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Total 273 results found since Jan 2013.

Can DIY and gardening help you live longer?
Conclusion This study found that in a population-based sample of older adults (aged 60), high levels of non-exercise physical activity, or ‘an active daily life’ was associated with better levels of cardiovascular risk factors. When followed over time, it was found an active daily life was associated with approximately 30% reduced risk of both a cardiovascular event (stroke, angina, heart attack) and death from any cause. These associations were seen after adjusting for regular exercise, and for a number of other factors that could explain the association seen (confounders). This study was a cross-sectional and cohort...
Source: NHS News Feed - October 29, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Fruit chemical may prevent organ damage
Conclusion This exciting set of experiments has identified the metabolic driver of tissue injury seen when blood supply is returned after a period of ischaemia. The researchers have also shown this process can be limited by using an injection of dimethyl malonate in mice and rats. It is likely the same increased metabolic processes occur in humans, so there are wide implications for the future, including the potential use of dimethyl malonate injections to prevent tissue damage during surgery. At present it is unclear how this could be used practically during a heart attack or stroke, and this will be one of many issues...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 6, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medical practice Medication Source Type: news

'Stop demonising butter,' say researchers
Conclusion This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the long-term association between butter consumption and major health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and death. The nine identified studies found little to no evidence that butter consumption increased the risk of death, cardiovascular disease, heart disease or stroke. Perhaps surprisingly, though, there did seem to be a protective effect against the risk of type 2 diabetes. This review has both strengths and limitations that may affect the reliability of the findings. The researchers used careful search methods that aimed to identify onl...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 30, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news

A pattern of brain activity may link stress to heart attacks
Conclusion This intriguing study sets out a possible pathway by which the effects of stress on the brain could translate into inflammation in the blood vessels, and so raise the risks of cardiovascular disease. This would help to explain why people living in stressful situations, or with illnesses such as depression and anxiety, are more at risk of heart attacks and strokes. However, there are important limitations to the study which mean we should treat the findings with caution. The main study of 293 people was relatively small for a long-term study looking at cardiovascular disease, and only 22 people had a cardiovascul...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 12, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Mental health Source Type: news

New drug shows promise in preventing heart attacks
Conclusion This is a high-quality, well-conducted randomised controlled trial conducted in a very large number of people across multiple countries. To date, it's remained uncertain whether evolocumab reduces the risk of cardiovascular events. This study provides good evidence that the drug reduces the risk of major cardiovascular events in people with high LDL cholesterol levels, and with a high risk of having a cardiovascular event, who are already taking statins. The follow-up is limited to around two years, during which roughly 1 in 10 people experienced a cardiovascular event. The reduction in risk was shown to inc...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 20, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Blood-thinning drugs may reduce dementia risk in people with irregular heartbeats
Conclusion If you’ve been diagnosed with AF and you have been prescribed anticoagulant treatments such as warfarin or clopidogrel, we already know they protect you against having a stroke. This study suggests they may also help to protect you against dementia. Cutting the risk of dementia for people who have a raised risk because of AF would be an exciting step forward. Unfortunately, we can’t tell from this study whether the protection against dementia was down to the anticoagulants, because of the possible effect of unmeasured confounding factors. Usually, we would want to see a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to f...
Source: NHS News Feed - October 25, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Source Type: news

Can sleeping too much cause chronic diseases?
Conclusion This 2010 survey data from middle aged and older adults from 14 US states suggests an association between shorter and longer than optimal sleep duration and three chronic diseases. The optimal amount of sleep recommended varies by different organisations, but tends to be either seven to eight or seven to nine hours a night for an adult. However, though the study benefits from its large sample size of over 50,000 adults it has significant limitations. Cross sectional study design Most importantly, the cross sectional study design which has assessed sleep duration and disease presence at the same time cannot prov...
Source: NHS News Feed - October 4, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Diabetes Source Type: news

Aspirin at bedtime 'cuts' morning heart attack risk
Conclusion So far this study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Therefore it is not possible to fully assess the quality and methods of this study. Despite the media headlines, and the conclusions of the abstract, the researchers did not measure directly whether aspirin taken at bedtime reduced heart attacks. They measured whether it reduced two risk factors for heart attacks – blood pressure and platelet activity. Taking aspirin at bedtime had no effect on a person’s blood pressure compared with taking it in the morning. They did find that it reduced platelet reactivity, though, by 22 aspirin rea...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 20, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medical practice Source Type: news

Walking reduces heart disease in people at risk
Conclusion This study of adults at high risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease has found that every 2,000 steps they normally took each day was associated with a 10% lower risk of a cardiovascular event. And 12 months later, each extra 2,000 steps per day people did beyond their original number of steps was associated with an additional 8% difference in the cardiovascular event rate. This large study recruited participants from around the world and the researchers adjusted for a number of potential confounders. However, the study had a number of limitations, including: A large amount of information on the number of s...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 23, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

NICE publishes new draft guidelines on statins use
"Millions more people should be put on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs," BBC News reports. Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that the drugs should be given to people with an estimated 1 in 10 or more risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes conditions such as heart disease and stroke. Statins are medicines that can help lower rates of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (so-called "bad" cholesterol) in the blood. High rates of LDL cholesterol can lead to hardening of the arteries, a risk factor for CVDs. At present,...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 12, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication QA articles Source Type: news

'More adults should be taking statins,' says NICE
Conclusion Despite somewhat hysterical media coverage to the contrary ("millions more to be given statins," according to the Daily Express), nobody will be forced to take statins. If your GP does recommend statins, you should ask them to explain the benefits and risks for you personally of starting statin treatment. You may want to find out more about statins before making up your mind – the NHS Choices Health A-Z information on statins is a good place to start. If you do experience troublesome side effects while taking statins, contact your GP or the doctor in charge of your care. It could be the case that a...
Source: NHS News Feed - July 18, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication QA articles Source Type: news

Is long-term paracetamol use not as safe as we thought?
Conclusion This is a valuable review that has searched the literature and identified eight observational studies in adults that have looked at the adverse effects that may be associated with paracetamol use. As the researchers say, it will add to information on the potential harms of paracetamol – an area where up-to-date information has been lacking. The studies included very large population sizes, and collectively provide some evidence suggesting potential effects upon the cardiovascular system, kidney and gastrointestinal system. There was also a suggestion of increased risk of all-cause mortality. However, it is v...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 3, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication 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

Short bursts of intense exercise 'as good' as endurance training
Conclusion The idea that a 10-minute workout could have the same benefits as spending 45 minutes in the gym is tempting. The researchers found it may improve specific markers of health, in one group of young men. However, this is a small study in a specific population, and we don't know whether it would have comparable effects in older people or women. Also, we don't know the long-term effects of this type of training programme on people's health. Studies that look at the effects of an intervention, whether it's exercise, diet or medicine, on health measures such as insulin resistance and oxygen uptake, can only give us a...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 28, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Diabetes Source Type: news

'Fat but fit' still at higher risk of heart disease
Conclusion The question of whether someone can be "fat but fit" has been much debated. If you're obese but exercise, eat well and don't have metabolic risk factors, the theory goes, you could be just as healthy as someone of recommended weight. This study suggests that may not be true. It is definitely worth adopting a healthy lifestyle, whatever your weight. The study found that, the more metabolic risk factors people had, the more likely they were to develop heart disease, cardiovascular disease and so on. Metabolic risk factors do make a difference. But in this large study, on average, people who were obese ...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 17, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Obesity Source Type: news