Headache-buster

Cluster headaches, which cause frequent severe pain in particular areas, often near the eye, are reported to have been treated successfully with a non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator. In a study at 10 European centres, this method cut the number of attacks, was more effective the longer patients continued treatment, and reduced the need for traditional medication, the European Headache and Migraine Trust conference was told. The device is held on the neck near the vagus nerve for 90 seconds. Electrical signals activate fibres in the vagus nerve, producing inhibitory transmitters and minimising expression of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate.

Obseity poser

Do overweight and lean people respond equally to exercise? Loughborough University’s sport and exercise unit has already found overweight volunteers’ muscles do not adapt to the extra bulk. The study, funded through the Society of Endocrinology, will examine these findings to produce exercise and weight-loss recommendations.

Dr Carl Hulston said: “We want to understand whether there are underlying factors. We hope this research will uncover important information to help address the obesity epidemic.” Another Loughborough University project, with University College London’s obesity centre, is considering whether some people are genetically hungrier. Lead researcher James Dorling said: “We know exercise can influence appetite and gut hormones but we don’t know exactly how it interacts with our genetics.”

Irbesartan test

More than 30 hospitals have begun an evaluation of irbesartan as a treatment for expansion of the aorta in Marfan syndrome. Irbesartan, an angiotensin-II receptor agonist normally used for lowering blood pressure, is thought to minimise the connective tissue defect that weakens the aorta wall, causing it to stretch and even rupture. The research, led by the Royal Brompton NHS Foundation Trust and co-organised by the Marfan Trust charity, will assess the safety of the treatment and how well it is tolerated.

Heart drug viagra

Viagra has shown promise as a heart drug. Scientists at Sapienza University in Rome, who analysed 24 trials involving 1,622 patients, found that Viagra’s main ingredient, the inhibitor PDE5i, improved various conditions, notably preventing the enlargement and mis- shaping of the heart in left ventricular hypertrophy, which thickens cardiac muscle. Dr Andrea Isidori said: “Large clinical trials are now urgently needed to build on these encouraging findings.”

Family factors 

Volunteers who are related to type 1 diabetics and are therefore 15 times more likely to develop the condition are being recruited at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset, for a study aimed at devising prevention methods. Subjects testing positive twice for autoantibodies, which attack and damage organs, will be asked to give regular follow-up blood samples.

Healthy sleeping

People who sleep longer are less likely to suffer common infections, including flu and gastroenteritis, concluded researchers who studied adolescents in five Rhode Island schools. Other observations were that males had less sickness and that acute illnesses in otherwise healthy adolescents were more frequent after a week with shorter sleep.