Health and Medicine

Patients with type 2 diabetes are at lower risk of death and hospital admission for heart attack than patients with established coronary heart disease, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

These results challenge the widely held view that patients with diabetes have as high a risk of cardiovascular events and death as non-diabetic patients who have had a heart attack, and therefore have important implications for clinical practice.

Researchers in Dundee carried out two studies involvin

Combination of the drugs artesunate and amodiaquine could be a new treatment option for children with malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, conclude authors of a fast-track study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

Drug-resistant P. falciparum malaria is a serious problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Chloroquine resistance is a major contributor to the increase in malaria-related illness and death among African children, and resistance to sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (an inexpensive,

Couples who smoke around the time of conception could have a reduced chance of conceiving male offspring, suggest authors of a research letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

The male to female ratio of children has declined substantially over the past few decades. The reason for this reduction is not clear, but it has been suggested that chronic exposure to toxic environmental agents that predominantly affect males and the male reproductive system could lead to a lower male to female bi

The impact of heat on death rates begins at relatively low temperatures during hot weather, finds research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Researchers analysed temperature readings from the Meteorological Office and death rates from the Office of National Statistics for London between 1976 and 1996.

They found that death rates associated with heat started rising at about 19 degrees Centigrade (66 degrees Farenheit), and once above 21.5 degrees Centigrade (abou

Women who work during pregnancy are almost five times as likely to develop pre-eclampsia, concludes research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

In pre-eclampsia abnormally high blood pressure, blood poisoning, and swelling develop. Pre-eclampsia can be dangerous for both mother and child.

The blood pressure of 933 women in their early to late 20s was monitored over 24 hours while they went about their daily routines. The women were all between 18 and 24 weeks of pr

Optimism about the success of heart and lung transplants at the start of the 1990s is not supported by the evidence, shows an audit of the procedure, published in Heart.

Transplants continue to be hampered by the high death rates after surgery and a shortage of suitable donors, finds the study. Almost half of those waiting for a lung transplant will not receive one, and at least a quarter will die within two years of being listed.

All nine UK units performing heart, lung, or heart