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Condition: Alcoholism

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Total 279 results found since Jan 2013.

ONS suggests that one in four deaths are 'avoidable'
“1 in 4 deaths could have been prevented,” The Times reports. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 23% of deaths could have been prevented through better care, more effective treatment and healthier living. The news is based on an ONS bulletin titled Avoidable Mortality in England and Wales, 2012 (PDF 186kb). The bulletin provides mortality figures for causes of death that are considered avoidable if timely and effective healthcare is received or healthier lifestyle choices adopted. Figures were provided for the period 2001 to 2012 so that trends can be seen. The bulletin found tha...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 8, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Cancer QA articles Source Type: news

Heart attack survivors 'gain from high-fibre diet'
Conclusion This was a well-designed study. Although it was a cohort study and so cannot prove causation, attempts were made to analyse the results while taking multiple factors into account. Its strengths include that it used data from a large number of people and measured dietary habits over the previous year, which may be a more accurate assessment than snap-shot 24-hour food questionnaires. However, there will still be room for bias in people's recall and estimates of portion size. There were a few limitations to the study: it was not able to take into account people who suffered from a heart attack and died before ...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 30, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news

Cannabis linked to brain differences in the young
Conclusion This study found differences between young recreational cannabis users and non-users in the volume and structure of the nucleus accumbens and amygdala, which have a role in the brain’s reward system, pleasure response, emotion and decision making. However, as this was only a cross sectional study taking one-off brain scans of cannabis users and non-users, it cannot prove that cannabis use was the cause of any of the differences seen. It is not known whether cannabis use could have caused these changes in regular users.   Or conversely whether the cannabis users in this study had this brain structure to sta...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 16, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news

Salt cuts have 'saved lives,' says study
Conclusion This UK study used serial cross-sectional data collected as part of the Health Survey for England, the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, and the Office for National Statistics between 2003 and 2011. It found that average blood pressure and salt intake fell significantly, and there was a reduction in the number of deaths from stroke and heart disease. The researchers only looked at people who were not taking blood pressure medications or other drugs that might affect blood pressure. After adjusting for some relevant confounders, there was still a significant decrease in blood pressure between 2003 and 2011 (sys...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 15, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news

Vegetarians have 'poorer quality of life' study claims
Conclusion Despite the media headlines, the results from this Austrian cross sectional survey provide no proof that vegetarians are in poorer health than meat eaters. The study has simply compared a group of people with a “vegetarian” diet with three different groups of people following “carnivorous” diets on a range of different health and lifestyle measures to see if any differences are observed. The study has numerous limitations: The cross sectional study cannot prove cause and effect and that the dietary pattern is responsible for any of these self-reported differences. In fact it is possible the associat...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 4, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Mental health Source Type: news

Can warm-water exercise help high blood pressure?
Conclusion This small randomised trial has found that 12 weeks of three hours a week of exercise in a swimming pool filled with warm water reduced blood pressure in a specific group of people with high blood pressure that had not responded to at least three previous blood pressure medications. A limitation of the study was that the people taking regular exercise sessions in warm water were being compared with a control group who were continuing to take no exercise. It is therefore unclear whether it was the fact that they actually exercised, rather than the type of exercise, was the key factor. It is possible that a simi...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 3, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Older people Source Type: news

Stroke mortality increased by drinking alcohol several times a week
Consuming alcohol more frequently than twice a week increases the risk of stroke mortality in men, according to a study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland. The results show that the effects of alcohol are not limited to the amount consumed, but also the frequency of drinking matters. The results were published in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica.Excessive consumption of alcohol is associated with a variety of different diseases.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - March 21, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Stroke Source Type: news

Parental smoking 'ages' children’s arteries
ConclusionOverall, this secondary analysis study provides preliminary evidence of the effects of parental passive smoking on the artery walls of children and adolescents in adulthood. The researchers attempted to adjust for potential factors that could influence risk (confounders), such as: age sex height weight smoking status physical activity levels alcohol consumption schooling level of the parent(s)In their analysis, they also took into consideration cardiovascular risk factors of the participants in adulthood. There are some limitations to the study, which are worth noting. Parental smoking status was self-re...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 5, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Five-year 'death test' provides few answers
ConclusionThis large population-based study was able to show which people were at increased risk of dying from cardiovascular, cancer or other causes over a five-year period. However, the researchers could not predict which illness a person may be at higher risk of getting or provide an opportunity for targeted prevention or treatment strategies. Strengths of the study include the large sample size and the fact participants were taken from the general population. The results also remained statistically significant after adjusting for age, sex, current disease and many other recognised indicators of chronic disease.However,...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 26, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Cancer Diabetes Medical practice Source Type: news

Wine and chocolate may not 'beat diabetes'
This study does not give the green light to drink red wine above the recommended levels or to consume chocolate often – any potential benefits of diabetes prevention are likely to be overshadowed by the already known risks of excessive sugar, fat and alcohol consumption, including liver disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer.   Links To The Headlines Chocolate And Red Wine 'Can Beat Diabetes'. Sky News, January 20 2014 Chocolate and red wine can help stave off diabetes: High levels of antioxidants can regulate blood glucose levels. Daily Mail, January 20 2014 Red wine 'protects against diabetes' - and cho...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 20, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Diabetes Food/diet 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

Stroke risk 'higher at start of warfarin treatment'
Conclusion This study has found that warfarin was associated with an increased risk of ischaemic stroke during the first 30 days of treatment. After 30 days of treatment, warfarin was associated with a decreased risk of stroke. However, this study has a number of limitations that should be considered: All information was from patient records, which means that it wasn't subject to recall bias, but the information may not be complete – we do not know if, for example, people took the medication they were prescribed. There may be other factors (confounders) that explain the association seen. In particular, the ba...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 19, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Source Type: news

Test could give two-year warning for Alzheimer's
Conclusion The researchers suggest that Alzheimer's disease can be predicted with an accuracy of 87.5% when thinning of the cortex in the right anterior cingulated gyrus is seen on MRI, alongside test results suggesting problems with recall and recognition. This research does not indicate a new "test", as MRI and psychological testing are standard procedures when investigating the signs and symptoms of dementia. What is novel in this approach is looking at a specific combination of results as a potential way of predicting which people with MCI may develop Alzheimer's disease. While this form of testing would be b...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 9, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Source Type: news