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Total 273 results found since Jan 2013.

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 fish in Mediterranean diet combat memory loss?
This study assessed all the components together rather than focusing on oily fish alone, as the media suggests – in fact, the word 'fish' does not appear once in the Neurology article. Additionally, the 19% reduction in risk quoted by both The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail is incorrectly attributed to "people who adhere to a Mediterranean-style diet". This figure actually only applies to non-diabetic people. The risk reduction for the entire study sample was a more moderate 13% reduction in odds. However, both newspapers covered the main methods of the study well.   What kind of research was this? Thi...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 30, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Neurology Source Type: news

High-dose painkiller heart risk: small but significant
Conclusion This large review adds to, and expands on, the current evidence on the risks of vascular disease and gastrointestinal complications for different NSAIDs. It largely concentrates on trials of high doses of NSAIDs that can only be prescribed by a doctor. It is unclear from this study whether there is any risk from taking lower doses available over the counter. While most experts advise that low-dose NSAIDs, taken occasionally, are safe for most people, an accompanying editorial points out that there are still “large gaps” in evidence on the risks with lower doses of NSAIDs. While the risk to individuals is sma...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 30, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Children of obese mums may die younger
Conclusion This valuable research has examined a large cohort of 28,540 Scottish women who had their BMI measured during pregnancy and gave birth to a single baby between 1950 and 1976. Its strengths include the use of a reliable maternity database linking more than 80% of the offspring to national registers. This allowed the researchers to identify hospital discharges and mortality records for the children. The study suggests a link between mothers who are overweight or obese during pregnancy and an increased risk of their children's death overall – specifically prior to age 55 – as well as an increased risk of th...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 14, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Scan could detect those on brink of heart attack
Conclusion This is a valuable study which shows the promise of using PET-CT with radioactively labelled sodium fluoride (NaF) as a way of identifying fatty deposits in the heart arteries that could be at risk of rupturing and causing a heart attack. The results confirmed that the marker used in this study (NaF) was better than the chemical marker normally used in PET-CT scans (FDG). The technique has the principal value of being a non-invasive technique compared with coronary angiography, which is the standard method used to look at blockages in heart arteries. As it does not involve surgical intervention, this could ha...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 11, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medical practice Source Type: news

'Good' cholesterol can turn 'bad', study finds
Conclusion This research has underlined the fact that the distinction between good and bad fats may be oversimplistic. But it does not change the standard healthy eating message that we should try to prevent the formation of plaques in the first place. We can do this by limiting the amount of foods we eat that are high in saturated fats, such as processed meats, as they increase LDL levels, while making sure we eat foods high in unsaturated fats, such as oily fish and nuts, as this should help increase your HDL levels. This research could potentially lead to more effective tests and treatments for cardiovascular diseases ...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 27, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet 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

Air pollution linked to irregular heartbeat and lung blood clots
Conclusion This was a large national study that looked in detail at links between people's short-term exposure to air pollutants and national records on hospital admissions for heart attack, emergency admissions for all cardiovascular problems, and deaths from cardiovascular disease. The study had some limitations – for example, as the authors say, it did not include heart attacks that took place before hospital admission. It also used fixed monitoring sites, which may not accurately reflect personal exposure to air pollution.  For the public, the results of this study are probably confusing. That's because the resear...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 5, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Tomato extract effects exaggerated
ConclusionThis study found that the blood vessels in people with cardiovascular disease who were taking statins dilated more after they were treated with a chemical called acetylcholine if they had been taking lycopene every day for two months, compared to those taking placebo pills.The lycopene tablet had no significant effect on any of the other outcomes the researchers looked at, and no effect in healthy volunteers, although it did increase lycopene levels in the blood.  Although impaired endothelial function is a known predictor of future heart disease, this is, at best, a surrogate outcome. It is no substitute for fo...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 10, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news

Tomato extract's heart effects exaggerated
ConclusionThis study found that the blood vessels in people with cardiovascular disease who were taking statins dilated more after they were treated with a chemical called acetylcholine if they had been taking lycopene every day for two months, compared to those taking placebo pills.The lycopene tablet had no significant effect on any of the other outcomes the researchers looked at, and no effect in healthy volunteers, although it did increase lycopene levels in the blood.  Although impaired endothelial function is a known predictor of future heart disease, this is, at best, a surrogate outcome. It is no substitute for fo...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 10, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news

Cycling linked to prostate cancer, but not infertility
Conclusion This study has looked at the associations between the number of hours spent cycling a week and erectile dysfunction, infertility and prostate cancer in men over the age of 50 who cycle regularly. It found no association between the time spent cycling and erectile dysfunction or infertility, but did find a dose-response association with prostate cancer for men over the age of 50, with risk increasing as the time a week spent cycling increased. As the researchers point out, this type of study cannot prove causality (that increased cycling time leads to prostate cancer), only an association. Different study desig...
Source: NHS News Feed - July 9, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Daily aspirin 'reduces cancer risk', study finds
Conclusion While the findings on aspirin and cancer show promise, it is not clear that the results are reliable from the methods reportedly used to compile this review. This is because it included studies of varying design and quality, with much of the evidence coming from observational studies, which, while useful, cannot be totally relied on to test the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. It's not clear how the studies included in the review were chosen and whether others on the same topic were excluded. It is also not clear whether or not this was a systematic review, where studies are rigorously appraised for ...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 6, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Medication Source Type: news

Behind the Headlines 2014 Quiz of the Year
In 2014, Behind the Headlines covered more than 500 health stories that made it into the mainstream media. Test your knowledge of 2014's health news with our month-by-month quiz. If you've been paying attention, you should find this quiz both easy and fun. Answers are at the foot of the page (no peeking!).   In January 2014's health news... What was said to help make bones stronger? 1) Swimming 2) Marriage 3) Listening to classical music Warnings were issued about the possible return of what? 1) Swine flu 2) The Black Death 3) Smallpox   In February 2014's health news... What activity was said to lower your ...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 29, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Special reports Medical practice Source Type: news

Nanoparticles used to treat damaged arteries
Conclusion This exciting study in mice has shown that nanoparticles can be manufactured to target the plaques that form in atherosclerosis, and help stabilise them. It appears that the nanoparticles honed in on the plaques, rather than affecting other organs such as the spleen or liver, which gives an early indication that there may not be substantial side effects. However, it will be necessary to see if the same holds true for other organs. As with all mice studies, they give an indication of the likely biological effects of a new technique, but they do not provide the full picture of what may happen in humans, especially...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 19, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medical practice Medication Source Type: news

Smoking bans linked to fewer heart attacks and strokes
ConclusionThere is no doubt that tobacco smoking harms health and causes a great deal of disease and death. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco is responsible for one in 10 adult deaths worldwide.The question is whether smoking bans can help reduce the harm caused by tobacco. This summary of research suggests they can, particularly for people who are non-smokers. While it's hard to get good-quality evidence about the effects of smoking bans, comparisons of data from hospitals and national registries before and after a ban is helpful. However, we can't be sure the effects being measured are solely dow...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 4, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news