p).
Drivers who suffer from diabetes may pose as big a risk to other motorists as those who drink, according to a study.
Low blood-sugar levels impair performance. People with insulin dependent diabetes may not realise that their driving ability is affected, researchers say.
A study of 2,000 accidents caused by drivers who collapsed at the wheel found 340 were the result of diabetic patients becoming hypoglycaemic - suffering from low blood sugar. Up to one-third of insulin-treated drivers have reported suffering from hypoglycaemia.
Dr David Kerr, consultant physician, and Joan Everett, a specialist nurse, say in the Journal of Diabetes Nursing that there is an urgent need for Britain's 370,000 insulin-treated diabetics to be made more aware of the risks, so that they eat regularly and keep a supply of glucose in their cars.
Scientists have added a further piece to the jigsaw that may one day yield the genetic basis of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, US, and the University of Madrid in Spain, compared two groups of individuals with and without Alzheimer's disease. They found three variations in a particular region of the Apo E gene. One of these caused unusually high levels of Apo E. People who had this variation were about three times more likely to have Alzheimer's than those who did not.
The chief researcher, Dr Alison Goate, said, "We believe that higher levels of Apo E expression are contributing to an increase in the risk of Alzheimer's disease."
Jeremy Laurance
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments