Brainwaves in the Womb

BBC NEWS, Sept. 6 — A test that can measure the electrical signals in an unborn child's brain could one day help doctors protect babies from damage sustained in the womb.

It is one of the first times that the activity of the brain has been measured and showed that babies before birth could even respond to a bright light shining through their mothers’ abdomen. The research, carried out by scientists at the University of Arkansas, is called magnetoencephalography (MEG). The practical benefits of this scanning system could prevent, or at least reduce, brain deficits caused by lack of nutrients from the placenta.

Spiritual Needs

EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS, Sept. 2 — Dr. Scott Murray is teaching students at Edinburgh University's Medical School how to take a spiritual history as well as a medical one during consultations.

Murray told the Edinburgh Evening News that patients make a better recovery if they receive spiritual help alongside traditional treatment. His work has convinced the Scottish Parliament to give him $31,000 to further investigate how the National Health Service should treat people's spiritual needs.

Murray's research involved interviewing terminally ill patients, many of whom raised spiritual issues as major concerns.

Birth Rate Spurs Israel

HA'ARETZ DAILY, Sept. 4 — The Israel Council for Demography met after five years of inactivity to find ways to encourage Jewish households to have more children using government grants, housing benefits and other incentives. It will also examine issues such as abortion and mixed marriages between Israelis and foreign workers.

The decision to reconvene what was generally considered to be a defunct organization was taken by Labor and Social Welfare Minister Shlomo Benizri. Benizri said he was spurred into reviving the committee in light of the large number of social and demographic challenges facing Israel: the non-Jewish immigrants who have arrived here over the past decade, the communities of foreign workers, mixed marriages and the drop in the Jewish birthrate.

Depo-Provera Users Face Risks

BBC NEWS, Sept. 2 — The scientific community is tentatively admitting health risks associated with Depo-Provera contraceptive injections, billed as a “convenient alternative for women” rather than swallowing the pill every day. Women who are given the long-lasting contraceptive injections may suffer physical changes that increase their risk of heart disease.

A team of scientists from Imperial College School of Medicine say the drug may, if taken over a longer period, restrict the ability of the body's arteries to contract and expand.