Although the media reported this as though it were a new finding, this link was already known from previous research. ADHD is a complex condition, and its causes are not fully understood. Environmental factors – such as whether a child was born prematurely – and genetics are thought to play a role.
The current study aimed at investigating the longitudinal association between obesity and sickness absence in women and men in Germany.
Open Access Article
How do your sleep-wake preferences affect your risk of developing a mood disorder such as depression? A large, detailed observational study investigates.
Consumer-based physical activity (PA) monitors have become popular tools to track PA behaviours. Currently, little is known about the validity of the measurements provided by consumer monitors. We aimed to compare measures of steps, energy expenditure (EE) and active minutes of four consumer monitors with one research-grade accelerometer within a semistructured protocol.
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Physical activity is generally accepted to promote good health. However, it is well documented that the wrong type of physical activity can be bad for health in both occupational and leisure contexts. For example, too much mechanical force can lead to musculoskeletal injury, too frequent activity can lead to fatigue and too prolonged standing can lead to varicose veins.
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Dietary factors are of paramount importance in the management and prevention of type 2 diabetes. Despite progress in formulating evidence based dietary guidance, controversy and confusion remain. In this article, we examine the evidence for areas of consensus as well as ongoing uncertainty or controversy about dietary guidelines for type 2 diabetes.
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This international study has identified more than 60 new genetic variations that are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, bringing the total known to almost 150.
These findings increase our understanding of the genetic risk factors for the disease. Researchers will now look more closely at the specific genes that may be causing these differences in risk.
There are reasons to be cautious about the findings, however. Many medicines have a long list of potential side effects, which doesn't mean that everyone taking them will get any or all of those side effects. Also, people taking 3 or more medicines are more likely to have a long-term condition than people taking no medicines. Having a long-term health condition is known to increase the risk of depression, regardless of any medication side effects.
The main finding was that the number of over-40s seeking treatment had more than doubled over the past 10 years for cannabis-related problems – rising from 471 to 1,008 – and from 27,092 to 64,195 for treatment for any drug.
The majority of people accessing services are still male, but there has been a large increase in the number of women attending.
However, it's worth noting that the vast majority of cannabis users will never present to services for help, so it's difficult to tell how representative these figures are of the wider UK population.
This study provides weak evidence that morning types might be slightly better off than others when it comes to avoiding depression. But bear in mind the results were based on a very specific group of people, and it's not possible to say with any certainty that depression risk is influenced by sleep habits.
Public Health England and the Royal College of GPs are encouraging adults to focus on walking briskly rather than just counting steps to improve their health.
This is the first study to suggest that it may be possible to balance out short sleep during the working week with longer sleep on days off. It's an intriguing idea, but the study has some limitations
Headlines about an increased risk of heart problems if you have eczema might be worrying, but these results only apply to the small minority of people with very severe eczema – not to people with mild eczema.
The results may help doctors better target cardiovascular disease prevention strategies at people with severe eczema to reduce future risk. The results also add to our growing understanding of how diseases that cause inflammation in the body may also contribute to cardiovascular disease risk.
The results suggest that people's gut bacteria – partly inherited, but strongly influenced by what we eat – play an important role in regulating metabolites that affect fat storage around the waist.
The researchers said that adjusting people's diets to encourage growth of bacteria that produce healthier metabolites might be a future way of treating or preventing obesity.
The study found that women who were a normal weight and metabolically healthy had the lowest risk of having a heart attack or stroke. In comparison with these women, those who were obese and metabolically healthy had a 39% increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
But importantly, cardiovascular risk was much higher in all women who were metabolically unhealthy, regardless of weight. Normal-weight, metabolically unhealthy women had a more-than-doubled risk, while the risk was tripled for women who were both obese and metabolically unhealthy.
Having a poor diet and being overweight before and during pregnancy are linked with diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) and heart disease in the mother. They may also affect the child's risk of becoming obese.