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Source: NHS News Feed
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Total 273 results found since Jan 2013.
Being bilingual may slow the onset of dementia
Conclusion
This consecutive series of people treated at a specialist dementia clinic in India found that people with dementia who are bilingual developed dementia later than people who were monolingual.
It is highly plausible that activities engaged in over a lifetime that increase our cognitive ability – such as understanding two or more languages – may have a protective effect against cognitive decline. However, this study cannot prove that being bilingual is directly protective against developing dementia.
This study only characterised differences within a group of people who all developed dementia, rather than loo...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 8, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Older people Source Type: news
ACE inhibitor use may be linked to kidney failure
Conclusion
ACE inhibitors and ARAs are recognised as a potential risk factor for AKI in some patients. This particular study has tried to estimate the possible size of the problem, but its findings should be viewed with some caution. As the authors point out:
some of the conditions these drugs are prescribed for are themselves a risk factor for AKI
changes in hospital coding and better recognition of AKI could explain the rise in admissions
an ageing population leads to both increased prescribing of these drugs and an increased risk for AKI
increased use of these drugs may be a marker for increased use of other...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 7, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Heart/lungs Source Type: news
Test could give two-year warning for Alzheimer's
Conclusion
The researchers suggest that Alzheimer's disease can be predicted with an accuracy of 87.5% when thinning of the cortex in the right anterior cingulated gyrus is seen on MRI, alongside test results suggesting problems with recall and recognition.
This research does not indicate a new "test", as MRI and psychological testing are standard procedures when investigating the signs and symptoms of dementia. What is novel in this approach is looking at a specific combination of results as a potential way of predicting which people with MCI may develop Alzheimer's disease.
While this form of testing would be b...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 9, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Source Type: news
Wine and chocolate may not 'beat diabetes'
This study does not give the green light to drink red wine above the recommended levels or to consume chocolate often – any potential benefits of diabetes prevention are likely to be overshadowed by the already known risks of excessive sugar, fat and alcohol consumption, including liver disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer.
Links To The Headlines Chocolate And Red Wine 'Can Beat Diabetes'. Sky News, January 20 2014
Chocolate and red wine can help stave off diabetes: High levels of antioxidants can regulate blood glucose levels. Daily Mail, January 20 2014
Red wine 'protects against diabetes' - and cho...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 20, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Diabetes Food/diet Source Type: news
Can pain be 'switched off'?
Conclusion
This study adds to the scientific knowledge about which genes play a role in pain response. The study shows an association between a low pain threshold and reduced gene expression in nine locations on the DNA.
This means that researchers have found changes not only in genes already known to be involved in pain response, but in other genes as well. As the study was conducted in identical twins, the researchers have also been able to identify that the gene responses started off the same but have become different for some reason.
The study shows that there is an association, but it does not provide information abo...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 5, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Genetics/stem cells Medical practice Source Type: news
Sugar intake linked to heart disease deaths
Conclusion
This study used dietary information from a large group of US adults to show that greater added sugar intake was linked to a higher risk of death from CVD.
The study has many strengths including recruiting a large number of people and obtaining information spanning a relatively long time – average 15 years.
The cohort in question was representative of US adults. Despite some ethnicity differences between the US and UK population that may influence the results, the main link between sugar and CVD death is likely to apply to UK adults.
It wasn’t possible to estimate the absolute risk differences of dying from ...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 4, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
PET scans may improve brain injury diagnosis
ConclusionThis is a valuable diagnostic study that tested how accurate PET and fMRI imaging are at distinguishing between different levels of conscious state and helping to predict recovery. Diagnostic assessments are traditionally made using bedside clinical tests – but as the researchers say, judging the level of awareness in people with severe brain damage can be difficult.In particular, the researchers wanted to see whether the scans could accurately distinguish between people with “unresponsive wakefulness syndrome” and “minimally conscious state”, as distinguishing between these two states can have impor...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 16, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medical practice Neurology Source Type: news
Cannabis linked to brain differences in the young
Conclusion
This study found differences between young recreational cannabis users and non-users in the volume and structure of the nucleus accumbens and amygdala, which have a role in the brain’s reward system, pleasure response, emotion and decision making.
However, as this was only a cross sectional study taking one-off brain scans of cannabis users and non-users, it cannot prove that cannabis use was the cause of any of the differences seen. It is not known whether cannabis use could have caused these changes in regular users.
Or conversely whether the cannabis users in this study had this brain structure to sta...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 16, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news
