Babies put into their own room at six months 'sleep longer'
Conclusion The study shows an association between infant and parent room-sharing at 4 and 9 months and infants sleeping for less both in the short and longer term. It also showed a link between room-sharing and unsafe practices such as leaving objects such as blankets in the cot. However, the results of this study need to be treated cautiously as there are some limitations to the research: The findings do not prove that putting babies in their own room helps them sleep for longer. It might be that some parents of infants who were not sleeping very well anyway decided to keep their baby in the room with them. The data...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 6, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

TV in bedroom 'risk factor' for child obesity
Conclusion This analysis used data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study to assess for long-term associations between television and computer use and body fat in children. It found that compared to children who didn't have a TV in their bedroom at age seven, children who did had a significantly higher BMI and FMI at the age of 11. The association was higher for girls than boys. This is an interesting study however there are a few points to note: Although the researchers adjusted for potential confounding factors, diet and physical activity were not adjusted for. An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are two of t...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 5, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

'Everyday chemicals' linked to cancer
Conclusion This valuable laboratory study gives a further insight into how BRCA2 mutations could lead to cancer development. Aldehydes could further reduce the amount of DNA repair protein that people with an abnormal BRCA2 gene copy are able to produce. However, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions from this. For one thing, aldehydes are naturally present in the environment, as well as included in diverse products, from cosmetics to fossil fuel. We can't lay the blame on individual products and it's difficult to completely eradicate exposure to aldehydes. This study alone can't inform on a safe or toxic exposure level, ei...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 2, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Source Type: news

Cold water 'just as good as hot' for handwashing
Conclusion This experimental study aimed to assess handwashing techniques by testing the most effective soap volume, water temperature, and lather time for getting rid of bacteria. Contrary to current guidelines, which recommend using hot water when we wash our hands, this study found using colder water (15C) was just as effective at getting rid of bacteria. It also found washing your hands for longer – 30 seconds – was found to be more effective than washing for 15 seconds. The researchers hope their study will help policymakers such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make evidence-based recommendation...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 1, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Link between stress in pregnancy and ADHD unfounded
Conclusion Despite the media headlines and scaremongering, ADHD is never mentioned in the study. The researchers cite animal studies which suggest increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol may speed up development before birth. They say this may prevent proper maturation of the organs and so could cause any "mental or physical illness" occurring later in life, such as ADHD. However, for ethical reasons, the levels of stress hormones in the amniotic fluid were only measured once in this study. This means we are unable to tell whether they changed during periods of maternal stress or during the pregnancy. Tho...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 31, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child Mental health Source Type: news

Parents' phone addiction may lead to child behavioural problems
Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that when mothers and fathers report being distracted by digital technology, this causes interruptions in interactions with their children. These interruptions in mothers – but not fathers – seem to have an impact on child behaviour. The authors suggest that the poor behavioural outcomes might only be found for mother-child interactions because children might react differently to maternal versus paternal responsiveness. It could also be that children simply spend more time with their mothers on a daily basis in this sample so there were more opportunities for technoferenc...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 31, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Beta-blockers 'useless' for many heart attack patients, study reports
Conclusion This study aimed to see whether beta blockers reduce mortality in people who've had a heart attack but who don't have heart failure or systolic dysfunction. It found no difference between those who were and those who were not given beta-blockers on discharge from hospital. The authors say this adds to the evidence that routine prescription of beta blockers might not be needed for patients without heart failure following a heart attack. Current UK guidelines recommend all people who have had a heart attack take beta blockers for at least one year to reduce risk of recurrent events. Only people with heart failure ...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 30, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Source Type: news

Fitness trackers' calorie measurements are prone to error
Conclusion This study assessed how accurately seven fitness trackers are able to measure the heart rate and calories burned of individuals taking part in several different activities. The data was compared against clinically approved medical devices to test the accuracy of data obtained by the fitness trackers. It found that although all seven trackers were fairly accurate at measuring heart rate, there was a high level of error when measuring the number of calories burned. The researchers hope this study will help individuals and physicians be aware of potential errors when interpreting the measurements obtained by fitnes...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 26, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Does meditation carry a risk of harmful side effects?
Conclusion Many people around the world find meditation can be helpful. However, as with most things, there can be downsides. Some people – especially if they practice intensive meditation for many hours, such as on a retreat – have challenging or difficult experiences. Some religious teachers within Buddhism say these can be part of the path of the religious experience. However, for people doing meditation hoping to experience health benefits, without a religious context, these experiences can be unexpected and difficult to deal with. There are limitations in this study that mean we shouldn't try to apply it too widel...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 26, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Expanding waistline linked to an increased risk of cancer
Conclusion This study provides more evidence of the link between excess body fat and 10 cancers. Though the percentage increases sound large, it's important to put these results into context. For example, the baseline risk of postmenopausal cancer was 2.2% – it occurred in 555 of the 24,751 women in the study. For women who hadn't used hormone therapy, this would increase to a risk of 2.7% if they had a BMI of 30 compared with 26, or a waist circumference of 95cm compared with 84cm. This accounts for only an extra 5 cases in every 1,000 women. This large study involved older adults from European countries, so the resu...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 25, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Obesity 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

Just half a glass of wine a day may increase breast cancer risk
"Just half a glass of wine a day ups the risk of breast cancer by nine per cent, experts warn," The Sun reports. A major report looking at global evidence found that drinking just 10g of alcohol a day – 1.25 units – was linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. The report was produced by the World Cancer Research Fund which reviews the global evidence on the link between diet, weight, physical activity and breast cancer. Overall, this report supports what is already known, that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for breast cancer. The report found that for each 10g of pure alcohol consumed each day, the...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 23, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Food/diet QA articles Source Type: news

Dementia saliva testing 'shows early promise'
Conclusion The researchers are appropriately cautious in their conclusions. These findings have potential, but this is an early stage pilot – a starting point for further study. The tests were carried out in small samples of healthy people and those with cognitive impairment. They would have to be validated in much larger groups, in which it's possible the test would give different findings. The researchers calculate that they would need at least 100 people per group to develop models that could reliably detect significant differences in biomarkers between the groups. Even among this small sample, we don't know from the ...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 22, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Medical practice Older people Source Type: news

Instagram 'ranked worst for mental health' in teen survey
Conclusion This timely report should be welcomed, given that almost all young people use social media, and it undoubtedly can affect their wellbeing. It also offers well-considered recommendations. However, the study does have some limitations. Researchers gauged the potential positive and negative effects of different social media platforms by asking young people to answer whether they felt better or worse by using them. This can't prove that social media is directly responsible for increasing rates of depression and anxiety. It's difficult to explore all the various ways the social media sites may make people feel bett...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 19, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Swallowable gastric balloon could help with weight loss
Conclusion This research investigated whether treatment with a swallowable gastric balloon is a safe and effective option to help obese people lose weight. Overall, the study found the gastric balloon led to weight loss when used alongside a low calorie diet, with a mean weight loss of 15.2kg by the end of the 16-week treatment period. However, the rate of weight loss declined after 12 weeks of treatment, before going up again in the last month with the introduction of a very low calorie diet. This is an interesting piece of research, but it has a number of limitations. This is a very small study, and the findings woul...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 18, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Obesity Source Type: news