Celebrity stalkers are more likely to be psychotically ill rather than just obsessed fans, according to a new study.
The findings, presented to a public forensic science meeting in Melbourne, were based on a study of police files of 8,000 people and 20,000 stalking incidents of the British Royal Family.
Around 250 of those studied were judged to be serious stalkers, and of this segment, around 80 per cent were found to suffer a serious psychotic illness, including schizophrenia, delusions and hallucinations.
The findings suggest that celebrity, or "VIP" stalkers, were four times as likely to be mentally ill as people who stalk non-famous people.
"We didn't expect such high rates of psychosis. It was very surprising to us," said forensic psychiatrist Paul Muller, of Melbourne's Monash University.
"People who stalk royalty may show a strange mixture of affection and the belief that they are a relative or friend or even the rightful heir."
RED WINE MAY BE CANCER PROTECTOR
Moderate consumption of red wine could decrease the risk of lung cancer in men, a study shows.
The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, found an antioxidant component in red wine may be protect against lung cancer, particularly among smokers.
US researchers analysed data collected through the California Men's Health Study, which linked clinical data from California's health system with self-reported data from 84,170 men aged 45 to 69 years.
From that data, 210 cases of lung cancer were identified.
Researchers measured the effect of liquor consumption on the risk of lung cancer.
They found there was on average a two per cent lower lung cancer risk associated with each glass of red wine consumed per month.
The most substantial reduction was among male smokers who drank 1-2 glasses of red each day, with a 60 per cent reduced lung cancer risk reported.
But it was still noted that quitting smoking was the best way to reduce lung cancer risk.
Men who drank 1-2 glasses of red wine per day still faced higher lung cancer risk than non-smokers.
POT USERS CONTINUE DEPENDENCE AFTER DEVELOPING MENTAL ILLNESS
Sydney researchers say young people who have a dependence on cannabis are likely to keep using the drug after being diagnosed with a mental illness.
Next year, the Social Justice Change Research Centre (SJSC) at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) will conduct a detailed study of the links between marijuana and mental health.
Sharyn McGee, one of the researchers at UWS, says that there is a large number of people living with both mental illness and substance abuse.
"Many young people who use cannabis do not see it as a problem," McGee said.
"In fact, they see it as a means of improving their self confidence, creativity or sexual prowess."
"For some people, using cannabis can also have the benefits of relieving their symptoms of depression, alleviating cognitive difficulties and nullifying the side effects of some medications."
The research project aims to develop a new health promotion program aimed at young people living with mental illness.
SPACE AGE ROBOT TO HELP WITH MOBILITY PROBLEMS
A robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps people with mobility problems will soon be available for rent in Japan.
HAL - short for "hybrid assistive limb" - is a computerised suit with sensors that read brain signals directing limb movement through the skin.
It's being hailed as an invention that will greatly help the disabled and elderly, but only if they can afford the hire price of $US2,200 ($A3,100) a month.
The 10kg battery-operated computer system is belted to the waist. It captures the brain signals and relays them to mechanical leg braces strapped to the thighs and knees, which then provide robotic assistance to people as they walk.
Cyberdyne, a new company in Tsukuba outside Tokyo, will mass-produce HAL, which will be available for hire.
WOMEN USE HIGHER PITCHED VOICE TO ATTRACT A MATE
A woman raises the pitch of her voice during her most fertile period of the month in an unconscious boost to her femininity, according to a new study in the British journal Biology Letters.
A pair of scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) asked 69 women to make voice recordings when they were at high and low fertility points in their menstrual cycle.
The closer a woman was to ovulation, the more she raised her pitch, the investigators found.
The increase in tone was only slight - it was not Minnie Mouse on helium - but the peaks were enough to be picked up by the voice decoder and presumably by the male ear, as well.
The difference was the greatest on the two days preceding ovulation, when fertility within the cycle is the highest.
Curiously, this distinction only occurred when the volunteer, among the sentences she was asked to speak, introduced herself: "Hello, I'm a student at UCLA."
The scientists suggest the pitch change happens because men are lured to a more "feminine" voice in a woman - and women respond to the instinct.
FAN IN BABY'S BEDROOM COULD HELP PREVENT SIDS
A new study suggests that having a fan operating in a baby's room may offer additional protection against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
In 2000 - the latest available figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics - 134 babies died from SIDS. This compares to 563 deaths for 1986, the highest ever number of SIDS deaths recorded in Australia.
SIDS is the leading cause of infant death in children aged between one month and one year of age.
However, many experts say most babies who die suddenly without explanation are sleeping in circumstances that increased their risk of suffocation, whether the death is considered SIDS, undetermined, or accidental smothering.
A recent US review of thousands of infant deaths, published last year, found that when complete investigations are done, unsafe sleep conditions are responsible for almost all sudden infant deaths.
The latest study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that infants who slept in a bedroom with a fan moving the air had 72 per cent lower risk of SIDS compared to infants who slept in a bedroom without a fan.
