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Source: NHS News Feed
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Total 273 results found since Jan 2013.
Can chocolate make you smarter?
ConclusionStudies suggesting that chocolate is good for us always grab the headlines. However, as is so often the case, the reality is less clear than the headlines suggest.The current study adds to information about the links between diet and brain function – the way our brain processes and manages information. It found that people who scored better than average on these tests said they ate chocolate more often than people who scored worse than average on the tests. But we don't know why that is.There are quite a few limitations to the study. It's cross-sectional, which means we don't know which came first: the chocol...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 9, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Mental health Source Type: news
Can HRT in early menopause cut heart disease risk?
ConclusionThis double-blind RCT found that women taking HRT less than six years after the menopause had slower artery wall thickening than those taking a placebo. This represented the main measure of atherosclerosis progression tested; other measures showed no difference, so the results were not as conclusive as they could have been. Women taking HRT 10 or more years after menopause also showed no difference in atherosclerosis progression compared with a placebo, further complicating the picture.An important limitation of this study is the lack of a patient relevant endpoint, such as cardiovascular events or mortality. Pre...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 1, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Source Type: news
Are high-speed cyclists at risk from air pollution?
Conclusion
This study may be of interest to those in the field of sports medicine. It calculates the speed that walkers, joggers and cyclists may travel at to minimise the pollution they potentially inhale.
It also finds that these values turn out to be those that many pedestrians and cyclists would travel at in any case.
And, somewhat unsurprisingly, this speed would go down as you go uphill because of the increased effort and breathing rate required.
Fitter people who run or cycle fast for sport are, however, naturally likely to exceed this minimum speed requirement, both on the flat and speed gradients.
This could pot...
Source: NHS News Feed - October 31, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news
Behind the Headlines 2016 Quiz of the Year
In 2014, Behind the Headlines has covered more than 500 health stories that made it into the mainstream media. If you've been paying attention you should find this quiz easy and fun.
Why not test your knowledge of 2014's health news with our month-by-month quiz?
Answers are at the foot of the page (no peeking!).
In January 2016's health news...
In a controversial study, monkeys were genetically engineered to develop what disorder?
1) Sex addiction
2) Bi-polar disorder
3) Autism
In a similarly controversial study, what psychological condition was dismissed as a "myth"
1) Seasonal affective disorder...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 5, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Special reports Source Type: news
'Computer helps patients with severe MND communicate'
Conclusion
It's hard to imagine the situation of being alert, aware of what's happening around you, but unable to move, respond or communicate with the outside world.
So it is comforting, then, to hear that people with complete locked-in syndrome may be able to communicate – and may be relatively content with their situation.
However, it's important to remember the limitations of this study.
It's very small. Only four people took part, and full results are available for only three of them.
The results may only apply to people with this very specific type of neurodegenerative disease, not to people with other types of pa...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 1, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Source Type: news
'Breakthrough in communication for patients with severe MND', study claims
Conclusion
It's hard to imagine the situation of being alert, aware of what's happening around you, but unable to move, respond or communicate with the outside world.
So it is comforting, then, to hear that people with complete locked-in syndrome may be able to communicate – and may be relatively content with their situation.
However, it's important to remember the limitations of this study.
It's very small. Only four people took part, and full results are available for only three of them.
The results may only apply to people with this very specific type of neurodegenerative disease, not to people with other types of pa...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 1, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Source Type: news
Long-term daily drinking linked to stiffening of the arteries in men
Conclusion
This prospective cohort study aimed to look at the relationship between long-term alcohol patterns and stiffness of the arteries as a potential indicator of cardiovascular health.
The researchers found men who were stable heavy drinkers had stiffer arteries compared with stable moderate drinkers.
Male former drinkers also had increasingly stiffer arteries over the following four to five years compared with consistent moderate drinkers. There were no significant findings seen for women at all.
But this study does have limitations:
This type of study is not able to prove drinking causes stiffness of the arter...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 21, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news
Statins side effects 'have been overstated,' says study
Conclusion
This is a complex study that provides a plausible explanation for the difference in reports of adverse effects of statins in RCTs and observational studies, some of which have suggested as many as 1 in 5 people get side effects from statins.
However, we need to be aware of some limitations and unanswered questions:
When people knew they were taking statins, they were more likely to report muscle pain than those not taking statins. But they were less likely to report muscle pain than in the first phase of the study, when they didn't know whether they were taking statins or placebo. We don't know why this is.
...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 3, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Heart/lungs Source Type: news
Statins side effects 'have been overstated', says study
Conclusion
This is a complex study that provides a plausible explanation for the difference in reports of adverse effects of statins in RCTs and observational studies, some of which have suggested as many as 1 in 5 people get side effects from statins.
However, we need to be aware of some limitations and unanswered questions:
When people knew they were taking statins, they were more likely to report muscle pain than those not taking statins. But they were less likely to report muscle pain than in the first phase of the study, when they didn't know whether they were taking statins or placebo. We don't know why this is.
...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 3, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Heart/lungs Source Type: news
'Chocolate good for the heart' claims sadly too good to be true
Conclusion
Health stories that suggest eating or drinking something we like, whether it's chocolate or wine, are always popular. But they don't really tell us anything we don't know already. Certain foods may have a small impact on certain types of diseases, but it's the overall diet that counts.
Previous studies have already suggested that the antioxidant properties of cocoa could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, so it's surprising that this study focused on one particular cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation.
AF is a common condition that affects heart rate, often causing a faster than normal, irregular ...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 24, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet 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
Anti-inflammatory drug may help prevent heart attacks
Conclusion
This well-conducted study shows promising signs that canakinumab may reduce the risk of future heart attacks and other cardiovascular events in people who've had them in the past.
But before any changes are made to the current licensing of this drug, further research is needed to confirm the beneficial effects and the optimal dose.
Most importantly, researchers will need to focus on the observation that the drug lowered white blood cell counts and increased the risk of fatal infection.
They estimated around 1 in every 300 people taking canakinumab would die of a fatal infection. This number, while low, is sti...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 30, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Source Type: news
Women's smoking death risk 'highest ever'
Conclusion
This large-scale research adds to the already prodigious amount of evidence on the risks that come from smoking. This research estimates the risk of death among smokers, and examines trends in this risk over time and by gender. There are difficulties, however, in teasing apart just what the figures mean.
Multiple risk factors contribute to risk of death
Several factors influence the relative risk of death between smokers and non-smokers, including background rates of mortality from smoking-related illnesses. An increase in relative risks of death from smoking-related illnesses could be attributable to certain sm...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 24, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news
Today's adults 'unhealthier than their parents were'
Conclusion
This cohort study’s strength was its long follow-up period, with four measurements of risk factors taken over a period of 16 years. By following up people over time a cohort study such as this is able to track risk factors in the same people over extended periods. As long as people return for the follow-up checks, it is the best study design for tracking this sort of data and drawing the sorts of conclusions these authors make.
Another advantage is that the same group of trained workers objectively measured data on body weight, height, blood pressure and cholesterol, using standardised protocols, which reduced...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 11, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Older people Heart/lungs Source Type: news
No proof heading footballs causes brain damage
Conclusion
Overall, this research provides no evidence that there is a direct cause and effect between repeated heading of a football and traumatic brain injury. However, there are several important limitations to this study that are worth noting.
One-off tests and scans of players
The people in the study only had brain images and neurological tests at one point in time, and were asked about heading in the previous year and if they had any concussions in their lifetime.
Without having the imaging and neurological tests prior to the year in question – or preferably in early periods of life, before they started playing f...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 12, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news
