Life Lines

Next week you could be asked to complete a questionnaire on depression - but it's nothing personal. It is part of the first national survey on depression, which is taking place during Depression Awareness Week, from Monday next. The groups being targeted by Aware Defeat Depression are students (5,000 attending third-level colleges), employees (more than 4,000 around the country) and the general public (through 52 participating GPs' surgeries).

Human skin can now be grown in a laboratory and is on sale in the US. This lab-grown skin is grown from the cells of the discarded foreskins of newly-circumcised baby boys. One foreskin can grow into enough skin to cover six football fields. Researchers hope this will be used to cover severe burns and skin ulcers. However, this is only the beginning. Manufacturers predict they will develop products ranging from breast implants and replacement bones to complex organs such as the liver. (Washington Post)

It's official: marriage is good for your mental health. US research has found cohabiting couples are more depressed and less satisfied with their lives than their married counterparts. Dr Susan Brown of Bowling Green State University in Ohio found those most likely to experience depression are women (particularly those with children) who have no prospect of "tying the knot". (Reuters)

Modern girls are progressing from Barbies to bras two years earlier than their grandmothers, according to a recent US report. The average Caucasian girl in the US begins puberty at the age of 10 - but one per cent show signs of puberty at three years old. The cause may be the chemicals in hair products, says Dr Marcia Herman-Giddens of the University of North Carolina, because these chemicals, called PCBs, can imitate oestrogen. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News)

Living longer is desirable - but brings problems such as osteoporosis which will afflict one in four Irish women. This and more will be discussed at a conference on "Irish Women Living Longer" when medical experts will be available to answer questions and post-menopausal women will share their experiences. At Dublin's RDS on September 12th, 10 a.m. 4 p.m. For bookings, contact Rhona at Lilly's Health Bureau (01) 6789333.