Julia L Newton's research while affiliated with Newcastle University and other places

Publications (495)

Article
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Metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is the most common chronic liver disease. MAFLD is characterized by the excessive presence of lipids in liver cells and metabolic diseases/dysfunctions, e.g., obesity, diabetes, pre-diabetes, or hypertension. Due to the cur...
Article
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Introduction Opioid prescribing rates are disproportionately high in the North of England. In addition to patients’ complex health needs, clinician prescribing behaviour is also a key driver. Although strategies have been initiated to reduce opioid prescribing nationally, the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted service provision and created challenge...
Article
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Introduction: Heart Rate Asymmetry (HRA) describes a phenomenon of differences between accelerations and decelerations in human heart rate. Methods used for HRA assessment can be further implemented in the evaluation of asymmetry in blood pressure variations (Blood Pressure Asymmetry—BPA). Methods: We have analyzed retrospectively the series of hea...
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Objectives The North East of England, ranked as having the highest poverty levels and the lowest health outcomes, has the highest cardiovascular disease (CVD) premature mortality. This study aimed to compare CVD-related conditions and risk factors for deprived practice populations with other general practice (GP) populations in Northern England to...
Article
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Background: Exercise training programs have the potential to improve cognitive function in older subjects. However, the majority of training programs are based on aerobic modality. In the current study, the influence of 3 months programs of sitting callisthenic balance (SCB) and resistance training (RT) on cognitive functioning and the mediating r...
Article
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Background: People with avascular necrosis of the hip have very limited treatment options currently available to stop the progression of this disease; this often results in the need for a hip replacement. There is some weak evidence that a class of drugs called bisphosphonates may delay the course of the disease, and this trial was commissioned an...
Article
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Objectives Fatigue is one of the most important symptoms needing improvement in Primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS). Previous data from our group suggest that noninvasive stimulation of the vagus nerve (nVNS) may improve symptoms of fatigue. This experimental medicine study uses the gammaCore device (electroCore) and a sham device to investigate the r...
Conference Paper
Background Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a fluctuating complex condition. More common in women than men, it tends to develop between mid-20s and mid-40s, including the main childbearing age (15–45 years). There are currently no systematic reviews summarising evidence relating to ME/CFS and pregnancy. The lack of qua...
Article
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Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a very common and debilitating condition, characterised by a significant drop in blood pressure (BP) on standing upright. Multiple neuro-cardiovascular mechanisms should stabilise BP when moving to an upright position but in OH, BP decline results from dysfunction of neuro-cardiovascular mechanisms. With the advent o...
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Introduction Hyperlipidaemia contributes a significant proportion of modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, which is a condition that disproportionally affects disadvantaged socioeconomic communities, with death rates in the most deprived areas being four times higher than those in the least deprived. With the national CVD Prevention program...
Article
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Background The aim of this study was to explore the tolerability and effect of static stretching (SS) and whole body cryotherapy (WBC) upon fatigue, daytime sleepiness, cognitive functioning and objective and subjective autonomic nervous system functioning in those with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) compared to a control population. Methods Thirt...
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Background Exercise is advised for young adults with elevated blood pressure, but no trials have investigated efficacy at this age. We aimed to determine whether aerobic exercise, self-monitoring and motivational coaching lowers blood pressure in this group. Methods The study was a single-centre, open, two-arm, parallel superiority randomized clin...
Article
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Aim: To explore the network relationship between cognitive function, depressive symptom intensity, body composition, proxies of cognitive reserve, trophic factor, adipokines and myokines, physical performance and blood pressure in a group of older people with poorly managed hypertension (PMHTN) compared to a normotensive (NTN) group. Materials an...
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Objectives: This study evaluates cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction (CAD) in multiple sclerosis (MS) and explores if CAD is related to clinical outcomes and fatigue severity. Methods: A total of 53 MS patients (30 relapsing-remitting, RRMS; 23 progressive, PMS) and 30 healthy controls were evaluated. TaskForce® Monitor was used to assess imped...
Article
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Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), previously called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. It is characterised by excessive fat accumulation in hepatocytes. Currently, no pharmacological therapy is effective for this disease, so non-pharmacological alternatives such as diet, su...
Article
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Objectives Explore the association between the first national lockdown associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on admissions for violence and the relationship with deprivation. Design Population-based longitudinal cohort study. Setting North East and North Cumbria (NENC) area of England. Participants All individuals living in the NENC (total popul...
Article
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Gram-negative bloodstream infections (GNBSI) are confirmed by the presence of gram-negative bacteria in the bloodstream and pose a significant healthcare issue as they increase the risk of sepsis and mortality. In England, the aim is to reduce GNBSI cases and further deterioration through enhanced population surveillance of patients with a laborato...
Article
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Objectives Lumbar disc disease is a known cause of back pain. Increasingly it is thought that cam morphology of the hip may have a causal role in development of lumbar disc disease. The aim of this study was to describe the morphology of the hip and investigate the association of cam morphology with lumbar disc disease observed on MRI in elite rowe...
Article
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Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a heterogenous disorder of multiple disabling symptoms with complex manifestations. Network analysis is a statistical and interrogative methodology to investigate the prevalence of symptoms (nodes) and their inter-dependent (inter-nodal) relationships. In the present study, we explored the co-occurrence of symptoms...
Article
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This study examined the relationship between the frequency of coffee consumption and blood pressure over a two year follow up of a cohort of elderly people. Healthy, older people (N = 205) were examined at baseline and at two years. Participants completed physical and behavioural assessments, which included body composition, current pharmacological...
Article
Purpose The impact of 31 h of total sleep deprivation (TSD) on cardiovascular autonomic modulation was evaluated in 46 volunteers all professional fire brigade units officers (all men, mean age = 32.11 ± 6.4). Methods Hemodynamic examination was obtained at baseline and after 31 h of Total Sleep Deprivation (TSD). Each measurement period included...
Article
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Introduction: There are limited injury data in professional horse racing, particularly by sex. Objectives: To describe injury incidence, characteristics and falls in male and female, flat and jump jockeys in Great Britain. Design and setting: Retrospective cohort study of professional jockeys in Britain. Participants: 245 jockeys licensed be...
Article
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Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), formerly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is characterized by excessive fat accumulation in hepatocytes. It is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide and is a significant public health problem. In the absence of pharmacological therapy, other treatments such as diet, physical acti...
Article
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This study represents a comparison of the functional interrelation of fatigue and cognitive, cardiovascular and autonomic nervous systems in a group of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients compared with those in healthy individuals at different stages of analysis: at baseline and after changes induced by whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) combined wit...
Article
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Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is regarded as the hallmark symptom in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The aim of the current study is to explore differences in CFS patients with and without PEM in indicators of aortic stiffness, autonomic nervous system function, and severity of fatigue. One-hundred and one patients met the Fukuda criteria. A Chroni...
Article
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This study assessed cardiac autonomic response to head-up tilt test (HUTT) in 23 myasthenia gravis (MG) and 23 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients compared to 30 healthy controls (HC). Task Force® Monitor was used to evaluate cardiac inotropy parameters, baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), heart rate (HRV), and blood pressure variabili...
Article
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Background Cognitive reserve explains why subjects with more years of education, professional achievement, or participation in recreational activities show less cognitive decline with aging. We hypothesize that levels of recreational travel, education, occupation, systemic health, physical performance, and current cognitive activity levels affect t...
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Background: This meta-analysis evaluates the overall effect of the non-pharmacological intervention, aerobic exercise, upon serum liver enzymes levels, glucose metabolism and anthropometric measures amongst patients with metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). It also examines whether the effects on these outcomes are moderated by the ae...
Article
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Background: The therapeutic effects of exercise from structured activity programmes have recently been questioned; as a result, this study examines the impact of an Individualised Activity Program (IAP) on the relationship with cardiovascular, mitochondrial and fatigue parameters. Methods: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients were assessed us...
Article
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The purpose of this study is to assess the cardiovascular system response to orthostatic stress in a group of 133 healthy men using heart rate asymmetry (HRA) methods. HRA is a feature of variability in human heart rate which is dependent upon external and internal body conditions. The initial phases of head-up tilt test (HUTT), namely, supine and...
Article
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Objectives To validate a nurse-led process using electronic health records to identify those at risk of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) for genetic diagnosis in primary care. Design Those at risk of FH were identified using searches developed and refined locally and implemented in primary care by a trained nurse; they were invited for further...
Article
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Background: Prevalence of subjective memory impairment (SMC), with or without objective memory impairment, and the mediating role of depression symptom intensity was examined in older people. Methods: n = 205 subjects (60 years old and older) were examined and followed up at two years. Cognitive function was examined using the Montreal Cognitive...
Preprint
Background: In an ageing population with high levels of multi-morbidity, the preventative effects of exercise rehabilitation(ER) are significant. The NHS currently delivers ER mainly in disease-specific areas. There is a lack of published data to support the long term effectiveness of this model. In the light of emerging evidence supporting the eff...
Article
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Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic joint disease, with increasing global burden of disability and healthcare utilisation. Recent meta-analyses have shown a range of effects of OA on mortality, reflecting different OA definitions and study methods. We seek to overcome limitations introduced when using aggregate results by gathering individu...
Article
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a rare disease with no known etiology. It affects 0.4% of the population, 25% of which experience the severe and very severe categories; these are defined as being wheelchair-, house-, and bed-bound. Currently, the absence of biomarkers necessitates a diagnosis by exclusion, which can c...
Article
In this review we examine studies exploring the effects of whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) from the perspective of applications with age with subjects over the age of 55 years old. Blood based factors such as Erythropoietin and Il-3 increased in exercised trained and normal subjects after WBC while other parameters did not change. WBC treatment of...
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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess differences in the physiological profiles of completers vs. non-completers following a structured exercise programme (SEP) and the ability to predict non-completers, which is currently unknown in this group. Methods: Sixty-nine patients met the Fukuda criteria. Patients completed baseline measures...
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Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients often suffer from severe muscle pain and an inability to exercise due to muscle fatigue. It has previously been shown that CFS skeletal muscle cells have lower levels of ATP and have AMP-activated protein kinase dysfunction. This study outlines experiments looking at the utilisation of different substrates by...
Chapter
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)Chronic fatigue syndrome is a chronic debilitating condition that is thought to affect between 0.2 and 0.4% of the UK population. In order to make the diagnosisDiagnosisof chronic fatigue syndromeChronic fatigue syndrome patients need to experience a cluster of associated symptoms. There are a number of different diagn...
Article
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This study evaluates whether the cardiac autonomic response to head-up tilt test (HUTT) differs between patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and those with progressive MS (PMS) as compared to healthy controls (HC). Baroreflex sensitivity, cardiac parameters, heart rate (HRV) and blood pressure variability (BPV) were compared...
Article
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Objectives: To explore theimpact of implementation of Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)quality care bundle. Setting: Eight acute hospitals in the North East of England and North Cumbria. Participants: ICD-10 coded CAP aged >18 were identified. 16,201 CAP patients were discharged 2016/17 (15,707;2015/16 and 10,733;2014/15). Outcome measures:...
Article
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In this study we set out to define the characteristics of autonomic subgroups of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). The study included 131 patients with CFS (Fukuda criteria). Participants completed the following screening symptom assessment tools: Chalder Fatigue Scale, Fatigue Impact Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale, Epworth Sleepiness Sc...
Article
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Background: The North of England, particularly the North East (NE), has worse health (e.g. 2 years lower life expectancy) and higher health inequalities compared to the rest of England. Sources of data: We explore this over time drawing on publicly available data. Areas of agreement and controversy: Whilst overall health is improving, within-r...
Article
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Background: There has been comparatively little patient information about bronchiectasis, a chronic lung disease with rising prevalence. Patients want more information, which could improve their understanding and self-management. A novel information resource meeting identified needs has been co-developed in prior work. We sought to establish the f...
Article
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Background and objective: This is the first study to investigate the effect of high-flow oxygen therapy, using a normobaric chamber on cognitive, biochemical (oxidative stress parameters and the level of neurotrophins), cardiovascular and autonomic functioning. Materials and methods: 17 healthy volunteers, eight males and nine females, with a mean...
Article
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Myalgic encephalomyelitis/ Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has been associated with abnormalities in mitochondrial function. In this study we have analysed previous bioenergetics data in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using new techniques in order to further elucidate differences between ME/CFS and healthy control cohorts. We stratifi...
Article
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Introduction and objective: The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) affects the socio-economic aspects of patients' lives and poses new challenges. The objectives of the study were: 1) to determine selected socio-economic aspects of MS in Poland in relation to the disease type and patients' place of residence, and 2) to evaluate the profile of pa...
Article
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Objective To assess the feasibility and efficacy of bladder training for troublesome lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in Parkinson disease (PD). Methods In this single-center, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial, participants with a history of PD and LUTS were randomized to a 12-week bladder training program (BT) or conservative advice...
Article
Objective: To evaluate the incidence of undiagnosed celiac disease (CD) in patients presenting with bone stress injuries (BSI) to a NHS Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) clinic. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Single tertiary-level SEM clinic. Patient/participants: One hundred consecutive patients with radiologically proven BSIs...
Article
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Background: orthostatic hypotension (OH) is highly prevalent in older populations and is associated with reduced quality of life and increased mortality. Although non-pharmacologic therapies are recommended first-line, evidence for their use is lacking. Objective: determine the efficacy of combination non-pharmacologic therapy for OH in older pe...
Article
In the UK each year there are over 250,000 emergency hospital admissions due to falls, costing £4.4 billion for falls-related fractures alone. To help reduce pressure on the NHS, the UK Fire Service are now providing home safety checks which include a review of falls hazards, provision of falls and loneliness advice and in some cases, immediate pro...
Article
Introduction First-line treatment for OH is typically with non-pharmacologic therapy. However, the current evidence base is poor, particularly in older people. Aim Determine the safety, efficacy and acceptability of single and combination therapies for OH in older people. Methods A three-stage, mixed-methods study consisting of a phase 2 efficacy...
Article
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Background: Cognitive function disturbance is a frequently described symptom of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). In this study, the effects of a structured exercise programme (SEP) upon cognitive function in ME/CFS patients was examined. Methods: Out of the 53 ME/CFS patients initiating SEP 34 (64%) completed the 16 w...
Article
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Background: Osteoporosis is common, increasing as the population ages and has significant consequences including fracture. Effective treatments are available. Aim: To support proactive fracture risk assessment and optimizing treatment for high risk patients in primary care. Design: Clinical cohort. Setting: November 2017 to November 2018, su...
Article
Purpose: To describe physical activity (PA) levels and motivators and barriers to PA amongst haemodialysis (HD) patients and to identify an appropriate approach to increasing their PA. Methods: A cross-sectional mixed methods study conducted in a tertiary and satellite HD unit. One hundred and one participants aged 18 years and over, receiving regu...
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Objectives To consider the type and cost of clinical services delivered for patients with lymphoedema. Design Clinical cohort. Setting Independent hospices in the North East of England. Participants All those attending lymphoedema services delivered by the independent hospice sector 2017/2018. Results 13 914 lymphoedema appointments were record...
Article
Disturbed sleep is one of the most common symptoms reported by people diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The biopsychosocial causes and consequences are poorly understood. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a diurnal hormone cascade responsible for regulating the response to stress; it influences energy metabolism and immu...
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Our objective was to explore the implementation of a novel NHS England (NHSE)-funded pilot project aimed at deploying clinical pharmacists in an integrated urgent care (IUC) setting including the NHS 111 service. Eight integrated urgent care clinical pharmacists (IUCCPs) within the participating North East of England Trusts. Individuals participate...
Article
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To examine the prevalence of chronic disease and mental health problems in retired professional, male jockeys compared to an age-matched reference population. A cross-sectional study comparing data from a cohort of retired professional jockeys with an age-matched general population sample. Male participants (age range: 50–89 years old) were used to...
Article
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The mitochondrial energy score (MES) protocol, developed by the Myhill group, is marketed as a diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). This study assessed the reliability and reproducibility of the test, currently provided by private clinics, to assess its potential to be developed as an NHS accredited labor...
Article
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Introduction Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is seen in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Both conditions have poorly understood pathophysiology. Several brain structures that play a role in pain and fatigue, such as the insular cortex and basal ganglia, are also implicated in autonomic functio...
Article
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Purpose: Fatigue is a disabling and prevalent feature of many long-term conditions. Orthostatic dizziness is a commonly experienced by those with fatigue. The purpose was; to evaluate factors contributing to successful delivery of a novel group exercise program designed for people with chronic fatigue and orthostatic symptoms and identify targets t...