“Newborn babies should not be given sugar as pain relief,” read the headline in The Guardian . The newspaper said the routine use of tiny amounts of sugar before minor medical procedures is common practice but “it does not work and may damage their brains”. Current medical guidelines recommend that babies swallow sucrose (sugar) solution before minor hospital procedures, such as the newborn heel prick blood test , as sugar solution is safe and effective at reducing pain they will feel.

“Smoking cannabis from a pipe can significantly reduce chronic pain in patients with damaged nerves,” reported the BBC. It added that improvements in sleep and anxiety were also seen

“Millions of blind and partially sighted people are being given hope they will see again after artificial corneas were successfully ‘grown’ in eyes,” the Daily Express reported.

The Daily Mirror today hails grapefruit as a “fruity ‘cure’ for diabetes”.

“Stocking up on vitamin D supplements and enjoying the summer sun could cut the risk of a host of diseases,” reported the Daily Mail . This news story is based on a study that investigated how vitamin D might influence the risk of certain diseases by affecting the activity of genes.

A protein produced in arthritis may “protect against the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” reported BBC News. US research on mice has discovered that a protein called GM-CSF, produced in rheumatoid arthritis, may trigger the immune system to destroy the protein plaques found in Alzheimer’s disease

“Yoga protects the brain from depression,” The Daily Telegraph reported. It said that researchers have found that three sessions of yoga a week can help to keep you relaxed and prevent depression. This small trial randomly allocated 52 healthy people to either yoga or a walking exercise for 12 weeks.

“A diet rich in green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of developing diabetes,” reported the BBC. It said that one-and-a-half portions a day “cuts type-2 diabetes risk by 14%”

A predictive blood test for tuberculosis (TB) is “a step closer”, according to BBC News. The article said that a “DNA fingerprint in the blood shows promise in identifying which carriers of TB will go on to get symptoms and spread the infection”. This study is important and illustrates the power of a relatively new technique called “genomic transcriptional profiling”, but it is too early to know in practice how many of the TB patients identified by the test will go on to develop the disease. After some fine-tuning in London, the test was repeated in patients from South Africa, which increases confidence in its accuracy.

“Women who drank five or more beers a week doubled their chances of developing psoriasis,” reported the Daily Mail. This study examined the drinking habits of more than 80,000 US nurses over an average of 14 years, during which 1.4% developed psoriasis