The seatbelt saves lives and helps prevent severe injuries. But it's not as if you strap on the belt and all is well. The protective device has its limitations too. A recent study suggests that using the seatbelt with the seat tilted back can cause spine, neck and pelvic injuries.

A study by Christina G. Rehm and Robert Goldman of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, US, was recently published in The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection and Critical Care. The combination lap-and-shoulder seat belts currently being used in cars are not designed to prevent injuries when used in the reclining position, it says. The study cited the case of a 25-year-old woman who was asleep in her car when there was a head-on collision. Her seatbelt could not prevent injuries to the neck and chest and she also suffered a deep seatbelt mark across the upper part of her neck.

Harvinder Chabbra, deputy medical director, Indian Spinal Injury Centre, Delhi, explains that in the case of a severe backlash the seatbelt, which restrains the abdomen and chest, can cause severe pressure in that region leading to fracture of the vertebrae. "Soft tissue in the vertebrae can also be damaged," he adds. Rajendra Prasad, senior neurosurgery consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi, agrees that the seatbelt does not prevent whiplash injuries while advising that it is better to use one rather than not.

Children are at a higher risk and confining infants with the belt is a strict no-no. So is having a child on your lap in the belt. The combined impact of the belt restraint and the weight of the parent can cause damage to the soft tissue of the vertebrae and other organs of the child.

Health In Your Jeans

Now you can don health. Eating vitamins is passe, eat them. Japan-based Fuji Spinning Company claims that one can get one's daily dose of Vitamin C by wearing a T-shirt spun from a fibre they have developed. Called V-Up, the fabric contains a chemical called pro-vitamin which turns to Vitamin C on contact with human skin. The T-shirt will give the equivalent vitamin content of two lemons and remains effective till a little beyond 30 washes.

The company also produces fibres with anti-odour and anti-bacterial properties derived from catechin extracted from crab and shrimp shells. The health T-shirt will hit the market soon, but the company's next project sounds much more exciting: vitamin laced underwear.

Joystick: A lipstick to suit your amorous moods is the latest offering on the beauty shelf. The National Botanical Institute in Lucknow claims to have manufactured a lipstick that enhances sensual feelings in women. The herbal lipstick, appropriately called Luvstick, uses natural colours extracted from medicinal herbs and other ingredients that act together to lift a bad mood and stimulate the senses. Besides the lipstick, eye shadows and rouge from plant extracts have also been developed. Speak of cosmetic cures and here they come.

No Stomach for Milk: Asian Children who run for cover when forced to drink milk now have a valid case to present to their mothers. Recent studies suggest different races react differently to milk. A study in the US says lactose intolerance, which affects 50 million North Americans, is less common in people of European descent but affects 75 per cent of African-Americans and 90 per cent of Asian-Americans. Symptoms, which may manifest themselves between half an half and two hours of ingesting lactose-the sugar found in milk-usually include cramps, bloating of the stomach and diarrhoea.

Hot Topic: Maybe men won't start lining up for it just yet, but scientists have come up with a sterilisation technique that doesn't involve cutting the most sensitive organ in the male body. At the Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, US, doctors use short blasts of high-frequency ultrasound for 20-50 seconds to heat the vas deferens, the tubes that carry sperms from the testicles, to more than 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat kills the cells in the tube walls, which coagulate and jam the path shut on sperms.