“Stroke deaths in England halved in a decade,” reports The Guardian, but the Sun warns us that, “Stroke rates are rocketing among young Brits due to obesity and cocaine use”. Both headlines were prompted by a new study where researchers looked at NHS stroke data from between 2001 and 2010. They found the number of
“Snoring or waking up exhausted ‘could be linked to cancer’,” reports the Sun. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a relatively common condition where the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing. This makes people wake up briefly to catch their breath, though many people with OSA do not remember doing
Heart scan “could pick up signs of sudden death risk”, BBC News reports. Cases often make the headlines of young, seemingly healthy people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest (where the heart suddenly stops beating), often during sports activity, such as in the case of footballer Fabrice Muamba (who thankfully survived). This can have various causes,
Summary “Older adults who regularly do Sudoku or crosswords have sharper brains that are 10 YEARS younger,” reports the Mail Online. In 2 linked studies, researchers asked people aged 50 to 93 to fill in online surveys, which included questions about whether they regularly did number puzzles (like Sudoku) or word puzzles (such as crosswords).
“Glucosamine supplements ‘may cut heart risk’,” reports BBC News. Researchers analysed the diet and lifestyle of almost half a million adults aged 40 to 69 in the UK, and followed them up for an average of 7 years. They found people who regularly took glucosamine, a food supplement taken to reduce symptoms of joint pain
“Mothers’ infections rates ‘could be halved’ with routine antibiotics,” reports The Daily Telegraph. This was the result of a large UK study in which women were given a single dose of antibiotics after an assisted vaginal birth to prevent infection. An assisted vaginal birth is when forceps or a ventouse suction cup are used to
“Hormone [treatment] ‘can reduce chances of miscarriage’,” reports BBC News. The rather misleading headline follows a trial looking at whether giving the hormone progesterone to women with bleeding in early pregnancy could prevent miscarriage. Miscarriage is defined as loss of pregnancy before 24 weeks, and affects 1 in 5 pregnancies. There are many potential causes.
“Young Brits are having less sex than a decade ago because they’re too busy watching Netflix,” reports the Sun. Researchers used survey data from almost 35,000 people aged 16 to 44 in the UK. The surveys were done in 1991, 2001 and 2012. The surveys found women were most likely to report having sex 3
“Time spent on social media has only a ‘trivial’ impact on life satisfaction among adolescents,” reports The Guardian. There is a widespread assumption that social media use is having an negative effect on the mental wellbeing of today’s teenagers. But a new study questions whether this assumption is backed up by the evidence. Several thousand
“Viagra-like erectile dysfunction drug Cialis may tackle heart disease too,” reports the Sun. Researchers investigated the effect of the medicine tadalafil, brand name Cialis, on sheep hearts. Cialis is in the same group of medicines as the better-known Viagra, which are used to treat impotence (erectile dysfunction). The sheep developed a condition similar to heart
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