Children born in the United Kingdom (UK) since the 1980s are 2-3 times more likely to be overweight or obese by age 10 than those in previous generations, shows an analysis of birth cohorts since the 1940s. Reporting in PLOS Medicine, researchers analysed data on 56,632 people with with 273,843 BMI (body mass index) observations… Read More
More than a third of UK residents who think of themselves as overweight are actually clinically obese, a European survey has shown. The survey, carried out for the European Association for the Study of Obesity, also found that a fifth (20%) of UK adults who consider themselves to be of normal weight are in fact… Read More
The association between alcohol and heart failure is explored in a study of 33,760 Swedish men aged 45-79 years who were followed up from 1998 to 2011. The study uses two kinds of modelling, and the only significant association to emerge is that of a reduced risk of heart failure in men with an intake… Read More
Current smoking is associated with a higher risk if type 2 diabetes, and the most beneficial thing anyone with this condition can do is to give up smoking. However, it is not quite that simple. A retrospective cohort study of 10,692 adult smokers with type 2 diabetes that used the Health Improvement Network, a large… Read More
My Two Pence This is a story that tugged at my heart strings and thought it would be good to share. I believe there are a number of lessons that can be drawn from this story but I will leave it to the reader to decide which. The Background In the latest of a monthly… Read More
The effectiveness of placebo may depend on someone’s DNA, so writes The Economist. Give someone who is sick a sugar pill that you have told him is a powerful drug, and it will often make him feel better. Even if you tell him what it really is, he may still feel better. The placebo effect,… Read More
The Royal College of Physicians has produced a factsheet on using medical apps, to help doctors protect patients. The factsheet explains what is and what is not a medical app, what to do if you are using or developing a medical app, and how to report problems with apps. It advises doctors not to use… Read More
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