Category 50 Plus First Aid

Some statins ‘raise diabetes risk’

Statins are part of many people’s daily routine.  Some drugs taken to protect the heart may increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes, according to researchers in Canada.Their study of 1.5 million people, in the British Medical Journal, suggested powerful statins…

Should we worry about H7N9?

There is a new disease in town – at least there is if you live in eastern China. Long after most people had lost interest in – and the media had stopped writing about – H5N1 bird flu, we now…

Can potassium in bananas cut your stroke risk?

‘More bananas and fewer crisps can help ward off strokes’, the Daily Mail reports, saying a study has found that people with high potassium intake have a 24% reduced risk of stroke. Researchers are also reported to say that lowering…

Parasite ‘resistant to malaria drug artemisinin’

New drug-resistant strains of the parasite that causes malaria have been identified by scientists.   Researchers found parasites in western Cambodia that are genetically different from other strains around the world.  These organisms are able to withstand treatment by artemisinin –…

Brain implant ‘predicts’ epilepsy seizures

A brain implant may be able to predict epilepsy seizures by picking up the early warning signs, a small study suggests.  The device uses the brain’s electrical activity to tell patients if their risk of a seizure is high, moderate…

The ASPOD facilitates ‘immediate’ aspirin

  Research shows that it takes 14 minutes for a chewed soluble tablet to produce maximal platelet inhibition, and a swallowed tablet 26 minutes. Demonstrating that, when chewed, soluble aspirin is the most effective way of accelerating absorption of aspirin…

The science behind immediate aspirin

A summary of the supporting evidence that immediate aspirin really can save lives. There is strong evidence that aspirin, taken during a heart attack, can reduce the size of the thrombus (clot) causing the attack [1,2] and may even cause the platelets…