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Two older drugs could be 'repurposed' to fight dementia
Conclusion This early stage experimental research has demonstrated a beneficial neurological effect of trazodone and dibenzoylmethane on mice with diseases mimicking neurodegenerative diseases. It is important to acknowledge that this is animal research and therefore the drugs might not have the same effect when they are trialled on humans. That being said, trazodone is already an approved drug for depression and sleep problems and has therefore already passed safety tests. If the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in humans and mice are similar, it is possible trazodone could be used in the future in treating Alzheimer's and...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 20, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Older people Neurology Medication Source Type: news

Moderate drinking may reduce heart disease risk
Conclusion This study paints a more complicated picture than the "Pint a day keeps the doctor away" story proffered by The Sun. It seems to confirm the findings of other studies, which have shown that non-drinkers tend to have a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases than people who drink moderately. It suggests that some cardiovascular diseases (mainly those directly affecting the heart) seem to have a stronger link to a possible protective effect from alcohol than other vascular diseases, such as mini-strokes and bleeding in the brain. However, this can't be concluded with certainty due to the study design. We ...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 23, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Our Sedentary Lifestyles Cost About 5 Million Lives A Year
By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - A study of one million people has found that physical inactivity costs the global economy $67.5 billion a year in healthcare and productivity losses, but an hour a day of exercise could eliminate most of that. Sedentary lifestyles are linked to increased risks of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, researchers found, but activity - such as brisk walking - could counter the higher likelihood of early death linked with sitting for eight or more hours a day. Such inactivity is estimated to cause more than 5 million deaths a year - almost as many as smoking, which the World Health Organi...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - July 28, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News 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

Inactivity 'twice as deadly' as obesity
Conclusion This study’s strengths included its large size and long follow-up period. Researchers also took into account a large number of factors (called confounders) that might have influenced the risk of death, such as diet, smoking history and alcohol intake, although it is still possible that both measured and unmeasured confounders influenced mortality rates. The study had one important limitation. It only measured people’s BMI (calculated by combining their weight and height) and their physical activity once, at the start of the study. It is quite possible that people’s BMI changed over time, and that this wou...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 15, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Tech titans gather to make winners of the 'Oscars of science' into instant millionaires
Silicon Valley hosts lavish ceremony for Breakthrough prize that aims to give scientists celebrity status and inspire interest in life's 'big questions'Silicon Valley has a tendency to tackle social ills with big ideas, its feisty startups revolutionising everything from healthcare to education. Now a handful of billionaire engineers have turned their attention to a social blight that affects their own kind: the lack of appreciation (and funding) for scientists.The second Breakthrough prize for life sciences is being awarded on Thursday at Nasa's Ames Research Centre in Mountain View, California, about a five-minute drive ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - December 7, 2013 Category: Science Authors: Parmy Olson Tags: United States Culture World news Mark Zuckerberg Media Kevin Spacey Sergey Brin Technology Science prizes UK news Film California The Observer Glenn Close Source Type: news

Joe Farman obituary
Scientist whose discovery of the depletion of the ozone layer sparked global action to phase out dangerous chemicalsJoe Farman, who has died aged 82, was the leader of a small group of scientists who made one of the most important discoveries in recent history. In 1985, they published a landmark paper on the ozone layer, the protective skin that filters the sun's ultraviolet rays and without which the rays can cause cancers and eye damage. Their research showed that the ozone layer was being rapidly depleted over the Antarctic.Just two years later, world governments signed the Montreal protocol, a treaty phasing out the us...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 16, 2013 Category: Science Authors: Fiona Harvey Tags: Obituaries Ozone layer guardian.co.uk Physics Environment Science Source Type: news