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Inside men鈥檚 minds

IF YOU thought that men鈥檚 magazines serve up a diet of scantily clad women and tips on sexual performance because that鈥檚 all men are interested in, think again. According to a statement issued by the UK Guild of Health Writers, what men really want to read about is osteoporosis, breast cancer (which affects men too, the guild reminds its members) and body image.

To rectify the mismatch, the guild organised an event called 鈥淕etting inside men鈥檚 minds鈥 at which health journalists would be offered 鈥渆xpert opinion on the issues that men really want to read about and how to reach them鈥. Sadly, and we feel sure our male readers are going to be very upset about this, it looks like these issues won鈥檛 be making the front pages any time soon. The event was cancelled due to a lack of interest from said health journalists, who presumably still labour under the delusion that men are only interested in one thing.

So what does it do?

AMYOTROPHIC lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS and commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig鈥檚 disease or motor neurone disease (MND) is, as noted at , 鈥渁 serious neuromuscular illness affecting approximately 30,000 people in the United States鈥. So Feedback is confused as to why this site is offering for sale a 鈥渓ive cell therapy鈥 made from pig embryos, described as 鈥渁 much less expensive alternative to stem cell therapy鈥. The site suggests that it is 鈥渦sed to support healthy cell regeneration and nerve cell function鈥 鈥 which Feedback translates as 鈥渋t鈥檚 food, of a kind鈥.

It鈥檚 an expensive kind, for the desperate: it costs $850 including $55 shipping for two months鈥 supply, and it鈥檚 only available to customers outside the US.

鈥淢agic Ice Stop stops ice and frost on your windscreen, but Allan Rodger is disappointed that it only 鈥淲orks up to minus 15 掳C鈥. What should he use on those annoying just-a-bit-freezing days?鈥

The site is in fact part of , which offers 鈥渃omplementary therapies鈥 for a gamut of conditions from acidosis to vitiligo. One gem is the 鈥淜ids Chelat Heavy Metal Chelator鈥 suggested for children with autistic spectrum disorders. What is it? The main ingredient seems to be 鈥渁 very dilute solution of Disodium EDTA (200 mg per 100 ml bottle)鈥 along with some mineral salts and a 鈥渃atalyser鈥. Disodium EDTA? That鈥檒l be the additive common in everything from soft drinks to shampoo 鈥 but here it costs $46.50 a bottle.

Of course there鈥檚 small print at the foot of the home page: 鈥淧roducts on,鈥 it begins incompletely, 鈥渁re not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.鈥 Our lawyers wouldn鈥檛 like it if we speculated on what they are intended to do.

Many Utrechts

A FRIEND of Feedback had arranged to travel to Utrecht for a couple of days, so he thought he would look at it in Google Earth. Naturally, he typed 鈥淯trecht鈥 into the search window, only to be asked: 鈥淒id you mean Utrecht, Netherlands; Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands; Utrecht Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands?鈥

To make matters more confusing, there was a map on the page that did indeed show these various possibilities, all in different places.

Safe prediction

AUSTRALIA鈥橲 Bureau of Meteorology clearly has a sound grasp of statistics. Melbourne鈥檚 newspaper The Age reported on 16 April that it had 鈥渃autiously predicted the drought-inducing El Ni帽o effect might be replaced by the wetter La Ni帽a鈥. Maybe. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a 50-50 chance of exceeding average rainfall,鈥 said senior forecaster Terry Ryan. Absolutely. If 鈥渁verage鈥 means 鈥渕edian鈥, definitely so.

Mark Hughes, 鈥渁 fully fledged Australian taxpayer鈥, spotted this and was 鈥渄elighted that my taxes are being spent on things like supercomputers鈥 to work out insights like this. A good thing too, we say. Four years ago things weren鈥檛 nearly so clear: 鈥淕enerally across large parts of Australia there is a 50:50 chance we will get median rainfall across the summer months,鈥 an expert from the bureau announced then (Feedback, 8 March 2003).

Claiming zero

A LETTER from the UK鈥檚 Post Office posed a problem for James Johnson. It said: 鈥淥ur records show that you have not used your card account since 14 March 2005. As you have not used your account for the last 2 years, we have now closed it in line with the account terms and conditions.

鈥淲hen we closed your account, the balance was 拢0.00. We will look after this money for you until you claim it. You can do this by using a claim form, which you can get from any Post Office branch鈥︹

Johnson鈥檚 problem is: should he claim?

Take lutein for a friend

FINALLY, the email Kelvyn Frost received from DrWeil.com exhorted: 鈥淓nrich Your Vision. If you or someone you know is getting on in years, you may want to consider supplementing your diet with lutein.鈥

Frost doesn鈥檛 consider himself to be getting on in years just yet, but he knows several people who are, so he is now thinking of taking the lutein.

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