Some good news to begin the day, with the BBC reporting that researchers are confident that they have taken a step forward in treating deafness with stem cells.
A study in Nature showed that stem cells helped restore hearing in gerbils by rebuilding nerves in the ear.
Researchers at the University of Sheffield aimed to replace damaged spiral ganglion neurons with new ones. A chemical soup was added to the stem cells which were then delicately injected into the inner ears of 18 deaf gerbils.
Over 10 weeks the gerbils' hearing improved by an average of 45%.
As sure as night follows day, there is bad news to follow – a new study has revealed the salt levels in a packet of bacon and concludes it is a major health risk, the Guardian reports.
Two rashers of bacon can contain more than half the daily maximum recommended salt for adults, according to Consensus Action on Salt and Health.
Graham MacGregor, chairman of Cash and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Wolfson Institute, said: "As bacon is now such a big contributor of salt to our diet, it is vital that the Department of Health ensures that manufacturers reduce the salt in these incredibly salty bacon products immediately."
And finally, any future DH initiative to give patients the power to conduct their own clinical check-ups have been derailed by a study that shows that more than half of Britons are unable to pinpoint the correct location of their heart.
The research, commissioned by the Museum of London, showed that the majority of people do not know how much blood we have, how many teeth are in our mouths or what role our vital organs perform, the Daily Mail reports.
Many of the 2,000 respondents were unable to say what our correct body temperature should be, while nearly 10% were unsure of the number of kidneys we have.
It looks as though any potential ‘Your health; your opinion' scheme might have to wait a little bit longer.
