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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

Working long hours 'increases stroke risk'
Conclusion This systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to assess the association between long working hours and the risk of developing heart disease and stroke.  Overall, the study found longer working hours above 55 hours a week was linked to a third increased risk of stroke. The link with heart disease was weaker.  It also found the influence of long hours on heart disease risk was higher for those of lower socioeconomic groups than it was for those of intermediate or high socioeconomic groups. This study has several strengths. This includes the large overall sample size and the inclusion of both published a...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 21, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news

Mediterranean diet cuts heart and stroke risk
Conclusion The results of this randomised controlled trial appear to confirm previous studies that there are benefits to following a Mediterranean diet. The trial has many strengths, including its large size, long period of follow-up, thorough assessment of medical outcomes (including reviewing medical records and having contact with the family doctor), and careful attempts to assess whether the diets were being followed. As this is a randomised controlled trial, it should also balance out other health and lifestyle differences between the groups that may influence cardiovascular risk. This avoids the limitations of m...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 26, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Global stats show rise in strokes in younger people
Conclusion This study is comprehensive in its global coverage of stroke and is based on the largest stroke dataset available to date. It is also the first to provide systematic regional and country-specific estimates of the burden of the disease.  As the authors point out, the main limitations include a scarcity of high-quality data from low-income and middle-income countries especially, which may affect the reliability of some of the figures. Other limitations include a potential underestimation of the burden of stroke. This may have come about because "silent strokes", which are those not based on diagnosis u...
Source: NHS News Feed - October 24, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medical practice Neurology Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Five-a-day of fruit and veg is good, but '10 is better'
Conclusion This research supports the idea that the more fruit and veg you eat the better – at least, up to 10 portions (800g) a day. It also suggests the number of people who die early might be reduced if they were to eat more than the current recommended guideline daily amount. However, before we take this at face value, there are some important considerations: There are likely to be many confounding factors that may have affected the results. It might be that people who eat a lot of fruit and veg are also more likely to be physically active, consume less alcohol, not smoke and be a healthy weight, or other facto...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 23, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Cancer Medical practice Source Type: news

Statins cut heart deaths in men by 28% finds study
Conclusion This new analysis found that men without cardiovascular disease who were prescribed a statin were less likely to go on to develop heart disease or have a major cardiovascular event. These findings from the five-year randomised controlled trial are useful – there's been a lot of debate about whether giving statins to people without any cardiovascular disease is helpful. But it's harder to draw conclusions from the longer term results, as these were from a non-randomised observational period. Potential confounding factors – such as the men's attitude to medicine, risk and health – may have influenced the res...
Source: NHS News Feed - September 7, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Does coffee make you live longer?
Conclusion This study, conducted on a large number of people across Europe, was backed up by similar findings in the US. It appears to show some association between people who drink higher amounts of coffee and a reduced risk of death. But the "potentially beneficial clinical implications" need to be considered carefully for a number of reasons: Although the analyses were adjusted for some confounding variables, there may be a number of other factors that differ between the groups that account for the differences in death, such as socioeconomic status, family history, other medical conditions, and use of medic...
Source: NHS News Feed - July 12, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet 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

Hard times in Cuba linked to better national health
Conclusion This is an interesting study that appears to show that modest weight loss within a relatively short period across the whole population is associated with a downward trend in diabetes and reductions in death rates from both diabetes and heart disease. Similarly, weight regain was associated with an increase in diabetes incidence, prevalence and mortality as well as a slowing down in the decline of cardiovascular deaths. This type of study draws on many different data sources and, as such, there is a possibility of error. Also, as the authors point out, data was missing on diabetes incidence during the crisis year...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 10, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Diabetes Source Type: news

No evidence that the price of fame is an early death
Conclusion Given our obsession with celebrity lifestyles, it’s perhaps not surprising that this study has attracted so much interest. It seems to support popular beliefs about the cost of fame in terms of drug addiction and high-risk behaviours such as smoking, drinking and drug abuse. However, as the lead author – Professor Epstein, from the School of Medicine, University of Queensland – conceded, a one-off analysis of obituaries published in a specific newspaper, with no comparison group, proves very little. Examining another random sample of 1,000 deaths of high-profile people, or the general population, from the...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 18, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

No evidence Nordic diet prevents heart disease
Conclusion This was a well-designed randomised controlled trial that took place across several Nordic locations. The study took careful clinical measures of elements of metabolic syndrome at several points during the trial, and used food diaries at regular intervals to check compliance to the assigned diet. However, it provides no reliable proof that the ‘healthy’ Nordic diet is any better than the ‘average’ Nordic diet at improving components of metabolic syndrome and, in turn, no proof that it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Importantly, this study found no significant results for its main aim (which...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 31, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Over two hours screen time a day may raise a child’s blood pressure
Conclusion The study found a worryingly high incidence of high blood pressure in children of just over 10%, instead of the expected 5%. It also found that low levels of physical activity and high levels of “screen time” raised the risk. Although researchers adjusted their analysis for a range of other factors which might affect blood pressure (called confounders), it is always possible that other unmeasured factors could have affected the results. In addition, the study was reliant on parental estimates of the amount of sedentary behaviour their children had per day, which may be an over- or underestimate. Wearing the ...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 26, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Over two hours screen time a day may raise a child's blood pressure
Conclusion The study found a worryingly high incidence of high blood pressure in children of just over 10%, instead of the expected 5%. It also found that low levels of physical activity and high levels of “screen time” raised the risk. Although researchers adjusted their analysis for a range of other factors which might affect blood pressure (called confounders), it is always possible that other unmeasured factors could have affected the results. In addition, the study was reliant on parental estimates of the amount of sedentary behaviour their children had per day, which may be an over- or underestimate. Wearing the ...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 26, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Low-gluten diet linked to heart attack risk
Conclusion This study has found that while overall gluten consumption in people without coeliac disease may not be related to heart disease risk, avoiding whole grains (wheat, barley and rye) in order to avoid gluten may be associated with increased heart disease risk. This study has several strengths, including its large size, the fact that data was collected prospectively and diet assessed at several time-points, the long period of follow up, and that it took into account a wide range of potential confounders. As with all studies of this type, it is possible that other factors may affect the results. However, the researc...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news