"It’s tea time! How at least two cups a day can shield you from dementia," reports the Mail Online. This rather optimistic headline reports on a Singaporean study of around 900 Chinese people aged 55 and above. The study searched for a potential link between tea consumption and development of dementia. It found the risks
"Taking antibiotics for more than two weeks increases your risk of bowel cancer by 73 per cent," reports the Daily Mail. However, the study it reports on did not look at rates of bowel cancer. What it did find is an increased risk of bowel polyps for women who took antibiotics for two months or
"A daily slice of Marmite on toast may help prevent you getting dementia," the Daily Mail reports, with little justification. A small study did find that Marmite had an effect on electrical activity in the brain, but there is no evidence this would prevent dementia. The study involved 28 people in their early 20s. Researchers
"Working in hot temperatures increases the risk of suffering a heart attack," BBC News reports. It has been known for some time that the leading cause of death amongst serving firefighters is heart attacks and not fire-related injuries as some people might assume. Researchers wanted to establish why this is the case. The new study featured
"Babies in Britain, Canada and Italy cry more than elsewhere," The Guardian reports. But the review the newspaper is reporting on only found reliable data from a handful of nations so the accuracy of the claim is unclear. Researchers looked at previously gathered data on colic patterns. Colic is a common, yet poorly understood condition associated
"Women who take morning-after pill could still fall pregnant if they weigh more than 11 stone," the Daily Mirror warns. New guidelines on emergency contraception discuss recent evidence that body mass index (BMI) and overall body weight may impact on the effectiveness of oral emergency contraception. The guideline – produced by the Faculty of Sexual Reproductive
"Colds feel worse to lonely people," The Guardian reports. A US study, where participants were infected with the cold virus, found people who said they felt lonely also reported more severe symptoms – even though an objective measure of how bad their cold was didn’t find the same association. This US study involved around 200
"Workers exposed to electromagnetic fields in their jobs could be at risk of developing motor neurone disease," the Daily Mail reports. A Dutch study found a link between occupational exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields and increased risk of dying from the most common type of motor neurone disease – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a condition
"New technology allows tetraplegic man to move hand with thought," The Guardian reports. Implants, designed to replicate the function of the spinal cord, have allowed a man, paralysed from the neck down (tetraplegia), to regain some control of his arm and head. Tetraplegia can result from traumatic injury to the spinal cord that stops the brain
"Tetris can prevent post-traumatic stress disorder," reports The Daily Telegraph. An early stage study found that people who’d been in traffic accidents who played the popular computer game while waiting in A&E for treatment had fewer intrusive memories during the following week. Researchers believe the brain lays down visual memories in the hours after a
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