Beta-blockers could be used to reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations, according to new findings.Beta blockers are primarily used to treat stress or heart problems, such as high blood pressure and angina, but these new findings suggest they could have a…

Undesirable associations with sex can be unlearned, but return if the circumstances change. They must therefore be unlearned in different situations. The drug D-cycloserine may help here. These are the findings of psychologist Mirte Brom. Treating sexual disorders Leiden PhD candidate Mirte Brom conducted a…

An international team of researchers, with the participation of the University of Granada (UGR), has revealed new data on why breast cancer has a higher incidence and is more aggressive in obese people. The reason is that peritumoral fat facilitates the expansion and invasion of…

Yoga improves quality of life in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, according to research published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Heart rate and blood pressure also decreased in patients who did yoga.“Many patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) can’t live their lives as…

Often patients undergo procedures without real informed consent being achieved due to technical language, jargon and time pressure, with up to half of patients finding it difficult to understand what their doctor tells them. Now a group of Australian doctors has prepared patients for surgery…

Midwives need more than fingers to figure out who the C-section candidates are. Small, tablet-sized ultrasound devices may be the key.For over a hundred years, midwives and doctors have used their fingers to check on delivery progress. But predicting which women will need to give…

Increased longevity also increases risk for age-related dementiaPeople who reach their 80s without cardiovascular disease are more likely to suffer from the effects of dementia than a heart attack or stroke, according to a study today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology….

Omega-3 fatty acids may lower the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal obese women, according to researchers.The protection likely comes from the fatty acids’ anti-inflammatory effects, said Dr. Andrea Manni, professor and division chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, Penn State College of Medicine.Obesity is…

A recent Finnish study showed that individualised and family-based lifestyle counselling helps 6-8-year-old children increase their physical activity levels and improve their diet quality during a two-year follow-up. The results of the study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland were recently published in Preventive…

A healthy heart may have major benefits for preventing the decline in brain function that sometimes accompanies aging, according to new research inJournal of the American Heart Association.Researchers studied a racially diverse group of older adults and found that having more ideal cardiovascular health factors…

Eating meat from animals grazed on land treated with commonly-used agricultural fertilisers might have serious implications for pregnant women and the future reproductive health of their unborn children, according to new research.The study by British and French scientists from the universities of Nottingham, Aberdeen (UK)…

A large clinical trial to assess the benefits or otherwise of inducing labour in pregnant women of 35 years or older has found there was no significant effect on the rate of caesarean sections and no adverse effect on the mother and newborn baby.The large,…