bmj.com -- Press Releases

Press Releases Saturday 20 March 1999
No 7186 Volume 318

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(1) EXERCISE IS THE BEST MEANS OF WEIGHT CONTROL IN
TEENAGERS

(2) DECLINE IN VACCINATION COULD LEAD TO RESURGENCE
OF RUBELLA

(3) MAGGOTS COULD HELP ADDRESS PROBLEMS OF
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

(1) EXERCISE IS THE BEST MEANS OF WEIGHT CONTROL IN
TEENAGERS

(Onset of adolescent eating disorders: population based cohort
study over 3 years)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7186/765

The best means of tackling the increase in obesity in young people is to
encourage them to take exercise rather than go on a diet, say
researchers from Australia in this week's BMJ. In their study of nearly
2,000 male and female students aged 14-15 over a period of three years,
Professor George Patton and colleagues from the University of
Melbourne and the Royal Children's Hospital Research Institute, found
that female adolescents who undertook heavy dieting were 18 times
more likely to develop an eating disorder than those who didn't diet.
Those girls who dieted moderately, were five times more at risk.

The authors conclude that dieting is the most important predictor of new
eating disorders and that the differences in the prevalence of disorders
between the sexes were largely accounted for by the high rates of dieting
at a younger age and psychiatric morbidity in girls. They say that in
adolescents, controlling weight by exercise rather than diet restriction
seems to carry less risk of developing eating disorders.

Contact:
Professor George Patton, Centre for Adolescent Health,
Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne,
Parkville Victoria, Australia
Email: patton{at}cryptic.rch.unimelb.edu.au

(2) DECLINE IN VACCINATION COULD LEAD TO RESURGENCE
OF RUBELLA

(Surveillance of congenital rubella in Great Britain, 1971-96)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7186/769

Uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has declined since
1995 because of public anxiety about the safety of the vaccine. In this
week's BMJ Pat Tookey and Professor Catherine Peckham from the
Institute of Child Health in London report that if high uptake of the
rubella vaccine is not maintained a resurgence of the disease could be
seen in the UK. The authors remind readers of the potentially devastating
effects of rubella infection and warn pregnant women that an "immune"
result after a routine antenatal test, does not necessarily preclude any
recent or current infection. They say that any symptoms or suspected
exposure in the first four months of pregnancy should be investigated.

Contact:
Ms Pat Tookey,
Co-ordinator of National Congenital Rubella Surveillance Programme,
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Child Health,
Email: ptookey{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk

Professor Catherine Peckham
Email: cpeckham{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk

(3) MAGGOTS COULD HELP ADDRESS PROBLEMS OF
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

(Maggots are useful in treating infected or necrotic wounds)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7186/807

Lucilia sericata, the larvae of the common greenbottle fly, could help to
address the problem of antibiotic resistance, claim researchers in this
week's BMJ. Dr Steve Thomas and colleagues from the Princess of
Wales Hospital, Bridgend and the International Biotherapy Society, report
that over the past three years the clinical use of such maggots has been
reintroduced into the UK and elsewhere (to well over 400 centres) with
considerable success.

Thomas et al write that the mechanisms by which larvae kill bacteria in
wounds are not fully understood, but explanations may include the
production of natural antibiotic-like agents; the modification of the pH of
the wound or the ingestion and destruction of bacteria as part of the
normal feeding process.

The authors say that currently many patients receive larval treatment as
a last resort, when conventional treatments including antibiotics have
failed. They conclude that using maggots earlier in the management of
infection may often obviate the need for antibiotics.

Contact:
Dr Steve Thomas, Director, Biosurgical Research Unit,
Email: steve{at}smtl.co.uk

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