FOCUS: THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES
A toast to moderate alcohol use - Danish and US studies
August 16th, 2017 Moderate alcohol consumption over three-to-four days a week is associated with a markedly reduced risk of diabetes in both men and women, according to data from the Danish Health Examination Survey (DAHNES). Meanwhile, a separate University of...
Vaccination programmes successfully wipe out HBV and HAV
August 16th, 2017 A universal hepatitis B vaccination programme introduced for all newborn Alaskan children in the 1980s has wiped out hepatitis B (HBV) infection and liver cancer cases associated with the infection. So, too, has a hepatitis A (HAV) vaccination...
CTE almost universal among ex-NFL football players
August 16th, 2017 13A study of the brains of 202 former American football players found that 87% showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head. The Boston University study found that 110 of...
Weekly Roundup
Staff shortages impact on lives of mothers and babies in UK
Childbirth experts have warned that mothers’ and babies’ lives in Britain are being put at risk... August 16th, 2017Treatment programme powers ART uptake in Lesotho
A universal treatment programme has increased by 79% the average monthly number of people... August 16th, 2017First four milk banks in Africa now operational
The first four Ncelisa human milk banks located at Netcare maternity units are now fully... August 16th, 2017Initiative to provide unbiased data on nutritional impact of yoghurt
The SA Yoghurt in Nutrition Initiative launched the 1st Yoghurt Summit in South Africa in... August 16th, 2017CARDIOLOGY
Pneumonia or sepsis in adults associated with increased CVD risk
Pneumonia or sepsis in adults that results in hospital admission is associated with a six-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease in the first year, according to research. Cardiovascular risk was more than doubled in years two and three after... August 16th, 2017Aspirin not increasing heart failure events in heart failure patients - WARCEF trial
Aspirin does not increase heart failure events in heart failure patients, according to the 10-year Warfarin and Aspirin for Reduced Cardiac Ejection Fraction (WARCEF) trial, which is the largest randomised, double-blind comparison of aspirin and...
August 16th, 2017
ENDOCRINOLOGY
High-fat diet in pregnancy link to mental health problems in offspring
A high-fat maternal diet is linked to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression in children, found a non-human primate study from the Oregon National Primate Research Centre, correlating with previous observational... August 16th, 2017Weight gain between pregnancies link to increased GDM risk
The risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases with increased weight gain between pregnancies, according to a study by Linn Sorbye of the University of Bergen, Norway, and colleagues. GDM is defined as glucose intolerance of... August 16th, 2017ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Rise in CO2 levels cutting dietary protein in staple crops
If CO2 levels continue to rise as projected, the populations of 18 countries may lose more than 5% of their dietary protein by 2050 due to a decline in the nutritional value of rice, wheat, and other staple crops, according to findings from Harvard... August 16th, 2017HIV/AIDS
VMMC cuts female HIV risk by as much as 30%
Ground-breaking research presented at the recent International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science IAS 2017 in Paris, suggests that voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) could lower HIV risk for women by as much as 30%, says an IoL... August 16th, 2017Boosted darunavir plus lamivudine matches three-drug regimen
A combination of darunavir/ritonavir and lamivudine was just as effective as the same combination plus tenofovir, according to 24-week results of the ANDES study, presented by Professor Pedro Cahn from the Fundacion Huesped, clinical research,... August 16th, 2017Single measures of viral load not effective for assessing suppression
The percentage of HIV-positive individuals with durable viral suppression may be overestimated when calculated by single measures of viral load, Healio reports a study has found. “The most common measure of HIV suppression in clinical and... August 16th, 2017HIV/AIDS
First protease inhibitor combination pill maintains viral suppression
The first once-daily single-tablet regimen containing a protease inhibitor maintained viral suppression in almost everyone who switched after achieving undetectable HIV RNA on a multi-pill regimen, according to a report at the 9th International AIDS... August 16th, 2017ART administered intramuscularly as effective as oral Tx
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) intramuscularly administered may have the same effectiveness as current oral treatments. This is the main conclusion of the Phase II clinical trial carried out by 50 centres around the world – 9 in Spain – to which... August 16th, 2017HIV stillbirth rate is double that of general UK population
The stillbirth rate among women living with HIV in the UK and Ireland from 2007 to 2015 was more than twice that of the general population, Graziella Favarato, presenting on behalf of the National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood (NSHPC),... August 16th, 2017Factors beyond ART play role in the health of sub-Saharan HIV+ adolescents
Adolescents who acquired HIV perinatally were less likely to die, grew faster and had better immune restoration on treatment if they lived in upper-middle income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, a comparative study presented at the 9th... August 16th, 2017NUTRITION
Eating almonds may improve HDL cholesterol and functionality
Eating almonds on a regular basis may help boost levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol while simultaneously improving the way it removes cholesterol from the body, according to US research. This follows on earlier studies showing that...
August 16th, 2017
OPTHALMOLOGY
Cases of blindness set to triple in four decades
The number of blind people across the world is set to triple within the next four decades, researchers led by Professor Rupert R A Bourne, at the Vision & Eye Research Unit, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK, suggest. They predict... August 16th, 2017ORTHOPAEDIC
SCR surgical technique allows athletes to return to sports
The arthroscopic superior capsule reconstruction (SCR) surgical technique can offer patients with irreparable rotator cuff repairs the opportunity to return to sports and jobs that require heavy physical work, as presented in research today at the... August 16th, 2017PSYCHOLOGY
Using money to buy time is linked with greater happiness
13Money spent on buying free time rather than material goods is linked with greater life satisfaction, but relatively few people, even among the wealthy, make that choice, found a Harvard and University of British Columbia study.
New research...
August 16th, 2017
The long-term impact of spanking
Past research has indicated that physical punishment, such as spanking, has negative consequences on child development. However, most research studies have examined short-term associations – less than one year – between discipline and...
August 16th, 2017
Mindfulness training helps reduce the pain experience
Mindfulness training and hypnotic suggestion significantly reduced acute pain, experienced by hospital patients, similar to what one might expect from an opioid painkiller. After participating in a single, 15-minute session of one of these mind-body... August 16th, 2017SPORT AND EXERCISE MEDICINE
Non-pharmacological therapies for chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms
Graded exercise self-help (GES) is a safe intervention to reduce fatigue and, to a lesser extent, physical disability for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, found the GETSET trial. Researchers led by Lucy Clark at the Centre for Psychiatry,... August 16th, 2017