Home Site Map The Medical News Directory The News weblog Best viewed at: 1024 by 768 pixels		Dolls 'help Alzheimer's patients' Dolls and teddy bears can help people with Alzheimer's disease interact and communicate, research suggests. Doubt cast on body clock theory Assumptions have been challenged about how a gene known to control the internal clock of the body works. Briton becomes new mother at 62 A 62-year-old becomes the oldest woman in Britain to have a baby, but critics say she has acted irresponsibly. Blood markers for dementia risk Blood levels of two proteins important in Alzheimer's disease may predict pending dementia, say scientists. Summer smog 'killing thousands' More than 3,000 people die each year because of summer smog, the Liberal Democrats claim. GPs refuse to give exam 'sickies' Doctors refuse to write sick notes for pupils who miss their exams to discourage the country's "excuse culture". Codeine 'does not relieve cough' Codeine is barely more effective than a dummy drug in treating coughing in chronic lung disease, a study finds. Whooping cough 'still widespread' Many children who see their GPs with persistent coughs have signs of whooping cough, a study suggests.