SIRC Media Watch Archive
Panics and Scares – September 2003

Kissing 'could spread hepatitis C' "The potentially fatal hepatitis C virus could be passed on by kissing or sharing toothbrushes, a study suggests." But, in pargraph 21: "Basil Williams, chief executive of the UK's National Hepatitis C Resource Centre, said more research is needed to determine if it is possible to catch the virus from kissing. 'The jury is still out in the medical profession about the level of risk posed by kissing'". BBC.

High heels raise hopes for gammy knees. Wearing high heels does not increase the risk of developing a crippling knee condition, according to research out today … The researchers found that if anything, wearing high heels seemed to be linked with a reduced risk of developing knee osteoarthritis. Guardian.

Shopping until you drop leads to misery. Shopping until you drop leads to debt and misery, and not to happiness, so policy must be altered to curb Britain's consumer society, the government has been advised. Guardian

Diet of fish 'can prevent' teen violence. Feeding children a diet rich in fish could prevent violent and anti-social behaviour in their teens, according to research to be announced this week which suggests the root causes of crime may be biological rather than social. Observer

Mobiles 'make you senile'. Mobile phones and the new wireless technology could cause a "whole generation" of today's teenagers to go senile in the prime of their lives, new research suggests. Independent

Pentagon spends millions seeking environmentally friendly bullets. The Pentagon is spending millions of dollars to develop "environmentally friendly" lead-free bullets for all of the US Armed Forces. They will still kill you, the thinking seems to be, but the environment will not suffer so much. "[With lead bullets], there is a cost in health, human safety and clean-up," said Bob DiMichele, a spokesman for the US Army's environmental centre. "This is not a fire-and-forget kind of thing. Eventually, we have to pay somebody to go out there and clean up that lead." Independent