You'll be depressed to find out that anit-depressants don't work!!

A study out today has revealed how drugs such as Prozac and Seroxat, both anti-depressants do little to help beat the common illness. These drugs, taken by millions of people in the UK every year, have been dubbed as just a placebo by some publishers.

Manus explains how the study has highlighted such important findings: It was reported in The Times, The Guardian and also on the BBC website. Which all highlight how the 31 million prescriptions written out in 2006, may have been a waste of time for doctors and patients and more importantly a waste of money; more than £291 million was spent on antidepressants in 2006.

Ministers are today due to publish plans to train 3,600 therapists to treat depression. Sharon Begley feels that more research is needed, to combat the problem, and to help those who are now reliant on these "happy pills" that are having little affect.

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Binge drinking women at 40 years old...Really you should know better!!

The Observer this week highlighted, yet another warning from the government that the way we lives our lives is wrong. Dawn Primarolo, the Public Health Minister has warned women aged 30 to 50 that they are drinking so much it is damaging their health. Possibly leading to breast cancer or liver damage.

Wine glasses are now bigger and wine is getting stronger but do women not realise this? Debs, feels that it; "is so incredibly insulting to our intelligence."

One way that the government aim to tackle this problem is by increasing taxes on booze. While this may anger the youth who choose to hang around street corners drink cider on a Friday night. Will it really effect the average Rioja drinking, middle aged woman? And also, is it fair to penalise the people who do drink responsibly and enjoy it in a recreational way?

Primarolo has also suggested that some of the £10 million pounds pumped into the campaign will be used to put graphic pictures on bottles showing the damage that alcohol does. But this was introduced onto cigarette packets a few years ago...has this made people quit smoking?

Anyway, while you ponder over this subject i'm off to have a nice chilled glass of rosé!!

Should our health be our choice or have we got to the point where need to be forced to have a fitter lifestyle?

The Times Online and the BBC website both included articles based on reports from Philip James, Chairman of International Obesity Task Force. Both sites used pictures, of overweight people, to back up James' claims that; "this is a community epidemic that is actually a response to all the wonderful apparent industrial and economic development changes that we've seen." Both reports focus on how it is not down to the individual to loose weight but, as a nation, we need to change the way we live our lives. This is backed up by another fellow blogger; "blaming individuals for their personal vulnerability to weight gain is no longer acceptable in a world where the majority is already overweight and obesity is rising everywhere." But as Sigrid Waukesha asks; "Can we live without cars, and resort to using a bike for our everyday travel?" As suggested by Philip James.

Should we not all make decisions ourselves; "I won't use the car today becasue I had fish and chips last night", or "I will use the car because my gym is an hours walk away." Surely our health is down to us and the decisions we make about our own lifestyle.

Climate change to 'Save lives' but also 'To kill Thousands.'

Recent reports from the BBC and the Guardian are causing confusion as to whether global warming will save lives or cause more deaths. The Guardian Online today leads with, "Climate change soon could kill thousands in UK, says report" and the article highlights how higher temperatures during winter will lead to fewer deaths. But Leah Donovan, a fellow blogger explains how confused she was by the two mixed reports. The BBC used the headline: Global warming 'may save lives,' for the same subject.

The question to be asked is: "is it confusion or good have two different reports by two media giants?