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Education: Study
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Total 251 results found since Jan 2013.
'Breakthrough in communication for patients with severe MND', study claims
Conclusion
It's hard to imagine the situation of being alert, aware of what's happening around you, but unable to move, respond or communicate with the outside world.
So it is comforting, then, to hear that people with complete locked-in syndrome may be able to communicate – and may be relatively content with their situation.
However, it's important to remember the limitations of this study.
It's very small. Only four people took part, and full results are available for only three of them.
The results may only apply to people with this very specific type of neurodegenerative disease, not to people with other types of pa...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 1, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Source Type: news
Long-term daily drinking linked to stiffening of the arteries in men
Conclusion
This prospective cohort study aimed to look at the relationship between long-term alcohol patterns and stiffness of the arteries as a potential indicator of cardiovascular health.
The researchers found men who were stable heavy drinkers had stiffer arteries compared with stable moderate drinkers.
Male former drinkers also had increasingly stiffer arteries over the following four to five years compared with consistent moderate drinkers. There were no significant findings seen for women at all.
But this study does have limitations:
This type of study is not able to prove drinking causes stiffness of the arter...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 21, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news
Statins side effects 'have been overstated,' says study
Conclusion
This is a complex study that provides a plausible explanation for the difference in reports of adverse effects of statins in RCTs and observational studies, some of which have suggested as many as 1 in 5 people get side effects from statins.
However, we need to be aware of some limitations and unanswered questions:
When people knew they were taking statins, they were more likely to report muscle pain than those not taking statins. But they were less likely to report muscle pain than in the first phase of the study, when they didn't know whether they were taking statins or placebo. We don't know why this is.
...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 3, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Heart/lungs Source Type: news
Statins side effects 'have been overstated', says study
Conclusion
This is a complex study that provides a plausible explanation for the difference in reports of adverse effects of statins in RCTs and observational studies, some of which have suggested as many as 1 in 5 people get side effects from statins.
However, we need to be aware of some limitations and unanswered questions:
When people knew they were taking statins, they were more likely to report muscle pain than those not taking statins. But they were less likely to report muscle pain than in the first phase of the study, when they didn't know whether they were taking statins or placebo. We don't know why this is.
...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 3, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Heart/lungs Source Type: news
'Chocolate good for the heart' claims sadly too good to be true
Conclusion
Health stories that suggest eating or drinking something we like, whether it's chocolate or wine, are always popular. But they don't really tell us anything we don't know already. Certain foods may have a small impact on certain types of diseases, but it's the overall diet that counts.
Previous studies have already suggested that the antioxidant properties of cocoa could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, so it's surprising that this study focused on one particular cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation.
AF is a common condition that affects heart rate, often causing a faster than normal, irregular ...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 24, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news
Does coffee make you live longer?
Conclusion
This study, conducted on a large number of people across Europe, was backed up by similar findings in the US. It appears to show some association between people who drink higher amounts of coffee and a reduced risk of death.
But the "potentially beneficial clinical implications" need to be considered carefully for a number of reasons:
Although the analyses were adjusted for some confounding variables, there may be a number of other factors that differ between the groups that account for the differences in death, such as socioeconomic status, family history, other medical conditions, and use of medic...
Source: NHS News Feed - July 12, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Source Type: news
Anti-inflammatory drug may help prevent heart attacks
Conclusion
This well-conducted study shows promising signs that canakinumab may reduce the risk of future heart attacks and other cardiovascular events in people who've had them in the past.
But before any changes are made to the current licensing of this drug, further research is needed to confirm the beneficial effects and the optimal dose.
Most importantly, researchers will need to focus on the observation that the drug lowered white blood cell counts and increased the risk of fatal infection.
They estimated around 1 in every 300 people taking canakinumab would die of a fatal infection. This number, while low, is sti...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 30, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Source Type: news
Women's smoking death risk 'highest ever'
Conclusion
This large-scale research adds to the already prodigious amount of evidence on the risks that come from smoking. This research estimates the risk of death among smokers, and examines trends in this risk over time and by gender. There are difficulties, however, in teasing apart just what the figures mean.
Multiple risk factors contribute to risk of death
Several factors influence the relative risk of death between smokers and non-smokers, including background rates of mortality from smoking-related illnesses. An increase in relative risks of death from smoking-related illnesses could be attributable to certain sm...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 24, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news
Today's adults 'unhealthier than their parents were'
Conclusion
This cohort study’s strength was its long follow-up period, with four measurements of risk factors taken over a period of 16 years. By following up people over time a cohort study such as this is able to track risk factors in the same people over extended periods. As long as people return for the follow-up checks, it is the best study design for tracking this sort of data and drawing the sorts of conclusions these authors make.
Another advantage is that the same group of trained workers objectively measured data on body weight, height, blood pressure and cholesterol, using standardised protocols, which reduced...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 11, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Older people Heart/lungs Source Type: news
No proof heading footballs causes brain damage
Conclusion
Overall, this research provides no evidence that there is a direct cause and effect between repeated heading of a football and traumatic brain injury. However, there are several important limitations to this study that are worth noting.
One-off tests and scans of players
The people in the study only had brain images and neurological tests at one point in time, and were asked about heading in the previous year and if they had any concussions in their lifetime.
Without having the imaging and neurological tests prior to the year in question – or preferably in early periods of life, before they started playing f...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 12, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news
Are weekly workouts as good as daily exercise?
Conclusion
This study used a large quantity of data from more than 2,000 participants of the Canadian Health Measures Survey to try to gauge how often adults should perform 150 minutes of exercise a week, as recommended by most guidelines.
The main finding was that those who met this total physical activity requirement were less likely to have metabolic syndrome than those who were less active, which is not particularly surprising. Lack of exercise is associated with many of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome, such as obesity.
Importantly, however, the frequency of time that MVPA was conducted over – whether this w...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 24, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Saturated fat link with heart disease questioned
This article is one doctor's opinion based on his own knowledge, research and experience.
However, it is fair to say there is an ongoing debate about how far cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease, especially in people who are otherwise healthy.
There is also a similar debate about the use of statins in people who have no evidence of cardiovascular disease. This is alongside ongoing research into the components of LDL and the different types of lipoproteins known to increase risk the most. None of this relevant new evidence is covered by the news reporting.
What should you eat?
There is no need to change curren...
Source: NHS News Feed - October 23, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet QA articles Source Type: news
Nut eaters may have a longer life expectancy
Conclusion
This study found that eating nuts is associated with a reduced risk of death from any cause, and that the more frequently nuts were eaten, the lower the risk of death. Eating 28g of nuts seven or more times per week was associated with a 20% reduced risk of death.
The researchers say that previous studies found that increased nut intake was associated with a reduced risk of several diseases (including type 2 diabetes mellitus, colon cancer, high blood pressure and diverticulitis), and that nut consumption has been linked to reductions in various risk factors for chronic diseases. Seeing whether nut consumption w...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 21, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news
Study may bust myth of 'fat and fit' healthy obesity
Conclusion
This meta-analysis provides further evidence about the known risk factors for cardiovascular disease and mortality.
What this study adds is the indication that people who are metabolically unhealthy regardless of their weight are at increased risk.
However, interestingly, no increase in risk was seen for the category of people who are metabolically healthy though overweight.
A strength of this meta-analysis is the large sample size. However, the results should be interpreted with caution as:
The studies did not use the same criteria for assessing metabolic status.
The studies did not use the same criteri...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 4, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Obesity Source Type: news
Women who spend too long sitting may die earlier
Conclusion
This cohort study looking at the link between sedentary time in postmenopausal women and their risk of death, benefits from its large sample size of almost 100,000 women, and 12 year follow-up.
It finds, as previous research has found, that increased sedentary time is generally associated with increased risk of death.
The main risk was for women with the highest sedentary time (greater than 11 hours sitting per day) who were at increased risk of death from any cause and deaths from heart disease or cancer compared with women sitting for less than four hours a day.
The links were less clear for women sedentary ...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 17, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Source Type: news
