GOOD NEWS

Ageing with polio

Researchers at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, US, have found that years after experiencing childhood polio, most survivors do not experience declines greater than expected in their elderly counterparts, but rather experience only modest increased weakness which may be commensurate with normal ageing. “Other researchers have suggested that polio is a more aggressive condition later in life, but we’ve actually found it to be relatively benign,” says neurologist and leader of the research group Eric Sorenson. “Our results suggest that polio survivors may not age any differently than those in the normal population. This means the cause for the decline in muscle strength in polio survivors may be ageing alone,” he says.

Cosmetic hearing

Say goodbye to your clumsy hearing aids. The Middle Ear Transducer (MET), that can be surgically implanted behind the skin of your ear, is being marketed in India now. MET consists of an internal component (the implant), the programming system, a charger and a remote control. Sound is picked up by the microphone and processed and sent to the transducer for distortion-free audio inputs, not achieved by earlier hearing aids. The surgery requires a small incision behind the ear.

BAD NEWS

Stress & allergy

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm says there are important links between mental stress and the complex physical inflammation reactions characteristic of allergies. Regulatory T cells, central to the immune system, increase sharply in number in response to stress. The study also showed that blood concentrations of a group of inflammation products called cytokines changed and shifted against a pattern associated with allergic inflammation. The two discoveries might be linked, says Mats Lekander, who is leading the research group. “The regulatory T cells are dysfunctional in people with allergies,” he says.

Trauma trails

A survey of adult survivors of childhood cancers found that more than one out of eight reported having suicidal thoughts many years after being treated. “The association with physical health and pain is important,” say a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, “because these represent potentially treatable conditions for which survivors may seek follow-up care.” The study “underscores the need for a multidisciplinary approach to survivor care.”