Relief under the needle Acupuncture helps relieve arthritic knee pain in more than one out of two sufferers - but so does a placebo, according to a study of about 1,000 patients by the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Both the acupuncture and sham treatment (needles weren't inserted far and were not near traditional Chinese sites) got significantly better results than conservative western therapy, Reuters reports. Despite the placebo's success, the researchers say acupuncture appears to be a useful adjunct in treating arthritis. Getting to the heart of fats Mediterranean diets, with so-called healthy fats from nuts and olive oil, may be better for people at risk of heart disease than low-fat diets, based on a University of Barcelona study published in Annals of Internal Medicine of more than 760 mostly overweight, at-risk people, aged 55 to 80. After three months, those on Mediterranean diets typically had better cholesterol, blood pressure and blood-sugar levels than those on low-fat diets. Mediterranean diets contain plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and olive oil, and little red meat. Breast milk inhibits bedwetting Babies breastfed for more than three months are less likely to wet their beds when they're older, according to a preliminary study by the Johnson Medical School in New Jersey of more than 170 children aged five to 13. More than 80 per cent who didn't wet their beds had been breastfed. About four out of every 10 three-year-olds are bed-wetters, healthday.com reports. And a study by the Brown Medical School, Rhode Island, of more than 1,000 tiny premature babies has found that those fed with breast milk do better in mental-development tests when they're older than those fed only formula. Co-author Betty Vohr says breast milk ingredients, particularly fatty acids, seem to help brain development, AP reports. Ultrasound boosts growth Canadian researchers have developed a pea-sized ultra- sound device that can regrow teeth and bone, and plan to have a commercial version available within two years. Used for 20 minutes a day over four months, the low-intensity pulsed ultrasound stimulates growth in the roots of teeth (but not the enamel) and helps heal dental tissue, AFP reports. Team member Jie Chen from the University of Alberta in Edmonton says the device can also stimulate jawbone growth and may eventually be used to repair bones and even make people taller. Fishing for blindness prevention Eating fish protects against one of the most common causes of blindness among old people - whereas smoking nearly doubles the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, according to two studies of more than 3,000 people in all. Both the US and wider Australian work, reported in Archives of Ophthalmology, indicate that eating fish even once or twice a week (particularly those rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon) cuts the risk by up to 40 per cent. Obesity linked to depression Fat people aren't more jolly - in fact, they're more likely than slimmer people to be depressed and suffer mood disorders, according to a study of more than 9,000 people in the US by the non-profit Group Health Cooperative published in Archives of General Psychiatry. The researchers aren't sure whether obesity causes, or is a result of, such problems. On the other hand, obese people are about 25 per cent less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol. Jason Sankey is a tennis professional
