Consistently sleeping less than six hours a night can leave you with a serious "sleep debt". People who claimed to function well on that level of sleep in a study for US journal Sleep were actually well below their normal cognitive abilities when tested. Tony Blair, take note.

Market research company Mintel reports that sales of products to people who believe they have a food allergy or intolerance - for example to dairy, gluten or wheat - have gone up 165% over the past two years. The sector was worth £55.6m last year. And it's not just a fad, the research suggests; doctors are learning more about intolerances and giving better advice. Some studies suggest that more than 20% of people believe they have an intolerance. Nutritionists say the figure is more likely to be 2%.

A new study has linked peanut allergy to the use of baby skin creams containing peanut oil. Children who are treated with the skin creams are nearly seven times more likely to develop an allergy to peanuts. It might explain why the number of people with the allergy has tripled over the past decade. The researchers from Bristol University also found that soya milk can increase the likelihood of a child developing the allergy. Both were also linked to eczema.

Help, though, could be at hand. Researchers at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York have developed an injection which acts as a prophylactic against the allergic reactions. The TNX-901 injection would not protect the person if they ate handfuls of nuts, but it is effective against the traces that can creep into other foods. It is not expected on the market for a few years, however, as three companies are battling over its patent.

The Cameroon health minister last week announced that anyone advocating the drinking of urine would be prosecuted. He warned people against the "therapy" after reports that people were ingesting their own urine to treat haemorrhoids, ulcers and infertility.