A Focus
Statins cut heart disease mortality by 28% — 20-year UK study
September 13th, 2017 Previous research has shown the benefit of statins for reducing high cholesterol and coronary heart disease risk amongst different patient populations. However, until now there has been no conclusive evidence from trials for current guidelines on...
Widely used diabetes test may not be suitable for Africans
September 13th, 2017 People of African descent may mistakenly get the all-clear from a widely used type 2 diabetes test called HbA1c, according to an international study. The findings have important implications as they suggest that using this test as the sole means to...
Penile transplant surgery in SA questioned - Stellenbosch study
September 6th, 2017 Roughly 250 traditional circumcisions lead to penile amputation every year in South Africa, with one response being penile transplantation, as carried out in 2014 at Tygerberg Hospital. A Stellenbosch University study argues that given limited...
New studies show critical impact of behaviour on dementia risk
September 6th, 2017 17A wealth of new data, assembled in a Lancet Commission report, suggests that behaviour can have a significant impact on the risk of getting dementia. But at least one 'surprise omission' from the Commission's report is the beneficial impacts of...
Moderate consumption of fat and carbs is best for good health
September 6th, 2017 Research with more than 135,000 people across five continents has shown that a diet which includes a moderate intake of fat and fruits and vegetables, and avoidance of high carbohydrates, is associated with lower risk of death. As well, contrary to...
Caution urged over 'new frontier' anti-inflammatory that slashes CVD and cancer risk
August 30th, 2017 A pioneering drug, currently used to treat juvenile arthritis, has been found in a trial to also to cut the risk of heart attack by 25%, as well halving the chances of dying from cancer. A New England Journal of Medicine editorial urges caution:...
The Tobacco Papers: How Nicotine Replacement Therapy was hijacked
August 30th, 2017 The tobacco industry first viewed nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers and nasal sprays – called Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) - as a threat, but when it found that smokers often combined NRT with smoking, it began marketing its own NRT...
SA's weak economy threatens gains made in public health sector
August 30th, 2017 Our weak economy threatens to undermine the significant progress made in the public health sector over the past decade, including a 10-year increase in life expectancy, reports Health-e News. The SA Health Review 2017, released last week, paints a...
Peanut allergy may be cured with probiotics and peanut oral immunotherapy
August 23rd, 2017 An oral treatment for one of the most deadly allergies, to peanuts, is still effective four years after it was administered, a study has found, an Australian study has found. Lead researcher Professor Mimi Tang said: ‘This is a major step forward...
SSRIs: Media claims that antidepressants don't work is rebutted
August 23rd, 2017 The theory that antidepressant drugs, such as the SSRIs, do not work, which has gained considerable international media attention, has been rebutted by an analysis of clinical trials by the Sahlgrenska Academy. According to the challenged...
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...
Reversal of brain volume loss in a toddler after drowning
August 9th, 2017 US specialists report the case of the reversal of brain volume loss in a two-year-old drowning victim unresponsive to all stimuli treated with normo-baric oxygen (oxygen at sea level) and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), starting 55 days after the...
ACE's role in opioid addiction and later higher healthcare usage
August 9th, 2017 Physical, sexual or emotional abuse as a child, or other childhood stresses, can lead to higher levels of health service use throughout adulthood, found a UK analysis. A separate US report on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) explains opioid...