Editor's Pick
Children showing early signs of heart disease 16 years after 9/11
September 13th, 2017 Sixteen years after the collapse of the World Trade Centre towers sent a cloud of toxic debris across Lower Manhattan, children living nearby who likely breathed in the ash and fumes are showing early signs of risk for future heart disease. This...
Stroke survivors should be checked for cancer development
September 13th, 2017 Some stroke survivors may have 50% higher risk of underlying cancer, according to an observational study presented at the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid. “Post-mortem studies have suggested that cancer can develop after a stroke, but the...
AEDs saves lives at sports and fitness centres
September 6th, 2017 Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) save lives in amateur sports and fitness centres, according to research presented at ESC Congress. The 18-year study found that survival from cardiac arrest reached 93% in centres equipped with an...
All clear for a trial of Ecstasy drug in PTSD patients
September 6th, 2017 According to a Science Magazine report, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated 3.4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), better known as the illegal drug ecstasy, a "breakthrough therapy" for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),...
High-salt intake may double the risk of heart failure
September 6th, 2017 High salt intake is associated with a doubled risk of heart failure, according to a 12-year study in more than 4,000 people presented today at ESC Congress. "High salt (sodium chloride) intake is one of the major causes of high blood pressure and...
Military-issue footwear causing musculoskeletal injuries
September 6th, 2017 Drilling in the wrong footwear is causing musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries, resulting in troops being invalided out, according to a small UK study. Marching around a parade yard with boots shiny enough to see your face in – as a sergeant major...
Digit length may link to muscular strength in adolescent boys
August 30th, 2017 The ratio of the length of the second (pointer) finger and the length of the fourth (ring) finger – is favourably related to muscular strength in boys, found a small US study. A father-son research partnership has found that athletic prowess...
Less REM sleep may increase dementia risk
August 30th, 2017 People who get less rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may have a greater risk of developing dementia, according to an Australian study. REM sleep is the sleep stage when dreaming occurs. There are five stages of sleep. Stage one is light sleep....
EU-blocked drug found to improve quality of life in MS
August 30th, 2017 A drug that is blocked by the EU regulatory system has now been found to improve the quality of life of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study by Queen Mary University of London. QMUL researchers gained access to previously...
Probiotic mixture reduces sepsis by 40% in infants
August 23rd, 2017 A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study showed that sepsis and deaths in the first two months of infancy were reduced by 40%, following the administration for seven days of an oral probiotic mixture. A research team at the University...
Worse outcomes when receiving alternative therapy for curable cancers
August 23rd, 2017 Patients who choose to receive alternative therapy as the treatment for curable cancers, instead of conventional cancer treatment, have a higher risk of death, according to Yale research. The researchers were from the Cancer Outcomes, Public...
Contraceptive pill link to lower rheumatoid arthritis risk
August 23rd, 2017 Taking the contraceptive pill, particularly for seven or more consecutive years, is linked to a lowered risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, finds US-Swedish research. But no significant link was found for breastfeeding – a practice that...
Aspirin not increasing heart failure events in heart failure patients - WARCEF trial
August 16th, 2017 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...
The long-term impact of spanking
August 16th, 2017 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...
Eating almonds may improve HDL cholesterol and functionality
August 16th, 2017 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...