hmmmm some people do some funny things with chocolate. I might note at this point that a quick browse of the web for images using google with the word "chocolate" and "safe search off" will result in some even more intriguing photos that I will refrain from posting here since this is a "nice blog", well fairly nice anyway. This is a chocolate wig that formed part of the annual chocolate fashion show in New York.

By way of something mildly riske from the same event here is a chocolate bunny, but not the type you typically get at at Easter. It sets the mind a wondering, who gets to eat the chocolate afterwards and given the location of some of the chocolate who would want to. Hmmm perhaps I had better not persue that thought much further.

It seems to me that this would definitely have to be a cold climate type activity. In the tropics, yuck, it doesn't bear thinking about really. Enough of that, you can listen to a chocolate dance song here.

Peter Barnes, professor of thoracic medicine at Imperial College London, UK is also interested in matters relating to chocolate. You will note that Peter is a professor of Thoracic Medicine and not Gynaecology so those of you on work PCs can continue reading in safety.

Professor Pete is working with chocolate in the treatment for persistent coughs. He is finding it to be an effective alternative to opiates, which have traditionally been used, and nearly as much fun for the patient to boot. The chemical in question is theobromine which is a constituent of cocoa. Theobromine appeared to have no unwanted side effects. This is not true of narcotics which list drowsiness and constipation among the negative effects. Apparently theobromine interacts with the vagus nerve that runs from the lungs to the brain and regulates coughing. You can read more about his research here.

If you are pregnant at the moment then you can take heart that the chocolate is not only helping to suppress your cough but also producing a happy baby.

Katri Raikkonen at the University of Helsinki, Finland has found that babies born to women who had been eating chocolate daily during pregnancy were more active and "positively reactive" - a measure that encompasses traits such as smiling and laughter. Also where the mother was stressed the babies showed less fear when confronted with new situations than babies of stressed mothers who had not consumed chocolate. Read more about chocolate in pregnancy here.