HEALTH NOTES: Healing power of lullabies

Playing lullabies relieves distress in sick babies, a study has shown.

The babies were exposed to classic, soothing tunes in the hospital and recorded a whopping 13 percent drop in their heart rates.

There was also a four percent increase in oxygen saturation levels.

Both are signs of reduced stress and discomfort, according to a study in Advances In Integrative Medicine.

The music sessions – with songs like Rock-A-Bye-Baby and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star – lasted between 15 minutes and an hour.

Mothers sang to their babies as they lay in cots while researchers monitored their vital signs.

Vasectomy is not as painful as you think

Getting the cut is much less painful than long thought.

Vasectomies were believed to cause about five percent of men pain in the scrotum — a figure often quoted in patient leaflets.

But only 0.12 percent suffer from such discomfort, according to an analysis of about 90,000 surgeries over a 15-year period by the Association of Surgeons of Primary Care.

Meanwhile, hematoma — when a bruise forms in the scrotal tissue — affects only 1.4 percent of men and not the nearly ten percent often claimed.

The number of men who get a postoperative infection is also much lower than previously thought.

Study leader Julian Peacock, senior registrar at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘Vasectomies are very safe – this could encourage more men to have the procedure.’

Vasectomies were believed to cause about five percent of men pain in the scrotum — a figure often quoted in patient leaflets

Two to three hours of brisk walking a week can reduce the risk of colon cancer returning.

A US study found that patients who underwent surgery for the disease and remained active were nearly 70 percent less likely to have a relapse in the three years after surgery than patients with a sedentary lifestyle.

The findings, in the latest British Journal Of Sports Medicine, are significant because while physical activity is known to reduce the risk of getting cancer in the first place, this study shows that moderate exercise also affects the likelihood of returns.

Even after initially successful treatment, bowel cancer – which affects nearly 43,000 people in the UK each year – can recur in up to 40 per cent of patients.

Google searches for weight-loss tips have been low for nearly 20 years, but demand for muscle-building advice is skyrocketing, according to an analysis of the trends.

Fitness experts at sports nutrition provider bulk.com say the need for weight-loss tips is the lowest since 2004.

The growing popularity of social media influencers promoting muscular physiques means counting calories is second only to guidance on how to bulk up and look toned.

Abigail Roberts, the company’s sports nutritionist, said, “In the 1990s, the emphasis was on being thin – we’ve been aiming for a more athletic physique ever since.”