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A Practitioner's Must Read
Ibuprofen less effective than other drugs for migraine attacks – US study
Finding a migraine treatment that is effective and reliable, and information on how medications compare to one another, is lacking, say researchers, whose recent...
Stethoscope hygiene falls far short of guidelines
The evolution of modern medicine has led to a critical reliance on stethoscopes – considered to be a doctor’s “third hand” – yet these...
Watchdog adds more confusing drugs names to growing list
Around 7 000 to 9 000 people die each year in the US as the result of a medication error, and although experts say...
Brain bleed risk upped by daily aspirin – second ASPREE trial analysis
Taking a low, daily dose of aspirin will not prevent the most common type of stroke among older people who have never had one...
Major German guidelines revision shifts asthma treatment focus
Asthma has long been associated with the use of inhalers to control symptoms, but new, updated guidelines created by the German Respiratory Society, with...
Regular aspirin increases anaemia risk in seniors – ASPREE study
Taking a daily aspirin might heighten the risk of anaemia in older people, adding to existing research challenging the long-established recommendation of aspirin as...
Asthmatics have 36% greater chance of cancer – US study
A study tracking 360 084 participants for eight years found that those with asthma had increased risks of five types of cancer, but people...
Penicillin allergy cases on the decline
Many people with a history of penicillin “aren’t really allergic at all”, according to Dr David Khan, a professor of internal medicine and paediatrics...
Dutch study confirms high heart attack risk after flu
People who get flu have a higher risk of heart attack for a week after they have been diagnosed with the virus, say researchers, whose...
Inflammation overlooked as common, treatable causes of heart attacks – US analysis
Inflammation may be just as important as cholesterol in causing heart attacks, and is frequently overlooked, say researchers, suggesting different treatments should be considered...
Standard kidney stone treatment may not be effective – Swiss study
A randomised controlled trial has shown that hydrochlorothiazide, which for decades has been a standard treatment to prevent the recurrence of calcium-containing kidney stones,...
Pulmonary hypertension death risk high in South Africa – local study
A study on pulmonary hypertension in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa, has found that in South Africa, the conditions...
Race affects predictive value of ‘good’ cholesterol levels: US study
The concept that levels of “good” cholesterol in the blood can indicate heart disease risk is not equally true for blacks and whites, and...
Environmental factors worsen neurologic health – US review of 30 years’ research
Climate change, airborne pollution and temperature extremes are all playing major roles in changing infectious disease conditions, while increasing risks of serious illnesses, a...
One million cancer diagnoses likely missed in Europe because of COVID pandemic
Europe faces a “cancer epidemic” unless urgent action is taken to boost treatment and research, after an estimated 1m diagnoses were missed during the...
Blood clot risk still high months after COVID – Bristol University study
The risk of developing a blood clot remains far higher than normal even a year after COVID-19 infection, recent research has revealed, with the...
Childhood signs that predict stroke/heart attacks in adulthood – large global study
Five childhood risk factors that predict stroke and heart attacks in adulthood have been identified after being tracked for up to half a century...
Statin pills not to blame for muscle pain, Heart Foundation meta-analysis finds
Authors of a large study have reassured those taking cholesterol-lowering statins that it is uncommon for the tablets to cause muscle pain, and that...
Heart failure twice as likely for diabetics after taking ibuprofen – Danish study
A study has showed that type 2 diabetes sufferers are more than twice as likely to develop heart failure if they take ibuprofen, particularly...
AHA flags effects of social isolation on cardiovascular and brain health
Social isolation and loneliness are common, and the risk both appears highest for the young and the old, although for different reasons.
The link between...
Scientists adamant vitamin D pills generally ineffective – US study
The long accepted theory that vitamin D pills can prevent bone fractures appears to have been blown out of the water, according to US...
Urgent need for more funds to fight AMR drug resistance
Common germs are outsmarting medicine much faster than South Africa’s health system can keep up with, and research suggests there isn’t the money (or...
Psychiatric disorder risk may increase after severe COVID and acute respiratory infections – Oxford study
A UK study had found that the more than 32,000 survivors of severe COVID-19 and more than 16,000 survivors of other severe respiratory infections...
Antibiotics may increase, not reduce, risk of further UTIs – Harvard/MIT/Washington study
Women who get recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) may be caught in a vicious cycle in which antibiotics given to eradicate one infection predispose...
Flu jab linked to 34% lower risk of cardiac events – Toronto meta-analysis
A new meta-analysis of six randomised controlled trials has found that seasonal influenza vaccination was associated with a 34% lower risk of major adverse...
Only ‘marginal benefits’ from second COVID booster – Israeli study
Administering a second COVID-19 vaccine booster offers little benefit for healthy healthcare professionals, according to a study at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Aviv.
In...
Hydration may slow cardiac decline and reduce heart failure risk – NIH study
Staying well-hydrated may may slow down decline in cardiac function and decrease prevalence of heart failure, according to researchers at the National Institutes of...
Systemic corticosteroids a potential treatment for HF – Spanish study
Intravenous corticosteroids didn’t hurt people with acute heart failure (HF), and could be a potential treatment for those with more inflammation, according to a...
Mental health-related risk factors and interventions in heart failure – EAPC position paper
A position paper by the European Association of Preventive Cardiology recommends psychosocial risk factors be more integrated into the treatment of patients with chronic...
Artificial sweeteners and increased cancer risk – French cohort study
Artificial sweeteners (especially aspartame and acesulfame-K), which are used in many food and beverage brands worldwide, are associated with increased cancer risk, according to...
Benefits of statins may have been overstated – Irish meta-analysis
While cholesterol-lowering statins are commonly used worldwide, researcher Paula Byrne of the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin, Ireland, writing in...
Sodium in fizzy paracetamol tablets linked to increased heart and death risk
Both those with or without hypertension should avoid inadvertent excessive sodium intake via sodium-containing paracetamol (acetaminophen) in fizzy or soluble drug preparations, recommends a...
Early autism signs can detected by routine prenatal ultrasound – Israeli study
A routine prenatal ultrasound in the second trimester can identify early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a study by Ben-Gurion University of the...
A summation of what is known about Omicron’s BA.2 variant
Omicron BA.2 is inherently substantially more transmissible than BA, and possesses immune-evasive properties but does not increase its transmissibility from vaccinated individuals with breakthrough...
Pulse oximeters deliver unreliable readings across ethnic groups
A non-invasive test with a pulse oximeter provided false readings of nearly 7% higher in a group of mixed race patients with COVID-19, compared...
Seeing the same GP consistently has major health benefits for dementia sufferers
Dementia patients who see the same GP every time are 35% less likely to develop delirium, almost 60% less likely to experience incontinence, 10%...
Sudden Cardiac Death and sex: Rare but not just an old man thing
A review of almost 7,000 comprehensive autopsies over 26 years in England showed that sex rarely triggered Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) and more women...
American Diabetes Association updates its Standards of Medical Care for 2022
The American Diabetes Association updated its Standards of Medical Care supplement in December, to provide clinicians, researchers, policy makers, and other interested individuals with the...
Anxiety drugs/antidepressants linked to doubled risk of post-op delirium
People admitted hip or knee surgery and taking a range of drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety, insomnia and depression, were twice as likely to...
Almost a fifth of hypertensives unknowingly take BP-raising meds — NHANES survey
Almost a fifth of hypertensive patients may unknowingly be taking medications that raise blood pressure (BP), according to data from the US National Health...