The presence of osteoarthritis (OA) in any finger joint significantly predicted cardiovascular deaths in Finnish men. A total of 7127 Finns aged 30 and over participated in a general health examination, of which 3595 gave hand radiographs. Follow up mortality was calculated in 1994, 17 years after the study began, during which time 897 people died, including 497 from cardiovascular diseases. The results confirmed a high prevalence of finger joint OA in the population, and that obesity and physical workload retained a close association with the risk of developing the disease. No other significant association was found between finger joint OA and cause specific mortality. (

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Growth, or lack of it, has long been a concern for paediatricians treating children with diabetes; reduced final height and blunted growth spurts have not been uncommon in the past. The results of a recent study should allay fears however, as they clearly show that children with diabetes who were diagnosed after 1990 achieved better linear growth than those diagnosed before 1991. Current therapeutic techniques are responsible, according to the authors, who reassuringly did not observe …