Healthy individuals who gain weight, even to a level considered normal, may raise their risk of chronic kidney disease, cautions a study scheduled for the September 2008 Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The study of 8,792 healthy men, led by South Korea's Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, says that shifting to the top of the healthy weight range seems to raise the disease risk.

Patients who have colon cancer diagnosed and have abundant vitamin D in their blood are less likely to die than those who were deficient in the vitamin, say Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (June 20). Their study says that follow-up studies are needed to see if it is worth recommending supplements as a part of treatment.

Adults with diabetes are twice as likely to have impaired hearing, says an analysis of a five-year American national survey of more than 5,000 people. The study, in the Annals of Internal Medicine (July 1), found that 28 per cent of diabetics had hearing impairment in the lower mid-frequency range, and 68 per cent had impairment in the high-frequency range.

Traditional hole-in-the- ground latrines are far healthier in the developing world than Western-style flushing toilets, say researchers at Michigan Technological University. Their investigation, in Environmental Science and Technology (vol 42, no 12), concludes that flush toilets often effectively discharge effluent into once-clean rivers and streams. Properly built latrines keep sewage separate from drinking water.

It's a grand life in academia

Academics have a shorter working week, more annual leave and better parental benefits, pensions and sick pay than the rest of us

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Sprinters nearest the starter pistol have an advantage, say researchers at Canada's University of Alberta. They say that runners close to the gun hear the shot loudest - and the louder the gunshot, the faster their reaction time. They add, in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (June), that the findings might boost research into Parkinson's disease, where sounds may help patients to overcome “freezing”, where they want to move but cannot because of impaired processing in the brain.

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