Health study appeals for ethnic minority volunteers
It aims to understand and tackle the higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
The study, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is looking for participants in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.
Dr Nadeem Ahmed, study principal investigator at Melrose Surgery in Reading, said it was "a great opportunity" for residents "to help make a difference to health outcomes of their future generations".
British Bangladeshi and British Pakistani people aged 16 and over are asked to provide a small saliva sample at participating GP practices and hospitals, complete a short questionnaire about their health and agree for Genes & Health to securely link to their NHS health data.
They can also sign up online and be sent a saliva kit to complete at home.
Volunteers will be asked to give their consent to be contacted again and some may be invited to take part in further studies based on information from their samples and NHS data.
The study will contribute to analysing genetic differences and towards the development of new drug treatments that are safe and effective.
It has already made important discoveries, including the identification of genetic factors specific to South Asian people that leads to earlier type 2 diabetes onset.
Participants can withdraw at any time and samples and information are kept separate from personal details.
Researchers said the study was working with people from Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities as "they are significantly underrepresented in genetic research, meaning that they may not benefit from research discoveries and new treatment".
Dr Ahmed said she would request everyone from the two ethnic groups to participate, "just like some 65,000 people, who have already participated in the other parts of the country".
The study is supported by the government-funded Medical Research Council and medial charity Wellcome Trust.
Selected sites are open in towns and cities including Oxford, Reading and Aylesbury.
The study aims to recruit 100,000 people living in England by the end of 2028.
You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
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Yahoo
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They're hooked on sleeping pills. It's framed as addiction, and no one says that someone is addicted to their Ozempic, even though a lifestyle change could perhaps obviate the need. No one says that they are addicted... Oh, that person is totally addicted to their blood pressure medication, even though maybe a change in lifestyle would help change that. Or that they're addicted to their statins, So I sort of bristle. And those who prescribe these medicines say like, look, if the benefit outweighs the risk and they're used properly, sometimes the real side effect is just being dependent on these drugs, and there's a difference between dependence and addiction. A surprisingly small number of people who take these drugs regularly, like benzodiazepines, like Ativan and Ambien and Klonopin, all these things, a surprisingly small number, like 7% increase their doses if they take it every night. So that's very small. However, there are cognitive decrements over time... Or not decrements. 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And historically, there's all sorts of evidence that people would sleep for a phase, get up and read for a while, do some quiet things, do light tasks, maybe sing, maybe have sex, and then go back to bed. So there seemed to be two phases, and this was much easier to do when midnight was actually midnight. You were going bed when the sun had set, or just after were you were tethered to the rhythms of the earth as opposed to a wired electricity run world. Taylor Wilson: What is something you wish you knew when you first started on this journey? Jennifer Senior: To get on it earlier and to not be as afraid... Cognitive behavioral therapy is, I think, often done in conjunction with taking something like Klonopin or Ativan or Ambien, and I was so petrified of becoming hooked on them that I didn't... I refused to take them and I couldn't get my sleep to contract as a result of it. My body was so completely dysregulated and confused about it was so all over the place that I really needed something to regularize it and stabilize it, and I flipped out, and I think if anybody goes and tries CBT, I and their practitioner says to them, and I'm going to have to be on their recommendation, do this in concert with a drug, because you really need it. Don't sit there and freak out and think that you can't or shouldn't, because it happens a lot and people freak out a lot. Taylor Wilson: All right, Jennifer Senior, thank you so much for coming on the Excerpt. Jennifer Senior: Thank you so much for having me. Taylor Wilson: Thanks to our senior producers, Shannon Rae Green and Kaylee Monahan for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@ Thanks for listening. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow morning with another episode of USA TODAY's the Excerpt. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Insomnia is a global epidemic. How do we fix it? | The Excerpt
Fox News
3 hours ago
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Kansas basketball coach Bill Self hospitalized after encountering 'concerning symptoms' in latest health scare
Bill Self, the longtime head coach of the Kansas men's basketball team, was hospitalized Thursday after he experienced "some concerning symptoms." A university spokesperson confirmed the 62-year-old coach had two stents inserted during a heart procedure. Self remains "in good spirits" and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in the near future. "The procedure went very well, and he is expected to make a full recovery," the school said in a statement. "He is in good spirits and expects to be released from the hospital soon." This isn't the first time Self has been admitted to a hospital after a health scare. In 2023, he missed the Big 12 and NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments after he experienced chest tightness. Self also contended with balance issues at the time. The two-time national championship-winning coach underwent a heart catheterization and received a pair of stents to treat the blocked arteries. Self has patrolled the Kansas sideline since 2003. In addition to the two national titles, Self coached the Jayhawks to 14 consecutive Big 12 regular-season championships from 2004-2018. In 2017, Self was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
