A simple training programme, based on a series of balancing exercises, can cut the risk of recurrent ankle sprains by 35 per cent and could lead to huge savings in medical and lost productivity costs, a new study has concluded. According to the study’s authors, there is strong evidence that athletes are at high risk [...]
New studies have shown that migraine — previously thought to have no long-term consequences — may cause pathological changes in the brain, reports June Shannon Women who suffer from migraine with aura in middle age are more likely to have damage to brain tissue in the cerebellum later in life, according to a new study [...]
Dr Jack Lambert writes on the dangers of rabies — which is no longer endemic in Europe. However, global travel patterns mean that the disease always poses a threat. Rabies is one of the oldest zoonotic diseases affecting humans. It has historically been recognised as far back as 2000 BC from genetic evidence in Babylon. [...]
Anxiety and depression are associated with more frequent angina in older patients with coronary artery disease, researchers have reported. Heart patients with at least moderate anxiety were more than four times likely to have chest pain, while patients with clinical depression were three times more likely to have frequent chest pain. Patients with a history [...]
June Shannon examines the reasons why growing numbers of children are developing type 1 diabetes and looks at the Irish situation, which is now being monitored through a national childhood diabetes register. A disturbing but incredibly important study in a recent copy of the Lancet (2009; 373: 2027–33; published online May 28, 2009 DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60568-7) has [...]
A new American study has found that bone-morphogenetic protein (BMP), which is used in 25 per cent of spinal fusion procedures there, is associated with a higher rate of complications than in fusions that did not use BMP. BMPs promote bone creation and remodelling and clinical use of recombinant BMP protein was approved by the [...]
Two to three portions of fatty fish eaten weekly could help stave off progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to researchers. The researchers based their findings on almost 3,000 people, all of whom were taking part in a supplements trial, the Age Related Eye Disease Study. They were monitored for the development of age-related [...]
Use of several older and newer biomarkers appears to offer minimal added benefit in the prediction of cardiovascular events, compared to conventional risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, according to a new study. In the study, doctors in Sweden assessed several cardiovascular biomarkers, individually and in combination, regarding their usefulness in [...]
Dr Farhan Haq and Dr Atif Ijaz examine the different types of dementia and take a look at the various options of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments that are available. Dementia refers to a group of illnesses characterised by progressive and, in the majority of cases, irreversible decline in mental functioning. This is often accompanied by [...]
Adding an antiviral agent to corticosteroids for the treatment of Bell’s palsy does not improve the recovery of facial movement function, according to a new meta-analysis of previously published studies. According to the researchers who performed the analysis, the current treatment choices for Bell’s palsy include corticosteroids, antiviral therapy or else a combination of the [...]
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