IN BRIEF (Page 19)

Thyroid problems

Nervousness, mood swings and weight loss can all indicate an overactive thyroid gland.

Sleep disturbances, abnormal sweating and heart palpitations are other symptoms, according to the Professional Society of German Internists (BDI) in Wiesbaden.

Other signs are not as apparent. They include shivering, diarrhea, disrupted menstrual periods or hair loss. Older people usually experience less severe symptoms, though they are more prone to exhaustion, intestinal blockage or dry skin.

Due to the highly visible mental symptoms, thyroid patients are often improperly treated with psychotropic drugs, says Otto-Albrecht- Mller of the BDI.

Support for supplements

Older men and women who take nutritional supplements are more likely to get adequate amounts of several vitamins and minerals than their peers who don't use supplements, a new study shows. The researchers also found that while a substantial proportion of people 51 and older don't get enough vitamins and minerals from diet alone, fewer than half took supplements every day.

It's not his sweat, it's your nose

When it comes to a man's body odor, the fragrance - or stench - is in the nose of the beholder, according to US researchers who suggest a single gene may determine how people perceive body odor. The study, published online on Sunday in the journal Nature, helps explain why the same sweaty man can smell like vanilla to some, like urine to others and for about a third of adults, have no smell at all.

Walking for Alzheimer's

Hundreds participated in this year's Memory Walk on Sunday in Beijing, organized by the Chinese Committee for Alzheimer's Disease International. According to the committee, walking exercises the muscles below the waist, increase lung volume, stimulating the regeneration of nerve cells, promoting blood circulation, and slowing the aging process of brain.

There are currently more than 24.3 million people suffering from Alzheimer's worldwide. In China about 7 million people suffer from the disease and the number rises by 300,000 per year.

Sick? Lonely? Genes tell the tale

Lonely people are more likely to get sick and die young, and researchers said on Thursday they may have found out why - their immune systems are haywire. They used a "gene chip" to look at the DNA of isolated people and found that people who described themselves as chronically lonely have distinct patterns of genetic activity, almost all of it involving the immune system.

Sign of early lung cancer

Having isolated arthritis in one knee could be an early warning sign for lung cancer, Italian researchers suggest. "Knee monoarthritis as an early manifestation of lung cancer has never been described previously," Dr. Fabrizio Cantini, from the Hospital of Prato, told Reuters Health. He noted that the knee trouble in such cases appears very early, "with the consequent possibility of surgical removal of the cancer".

Banana peel breakthrough

Taiwan researchers have discovered that banana peel extract can ease depression and protect the retina, a newspaper said Monday.

A research team from Taichung's Chung Shan Medical University found after two years of research that banana peel is rich in serotonin, which is vital to balancing moods.

A low level of serotonin in the brain is believed to cause depression although doctors have yet to find out the relationship between depression and low levels of serotonin.

Gorging at healthy restaurants

People who opt for a meal at a "healthy" restaurant often consume more calories than they would dining at fast food joints that make no health claims, a new study shows. The researchers found that individuals underestimate the calorie content of foods served at restaurants they see as healthier, to a degree that could easily lead to weight gain.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 09/19/2007 page19)