Little relief in lift convictions

The first documented case of the HIV virus being transmitted by a human bite is reported today in the Lancet. It involved a Slovenian man who was accidentally bitten by a neighbour who had Aids. The man went to help the Aids patient, who was having a fit, and to help him breathe, stuck his fingers in his neighbour's mouth.

Tests on Dancing Dove, second to Chadwick's Ginger at Carlisle on 6 October, and High Five, tailed-off behind Unchanged at Folkestone on 7 September, have proved positive to prohibited substances.

The High Court rejected an application by Jeremy Bamber, 32, who is serving life for murdering five members of his family, to have his case referred to the Court of Appeal. Bamber claims the prosecution's case was flawed because of the possibility of an error in the analysis of a vital blood sample. Mr Justice Auld said the possibility of an error was 'remote'.

MARK LAWSON's obituary of Dennis Potter (8 June) contains an error. Vote Vote Vote for Nigel Barton was not postponed until after the 1964 election, writes Ron Brewer. At that time I was Potter's election agent. He told me during the election that he was writing a play about electioneering. His preface to The Nigel Barton Plays (1967) explains that Vote Vote Vote for Nigel Barton was due for transmission on 23 June 1965 but that it was removed from the schedules just a few hours before it was due to be shown. It was eventually televised on 15 December of that year.

ANY parent with a child who wets the bed knows the problems of taking them on holiday. Now there is a new tablet that can help to prevent the problem. It contains a substance known as anti-diuretic hormone, which slows down the production of urine. The medication, called desmopressin, has been available in the form of a nasal spray for several years but has not been convenient to take on holiday because it has to be stored in a refrigerator. From tomorrow it will be available in tablet form. Further information is available from the Enuresis Resource and Information Centre, 65 St Michael's Hill, Bristol BS2 8DZ.

First Edition

A 'WRISTWATCH' that delivers a small continuous electrical current can help to control nausea and vomiting in pregnant women, according to US researchers. In a study, 20 out of 23 pregnant women found that their symptoms improved on using the device. The discovery, reported in Obstetrical and Gynaecological Survey, is thought to work by stimulating the natural endorphins that relieve pain.

SCIENTISTS have discovered that there is a way of seeing your future by reading your hand. Fingerprints and the palm provide clues to high blood pressure in adult life.

BULIMIA, the condition characterised by 'binge' eating and then vomiting, can result in abnormalities of the ovaries and infertility, even when weight returns to normal, according to researchers. Psychiatrists and gynaecologists at St George's Hospital, London, carried out an ultrasound study on 34 sufferers and found that only four had normal ovaries. The rest had multiple ovarian cysts, says a report published in the Lancet.