Daytime dozing increases stroke risk in elderly

Older people who have significant trouble staying awake during the day have more than four times the normal risk of having a stroke, US researchers said. – Regular daytime dozing forewarns of a significantly increased risk of stroke in older Americans, researchers reported at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2008.

Become an X-PERT on diabetes, UK

A special programme delivered by Solihull NHS Care Trust imparting training to people who have Type 2 diabetes about their condition and how to manage it. – People who have Type 2 diabetes have the opportunity of learning more about their condition and how to manage it in a special programme delivered by Solihull NHS Care Trust.

Extra investment for Shirley patients, UK

Solihull NHS Care Trust has approved an extra ?145,000 to extend and modernize Haslucks Surgery in Haslucks Green Road, Shirley. – Solihull NHS Care Trust has approved an extra ?145,000 a year investment to help improve primary care services in Shirley. The money will be used to extend and modernize Haslucks Surgery in Haslucks Green Road, Shirley. Local residents can look forward to even more primary care facilities nearer their homes and may have shorter waits for treatment.

GSK reduces HIV drugs prices for poor countries

Fifth time the GlaxoSmithKline company has made a price reduction for its HIV medicines offered on a not-for-profit basis to the world?s poorest countries. – GSK today announced significant new price reductions for its HIV medicines offered on a not-for-profit basis to the world’s poorest countries. This reduction is the fifth time the company has made a price reduction as part of its pioneering preferential pricing policy originally introduced in 1997.

Do animals think like autistic savants?

Autism gives special insight into the inner workings of the animal mind. – When Temple Grandin argued that animals and autistic savants share cognitive similarities in her best-selling book Animals in Translation (2005), the idea gained steam outside the community of cognitive neuroscientists.

Managers less likely to suffer from cancers

Managers and administrators are less likely to suffer from cancers according to a University of Sydney study published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia. – Managers and administrators are less likely to suffer from cancers, possibly because they are less exposed to risk factors or because they can more easily afford to retire when their health deteriorates.

Improving the safety testing of chemicals

NIH Collaborates with EPA to Improve the Safety Testing of Chemicals; New Strategy Aims to Reduce Reliance on Animal Testing. – Testing the safety of chemicals ranging from pesticides to household cleaners will benefit from new technologies and a plan for collaboration, according to federal scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who announced a new toxicity testing agreement.

Male births increase postnatal depression

This research is the first to show that the birth of a boy reduces several dimensions of the mothers’ quality of life. Further research needs to explore the effectiveness of programmes targeting the construction of parenting skills as a preventative measure against PND, especially for parents of boys. – Giving birth to a boy can lead to higher levels of severe post-natal depression (PND) and reduced quality of life than having a girl, according to research published in the February issue of Journal of Clinical Nursing.

27% lower mortality in top hospitals, finds HealthGrades

Hospital quality gap persists, resulting in 171,424 preventable deaths, according to HealthGrades’ Sixth Annual Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study. – Patients treated at top-rated hospitals in US are nearly one-third less likely to die, on average, than those admitted to all other hospitals, according to a study released by HealthGrades (Nasdaq: HGRD), the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

Babies excrete vaccine-mercury quicker

Infants? bodies expel the thimerosal mercury much faster than once thought ? thereby leaving little chance for a progressive building up of the toxic metal. – February’s issue of Pediatrics offers another reason to rethink blaming the spike in autism diagnoses on thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative routinely used in several childhood vaccines until the late ?90s.

Health Newstrack