Behind the Headlines

Charity calls for ban of 'face-down restraint'

Wednesday Jun 19 2013

The use of physical restraint in psychiatric hospitals has been widely reported after the publication of a report by the mental health charity MIND on the use of the practice...

Is road traffic pollution really a cause of autism?

Wednesday Jun 19 2013

“Severe air pollution ‘can double risk of having autistic child’,” reports The Times. If you’re a parent-to-be you shouldn’t be unduly worried by this story, as the science it’s based on cannot and does not show a definite link....

New colour-coded food nutrition labels

Wednesday Jun 19 2013

A radical overhaul of how nutritional information is displayed on the front of the packaging of many food products has been announced. The government, food makers and food retailers have agreed the new standardised front-of-pack labelling to...

Health claims about vitamin D examined

Tuesday Jun 18 2013

Vitamin D – it's a regular staple of health news stories. But what exactly is it? How much do we need? Are we all getting enough? Can you take too much? Behind the Headlines investigates…

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Misguided claims alcohol in pregnancy helps baby

Tuesday Jun 18 2013

“A glass of wine every day in pregnancy could be good for your baby,” is the entirely incorrect headline in The Daily Telegraph today. Other newspapers reported that drinking while pregnant does ‘no harm’, these claims are also misleading...

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Baldness drug finasteride (propecia) 'cuts men's drinking'

Monday Jun 17 2013

“Anti-baldness drug can cause men to lose interest in alcohol,” reports the Mail Online. This report is based on a small survey of young men who had been taking the drug, finasteride, for hair loss....

Earlier breast screening in high-risk women shows 'encouraging' results

Monday Jun 17 2013

"Women with a family history of breast cancer should be screened in their thirties," says The Daily Telegraph. The news relates to an ongoing study that aims to...

Are men's sex drives to blame for the menopause?

Friday Jun 14 2013

"'Cradle snatchers' cause menopause, says biologist," is the bizarre headline in The Guardian today. The menopause has always been a bit of an evolutionary puzzle. Evolution is about one thing only – reproducing genes. So why...

Tenofovir halves HIV risk for injecting drug users

Friday Jun 14 2013

“New AIDS prevention pill could cut infection rates in IV drug users by 50%,” the Daily Mail reports, as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to approve the medication for injecting drug users…

Claims angry Lego faces could upset children

Thursday Jun 13 2013

“Lego characters are getting angrier – and could be harming children's development,” reports the Daily Mail…