Washing hands to cut food-poisoning risk Almost a third of men and many women do not wash their hands after going to the toilet, according to a study. This increases the risk of food poisoning as many are transferring germs from the toilet to their plate because they also do not wash their hands before preparing food. The number of children suffering from all types of wheeze rose from 16 per cent to 29 per cent. Scientists from Leicester University suggest that changes in diet or an obsession with cleanliness in the home may account for the asthma epidemic. The findings, published in the Lancet, are a result of a comparison of questionnaires sent out in Leicestershire to the parents of 1,650 children in 1990 and a similar survey of 2,600 children in 1998.
Diabetes can take eight years off people's lives, according to a UK study.
Doctors at Middlesbrough General Hospital studied 4,842 diabetes sufferers living in the South Tees region from 1994 to 2000. After comparing the death rate of 25 per cent among this group with national mortality rates, researchers concluded that diabetics have a higher risk of death. The group suffering from diabetes mainly died from ischaemic heart disease, which suggests that dealing with cardiovascular risk factors could cut the risk of premature death in people with diabetes. The findings are published in the British Medical Journal. Testicular cancer deaths fall The UK has seen one of the biggest falls in testicular cancer deaths in the world over the last 20 years, according to a report in The Lancet.