The risk of contracting a clostridium difficile infection after operations where a “prophylactic” antibiotic is given to prevent infection is 21 times greater now than a decade ago, say researchers at Canada's Sherbrooke University in Clinical Infectious Diseases (June 15). Giving antibiotics changes a patient's gut flora, says the study, and this can leave him or her vulnerable to virulent new strains of C difficile, which can occasionally cause death.

Exposure to lead in childhood is associated with shrinking of specific parts of the brain in adulthood, says a study in PLoS Medicine (May 27) by Cincinnati University. Brain scans of 157 adults exposed to lead in childhood found that the damaged areas included those responsible for executive functions - organising actions, decisions, and behaviours - as well as for regulating behaviours and co-ordinating fine movements.

Moderate alcohol consumption of between half and one unit a day may help to keep bones strong, says a study of hip-fracture rates in the American Journal of Medicine (May). Heavy alcohol consumption is a risk factor for osteoporotic fractures and low bone density, but the review of previous research results by Albert Einstein College of Medicine shows that moderate alcohol consumption may have the opposite effect.

Men working as painters and decorators who are exposed to glycol ethers are more likely to have poor semen quality, cautions research by the universities of Sheffield and Manchester. Men who work with such solvents have a 2.5-fold greater risk of a low motile sperm count, reports Occupational and Environmental Medicine (May 28). Glycol ethers are widely used in many products, including water-based paints.

Youth crave tough justice

When young people were asked why they were more punitive than adults. ' Violent crime is happening to us,' came the answer

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Walking with a stick may help to reduce the risk of people's knee osteoarthritis worsening, according to investigators at the University of Melbourne in Arthritis Care & Research (June). Tests showed that walking with a stick effectively reduces two major causes of worsening arthritis - short strides and weight bearing.

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