Filtered By:
Specialty: Consumer Health News
Source: NHS News Feed

This page shows you your search results in order of relevance. This is page number 18.

Order by Relevance | Date

Total 273 results found since Jan 2013.

Can a high-tech treatment help combat some of our oldest fears?
Conclusion This experimental study assessed whether it is possible to counter-condition people against their fear memories by using reward without actually having to re-expose the person to the fearful stimulus. The researchers conclude that they have shown this can be done, all with participants remaining unaware of the content and purpose of the procedure. They further suggest the procedure may be an initial step towards novel treatments for fear-related disorders such as phobia and PTSD, via unconscious processing. While these findings show promise, there are some key limitations, the main one being the small number of ...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news

'Want to live longer? Try racquet sports', recommends study
Conclusion The overall conclusion we can take from this study is that taking part in sport or fitness activities is linked to a lower chance of death in a given period. It's encouraging to see that a wide range of popular activities, including swimming, aerobics and cycling, are likely to be beneficial. But we should be wary about comparing the types of different sports against each other. They weren't directly compared in the study and there may be reasons why results for some activities, such as football and running, were found to be statistically non-significant (potentially down to chance). Statistician Professor David...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 30, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Older people Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Handful of nuts 'cuts heart disease and cancer' risk
Conclusions This systematic review finds evidence that nut intake may be linked with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and death. The systematic review has several strengths. It identified a large number of studies with a large total sample size. It also included only prospective cohorts assessing nut consumption and then followed up later disease outcomes. It excluded cross sectional studies, which assess diet and disease at the same time, and so can't show the direction of effect. It also excluded cohorts that have retrospectively questioned diet when the person already has the disease, which could be subjec...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 5, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Cancer Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Gum disease bug linked to rheumatoid arthritis
Conclusions This research aimed to investigate a possible bacterial origin of rheumatoid arthritis and found one potential candidate – Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aα). It seems these bacteria could cause the high levels of citrullinated proteins which are known to trigger an immune reaction in people with rheumatoid arthritis. However, it's important to put these findings into the right context. Though antibodies against citrullinated proteins, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), are one of the possible diagnostic findings in people with rheumatoid arthritis – not everyone with rheumatoid arthri...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 19, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medical practice Source Type: news

Weekend-only workouts 'still give an important health boost'
Conclusion This survey aimed to investigate patterns of physical activity in adults over the age of 40 and the potential impact on their cause of death. The study found that, compared with those who were not physically active, all active groups saw a reduction in their risk of death from any cause and cardiovascular disease. Being active at the weekend only had no effect on cancer mortality. However, interpretations around the optimal level of activity are difficult when you note that insufficient activity gave similar mortality reductions as the recommended regular activity. This study has both strengths and limitations...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 10, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Heart/lungs Cancer Source Type: news

Exercise 'most proven method' to prevent return of breast cancer
Conclusion This was a helpful summary of recent research into how lifestyle changes impact on the risk of breast cancer returning, but it does have some limitations. Researching lifestyle factors separately is always difficult as they tend to clump together, making it difficult to pick apart individual factors. For example, people who are more physically active tend to have a healthier diet and are less likely to drink excessive amounts of alcohol or smoke. While the researchers say many studies attempt to make adjustments for these confounding factors, it is difficult to know which studies did this and how successful they...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 22, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer QA articles Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Is red hair gene linked to increased risk of Parkinson's?
Conclusion This study looked at the role the red hair gene MC1R plays in the brains of mice. The findings suggest the gene has a part to play in keeping certain nerve cells in the brain alive. The cells in question are those that die off in Parkinson's disease and cause the condition's characteristic movement problems. These findings in mice are likely to need further investigation in human cells and tissue in lab studies. Exactly what causes brain cells to die, causing Parkinson's disease, is unknown. As with many conditions, it's thought both genetic and environmental factors could play a role. Research like this helps...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 6, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Genetics/stem cells Source Type: news

Substance found in red wine 'helps fight ageing'
Conclusion Resveratrol has been of interest to anti-ageing scientists for many years and researchers have previously shown it may be linked to a slowing of the decline in thinking and movement, at least in rodents. This study suggests a possible way this might happen. But the results don't tell us anything about what happens in humans. They suggest this substance may be useful for further research in humans at some point. They certainly don't provide a reason to drink gallons of red wine, in the hope of seeing an anti-ageing effect. Drinking too much alcohol is a sure-fire way to speed up deterioration of thinking skills,...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 8, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news

Firefighters warned about heart attack risk
Conclusion This randomised crossover trial aimed to assess whether putting out a fire has an effect on the biological signs of cardiovascular health of firefighters.  By simulating a fire fighting scenario the researchers found that exposure to these conditions increased tendency of the blood to clot, reduced the stretchiness of the blood vessel walls, and caused a slight increase in a marker of heart muscle damage. This trial is thought to be the first assessing this link. Whilst a randomised controlled trial is the best way of investigating this link, there are some limitations to consider. The trial included a con...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 5, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs 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

Two older drugs could be 'repurposed' to fight dementia
Conclusion This early stage experimental research has demonstrated a beneficial neurological effect of trazodone and dibenzoylmethane on mice with diseases mimicking neurodegenerative diseases. It is important to acknowledge that this is animal research and therefore the drugs might not have the same effect when they are trialled on humans. That being said, trazodone is already an approved drug for depression and sleep problems and has therefore already passed safety tests. If the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in humans and mice are similar, it is possible trazodone could be used in the future in treating Alzheimer's and...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 20, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Older people Neurology Medication Source Type: news

Low-gluten diet linked to heart attack risk
Conclusion This study has found that while overall gluten consumption in people without coeliac disease may not be related to heart disease risk, avoiding whole grains (wheat, barley and rye) in order to avoid gluten may be associated with increased heart disease risk. This study has several strengths, including its large size, the fact that data was collected prospectively and diet assessed at several time-points, the long period of follow up, and that it took into account a wide range of potential confounders. As with all studies of this type, it is possible that other factors may affect the results. However, the researc...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Cholesterol-lowering jab 'shows promise' for heart disease
Conclusion This mouse study evaluated the potential of the AT04A vaccine to lower cholesterol levels and potentially reduce or prevent heart disease. The results were promising, showing that mice given the vaccine produced antibodies against the enzyme that stops LDL cholesterol being cleared from the body. This resulted in reduced total and LDL blood cholesterol levels, as well as reduced atherosclerosis. No major safety concerns or side effects were reported. Following this research, AT04A has now moved on to a phase I clinical trial. A small number of people will be given the vaccine to see if it's safe for use in huma...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 20, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Heartburn drugs linked to premature death
Conclusion This larger set of observational data finds that PPI drugs are associated with an increase in the risk of early death compared with either H2 blockers or no acid suppression drugs. This was the case for participants both with and without gastrointestinal problems. It also appears as though the longer the PPIs drugs are taken, the greater the risk of death. Considering that these drugs are widely used in the UK, these findings may cause concern. But the research has a number of important limitations: The study was conducted in a population of mostly white, older US male veterans, which might limit the ability...
Source: NHS News Feed - July 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Source Type: news

Snoring link to Alzheimer ’s disease unproven
Conclusion This relatively large cross-sectional analysis has found a link between certain measures of breathing problems during sleep and poorer cognitive function in middle-aged to older adults. The strengths of this study include its size and use of a prospective sleep study to assess whether people had sleep apnoea or other problems with breathing during sleep. The use of standard cognitive tests is also a strength. However, the study does have its limitations: The study did have mixed findings – while certain measures of problems with breathing during sleep (e.g. oxygen levels) were associated with cognitive outco...
Source: NHS News Feed - July 24, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news