10 April 2008

Association between low birth weight, excessive weight gain and heart problems in later life: study suggests inflammation may be the cause

Researchers who have followed 5,840 people from before birth to the age of 31 have found evidence suggesting that small size at birth and excessive weight gain during adolescence and young adulthood may lead to low grade inflammation, which, in turn, is associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease. Previous epidemiological studies have linked environmental factors in early life with the risk of disease in adulthood, and this study identifies a possible causal mechanism. The study, which is published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal, underlines the important role of healthy lifestyles, from the foetal period, through childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, in preventing heart problems.
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9 April 2008

Stopping a cancer trial early: is it for the benefit of patients or industry?

New research has identified a growing trend for trials of new cancer treatments to be stopped prematurely before the therapies’ risks and benefits have been properly evaluated. In a study, published in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology, Italian researchers analysed 25 randomised controlled clinical trials that had been stopped early because they had started to show a benefit to patients and found that the numbers had increased dramatically in recent years. They warn that this could lead to a systematic over-statement of the effects of treatment, and that patients could be harmed by new therapies being rushed prematurely into the clinic.
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20 March 2008

First study to investigate the effect of father’s diet on chromosomal abnormalities in sperm reveals link with folate – a vitamin B

Researchers writing in Human Reproductionhave found an association between a vitamin found in leafy green vegetables, fruit and pulses and levels of chromosomal abnormalities in men’s sperm. Men who consumed high levels of folate (a water-soluble B vitamin that occurs naturally in food) and folic acid (the synthetic form of the vitamin) tended to have lower levels of abnormal sperm where a chromosome had been lost or gained (known as aneuploidy).
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21 February 2008

Zoologists challenge longstanding theory that ‘eyespots’ mimic the eyes of predator enemies

Circular markings on creatures such as butterflies are effective against predators because they are conspicuous features, not because they mimic the eyes of the predators’ own enemies, according to research published in the journal, Behavioral Ecology. Zoologists based at the University of Cambridge challenge the 150-year-old theory about why these markings are effective against predators.
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19 February 2008

Listening to music improves stroke patients’ recovery

Listening to music in the early stages after a stroke can improve patients’ recovery, according to new research published online in the medical journal Brain. Researchers from Finland found that if stroke patients listened to music for a couple of hours a day, their verbal memory and focused attention recovered better and they had a more positive mood than patients who did not listen to anything or who listened to audio books. This is the first time such an effect has been shown in humans and the researchers believe it has important implications for clinical practice.
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7 February 2008

Teenage fathers are more likely to have babies affected by adverse birth problems. Fathers aged 40 and over are not at increased risk

Teenage fathers are at increased risk of having babies born with birth problems ranging from pre-term delivery or low birth weight, through to death in or near to the time of delivery, according to new research published in Human Reproduction. In contrast, the study also found that older fathers, aged 40 and over, were not at increased risk of having babies affected by these problems. The results were independent of the age of the mother or other maternal factors that might be expected to have an impact on birth outcomes.
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5 February 2008

New figures reveal changing patterns of stroke and heart disease related deaths in Europe

New figures show there are still large variations between and within European countries in the numbers of stroke and heart disease-related deaths. Several countries, particularly in northern and eastern Europe, have rates of death that are as much as 7-14 times higher than other countries, while countries such as Poland, Spain, Portugal, Germany and the UK have large regional variations. Published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal today, the study looked at deaths from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) – a form of heart disease characterised by a reduced blood supply to the heart – and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) – defects in the blood vessels supplying the brain which can result in events such as stroke – for the year 2000.
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31 January 2008

Study of Whitehall civil servants explains how stress at work is linked to heart disease

New research has produced strong evidence of how work stress is linked to the biological mechanisms involved in the onset of heart disease. Published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal, this research is the first large-scale study to look at the cardiovascular mechanisms of work stress in the population and provides the strongest evidence yet of the way it can lead to coronary heart disease, either directly, by activating stress pathways controlled by the interaction between the nervous system, the endocrine glands and their hormones (neuroendocrine mechanisms), or indirectly via its association with unhealthy lifestyles.
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9 January 2008

Staying active and drinking moderately is the key to a long life

People who drink moderate amounts of alcohol and are physically active have a lower risk of death from heart disease and other causes than people who don’t drink at all, according to new research. People who neither drink alcohol nor exercise have a 30-49 per cent higher risk of heart disease than those who either drink, exercise or both. The research, which was published in the European Heart Journal, is the first to look at the combined influence of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol intake on the risk of fatal ischaemic heart disease (a form of heart disease characterised by a reduced blood supply to the heart) and deaths from all causes.
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10 October 2007

Researchers find evidence linking stress caused by the 9/11 disaster with low birth weights

Researchers have found evidence of an increase in low birth weights among babies born in and around New York City in the weeks and months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, they suggest that stress may have contributed to the effect.
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9 October 2007

Women with high or increasing blood pressure are up to three times more likely to develop diabetes

One of the largest studies to investigate the relationship between blood pressure and type 2 diabetes has found that women who have high blood pressure levels are three times more likely to develop diabetes than women with low blood pressure levels. This effect was independent of body mass index and other conditions that are known to predispose people to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Writing in the European Heart Journal, the authors say that clinicians should be aware of the relationships between blood pressure and type 2 diabetes to optimise the management of patients at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
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