A useful mantra for pregnant women is “your baby is what you eat”. And a study of mums and babies, led by researchers at the University of Oxford, really brings this home. It showed a mother’s fat metabolism – what … Read More
Clinical trials on computers cut costs and reduce need for human volunteers
The gold standard of medical research, which we heard a lot about during the development of Covid vaccines, is the clinical trial (CT). The upside of this approach is that a robust CT answers two simple questions: is the drug … Read More
Statins are a ‘modern effective therapy’ – and ‘not to blame for muscle aches and pains
People complaining of muscle aches and pains while taking statins became a bit of a “thing” but I always doubted it was due to the drugs themselves. So many people believed there was a link that a new word, “nocebo”, was coined … Read More
Taking antibiotics before going to the dentist could stop heart infections
Recently a fit 50-year-old son of a friend was admitted to hospital with heart failure. He couldn’t breathe or walk. He had infective endocarditis (IE), where bacteria were growing on one of his main heart valves, virtually crippling his heart. … Read More
You can take blood pressure pills any time of the day to improve your heart health
More than one billion people have high blood pressure worldwide, and it has become the leading global cause of early death. But there has been a big unresolved question about the timing of taking blood pressure medication. There have been claims that … Read More
Measuring blood pressure in BOTH arms will benefit at-risk patients
As with most doctors, I would always measure a person’s blood pressure in one arm, and one arm only. However, new research reveals that I’d be missing around one in 10 cases of high blood pressure by not measuring the … Read More
Learning to play a musical instrument as a child boosts your brain function
First it was playing Mozart to babies to improve brain development – which was never really proved. And now Edinburgh University researchers in psychology and music are proposing that music in childhood boosts the adult brain. Taking up a musical … Read More
Ground-breaking Parkinson’s treatment being developed that targets cause of disease
Conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s that first affect the brain before attacking other crucial body systems are difficult to stop – and many new drugs have failed to fulfil their promise. Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting more … Read More
The inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds linked to higher risk of death
As a rule of thumb, I’ve always thought three simple physical tests can forecast longevity – the ability to rise from a chair without using your arms, to take eight steps in six seconds, and to be able to balance on … Read More
An expectant mother’s gut bacteria can help to support her unborn child
The relationship between an unborn baby and its mother’s placenta is indivisible, I’ve always thought. But research suggests something can come between them: the mother’s gut bacteria. Indeed, her gut microbes could help in the development of the placenta and … Read More