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Overweight teen boys have increased risk of stroke in later life
Conclusion The findings of this large longitudinal cohort study seem to demonstrate a link between being overweight aged 20 and an increased risk of stroke. This risk was regardless of whether the boy had been overweight aged 8 or not. There seemed to be no increased risk for boys who were overweight aged 8 but were a normal weight by the age of 20. The study was conducted before the obesity epidemic, and might be even more relevant today. But there are a number of considerations to take into account before we draw any conclusions: Participants were followed up until they were 52-68, so all the strokes occurred at a r...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 29, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Pregnancy/child Source Type: news

Female stroke survivors’ quality of life investigated
Conclusion The study suggests that women have a lower quality of life than men three and 12 months after they have been discharged from hospital after experiencing a stroke or mini-stroke. While the results were statistically significant, the relative differences appeared small. For example at three months (where the largest difference was found) the average difference in quality of life score between men and women was 0.036 points. This is on a quality of life scale that ranges from 0 (death) to 1 (perfect health). The quality of life difference at 12 months was 0.022 points. Whether these small differences are clinicall...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 10, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Female stroke survivors' quality of life investigated
Conclusion The study suggests that women have a lower quality of life than men three and 12 months after they have been discharged from hospital after experiencing a stroke or mini-stroke. While the results were statistically significant, the relative differences appeared small. For example at three months (where the largest difference was found) the average difference in quality of life score between men and women was 0.036 points. This is on a quality of life scale that ranges from 0 (death) to 1 (perfect health). The quality of life difference at 12 months was 0.022 points. Whether these small differences are clinicall...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 10, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Fruit may be good for you, but don’t ditch the statins
Conclusion The study adds to evidence that fresh fruit is likely to be good for our cardiovascular health, although we can't be sure from this study that it definitely prevents deaths, heart attacks or strokes. Observational studies cannot prove that one factor causes another, even when they are as big as this study, because other unmeasured factors could be responsible for the results. In this case, a major potential confounder that the researchers failed to take into account was whether the participants were taking any medication – they only excluded people taking blood pressure tablets. The link with statins, made by ...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 7, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs 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

No evidence Nordic diet prevents heart disease
Conclusion This was a well-designed randomised controlled trial that took place across several Nordic locations. The study took careful clinical measures of elements of metabolic syndrome at several points during the trial, and used food diaries at regular intervals to check compliance to the assigned diet. However, it provides no reliable proof that the ‘healthy’ Nordic diet is any better than the ‘average’ Nordic diet at improving components of metabolic syndrome and, in turn, no proof that it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Importantly, this study found no significant results for its main aim (which...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 31, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise 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

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

Could eating spicy food help you live longer?
ConclusionThis large, well-designed observational study adds to the evidence that certain spices such as chilli pepper may have a beneficial effect on health. But this study does have limitations that need to be taken into account.The study found that people in China who ate a diet that included spicy food (mainly from chilli peppers) at least once a week were less likely to die during the study period than those who ate spicy food less often. These results applied to men and women, even after taking account of factors that affect the risk of death, such as age. The study is part of an ongoing investigation into the effect...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 5, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Neurology Source Type: news

Daily diet of fresh fruit linked to lower diabetes risk
Conclusion The study findings – that eating fresh fruit every day does not raise the risk of diabetes, and may reduce it – are reassuring and in line with dietary advice in the UK. It's also helpful to see evidence that people who already have diabetes are likely to benefit from fresh fruit as well, because there has not been much research into fruit-eating for people with diabetes. However, it's a step too far to say that fresh fruit prevents diabetes or diabetes complications. Fresh fruit is just one part of a healthy diet, and diet is just one of the things that may affect someone's risk of getting diabetes. This ty...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 12, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Diabetes Food/diet Source Type: news