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Memory gaps in graduates a 'stroke warning sign'
Conclusion This study showed that highly educated people who notice memory complaints in themselves may be more likely to develop stroke than those who don’t, over an average of 12 years. The study had a number of strengths, such as its population-based prospective design and availability of data on more than 9,000 participants at baseline with a long follow-up. However, there were also a number of limitations that weaken the strength of the conclusions. It was not clear whether the memory complaints were assessed just once at the start of the study or an ongoing basis. Some people may report memory complaints that are o...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 12, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Mental health Older people Source Type: news

Longer sleep linked to stroke
Conclusion This cohort study found that, overall, people who sleep for more than eight hours have a 46% increased risk of stroke. When analysed separately, there was no statistically significant association for men, but a much higher increased risk for women, of 80%. A major strength of the study is the number of potential confounding factors that the researchers tried to account for, including many cardiovascular risk factors. However, it did not account for other illnesses such as sleep apnoea or cancer, which may have had an effect on the amount of sleep and risk of stroke. In addition, the study is reliant on the i...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 26, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Older people Source Type: news

Reported link between diet drinks and dementia and stroke is weak
Conclusion The researchers used data from a large ongoing cohort study to look for links between consumption of sugary and artificially sweetened drinks and risk of stroke or dementia. This cohort study benefits from the large overall sample size, long period of data collection, careful and valid diagnostic assessments, and adjustments for a number of confounders. However, care must be taken when interpreting these results – particularly if latching on to the maximal tripled risk figures reported in the media. There are several points to consider: Small numbers The new number of strokes and dementia in this study was sma...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 21, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Neurology Source Type: news

GP receptionists 'could help prevent stroke deaths'
Conclusion This valuable and well-designed study assessed a cross-section of general practices from one UK region, looking at how well receptionists are able to recognise the signs of stroke and give appropriate advice – either immediately passing patients on to the GP or telling them to contact emergency services. The study has many strengths. These include the large sample of GP surgeries and calls assessed, and that receptionists weren't aware of the nature of the study and the calls were unannounced. At the end of each individual call receptionists were told the call was part of the study and no further action was n...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 29, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medical practice Neurology Source Type: news

Overweight teen boys have increased risk of stroke in later life
Conclusion The findings of this large longitudinal cohort study seem to demonstrate a link between being overweight aged 20 and an increased risk of stroke. This risk was regardless of whether the boy had been overweight aged 8 or not. There seemed to be no increased risk for boys who were overweight aged 8 but were a normal weight by the age of 20. The study was conducted before the obesity epidemic, and might be even more relevant today. But there are a number of considerations to take into account before we draw any conclusions: Participants were followed up until they were 52-68, so all the strokes occurred at a r...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 29, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Female stroke survivors’ quality of life investigated
Conclusion The study suggests that women have a lower quality of life than men three and 12 months after they have been discharged from hospital after experiencing a stroke or mini-stroke. While the results were statistically significant, the relative differences appeared small. For example at three months (where the largest difference was found) the average difference in quality of life score between men and women was 0.036 points. This is on a quality of life scale that ranges from 0 (death) to 1 (perfect health). The quality of life difference at 12 months was 0.022 points. Whether these small differences are clinicall...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 10, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Female stroke survivors' quality of life investigated
Conclusion The study suggests that women have a lower quality of life than men three and 12 months after they have been discharged from hospital after experiencing a stroke or mini-stroke. While the results were statistically significant, the relative differences appeared small. For example at three months (where the largest difference was found) the average difference in quality of life score between men and women was 0.036 points. This is on a quality of life scale that ranges from 0 (death) to 1 (perfect health). The quality of life difference at 12 months was 0.022 points. Whether these small differences are clinicall...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 10, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Eating one egg a day may lower risk of stroke
Conclusion This research broadly supports previous studies in this area, which suggest eating eggs does not increase the chances of getting heart disease or stroke. It raises the possibility that eggs may decrease the risk of having a stroke, but there are limitations to the study, meaning this result may not be reliable. It's interesting that researchers did not find a "dose response" between stroke risk and the number of eggs eaten. Usually, if something is having an effect on the chances of getting a condition, you can see a linear pattern – having more of that food or treatment increases or decreases chanc...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 2, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Neurology Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Calcium supplements linked to post-stroke dementia in women
Conclusion The media paint this as a troubling study for older women who take calcium to strengthen their bones. However the small size of the study (only 98 women took calcium supplements, and only 14 of those got dementia) and its observational nature mean that we cannot rely on the results. As the researchers mention, it is possible that those taking supplements were less healthy than those that didn't in some unmeasured way. Further research may improve our confidence in these results. Broken bones are not a trivial matter for older people – a broken hip can be the difference between being able to live independentl...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 18, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Medication Older people Source Type: news

Study: 'mini strokes should be treated immediately with aspirin'
Conclusion The study supports current recommended practice that people with a TIA or ischaemic stroke caused by a blood clot are treated with aspirin as soon as possible. NHS experts are considering whether to recommend that you take aspirin yourself while waiting for medical help. The reason this isn't recommended at present is that some people will have had a haemorrhagic (bleeding) stroke, and aspirin can make the bleeding worse. For people who've had a full stroke, an urgent brain scan is usually performed to exclude bleeding as a cause and check it's safe to proceed with anti-clotting treatment. The risk of trans...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 19, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Medication Source Type: news

Air pollution linked to silent strokes
Conclusion This cross-sectional study has suggested a link between exposure to small particles in the air (one form of pollution) and the presence of "silent stroke" in older adults – small areas of damage to the brain tissue that are not severe enough to cause obvious symptoms. There are a number of limitations to be aware of when assessing the results of this study: While there was an association between particulate matter in the air and total brain volume, this was no longer statistically significant after taking into account whether people have conditions such as high blood pressure, which can also affec...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 24, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise 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

Fruit may be good for you, but don’t ditch the statins
Conclusion The study adds to evidence that fresh fruit is likely to be good for our cardiovascular health, although we can't be sure from this study that it definitely prevents deaths, heart attacks or strokes. Observational studies cannot prove that one factor causes another, even when they are as big as this study, because other unmeasured factors could be responsible for the results. In this case, a major potential confounder that the researchers failed to take into account was whether the participants were taking any medication – they only excluded people taking blood pressure tablets. The link with statins, made by ...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 7, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Regular activity may help some people stay 'fat and fit'
Conclusion As people often say, if exercise was a medicine, it would be hailed as a miracle cure. This study suggests that what we already know about the benefits of exercise may extend to reducing risk of cardiovascular disease for middle aged and older people, even if they are overweight or obese. But the study has some limitations. This type of study can't prove that one factor – exercise – is responsible for the lower risk of heart attack and stroke among overweight or obese people who exercise more. It's possible that other factors are important – for example people's income may be linked to their opportuniti...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 2, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Source Type: news

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