Very Low Levels of Bad Cholesterol Well-Tolerated in Heart Disease Patients
Heart disease patients taking PCSK9 inhibitors to achieve very low levels of cholesterol do not experience an increase in adverse events, including memory impairment or nervous system disorders, but may have an increased risk of cataracts, according to a study today in the Journal of…
Meal planning, timing, may impact heart health
Planning when to eat meals and snacks and not skipping breakfast, are patterns associated with healthier diets, which could reduce cardiovascular disease risk, according to a new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.The statement provides a snapshot of the current…
Stop smoking services may boost mental health of people with depression
Smokers with depression who successfully quit smoking using stop smoking services may see an improvement in their mental health, according to new research, funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Annals of Behavioural Medicine.
Offering a ‘stop smoking’ taster session and personalised disease risk doubles likelihood smokers will seek help to quit
Smokers underestimate their personal risk of illness, and a key aim of the study was to try and persuade them that these risks are personally relevant. Offering smokers a taster session at an NHS Stop Smoking Service and explaining their personal risk of developing smoking-related…
Starting menstrual periods at a young age and childlessness increase risk of premature and early menopause
Women who had their first menstrual period when they were aged 11 or younger have an increased risk of an early or premature menopause and if they remain childless the risk is increased even more, according to results from the first large scale, multi-national study…
Hormone can enhance brain activity associated with love and sex
The hormone kisspeptin can enhance activity in brain regions associated with sexual arousal and romantic love, according to new research. The scientists behind the early-stage study, from Imperial College London, are now keen to explore whether kisspeptin could play a part in treating some psychosexual…
Study Finds Association Between Eating Hot Peppers and Decreased Mortality
Like spicy food? If so, you might live longer, say researchers at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, who found that consumption of hot red chili peppers is associated with a 13 percent reduction in total mortality – primarily in deaths…
New data show heightened risk of birth defects with antidepressants prescribed during pregnancy
A new Université de Montréal study in the British Medical Journal reveals that antidepressants prescribed to pregnant women could increase the chance of having a baby with birth defects.The risk – 6 to 10 %, versus 3 to 5 % in women who do not…
One in four men with suspected prostate cancer could avoid unnecessary biopsy if given an MRI scan first, study estimates
Giving men with suspected prostate cancer an MRI scan could improve diagnosis and save those who do not have aggressive cancers from having an unnecessary biopsy, according to a study published in The Lancet.The study estimates that adding the extra test could help one in…
Heavy alcohol use in adolescence alters brain electrical activity
Long-term heavy use of alcohol in adolescence alters cortical excitability and functional connectivity in the brain, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital. These alterations were observed in physically and mentally healthy but heavy-drinking adolescents, who nevertheless…
Delayed clamping prevents anaemia
When clamping of the umbilical cord is delayed, iron deficiency up to six months of age can be prevented, according to a new study from Uppsala University, published in JAMA Pediatrics. The study was conducted in Nepal.Anaemia affects over 40 per cent of all children…
Depression as hard on the heart as obesity and cholesterol
Depression poses a risk for cardiovascular diseases in men that is just as great as that posed by high cholesterol levels and obesity. This is according to a report recently published in the ‘Atherosclerosis’ journal by researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum München, together with colleagues…