Stats, stats and more stats

Hope everyone had a good bank holiday. I thought I would draw your attention to the statistics section of the Department of Health website, if you haven't seen it already. All the latest figures on various health administration stuff, for example Accident & Emergency waiting times, or bed availability, is uploaded here regularly. A great site if you want the latest national figures.

Online tutorial to brush up your maths skills

Photo credit: Flickr StreetFlyJZ

http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetfly_jz/2762076152/sizes/m/in/photostream/

The University of Leeds has produced some maths for nurses tutorials which you can access here.

You can choose from quizzes on fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, and drug calculations. Great if you need to brush up on your maths skills.

If you are feeling nervous about maths, remember you can also make an appointment to see our Professional and Academic Development (PAD) team.

It's official - chocolate IS good for you!

Acknowledgement: Chocolatier Prepares For Valentine's Day © Getty Images.

Persistent URL: http://0-edina.ac.uk.brum.beds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/purl/eig/84785377-001.jpg

A recent piece of research indicates that 'moderate' amounts of chocolate may cut the risk of heart failure.

This nine-year Boston study found that women who ate high quality dark chocolate once or twice per week were 32% less likely to suffer heart failure than those who didn't. However, the researchers warn that only 1-2 squares of dark chocolate per week are sufficient, and if we eat too much we could undo the health benefits. If only it was the other way around, and the more chocolate you ate the healthier you became...I would possibly be the healthiest woman on the planet if that were the case!

New Cochrane review on oxygen use in heart attack

A new Cochrane review has revealed that the effects of giving oxygen to patients with acute heart attack are inconclusive, and highlights the need for more research in this area. Current guidance is that oxygen should not routinely be given to patients with a suspected heart attack.

Updated referencing guidelines

Just to let you know that the 2010-2011 referencing guidelines for the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences are now available online here.

Nothing to worry about, they are the same as last year's except that some of the examples have been updated.

If you have any queries about the guidelines or referencing in general you can leave me a comment or contact me.

Introducing Quertle

Quertle is a new search engine specialising in biomedical literature but also covering health care. It's still very new (and seems mostly to have content which has been culled from BioMed Central and PubMed Central at the moment) but it's worth keeping an eye on. Quertle's unique-selling-point is the way it searches using "conceptual relationships", supposedly making your search results more relevant. A quick search for diabetes retrieves almost 200,000 hits, so there's certainly plenty to read.

New antibiotic resistant bacteria identified

The Health Protection Agency has published information on a newly discovered strain of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. The bacteria is prevalent in India, Pakistan and the UK and about fifty cases in this country have been identified.

For more information you can call the Health Protection Agency's Centre for Infections on 0208 327 7097 or go to their website.

In other news, the World Health Organisation has announced the end of the influenza pandemic. Read more here.

Tips for a healthy Ramadan

NHS Choices have provided some great advice on how to have a healthy and safe Ramadan. Access it here.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Plagiarism in the digital age

I've decided to write about something a little different today. It's true that this isn't strictly 'health info', but nonetheless I think it's still relevant. I recently read a really interesting article in the New York Times about rising cases of plagiarism amongst students. The author argues that online information is so much easier to cut and paste as students perceive the information as 'out there' - not belonging to anyone, and therefore OK to take word-for-word. One student assumed that information on Wikipedia counted as 'common knowledge' so didn't need to be referenced. I kind of get this. But the difficulty is, how do academics, librarians and other professionals get across to students that it isn't OK? This goes beyond learning how to reference correctly (and that in itself can be a challenge), and it goes beyond changing assessment strategies and beyond plagiarism detection software. What we are talking about here is changing students' beliefs and value systems at a time when these same students are encouraged to use and share information online through catch-up TV, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. I'm not surprised students get confused and anxious about it all.

I don't have any answers (sorry). And part of the problem is that academics often can't agree on what plagiarism is and how to deal with it either. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this issue.

New research on dementia prevention

Acknowledgement: Food Display in a Store Window, Italy © Getty Images.

Persistent URL: http://0-edina.ac.uk.brum.beds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/purl/eig/aa037389-001.jpg

The British Medical Journal has published some interesting research which suggests that dementia can be prevented if other illnesses are treated. The research concluded that treating diabetes and depression, together with a high consumption of fruit and vegetables, can help to prevent onset of dementia. Read more here.

NICE develops set of quality indicators for patient care

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has developed a new set of potential indicators for providing good quality patient care. The new indicators cover foot examination in diabetic patients, dementia treatments, and six new indicators covering mental health. Access the full set here.

Evidence update - neurological conditions

NHS Evidence has published an update of the latest research on neurological conditions. The update includes links to some new Cochrane systematic reviews, with topics including mobility after stroke and the use of music therapy in brain-injured patients. Access the update here.