This site is intended for health professionals only


Viagra ‘risks skin cancer’, Chinese mushroom ‘slows weight gain’ and 92-year-old found carrying 50-year-old foetus

Viagra ‘may raise the risk of skin cancer by 30%’ suggests a story in the Telegraph.

A study of more than 4,000 men in Sweden found that those who were prescribed a single course of the drugs were one third more likely to develop a malignant melanoma. The risk was raised by 20% for men who had multiple prescriptions.

The BBC carries a news story on a mushroom used in Chinese medicine that ‘slows weight gain’ in animals.

Researchers in Taiwan researchers in Taiwan suggest ‘ganoderma lucidum’ slowed weight gain by altering bacteria in the gut. They believe that the mushroom could eventually be used in the treatment of obesity.

Finally, doctors discovered a 50-year-old foetus inside a 92-year old pensioner in Chile when she was x-rayed after a fall, says theMail. The foetus weighed around 4.4lb (2kg).

The unborn child, which had calcified in her body, is a phenomenon known as a ‘lithopedion’, or stone baby.


          

Visit Pulse Reference for details on 140 symptoms, including easily searchable symptoms and categories, offering you a free platform to check symptoms and receive potential diagnoses during consultations.