SIRC Media Watch Archive
Panics and Scares – November 2002

Moderate Beer Drinking May Be Heart Healthy. Drinking a few glasses of beer with dinner may provide some protection against heart disease, Dutch researchers report. In their small study, levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a compound associated with inflammation, and fibrinogen, which contributes to blood clots, declined among a group of middle-aged adults who consumed three or four glasses of beer with dinner. Reuters

"Telephone stroke" identified in Canada. Anyone who talks on the telephone for a long time-especially elderly people-should consider changing sides often or using a hands free telephone to avoid the possibility of a stroke, suggests a case report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (2002;167:1104). BMJ

Higher coffee consumption 'linked to lower diabetes risk'. Higher consumption of coffee could be linked with a lower risk of developing type-2 diabetes, research shows. It found those who drank at least seven cups of coffee a day were 50% less likely to develop the condition than those who drank two cups or less. Ananova

For a long life, don't move to Manchester. Countryside dwellers may be bemoaning their lot at the moment but figures released yesterday show that many can expect a longer life than their urban counterparts. The discrepancy between life expectancy for men born in North Dorset and those from Manchester was almost 10 years. For women, living in the right area can add more than seven years to their life. Independent

Only 3% of women happy with their bodies. Only 3% of women in the UK are totally happy with their body and 73% think about their size or shape every single day, a survey finds. Ananova.