Nail biters to be treated in a special treatment centre in the Netherlands

The world's first treatment centre for nail biters is to open in the Netherlands next month.
Director of the new centre in Venlo, Alain-Raymond van Abbe of the Institute for Pathological Onychophagy (IPO) says he and his team have invented an aid to make nail-biting impossible.

"This is the first place ever to tackle this very serious problem," he explained. "We are expecting clients from all over the world."

He said initial trials had been almost 100 per cent successful and that people attending the centre could expect to be completely cured within four weeks.

"The treatment has been successful for 98 per cent of the first trial patients. Very few fall back into the habit," he said.

There are about 2 million people who bite their nails in the Netherlands, according to officials at the centre.

Studies have shown that as many as 15 per cent of adults, 33 per cent of young children and 45 per cent of adolescents bite their nails.

The centre fits a special device to the hands that allow normal activities but prevent nail biting, and at the same time gives patients extensive therapy and counselling to get them to stop.

Fattest Kid in the World

The child eats 10,000 calories a day, she cannot walk or bear physical strain and his cardiovascular system is at risk.

Seven-year-old Jessica Gaude differs greatly from her pals. With 222 kilograms, she is the fattest child in the world.


She eats 10,000 calories each day in Coca-Colas, 15 hamburgers with fries and several kilograms of chocolate. What she eats in one day some children eat in half a year. Her breakfast consists of white bread, potato chips and two litres of coke. And she wants more.

When she last visited the doctor four years ago she had 110 kilograms. Unfortunately, she can no longer run and instead of walking she drags herself on the floor. Under such bodily weight her bones have already become distorted.

Mother Carolyn gives her daughter whatever the child wants. In the first week after she was born, when the baby cried because of stomach pains, the mother calmed her by feeding her with a bottle because she thought the child was hungry. “I gave her the bottle and she wanted more and more. It was not enough for her and she was constantly hungry”, Jessica’s mother says.

The doctors warn that the child’s health is already dangerously at risk and could die if not treated.

Unfortulately, Jessica’s mother does not understand medicine, her child is prescious to her and continues to feed her sweets.

Fearless GM mice dont fear Cats

Japanese scientists have created a genetically modified mouse that is not afraid of cats.

Japanese scientists have created a GM mouse that isn't scared of cats. Its days may be numbered /PA

Researchers at Tokyo University managed to turn off the receptors in a mouse's brain that react to the scent of its main predator.

They wanted to prove that fear is genetically programmed and not, as is commonly believed, the product of experience.

Instead of scurrying away or playing dead, the GM rodents were able to carry on as usual when coming face-to-face with a cat.

Professor of biophysics and biochemistry at Tokyo University, Ko Kobayakawa, explained the procedure.

He said: "Mice fear cats because they are innately conditioned to express fear when they sense the odour of predators.

"So, by getting rid of the specific receptors for sensing the odour, mice never feel afraid of cats."