Published9 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterSports scientists are highlighting the lack of football kit designed for women, saying the use of boots and balls created for male players could be putting them at higher risk of injury.Knee-ligament injuries in women are causing concern at an elite level.Despite some progress, the researchers say no large boot manufacturer has yet invested in a design to suit women.The profile and popularity of women’s football in the UK has soared since England won Euro 2022.But most products are still predominantly designed for men’s football and little attention has been paid to the requirements of the women’s game, a paper says.Stress fracturesWriting in the journal Sport Engineering, a group of sports and exercise researchers, doctors and staff involved in the elite women’s game – including England captain Leah Williamson – point to the need for more kit and technology tailored to women’s needs and body shape.For example, football boots fail to account for the fact women’s feet, heels and arches are shaped differently.And wearing boots designed for men is causing blisters and stress fractures in elite female players.Women also move and run in a different way to men and yet the length of studs on boots are designed around male movement and traction. This increases the risk of women getting their boot stuck in the surface and an injury being caused, author and sports rehabilitation lecturer Dr Kat Okholm Kryger, from St Mary’s University, Twickenham, says.Another factor in women’s injuries could be playing “on uneven surfaces where men’s teams have played the day before”, Dr Kryger says.Many major manufacturers are reportedly developing boots specific to women in time for the World Cup in 2023.Image source, Getty ImagesTottenham Hotspur club doctor Craig Rosenbloom, who is also a co-author of the paper, says anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injuries are “at least twice as common in elite female footballers when compared to male footballers”.This is putting “a huge burden” on the players and the clubs, he adds.Most elite male footballers return within seven to eight months of the injury – but for elite female footballers, it is usually at least 10. “Elite female football squads are usually smaller than male squads, so missing players for longer has a big impact on player availability,” Dr Rosenbloom says.Dark-coloured shortsThe paper also highlights the need to design more comfortable and practical sports bras, shorts and hijabs.A number of clubs, including Manchester City, are switching to dark-coloured shorts for women because of worries over visible leakage when players are on their period.The FA says it wants players to feel fully supported on this issue and any feedback from women will be fed into future kit designs.The authors say technology, such as devices tracking health, performance and menstrual cycles, needs to be better designed for women too.And they call for more research into female players’ concussion risk from heading the ball.”There’s a higher level of microtrauma in the white matter in women’s brains,” Dr Kryger says.”That’s not seen in men’s football – so there could be a medical reason to change the ball.” More on this story’An inspiration’ – Queen leads tributes to England31 JulyEngland beat Germany to win first major women’s trophy31 JulyLivingston switch shorts over period concerns21 OctoberAround the BBCKicking off the Women’s Games – BBC Sounds podcast on celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the first women’s international between Scotland and England

Published10 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterA drug based on a compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms can improve the symptoms of severe depression for up to 12 weeks, a trial shows.A 25mg tablet of psilocybin puts patients in a dreamlike state, making psychological therapy more likely to succeed.But the short-term side-effects could be frightening and support must always be on hand, the researchers said.Experts say larger studies with a much longer follow-up are still needed.An estimated 100 million people worldwide have serious clinical depression that does not respond to any available treatments – 30% attempt suicide.Scientists have been studying the effects of psilocybin on mental-health disorders for years.Recent studies have been promising but too short to assess lasting effects.Psychedelic frees up depressed brain, study showsHow psychedelic drugs might treat depression – BBC FutureMagic mushroom compound ‘promising’ for depressionIn this latest trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1mg, 10mg and 25mg doses were tested on a total of 233 people from 10 countries in Europe and North America, with 25mg giving the best results.’Waking dream’Most had been severely depressed for more than a year and were aged around 40, the researchers, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said.After one 25mg dose of Comp360 psilocybin, alongside psychotherapy:one in three were no longer diagnosed as depressed at three weeksone in five saw a significant improvement at 12 weeks Study author and consultant psychiatrist Dr James Rucker said the drug was thought to have “a direct action on the brain, putting it into a more flexible state and providing an window of opportunity for therapy”.The patients, lying on a bed in a calm room, experienced a psychedelic “trip” – which one described as “a waking dream” – for six to eight hours. “It can be very positive but it can also be negative,” Dr Rucker told BBC News.”Difficult memories from the past can come up, for example, at the same time as feeling a reconnection with yourself and your feelings.” A therapist was on hand to provide support. Safety concernThe following day and a week later, the patients were given psychological support to talk through their experience.”Patients go from ‘What is wrong with me?’ to ‘What happened to me?'” psychotherapist Nadav Liam Modlin said. Some patients in all groups experienced side-effects, such as headaches, nausea, extreme tiredness as well as thoughts about suicide. This was not unusual, the researchers said – but other experts say it could be a safety concern.’Long-lasting problem’University of Edinburgh head of psychiatry Prof Andrew McIntosh said the trial provided “the strongest evidence so far to suggest that further, larger and longer randomised trials of psychedelics are justified”.”Psilocybin may [one day] provide a potential alternative to antidepressants that have been prescribed for decades,” he added.But other experts point out the effects were starting to wear off after 12 weeks.”Depression can be a long-lasting problem and much longer follow-up periods than 12 weeks should be used,” Dr Ravi Das, from University College London, said.A larger trial due to start soon will study how many doses are needed to prevent depression returning.It could be three years before the drug is close to being authorised, researchers say.More on this storyPsychedelic frees up depressed brain, study shows11 AprilPsychedelic therapy could ‘reset’ depressed brain15 March 2021Magic mushroom compound ‘promising’ for depression15 April 2021Ketamine may reduce heavy drinkers’ craving26 November 2019Ketamine’s ‘rapid help’ for depression16 April 2018Can psychedelics transform mental health?1 July 2018Around the BBCHow psychedelic drugs might treat depression – BBC Future

Published1 day agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterEating meals within set hours of the day may be a good way for shift workers to feel better and stay healthier, researchers say.Their working patterns are known to play havoc with the body’s rhythms, raising the risk of disease.In a study, firefighters working 24-hour shifts reduced their “bad” cholesterol and blood pressure, by eating within a 10-hour window.And those with existing health conditions benefited the most.The researchers said parents who are kept up at night looking after a new baby, and health workers, could also benefit from time-restricted eating.”Many of us eat all the time, right up until we go to bed – but the body doesn’t need it,” says Prof Pam Taub, study co-author and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.Instead, the body needs a rest period to allow cells to repair and rejuvenate so the body becomes more efficient, she explains.Image source, Getty ImagesThe researchers, writing in the journal Cell Metabolism, asked 150 firefighters from the San Diego Fire Rescue Department to track everything they ate for three months on an app.Half ate all their calories within a 10-hour window of 9am to 7pm, without skipping meals, while the other half didn’t change their normal routine and ate within a 14-hour window, on average.Both groups were encouraged to follow a Mediterranean diet – full of fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and olive oil – which is known to be healthy. Firefighters who were overweight or had health issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or type 2 diabetes, were included in the study.The health of those following a time-restricted eating regime improved more than the health of those in the comparison group, the study found.Tests showed their blood pressure levels, blood sugar and cholesterol levels all improved by eating within a set timeframe and then fasting for the rest of their shift.Even healthy firefighters with no underlying health risks experienced a boost to their quality of life and a reduction in “bad” cholesterol, by eating that way.And the study found no decrease in energy levels or other negative side-effects.Disrupted sleep”We’ve shown that time-restricted eating is a feasible way for shift workers, such as firefighters, to improve their cardiovascular health and wellbeing,” said Prof Taub.Shift workers, who make up more than a quarter of working people in many countries, are at increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.This is because the body’s natural circadian rhythms are regularly disrupted by being awake at night and sleeping during the day.And yet shift workers are often left out of clinical trials and little is understood about how to improve their health, Prof Taub says.Dr Linia Patel, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, said anyone could try time-restricted eating and see if it worked for them. “But one size doesn’t fit all – shift working is very hard and finding out the best time to fast is key,” she said.There were some limitations to the research – the study was made up mostly of men and only one particular shift pattern was analysed. But the research team says time-restricted eating should be tested in other groups of shift workers.”These findings can likely be extended to a wider population, including health care workers like nurses and others who experience abnormal sleep-wake patterns,” Prof Taub said.

Published13 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Amadei and HandfordScientists in Cambridge have created synthetic mouse embryos in a lab, without using eggs or sperm, which show evidence of a brain and beating heart. The mouse embryos, developed using stem cells, only lasted for eight days.But the research team say it could improve understanding of the earliest stages of organ development – and why some pregnancies fail.Other scientists caution that while the technique is promising there are still many hurdles to overcome.The researchers from the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) are the latest to publish their results in the journal Nature.Researchers from Israel also published similar findings recently.The Cambridge team has been studying the early stages of pregnancy for the past decade but so much of it is hidden from view in the womb.By mimicking natural processes in a laboratory, they found a way to get three types of stem cells from mice to interact and grow into embryo-like structures.The synthetic mouse embryos only lasted for eight days, due to defects – but they reached the point where a brain began to develop.Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, professor of mammalian development and stem cell biology at Cambridge and professor of biology at Caltech, said it was “a dream come true” and could offer a glimpse into how organs are formed.Image source, Amadei and Handford”This period of human life is so mysterious, so to be able to see how it happens in a dish – to have access to these individual stem cells, to understand why so many pregnancies fail and how we might be able to prevent that from happening – is quite special,” she said.The advance could also mean less reliance on animals for research and a useful way to test new drugs.’Very early stage’However, Prof Alfonso Martinez Arias, from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, said: “This is an advance but at a very early stage of development, a rare event which, while superficially looking like an embryo, bears defects which should not be overlooked.”The researchers now plan to work on keeping the synthetic embryos developing for a day or two longer, which is difficult to do without creating a synthetic placenta.Eventually, their ambition is to develop similar embryos from human stem cells – but this is still a long way off, and ethically much more complicated.At present, UK law permits human embryos to be studied in the laboratory only up to the fourteenth day of development, but there are no rules around synthetic embryos.Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, from the Francis Crick Institute, said that should change.”Given the similarity with real embryos, it follows that consideration also needs to be given as to whether and how such integrated stem cell-based embryo models should be regulated,” he said. He added that it was important not to think of the embryo-like models “as being the real thing – even if they are getting close”.”If these had been derived from human stem cells, and it is accepted that these should never be transplanted into a uterus, we will never know if they are equivalent.”More on this storyHuman cells grown in monkey embryos spark debate15 April 2021Artificial ’embryos’ created in the lab3 March 2017Human-pig ‘chimera embryos’ detailed26 January 2017Embryo study shows ‘life’s first steps’4 May 2016

Published2 days agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesMore than a million vulnerable people could improve their protection against Covid by taking a short break from medication after a booster jab, a trial suggests.It found stopping the common immune-suppressing drug methotrexate for two weeks doubled spike antibody levels for up to 12 weeks.Some people experienced disease flare-ups but no impact on quality of life. Research is needed to find out if a similar approach works for other drugs.Patients should always consult their doctor or specialist hospital team before pausing their medication, scientists writing in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine said.Until now, UK guidance has been to continue taking methotrexate after a Covid booster – but in the US, patients have been advised to stop for a week.Serious illnessProf Abhishek Abhishek, from the University of Nottingham, who led the trial, said he was “extremely pleased” with the initial results.Drugs such as methotrexate are good at controlling autoimmune inflammatory conditions, because they dampen down the body’s immune response.But this means they also weaken the body’s response to Covid vaccines and its ability to fight off infections.”Implementing these results could vastly improve the protection provided by boosters against Covid-19, for millions of people living with these conditions,” Prof Abhishek said.”Covid-19 has left them vulnerable to serious illness. “We hope this evidence is the next step in helping them with their lives going forward.”‘Too risky’However, Prof Neil Mabbott, from the University of Edinburgh, said unanswered questions included whether this could reduce serious Covid illness and the risk of admission to hospital.”This type of treatment should only be taken under medical advice and may in some circumstances be too risky for some patients with serious conditions or in those with complex diseases,” he said.Of the 2.2 million people in the UK advised to shield themselves from coronavirus during the first phase of the pandemic, about 1.3 million are regularly prescribed methotrexate for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis.In the trial, 254 adults, from 26 NHS hospitals across England and Wales, who had just had a Covid booster jab, were equally divided and asked to either:stop taking methotrexate for two weekscontinue using it as normalFour weeks later, levels of spike antibodies in the blood – which block the virus from infecting cells inside the body – were twice as high in the first group as the second group, and they remained noticeably higher after 12 weeks.Some disease symptoms temporarily returned after a month but this had no negative impact on their general health.’Good outcome’The research team, from Nottingham, the University of Manchester, Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and Queen Mary University of London, now plan to measure T-cell responses – the part of the immune system that signals longer-lasting protection against severe disease – six months on.Rosemary Boynton, professor of immunology and respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, said: “Slower waning is a very good outcome for these patients.”This has important implications for future vaccination strategy in this immunosuppressed patient group.” Dr Benjamin Ellis, consultant rheumatologist and senior clinical advisor at charity Versus Arthritis said hundreds of thousands of people on these medications for arthritis had to shield from Covid at the height of the pandemic.He said that for most people, pausing methotrexate for a couple of weeks was “probably a good idea” but further research was needed “to really understand if this is necessary”.”People should never pause their immune system medication without checking first with their health-care team,” Dr Ellis added.More on this storyFirm behind Covid vaccine to set up base in UK22 June

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesPeople should be encouraged to measure their waist to check they don’t have too much dangerous fat around their middle, updated guidelines say.An adult’s waist should be less than half their height to reduce health risks, health body NICE recommends.Measuring body mass index (BMI) is also useful – but doesn’t take into account excess weight around the abdomen.This increases the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.New draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says people from some Asian and black ethnic groups are more prone to this type of fat build-up around the waist, which is called “central adiposity”. They should use lower BMI thresholds for obesity to help predict their specific health risks.But NICE warns that even those in a healthy BMI weight category could be carrying too much weight around the waist.Pandemic weight gain averages half a stone – surveyAre middle-aged people more unhealthy than ever?Weight-loss jab recommended on NHS “Explain to people that to measure their waist, they should find the bottom of their ribs and the top of their hips, wrap a tape measure around the waist midway between these points and breathe out naturally before taking the measurement,” say the guidelines on identifying people who are overweight and obese.If you’re 175cm (5ft 9 inches) tall, for example, then your waist measurement should be less than 87.5cm (34 inches) – or half your height.Measuring waist-to-height ratio can be used for both sexes and all ethnic groups, as well as highly muscular adults, it adds.But waist circumference measurements are not accurate in people with a BMI over 35, pregnant women or children under two.Disease riskThe latest estimates for England suggest that 28% of adults are obese and a further 36% are overweight – a problem that is costing the NHS more than £6bn.Professor Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, said whether this new message gets taken up is “uncertain” but he said it never harms to try “new ways” to get people to think about their health.Other experts say measuring the waistline doesn’t work for people who are very short or older people over 60 who may have lost height with ageing.But Professor Rachel Batterham, consultant in obesity, diabetes and endocrinology, who is on the guidelines committee, said: “Increased fat in the abdomen increases a person’s risk of developing several life-limiting diseases including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. “Waist-to-height ratio is a simple, easy-to-use measure that identifies people who are at increased health risk and would benefit from weight management support to improve their health.”‘Be sensitive’In the guidance, GPs and nurses are advised to ask someone’s permission before talking about their weight, and also to “discuss it in a sensitive manner”.Advice on managing weight is usually tailored to the individual and focuses on improving their diet and getting them to exercise more, in addition to potential treatments and surgery.Dr Paul Chrisp, director of the centre for guidelines at NICE, said the updated draft guidelines help people understand what factors affect their health and how to address them.Healthcare professionals and the public can comment on the proposed recommendations in the guidelines before they are published in May.The updated guidelines say doctors should also consider using waist-to-height ratio in children and young people aged over five to assess and predict health risks. During the pandemic, there was a substantial rise in obesity in children in England with 25% classed as obese by the time they leave primary school, according to recent NHS data.Dr Nivedita Aswani, consultant paediatrician specialising in diabetes and weight management at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, said even young children were at risk of the effects of fat in the abdomen. What is a healthy body mass index (BMI)?healthy weight: BMI 18.5 kg/m2 to 24.9 kg/m2overweight: BMI 25 kg/m2 to 29.9 kg/m2obesity class 1: BMI 30 kg/m2 to 34.9 kg/m2obesity class 2: BMI 35 kg/m2 to 39.9 kg/m2obesity class 3: BMI 40 kg/m2 or moreBMI healthy weight calculatorMore on this storyWeight-loss jab recommended on NHSHigh Street pharmacies to help people lose weightPandemic sees big rise in obese childrenLiving with obesity: Hard-wired to store fatRelated Internet LinksCardiovascular disease – NHSBMI healthy weight calculatorThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesAfter a Covid infection, there is an increased risk of developing a serious blood clot for the next six months, a study from Sweden suggests.The research found people with severe Covid, and those infected during the first wave, had the highest clot risk.This highlights the importance of being vaccinated against the virus, the researchers say.Blood clots can also occur after vaccination but the risk is far smaller, a major UK study found. People who have had Covid-19 are more likely to develop a blood clot – particularly patients who have needed hospital treatment. Scientists wanted to find out when that risk returns to normal levels.The researchers tracked the health of just over one million people who tested positive for Covid between February 2020 and May 2021 in Sweden, and compared them with four million people of the same age and sex who had not had a positive test.After a Covid infection, they found an increased risk of:blood clots in the leg, or deep vein thrombosis (DVT), for up to three monthsblood clots in the lungs, or pulmonary embolism, for up to six monthsinternal bleeding, such as a stroke, for up to two monthsWhen the researchers compared the risks of blood clots after Covid to the normal level of risk, they found that:four in every 10,000 Covid patients developed DVT compared with one in every 10,000 people who didn’t have Covidabout 17 in every 10,000 Covid patients had a blood clot in the lung compared with fewer than one in every 10,000 who did not have CovidThe study, published in the BMJ, said the raised risk of blood clots was higher in the first wave than later waves, probably because treatments improved during the pandemic and older patients were starting to be vaccinated by the second wave.’Good reason to have vaccine’The risk of a blood clot in the lung in people who were very seriously ill with Covid was 290 times greater than normal, and seven times higher than normal after mild Covid. But there was no raised risk of internal bleeding in mild cases.”For unvaccinated individuals, that’s a really good reason to get a vaccine – the risk is so much higher than the risk from vaccines,” says Anne-Marie Fors Connolly, principal study investigator from Umea University in Sweden.The researchers can’t prove that Covid caused the blood clots in this study but they have several theories on why it happens.It could be the direct effect of the virus on the layer of cells which line blood vessels, an exaggerated inflammatory response to the virus, or the body making blood clots at inappropriate times.Vaccines are very effective against severe Covid, but offer less protection against infection, particularly with the Omicron variant – meaning repeat infections with symptoms are common as countries work out how to live with Covid.Frederick K Ho, public health lecturer from the University of Glasgow, said this study “reminds us of the need to remain vigilant to the complications associated with even mild [Covid] infection, including thromboembolism”.The risk of blood clots goes up after vaccination, but “the magnitude of risk remains smaller and persists for a shorter period than that associated with infection”, he adds.More on this storyScientists find trigger for rare AstraZeneca clotsUK seeing rising number of Covid infectionsVaccine complications dwarfed by virus risks’Vaccine blood clot risk far smaller than Covid risks’Study links Covid to rare neurological illnessRelated Internet LinksBMJ study – Risks of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and bleeding after Covid-19The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesA new pregnancy screening tool cuts the risk of baby loss among women from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds to the same level as white women, research suggests.The app calculates a woman’s individual risk of pregnancy problems.In a study of 20,000 pregnant women, baby death rates in ethnic groups were three times lower than normal when the tool was used.Experts say the new approach can help reduce health inequalities.The screening tool is already in use at St George’s Hospital in London and is being tried out at three other maternity units in England, with hopes it could be rolled out to 20 centres within two years.In the UK, pregnancy risks are much higher for women from ethnic minority backgrounds.They have two to three times higher rates of stillbirth and perinatal death – when babies die after 24 weeks of pregnancy or within a month of birth – than white women.Black women also have a 40% higher risk of miscarriage – during the first 23 weeks of pregnancy – than white women.A taskforce was recently set up to tackle the issue. Personalised careResearchers from Tommy’s National Centre for Maternity Improvement, led by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives, developed the new tool and have published their study of how it works in a journal.Professor Basky Thilaganathan, who led the research team at St George’s Hospital, said the new approach could “almost eliminate a large source of the healthcare inequality facing black, Asian and minority ethnic pregnant women”.”We can personalise care for you and reduce the chances of having a small baby, pre-eclampsia and losing your baby,” he said.The current system of a tick-box checklist to assess pregnancy risk has been around for 70 years, and is limited.Miscarriage: ‘I was in pain – they did not listen’Stillbirths high for black and Asian babies in UKNHS to tackle ‘unfair’ maternity outcomesThe new digital tool, which uses an algorithm to calculate a woman’s personal risk, can detect high-risk women more accurately and prevent complications in pregnancy, the researchers say.Both pregnant women and maternity staff can upload information on their pregnancy and how they are feeling to the app during antenatal appointments and at other times. In the study, there were nearly eight baby deaths per 1,000 births among mothers from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared with 2.63 deaths per 1,000 births among white mothers, when the current checklist was used to assess risk.But in pregnant women using the algorithm tool, there was no difference in baby death rates between white and non-white ethnic groups, because three out of four deaths linked to placenta problems had been avoided.Safest approachDr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said it was “unacceptable” that black, Asian and minority ethnic women faced huge inequalities on maternity outcomes.”The digital tool provides a practical way to support women with personalised care during pregnancy and make informed decisions about birth. “What’s clear is the current way of risk assessing women isn’t providing the safest approach, and it’s vital both clinicians and health policymakers work to update it.”Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said the new tool was already making “a tangible difference”.”All of this great work and effort must continue to be supported with the right levels of funding and resources to enable it to be implemented effectively,” she added.More on this storyMiscarriage: ‘I was in pain – they did not listen’Miscarriage 40% higher in black women, study showsStillbirths high for black and Asian babies in UKMiscarriage – NHSTommy’s National Centre for Maternity Improvement – Tommy’sThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesPeople with high blood pressure who take paracetamol on prescription could be increasing their risk of heart attacks and strokes, a study suggests.Doctors should think about the risks and benefits to patients taking it over many months, the University of Edinburgh researchers say.Taking the painkiller for headaches and fevers is safe, they stress.Other experts say research in more people over a longer timeframe is needed to confirm the findings.Paracetamol is widely used around the world as a short-term remedy for aches and pains but also prescribed to manage chronic pain, despite little evidence of its benefit for long-term use.Half a million people – one out of every 10 – in Scotland were prescribed the painkiller in 2018. High blood pressure affects one out of every three people in the UK. The study tracked 110 volunteers, two-thirds of whom were taking drugs for high blood pressure, or hypertension.In a randomised trial, they were asked to take 1g of paracetamol four times a day for two weeks – a common dose for patients with chronic pain – and then dummy pills, or placebo, for another two weeks.Image source, Getty ImagesThe trial showed paracetamol increased blood pressure, “one of the most important risk factors for heart attacks and strokes” much more than a placebo, Edinburgh clinical pharmacologist Prof James Dear said. The researchers advise doctors to start patients with chronic pain on as low a dose of paracetamol as possible and keep a close eye on those with high blood pressure and at risk of heart disease.Lead investigator Dr Iain MacIntyre, clinical pharmacology consultant, at NHS Lothian, said: “This is not about short-term use of paracetamol for headaches or fever, which is, of course, fine.” ‘Many unknowns’Dr Dipender Gill, clinical pharmacology and therapeutics lecturer, at St George’s, University of London, said the study, published in the journal Circulation, had found “a small but meaningful increase in blood pressure in a white Scottish population” but “many unknowns remain”.”Firstly, it is not clear whether the observed increase in blood pressure would be sustained with longer term use of paracetamol,” he said.”Secondly, it is not known for certain whether any increase in blood pressure attributable to paracetamol use would lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.”A large US study previously found a link between long-term paracetamol use and increased risk of heart attacks – but it could not prove one caused the other. And other smaller studies have been unable to confirm the link.The Edinburgh team said they could not explain how paracetamol would raise blood pressure but their findings should lead to a review of long-term paracetamol prescriptions.These were previously considered safer than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers, such as ibuprofen, which are thought to raise blood pressure in some people. The British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said doctors and patients should regularly rethink whether any medication, even something “relatively harmless like paracetamol”, was needed.Dr Richard Francis, from the Stroke Association, said further research in people with normal, healthy blood pressure, over a longer timeframe, was needed “to confirm the risks and benefits of using paracetamol more widely”.High blood pressure (Hypertension)Paracetamol for adults- painkiller to treat aches, pains and fever – NHSThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersPfizer and BioNTech have started clinical trials of a new Covid vaccine which targets the Omicron variant.The companies plan to test the protection gained from the new vaccine as a booster jab and as three separate jabs in unvaccinated people.More than 1,400 adults are expected to be enrolled in the trial, likely to be in the United States.US company Moderna is planning to begin trials of its own Omicron-specific shot soon.Oxford University and AstraZeneca have also started working on a new version of their vaccine.Vaccine developers had always planned to tweak their original Covid vaccines as new variants emerged, but the arrival of the fast-spreading Omicron strain in the last two months has hastened that process.Many countries have now offered a booster or third dose of their original vaccine, which has been shown to provide a good level of protection against serious illness and death – even against Omicron.But protection against infection and mild symptoms is much lower and could decline more quickly.”Staying vigilant against the virus requires us to identify new approaches for people to maintain a high level of protection, and we believe developing and investigating variant-based vaccines, like this one, are essential in our efforts towards this goal,” said Kathrin U. Jansen, senior vice-president and head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer. Prof Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, said new data indicated that “vaccine-induced protection against infection and mild to moderate disease wanes more rapidly than was observed with prior strains”.”This study is part of our science-based approach to develop a variant-based vaccine that achieves a similar level of protection against Omicron as it did with earlier variants, but with longer duration of protection.”The companies say they expect to produce four billion doses of their Covid-19 vaccine this year, and this number will include doses of the updated vaccine if trials suggest it is needed.In the trial of the new vaccine, 615 adults will receive two doses of the current Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, followed by one or two doses of the Omicron-targeted jab.A second group of 600 who received three doses of the current vaccine will get another of the current one or the Omicron vaccine.Finally, a small group of 200 unvaccinated adults will receive three doses of the new Omicron-targeted shot.Within days of the Omicron variant being detected in South Africa, vaccine manufacturers said new versions of their vaccines to target the variant could be ready within 100 days.But there are still doubts over whether an updated vaccine would be any better than the current versions.They were designed to target the original virus which emerged from China, and they also provide high levels of protection against the Alpha and Delta variants.In recent days, Prof Andrew Pollard, who led the development of the Oxford-AZ vaccine, said Omicron had spread at such speed that it was “quite difficult to make and deploy an updated vaccine quickly enough” to make a difference.