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Source: NHS News Feed
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Total 273 results found since Jan 2013.
Could statins also protect against dementia?
Conclusion
This study using a large, older age, Asian population finds an association between statin use and reduced risk of developing dementia over an average five years of follow-up.
The main limitation of this study is that it can demonstrate an association, but it cannot definitely prove cause and effect. The study has adjusted for a number of measured confounders, but this may not fully account for these or other factors (such as lifestyle habits) that may be involved in the relationship.
Also, while the research has used what can be expected to be a fairly reliable research database, there is also the possibility...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 14, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Neurology Source Type: news
Painkiller use linked to irregular heartbeat
ConclusionThis prospective cohort study claims an association between NSAIDs usage and developing atrial fibrillation. However, there are many limitations to this research.Despite this being a large prospective cohort study that followed people over a period of time, the assessments within it were predominantly cross-sectional. That means it assessed the person’s current or recent prescription of NSAIDs at the time they were diagnosed, but this cannot prove that using NSAIDs caused atrial fibrillation. A better method may have been to assess the use of NSAIDs in people without atrial fibrillation at the start of the stud...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 9, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Older people Source Type: news
Incorrect claims gambling is caused by brain damage
Conclusion
This experimental study in a small number of people with different brain injuries and a comparison group of healthy people, has found that people with brain damage to the insula (a region of the brain believed to be involved in feelings and emotional responses) had reduced motivation to play the slot machine task following near misses compared with full misses. These people also did not display classic gambler’s fallacy effect on a roulette wheel game – in that they were not more likely to choose a blue after long runs of red or vice versa.
A study such as this suggests regions of the brain that may be invol...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 8, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Source Type: news
Claims gambling is caused by brain damage
Conclusion
This experimental study in a small number of people with different brain injuries and a comparison group of healthy people, has found that people with brain damage to the insula (a region of the brain believed to be involved in feelings and emotional responses) had reduced motivation to play the slot machine task following near misses compared with full misses. These people also did not display classic gambler’s fallacy effect on a roulette wheel game – in that they were not more likely to choose a blue after long runs of red or vice versa.
A study such as this suggests regions of the brain that may be invol...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 8, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health 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
No proof Earl Grey can fight heart disease
Conclusion
This animal experiment indicated that the bergamot extract HMGF may have cholesterol-lowering effects similar to that of the commonly used statin, simvastatin, when given to mice with high cholesterol levels that were fed high cholesterol diets for three weeks.
The main limitation of the study was that none of the research involved humans. Therefore, it is not possible to say the bergamot extract would work the same way in humans, unless directly tested. Furthermore, this rat study tested a pure extract rather than tea containing the extract, the effects of which may be different. For instance, taking milk in te...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 1, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Food/diet Source Type: news
Doctors launch new tool to measure your 'heart age'
“People are being urged to find out their "true" heart age in order to cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes,” BBC News reports. Doctors have put together a new risk calculator called JBS3 that can tell you the real “age” of your heart.
Risk calculators for cardiovascular diseases or CVDs (conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels) are nothing new. The “granddaddy” of risk calculators – the Framingham risk calculator – has been available for years.
But this new JBS3 calculator has the benefits of:
being easily accessible online
providing what is thought to be an accurate risk es...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 27, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs QA articles Source Type: news
NICE: 'schools should provide morning-after pill'
Conclusion
Everyone makes mistakes, but if you find yourself relying on the morning-after pill as a regular method of contraception, you may want to speak to a healthcare professional about what would be the most suitable form of ongoing contraception for you to use. This could include methods that do not involve needing to take a daily pill, such as contraceptive patches, injections or an implant.
However, none of these methods will protect you against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Condoms are cheap, free of side effects and they will protect you against STIs such as chlamydia.
For more information about your ...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 26, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: QA articles Pregnancy/child Source Type: news
Statins side effects are minimal, study argues
ConclusionThis meta-analysis pooled results from 29 studies and has shown a very small increased risk of newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. This is the same as the decreased risk of any cause of death in people taking statins, compared to placebo, to prevent a heart attack or stroke.The researchers point out some limitations to the meta-analysis: Each study did not report on all of the side effects, meaning that for each category of side effect, the number of participants differed. The side effect categories were only included if at least 500 people had reported suffering from it. This means there may be numerous other si...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 13, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication 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
Angry outbursts may up heart attack risk
ConclusionThis systematic review found there is an increased risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and disturbances in heart rhythm, shortly after outbursts of anger.This is based on results from nine case-crossover studies. In these, information on feelings of anger in the period before the cardiovascular event, as well as an earlier period, were collected retrospectively. The risk of having a cardiovascular event after an episode of anger was then calculated. The researchers point out several limitations to their review, including the fact that: participants were asked to remember angry outbursts hours o...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 4, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Neurology Lifestyle/exercise 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
Flu jab "may cut" stroke risk by a quarter
ConclusionThis research finds that, overall, having the flu vaccine reduced the risk of a person experiencing a stroke by about 25%. The reduction in risk seemed to be greatest within the first three months of vaccination, but remained for up to 12 months. However, the effect lasted only if the vaccine was given early in the flu season (September to mid-November); giving the vaccine late in the flu season (mid-November to February) was not associated with significantly reduced risk.The research benefits from using data coded within the General Practice Research Database for England and Wales for almost 50,000 people with...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 21, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Neurology Older people Source Type: news
Strokes 'may be linked to temperature', study finds
Conclusion
This retrospective study reports that there is an association between lower temperature and increased humidity and a slightly increased risk of ischaemic stroke. It was a large study, but there are several major limitations of this study design:
The temperature was matched with discharge dates. There is a wide variation in the length of hospitalisation after a stroke, so the temperature at discharge may be very different to the temperature when the stroke occurred.
The researchers assumed that changes in outdoor air temperature would have been experienced by all of the people who suffered from a stroke. It...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 13, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news
