Minerva

Scottish Premier League football club Heart of Midlothian seems to be getting younger—and less Scottish (Scottish Medical Journal 2000;45:17-9). Players are also less prone to injury than they were 10 years ago, according to a replay of an observational study done between 1990 and 1993. The authors, who should probably declare a competing interest as Hearts fans, note that the team's triumph in the 1998 Scottish Cup coincided neatly with a season of few serious injuries. What caused the club's dramatic slide down the Premier League the next season is anyone's guess.

Surgeons in Singapore's general hospital can complete a haemorrhoidectomy in about six minutes (British Journal of Surgery 2000;87:410-3). To speed up recovery, which takes somewhat longer, they tested local anaesthesia—a combination of EMLA cream and bupivacaine—against general anaesthesia in a randomised trial. Patients came to no harm, and both groups said they were happy with the experience; but without any data on time to discharge, it's still unclear whether local anaesthesia can save time. The authors hoped that it would save time, and therefore money.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition this month devotes 10 closely printed pages, including 162 references, to the healing properties of yoghurt (2000;71:861-72). The conclusion of this dense and difficult review is that …