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Total 273 results found since Jan 2013.

Half a handful of nuts a day 'reduces early death risk'
Conclusion This Dutch cohort of middle-aged to elderly adults generally found people were less likely to die in the following 10 years if they ate a small number of nuts a day compared with none. The study has strengths in its large sample size and that cause of death was followed up for the full cohort using valid medical codes. However, there are various points to bear in mind before we jump to the conclusion that nuts are the magic ingredient that will slash our risk of death. No clear trends It is difficult to draw any clear interpretations about how nut consumption may be associated with risk of death overall or fr...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 12, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Cancer Heart/lungs Diabetes Source Type: news

Five-year 'death test' for older adults launched online
Conclusion This large study has identified numerous risk factors associated with a person's risk of death within five years. Researchers used this information to develop an online tool that predicts someone's risk of death within the next five years. The study's strengths include its large sample size and the prospective nature of the study design. But there are some limitations. There may be some bias in the type of people who volunteered to take part. The death rate was lower than that of the average population in this age group, which may indicate that the participants were more interested in their health and so had he...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 4, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Cancer Lifestyle/exercise Medical practice Source Type: news

Children of the 90s more likely to be overweight or obese
Conclusion The study shows how, while the whole population of England has become heavier over the past 70 years, different generations have been affected in different ways. People born in 1946 were, on average, normal weight until their 40s, but this group has since seen their weight rise and they are now, on average, overweight. By the time they reached 60, 75% of men and 66% of women from this group were overweight or obese. People born in 1946 from the heaviest cohorts, who were already overweight in early adulthood, are now likely to be obese or very obese. For people born since 1946, the chance of being overweight a...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 20, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Could testing grip strength predict heart disease risk?
Conclusion These are interesting results from a range of very different countries, showing that people with low muscle strength may be at higher risk of dying prematurely than other people. Earlier studies in high-income countries had already suggested that this was the case, but this is the first study to show it holds true across countries from high to low incomes. The study also shows that Europeans, and men from high-income countries, on average, have higher grip strength than people from lower-income countries. Interestingly, women from middle-income regions, such as China and Latin America, had slightly higher muscl...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 14, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medical practice Source Type: news

Overweight diabetics 'live longer' than slimmer diabetics
Conclusion This large prospective cohort following over 10,000 older adults with type 2 diabetes for 10 years has found that while being overweight or obese is linked to increased risk of cardiovascular events, being overweight is linked to reduced risk of death. This is similar to the "obesity paradox" seen in some other studies, where being overweight or obese is associated with a survival benefit in people with established cardiovascular disease. The researchers note that 16 other studies have assessed the same question and found conflicting results. Their study aimed to improve on the methods in these studies...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 11, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Diabetes Food/diet Obesity Source Type: news

Media hypes molecular blood pressure regulation discovery
ConclusionThis animal research has identified a role for certain proteins in controlling blood pressure. Studies like this give clues as to how human biology works and how it can be fixed when it goes wrong. While the researchers suggest drugs targeting the proteins identified could help develop drugs to treat abnormal blood pressure, these drugs have not yet been developed. Researchers will need to develop such chemicals and thoroughly test their effects in animals first before they can be tested in humans. As such, this is early stage research, and there has not been a "treatment breakthrough" yet, because no t...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 8, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Source Type: news

UK life expectancy expected to rise to late 80s by 2030
Conclusion This analysis of population data provides some fascinating information about how life expectancy has changed over the past 30 years, and how it may change in the future. It found life expectancy for men and women will continue to rise. However, it also found the existing trends of the difference in life expectancy between different districts will continue to rise, which is of concern. Although the data shows more deprived areas have seen less of an improvement in life expectancy, the study cannot inform us what factors are responsible for the differences in life expectancy. There is one big limitation of any s...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 30, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Medical practice Older people 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

Middle age 'starts at 60' claims media
Conclusion This study is an interesting analysis of population data, which shows how looking at figures from a different perspective can change our view. We are used to hearing about "ageing Britain" and how the increasing numbers of older people could be a drain on the country's resources. This study considers whether our definitions of old age are too rigid and need to be revisited. In the paper, the researchers focus on results for Germany, but they have done calculations for 40 European countries, including the UK. This shows that the proportion of people in the UK aged 65 or over, given expected improvement...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 16, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Obesity Source Type: news

Middle-age spread 'seems to reduce dementia risk'
Conclusion This cohort study of more than 1.9 million UK adults aged over 40 links being overweight or obese to a lower risk of dementia, compared with healthy weight people. Underweight people were at a higher risk of dementia. The study has many strengths, such as its large size and applicability to the UK. However, the authors note their results buck the trend of other research, which found being overweight or obese was linked to an increase risk. They suggest their study is probably more reliable than the past ones as they were smaller. They aren't quite sure what this means, and say: "The reasons for and publi...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 10, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Obesity Source Type: news

No such thing as baby brain, study argues
Conclusion The researchers conclude that although the pregnant women reported memory problems, these did not show up on their tests. However, this does not take into account their pre-pregnancy ability. The women may have performed better before they got pregnant, which is why they are now reporting memory problems. None of these women were tested before they got pregnant, which is the major limitation of the study. The researchers say that because there were a similar number of students in each group, the women in the control group was a good enough representation of how the pregnant women would have performed pre-pregna...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 8, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Do diet soft drinks actually make you gain weight?
Conclusion This prospective study found that people who drank diet soft drinks every day experienced greater waist circumference gain over up to nine years of follow-up compared with those who never drank diet drinks (3.04cm gain versus 0.77cm). They also experienced a minimal gain in BMI (+0.05kg/m2) over follow-up, compared with a minimal loss in non-users of diet drinks (-0.41kg/m2). However, this study certainly does not prove that diet drinks, and diet drinks alone, are responsible for these small increases in waist circumference and BMI. People who drank diet drinks tended to have higher BMIs and waist circumferen...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 8, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Obesity Source Type: news

Healthy diet could cut risk of Alzheimer's disease
ConclusionThe study found people who ate a healthy diet – with plenty of green vegetables, wholegrains, legumes and less red meat – may be less likely to get Alzheimer's disease. However, we should be wary of saying that their diet actually protected them from Alzheimer's, as it is a complex disease with many potential causes.The main limitation is that observational studies cannot prove causation, even when researchers take care, as they did here, to include factors that we know affect disease risk. It's also notable that the researchers excluded dementia, other than Alzheimer's disease, from their calculations. It wo...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 31, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Neurology Source Type: news

Fit middle-aged men have lower cancer risk
Conclusion This study shows that cardiovascular fitness is likely to reduce men's chances of developing lung and colorectal cancer, and appears to boost survival from cancer or cardiovascular disease in those diagnosed after the age of 65. This was based on comparing the top 40% of fittest men with the 20% least fit. The study focused on fitness and took account of major risk factors for cancer, such as smoking and blood pressure. However, it left out one important risk factor: diet. What people eat and drink is known to affect cancer risk. The fittest group may also have been the healthiest in terms of eating well and ...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 27, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Study finds link between air pollution and stroke risk
Conclusion This study showed a clear link between rises in gas and particle pollution and the chances of being admitted to hospital or dying because of a stroke. The researchers showed the link was strongest on the day of exposure to raised pollution levels. But this study has some limitations. While systematic reviews are a good way to summarise all the research that has been published on a topic, they are only as good as the individual studies they include. About two-thirds of the studies used a time series design, which the researchers say is less effective in taking account of trends such as the season of year, rathe...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 25, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news