A genetic variant that protects the heart against cardiovascular disease has been discovered by researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their collaborators. Reported today in Nature Communications, the cardioprotective variant was found in an isolated Greek population, who are known to live long and healthy lives despite having a diet rich in animal fat.

One in three people who suffer from high blood pressure are failing to take medication as prescribed by their healthcare professionals, a new study led by the University of Leicester has suggested. A study on 1,400 hypertensive patients, conducted in collaboration between the Universities of Leicester (lead authors Dr Pankaj Gupta, Dr Prashanth Patel from the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester), Manchester (Prof M Tomazweski) and Czech Republic (Prof J Widimsky) has used a novel urine test to find that non-adherence to prescribed medications is around 30-40%.

A Loyola University Chicago study has found that abnormal proteins found in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease all share a similar ability to cause damage when they invade brain cells. The finding potentially could explain the mechanism by which Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and other neurodegenerative diseases spread within the brain and disrupt normal brain functions.

A first-ever global study finds massive inequity of access to and quality of health care among and within countries, and concludes people are dying from causes with well-known treatments. For example, on a scale of 1 to 100 for health care access and quality, Norway and Australia each scored 90 overall, among the highest in the world. However, Norway scored 65 in its treatment for testicular cancer, and Australia scored 52 for treating non-melanoma skin cancer.

Increased investment in "pharmacovigilance surveillance" - systems to proactively monitor safety problems with new medications - has the potential to avoid harmful drug effects while lowering healthcare costs, according to a study in the June issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

Metformin, the most widely used drug to treat type 2 diabetes, could potentially be used to treat symptoms of Fragile X syndrome, an inherited form of intellectual disability and a cause of some forms of autism. A new study led by researchers at McGill University, the University of Edinburgh and Université de Montréal has found that metformin improves social, behavioural and morphological defects in Fragile X mice.

Many patients with an irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, are not receiving recommended blood thinning medication they need to prevent strokes, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. People who have atrial fibrillation are at a very high risk for stroke. However, if they take blood thinners known as oral anticoagulants (OACs), it can reduce their risk by two-thirds.