Coroners in England and Wales don’t seem able to agree on what caused a person’s death or whether the death merits an inquest or not—despite being faced with identical case information—reveals a small study published online in the Journal of Clinical Pathology.

Different coroners faced with identical case information arrived at widely different case outcomes ranging from no further investigation to finding numerous alternative verdicts.


Financial ties between researchers and companies that make the drugs they are studying are independently associated with positive trial results, suggesting bias in the evidence base, concludes a study published by The BMJ today.

Financial ties of principal investigators were independently associated with positive clinical trial results.


Active commuting by bicycle is associated with a substantial decrease in the risk of death from all causes, cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), compared with non-active commuting by car or public transport, finds a study in The BMJ today.

Cycle commuting was associated with a lower risk of CVD, cancer, and all cause mortality.


Scan can detect 5p-sized growth that causes hypertension.

11 C-metomidate PET-CT is a sensitive and specific noninvasive alternative to AVS in the management of PHA.


Pregnant non-smokers who breathe in the second-hand smoke of other people are at an increased risk of delivering stillborn babies or babies with defects, a study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has found.

CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke are estimated to be 23% more likely to experience stillbirth and 13% more likely give birth to a child with a congenital malformation.


A team of researchers, led by King’s College London and the University of Oxford, have found that a gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels is in fact a ‘master regulator’ gene, which controls the behaviour of other genes found within fat in the body.

Here we show that the type 2 diabetes and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol-associated cis-acting expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) of the maternally expressed transcription factor KLF14 acts as a master trans regulator of adipose gene expression.


People aged 30 or over who choose to re-train as barristers are at a significant disadvantage to younger applicants, according to new research from King’s College London.

However, those aged 30 and above were still disadvantaged in securing pupillages when controlling for attainment and university.


Complications of pregnancy, such as high blood pressure and infections, are linked to a heightened risk of early coronary heart disease in the young adult offspring, finds research published in the online journal Heart Asia.

Offspring of mothers with complications during pregnancy have an increased risk for premature ACS in adulthood, which may be of particular relevance in populations in transition, where the incidence of both pregnancy-related morbidity and CVD are high.


Research led by King’s College London has discovered the first solid evidence that genetic variations on chromosome 3 may cause depression.

The linkage signal identified was genome-wide significant after correction for the multiple phenotypes tested, although subsequent association mapping of the region in a genome-wide association study of a U.K. depression sample did no...


Infant abdominal AT and liver lipid increase with increasing maternal BMI across the normal range.


Researchers discover a new type of communication between donor photoreceptors developed from stem cells and host photoreceptors in mice with retinal dystrophy

Here, however, we show that while integration occurs the majority of donor-reporter-labelled cells in the host arises as a result of material transfer between donor and host photoreceptors.


Researchers have demonstrated that the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a key role in encouraging the growth of VSMC in vivo.

β-Catenin signaling was induced in the media and intima at 3 and 28 days after ligation, respectively, and was associated with VSMC proliferation and cyclin D1 expression.


Queen Mary University of London and University of Leicester study suggests stress-induced events have negative effects on unborn children in early pregnancy

Effects are found both in small municipalities, where homicides are rare, and in large municipalities, where violence is endemic, and are particularly pronounced among children of poorly educated mothers, implying that violence compounds the disadvantage that these children already suffer as a result of their households' lower socioeconomic status.


Researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology have been able to identify the type of information contained within certain brainwaves related to vision.

Third, we demonstrate, in analogy to communication technology, that oscillatory frequencies in the brain multiplex the coding of visual features, increasing coding capacity.


A high dietary intake of omega 3 fatty acids, derived from oily fish, may help to lower the risk of death from bowel cancer in patients diagnosed with the disease, suggests research published online in the journal Gut.

Compared with patients who consumed Conclusions High marine ω-3 PUFA intake after CRC diagnosis is associated with lower risk of CRC-specific mortality.


A Cardiff University study has established a link between pub violence and happy hour-style drinking promotions.

Aggregate levels of surveyor-rated intoxication were associated with aggregate alcometer breath alcohol levels.


A study by Oxford University scientists in which starlings pecked on different coloured keys to gain a food reward shows that the birds pay too much attention to context: this makes them vulnerable to the sort of tricks that marketing specialists use to try to make human shoppers choose one product over another.

In an experiment with starlings, adding cues that identified the context impaired performance in simultaneous prey choices but improved it in sequential prey encounters, in which subjects could reject opportunities in order to search instead in the background.


Neuroscientists at the University of Bristol have identified the reasons behind why we are, at times, unable to link a face to a name.

Thus, the hippocampus plays a role in recognition memory when such memory involves remembering that a particular stimulus occurred in a particular place or when the memory contains a temporal or object recency component.


Disulfiram prevents scars forming in a mouse model of scarring conjunctivitis and returns human scarring cells from people with the condition back to normal

Conversely, application of ALDH inhibitors, including disulfiram, to OMMP fibroblasts in vitro restored their functionality to that of normal controls.


They have developed a monoclonal antibody which was found to offer protection against tuberculosis infection in experimental models when combined with interferon, a modulator of the immune system.

The demonstration of the mandatory role of FcαRI (CD89) for human IgA-mediated protection is important for understanding of the mechanisms involved and also for translation of this approach toward development of passive immunotherapy of tuberculosis.


Scientists identify new stimulant that may boost vaccinations at birth

These observations provide fresh insights into the ontogeny of innate immunity in African children, and may inform development of age-specific adjuvanted vaccine formulations important for global health.


Use of methylphenidate in children and young people with ADHD is associated with a slightly increased risk of abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) shortly after the start of treatment, suggests research published by The BMJ today.

The relative risk of myocardial infarction and arrhythmias is increased in the early period after the start of methylphenidate treatment for ADHD in children and young people.


Hydrolysed infant milk formula does not appear to protect against allergic or autoimmune disorders, suggest findings published in The BMJ today.

These findings do not support current guidelines that recommend the use of hydrolysed formula to prevent allergic disease in high risk infants.


Researchers have created a tiny device that triggers reactions in cells.

Here, we show that palladium nanoparticles trapped within polystyrene microspheres can enter cells and mediate a variety of Pd(0)-catalysed reactions, such as allylcarbamate cleavage and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling.


Scientists including those from Queen’s University have discovered that taking regular aspirin halves the risk of developing hereditary cancers.

600 mg aspirin per day for a mean of 25 months substantially reduced cancer incidence after 55·7 months in carriers of hereditary colorectal cancer.


Workplace exposure to very low frequency electromagnetic fields may be linked to a doubling in risk of developing the most common form of motor neurone disease—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short—suggests research published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

These results strengthen the evidence suggesting a positive association between ELF-MF exposure and ALS.


Scientists at Queen’s Centre for Vision and Vascular Science have discovered the role of an enzyme which, when a patient receives chemotherapy, can cause life-threatening damage to the heart.

Our findings suggest that ROS specifically derived from Nox2 NADPH oxidase make a substantial contribution to several key processes underlying development of cardiac contractile dysfunction and remodeling associated with doxorubicin chemotherapy.


Multiculturalism is associated with strengthening the ties between different ethnic groups, according to an extensive study of English data.

Results of the multilevel regression models show that, after adjusting for area deprivation, increased levels of social cohesion are found in areas of greater ethnic residential heterogeneity.


Jamie Oliver’s back-to-basics approach to improving our diets works, according to a new study.

MoF community-based cooking interventions can have significant positive effects on dietary behaviour, food choice and cooking confidence


Drop level from 10 percent risk to 4 percent to extend lives of more women, say researchers

Conclusions Premenopausal RRSO appears to be extremely cost-effective at ≥4% lifetime OC risk, with ≥42.7 days gain in life expectancy if compliance with hormone replacement therapy is high.


Daily screen time of three or more hours is linked to several risk factors associated with the development of diabetes in children, finds research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Strong graded associations between screen time, adiposity and insulin resistance suggest that reducing screen time could facilitate early T2D prevention.


Scientists find key protein that suppresses prostate cancer growth in the laboratory

Here we show that FUS has some characteristics of a putative tumor suppressor, as its overexpression promoted growth inhibition and apoptosis of prostate cancer cells, whereas its knockdown increased cell proliferation.


A combination of rare and common genetic variations could play a part in biological pathways linked to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Both common and rare genetic variants appear to be relevant to ADHD


Enzyme identified as possible reason for multiple miscarriage and infertility

Thus, depending on the cellular compartment, deregulated SGK1 activity in cycling endometrium interferes with embryo implantation, leading to infertility, or predisposes to pregnancy complications by rendering the feto-maternal interface vulnerable to oxidative damage.


Eating meat, drinking alcohol, marriage and under 7 hours sleep nightly all linked to greater risk

This study estimated that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult residents of Jilin Province, northeast China, were high.


And may contribute to antipsychotic drug treatment failure, suggest researchers

This was linked to the prescription of several different antipsychotic drugs, indicating clinical judgement of antipsychotic treatment failure.


The global toll taken by injuries on daily life has fallen by almost a third in the past quarter of a century, reveals research published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

Between 1990 and 2013 the global age-standardised injury DALY rate decreased by 31% (UI 26% to 35%).


Patients with life-threatening heart valve disease could be helped with alternative scanning techniques that provide greater insight into the condition.

Positron emission tomography is a novel, feasible, and repeatable approach to the evaluation of valvular calcification and inflammation in patients with aortic stenosis.


For the first time, scientists have shown that malaria-transmitting mosquitoes actively avoid feeding on certain animal species such as chickens, using their sense of smell. Odors emitted by species such as chickens could provide protection for humans at risk of mosquito-transmitted diseases, according to a study in the open access Malaria Journal.

Non-host volatiles repel host-seeking An.


Do well at school to avoid heart disease later, research shows

Men and women who leave school without any qualifications may be able to 'catch up' to some extent with more qualified people in terms of lowered CHD risk, if they obtain qualifications later on in life.


He continued: ‘We are endowed with a wonderful cognitive tool - hand gesture - that helps us to visualise objects from different angles.

We concluded that gestures enhance performance on spatial visualization tasks by improving the internal computation of spatial transformations.


Home cooked meals specifically designed for infants and young children, are not always better than commercially available baby foods, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The majority of commercial meals provided an energy-dense meal with greater vegetable variety per meal to their home-cooked counterparts.


A simple test to measure blood oxygen in newborns has been shown to identify babies with life-threatening congenital heart defects, a major cause of infant mortality in the developed world, according to researchers from the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Women’s Hospital.

It identifies cases of critical congenital heart defects that go undetected with antenatal ultrasonography.


Almost three quarters of the weekend emergency care caseload is linked to excess alcohol intake, finds an activity analysis of one large inner city hospital in England, and published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.

The prevalence rates of alcohol related attendances were 12% and 15% for the retrospective and prospective cohorts, respectively.


C. difficile increases risk of death sixfold in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease admitted to NHS hospitals in England with co-existent C. difficile infection are at risk of greater in-hospital mortality and morbidity than patients admitted for inflammatory bowel disease alone.


Women with lower levels of education and living in more deprived areas of the UK are at greater risk of coronary heart disease, and this is largely due to smoking, obesity and physical inactivity, according to a study of over a million women published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.

Most of the association between CHD risk and education and area deprivation in UK women is accounted for by health-related behaviours, particularly by smoking and to a lesser extent by alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and BMI.


Increases in winter indoor temperatures in the United Kingdom, United States and other developed countries may be contributing to rises in obesity in those populations, according to UCL research published today.

Reduced exposure to seasonal cold may have a dual effect on energy expenditure, both minimizing the need for physiological thermogenesis and reducing thermogenic capacity.


Abnormal brain structure linked to chronic cocaine abuse

Greater impairment of attentional control was associated with reduced volume in insular cortex and increased volume of caudate nucleus.


Many pain-sensing nerves in the body are thought to respond to all types of ‘painful events’, but new UCL research in mice reveals that in fact most are specialised to respond to specific types such as heat, cold or mechanical pain.

After intraplantar treatment with prostaglandin E2, neurons in vivo respond more intensely to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli, and additional neurons (silent nociceptors) are unmasked.


‘Smart materials’ that make proteins form crystals to boost research into new drugs

We have shown that six different MIPs induced crystallization of nine proteins, yielding crystals in conditions that do not give crystals otherwise.


Higher nurse to patient ratio linked to reduced risk of inpatient death

Ward-based RN staffing is significantly associated with reduced mortality for medical patients.


Study finds no clear evidence of a downward trend in neural tube defects over 20 year period

Prevalence of NTD fluctuated slightly but without an obvious downward trend, with the final estimate of the pooled total prevalence of NTD in 2011 similar to that in 1991.


A combined approach of offering education, free or low-cost equipment and a home safety inspection is likely to have the most impact, the study by a research team involving academics from the Universities of Leicester, York and Nottingham has discovered.

The intervention containing all of the aforementioned components was identified as being the most likely to be the most effective (probability (best) ¼ 0.66), with an odds ratio versus usual care of 7.15 (95% credible interval: 2.40, 22.73); 2) type of battery-powered alarms: ionization alarms with lithium batteries were most likely to be the best type for increasing functioning possession (probability (best) ¼ 0.69).


Parents of some obese children could save up to £6.58 each week by changing their shopping habits and opting for a healthier diet, according to research published in the latest issue of the British Journal of General Practice.

For many obese children, eating healthily would not necessarily incur prohibitive, additional financial cost, although a poor diet at a budget supermarket remains the cheapest of all options.


A leading UK scientist’s search for factors that increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s has uncovered five new genes to help pinpoint what’s going wrong in the brain.

Three SNPs at two loci replicated and showed evidence for association in a further sample (stage 3).


Inhibiting RAD51 helped increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy in killing off glioblastoma cells

In GSCs, the small-molecule RAD51 inhibitors RI-1 and B02 prevent RAD51 focus formation, reduce DNA DSB repair, and cause significant radiosensitization.


Fibre-rich diet linked to lowered risk of painful knee osteoarthritis

Findings from two longitudinal studies consistently showed that higher total fibre intake was related to a lower risk of SxOA, while the relation to ROA was unclear.


Scientists have pinpointed a gene that controls how quickly a person’s nerves can regenerate after injury or disease.

Taken together, these findings have identified isoform-specific roles for apoE in determining the protein composition of peripheral nerve as well as regulating nerve regeneration pathways in vivo.


Certain antidepressants linked to heightened risk of mania and bipolar disorder

Prior antidepressant treatment was associated with an increased incidence of mania/bipolar disorder ranging from 13.1 to 19.1 per 1000 person-years.


[February 2011]. Researchers at the University of Glasgow and University College London (UCL) have, for the first time, enhanced visual perception through rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the brain.

Here we show via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) interventions that short rhythmic bursts of right-parietal TMS at theta or beta frequency can causally benefit processing of global or local levels, respectively, for hierarchical visual stimuli, especially in the context of salient incongruent distractors.


Pedestrian wheelchair users in the US are a third more likely to be killed in road traffic collisions than the general public, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

Men9s risk was over fivefold higher than women9s risk (p Conclusions Persons who use wheelchairs experience substantial pedestrian mortality disparities calling for behavioural and built environment interventions.


A new model of healthcare that focuses on a stronger role for nurses in primary care has been associated with a higher uptake of insulin treatment among patients with type 2 diabetes, reports a study published in The BMJ today.

The Stepping Up model of care was associated with increased insulin initiation rates in primary care, and improvements in glycated haemoglobin without worsening emotional wellbeing.


People who have their stomach size surgically reduced move around more and easier after weight loss surgery, a study has found.

Similarly, analysis of five studies demonstrated increased musculoskeletal function at 3-6 months (SMD: 1.51; 95% CI: 0.60-2.42).


Infertility and hormonal fertility treatments may influence the amount of dense tissue in the breast, a risk factor for breast cancer, according to a study involving 43,313 women, published in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research.

The higher absolute dense volume in women treated with COS may indicate a treatment effect, although part of the association might also be due to the underlying infertility.


Changes in the environment that put the lives of adults at risk drive parents to invest more in caring for their offspring, scientists have found.

In general, we find that environmental variability, the life-history traits affected by such variability and the specific costs of care interact to determine whether care will be favoured in a variable environment and what levels of care will be selected.


Physical activity levels may start tailing off as early as the age of 7, rather than during adolescence as is widely believed, reveals a long term study of British children, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

There was no evidence that physical activity decline began at adolescence, or that adolescent declines in physical activity were substantially greater than the declines during childhood, or greater in girls than boys.


University of Leicester study suggests people can reduce chances of getting Type 2 diabetes by completing new education programme

This study suggests that being retained/engaged in a relatively low-resource, pragmatic diabetes prevention programme for those at high risk is associated with reductions in the progression to T2DM in comparison to those who receive standard care.


The available evidence suggests no difference in treatment effects of second generation antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) either alone or in combination, for patients with major depressive disorder, finds a study in The BMJ today.

Meta-analyses found no statistically significant difference in effectiveness between second generation antidepressants and CBT for response (risk ratio 0.91, 0.77 to 1.07), remission (0.98, 0.73 to 1.32), or change in 17 item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score (weighted mean difference, −0.38, −2.87 to 2.10).


Women less likely than men to get appointment within 48 hours; clinics in England show worst decline

Access to GUM services has worsened for those with symptoms suggestive of an acute STI and is significantly poorer for asymptomatic women.


Two effective treatments benefit up to 60 per cent of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), according to a collaborative trial by King’s College London and colleagues from Queen Mary, University London, and the University of Edinburgh, published in The Lancet today.

CBT and GET can safely be added to SMC to moderately improve outcomes for chronic fatigue syndrome, but APT is not an effective addition.


University of Leicester scientists have previously identified the potential of using a bacteriophage cocktail to eradicate Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and in this research, using an insect model, they show that their prophylactic use can prevent infection forming in the first place.

Taken together, our data suggest that the phages significantly reduce C. difficile biofilms, and prevent colonization in the G. mellonella model when used alone or in combination with vancomycin.


A study of nearly 280,000 women in the United States has found that living in areas with a high level of fine particles from air pollution may increase a woman’s chance of having dense breasts – a well-established risk factor for breast cancer – according to a new study published in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research.

Exposure to PM2.5 and O3 may in part explain geographical variation in mammographic density.


People will suffer more pain for their close friends than for their acquaintances and sometimes more than they would for themselves, an Oxford University scientist has found.

Cost endured was positively correlated with the strength of the social tie between donor and recipient.


Statins reduce deaths from infection and respiratory illness, eight years on from trial

Legacy effects of those originally assigned atorvastatin may contribute to long-term benefits on all-cause mortality.


This research, led by Professor Victor Zammit, Head of Metabolic and Vascular Health at Warwick Medical School, found that the enzyme known as ‘Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A’ (CPT1) has a switch which is thrown depending on the composition and curvature of its cellular membrane.

Based on the amphiphilic nature of N and molecular modeling, we propose malonyl-CoA sensitivity to be coupled to the properties of the OMM by Nα-OMM associations that alter the Nα/Nβ ratio.


Faulty 'off-switch' stops children with ADHD from concentrating

During an inhibitory control task, children with ADHD exhibit a raised motivational threshold at which task-relevant stimuli become sufficiently salient to deactivate the DMN.


There is little evidence to support any consistent effect of probiotics on the gut microbiota of healthy individuals, according to a systematic review published in the open access journal Genome Medicine. The World Health Organization defines probiotics as live microorganisms which confer a health benefit to the host if administered in adequate amounts and probiotics products are often marketed toward the general population. However, evidence for their effects on bacteria living in the guts of healthy adults remains elusive.

This systematic review of the pertinent literature demonstrates a lack of evidence for an impact of probiotics on fecal microbiota composition in healthy adults.


Women with straightforward pregnancies can choose whether they’d like to give birth in a hospital obstetric unit, a midwifery unit or at home, knowing that giving birth is generally very safe.

Overall, there were no significant differences in the adjusted odds of the primary outcome for any of the non-obstetric unit settings compared with obstetric units.


Obesity has doubled since 1980, major global analysis of risk factors reveals

Globally, mean BMI has increased since 1980.


Boys and girls who take part in physical activity with their best friend in the neighbourhood where they live have higher levels of physical activity, new research has found.  With many children not doing enough physical activity the findings could help with the UK’s current health care concerns.

Boys and girls who take part in physical activity with their best friend at home or in the neighborhood where they live engage in higher levels of physical activity.


Premature babies risk mental health problems, say experts

The risk of these outcomes was increased for PT/LBW individuals compared with controls [any diagnosis: odds ratio (OR) 3.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.57–5.21; anxiety or depressive disorder: OR 2.86, 95% CI 1.73–4.73].


Body clock function can break down when light and temperature levels throughout the day are out of sync, finds new UCL research in fruit flies.

The behavioral disruption depends heavily on the phase relationship between light and temperature signals.


A new study by scientists has revealed that time spent sitting down is a diabetes risk factor in South Asians independent of how much they exercise.

These data highlight an important relationship between sitting time and 2-h glucose levels in U.K. South Asians, independent of physical activity and waist circumference.


Bird flu epidemics could be prevented by a new strain of chickens that do not spread avian flu to other birds.

Although the transgenic birds succumbed to the initial experimental challenge, onward transmission to both transgenic and nontransgenic birds was prevented.


Kent researchers have identified how few mutations it can take for Ebolaviruses to adapt to affect previously resistant species.

Hence, there is evidence that few mutations including crucial mutations in VP24 enable Ebola virus adaptation to new hosts.


Fewer mental illness beds linked with increase in involuntary hospital detentions

The annual reduction in provision of mental illness beds was associated with the rate of involuntary admissions over the short to medium term, with the closure of two mental illness beds leading to one additional involuntary admission in the subsequent year.


Sharing anonymised hospital data prevents violence, Cardiff study shows

This intervention led to a significant reduction in violent injury and was associated with an increase in police recording of minor assaults in Cardiff compared with similar cities in England and Wales where this intervention was not implemented.


Every £1.00 spent on public health returns an extra £14 on the original investment, on average—and in some cases, significantly more than that—concludes a systematic review of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

This systematic review suggests that local and national public health interventions are highly cost-saving.


An international team of researchers from the Universities of Leicester and Naples has examined the role of a receptor in the body that could help to prevent or reduce the effects of asthma attacks.

We demonstrated a novel dual airway immunomodulator/bronchodilator role for N/OFQ and suggest targeting this system as an innovative treatment for asthma.


Paid parental leave is linked to a lower rate of kids' admission to hospital for head injury, finds research published in the journal Injury Prevention.

Compared with seven states with no PFL policies, California's 2004 PFL showed a significant decrease in AHT admissions in both <1 and <2-year-olds.


The phenotypes correlate with changes in transcript levels for genes mapping within the duplication but not in flanking regions.


Errors are common when care home staff help older people to use medical inhalers, research from the University of Leeds has shown.

Inhalers and liquid medicines were associated with significantly increased odds of administration errors.


Breast cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy could be lacking sufficient antibodies to protect against common illnesses, as chemotherapy reduces the body's immune response, according to research published in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research. This work raises the possibility that these survivors could benefit from additional post-treatment monitoring. Further work is required to assess if revaccination would be beneficial.

Breast cancer chemotherapy is associated with long-term changes in immune parameters that should be considered during clinical management.


Researchers from the University of California (UCLA) and Cardiff University have made a breakthrough in the understanding of AIDS-related dementia, discovering the role of a neuron protein which was also found to affect learning abilities in healthy subjects.

Overall, our results demonstrate that CCR5 plays an important role in neuroplasticity, learning and memory, and indicate that CCR5 has a role in the cognitive deficits caused by HIV.


Research shows infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK’s population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain.

In this study, infection of mammalian dopaminergic cells with T. gondii enhanced the levels of K+-induced release of dopamine several-fold, with a direct correlation between the number of infected cells and the quantity of dopamine released.


The study by Dr Stephen Griffin and colleagues, published in the journal Hepatology, reveals how two prototype small molecule drugs, known as p7 inhibitors, can each attack different parts of the hepatitis C virus.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) p7 ion channel plays a critical role during infectious virus production and represents an important new therapeutic target.


Air pollution may shorten survival of patients with lung cancer

These epidemiological findings support the hypothesis that air pollution exposures after lung cancer diagnosis shorten survival.


Reduces pain, improves function, and is safe; prescribe it for long term treatment, say researchers

A 800 mg/day pharmaceutical-grade CS is superior to placebo and similar to celecoxib in reducing pain and improving function over 6 months in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients.


Four or more weekly servings seem to have greatest impact, findings suggest

Higher cured meat intake was associated with worsening asthma symptoms over time, through a direct effect and to a lesser extent an effect mediated by BMI.


A new study shows that children as young as three or four years old can talk informatively and accurately about experiences – including incidents of abuse – if they are interviewed by specialists who understand children’s strengths and weaknesses.

The findings suggest that even 3-year-olds can provide information about experienced events when recall processes are activated, although the ability to provide narrative responses to open-ended recall prompts only becomes reliable later in development.


Occupational exposure to textile dust is associated with a more than doubling in the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, finds research published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

This is the first study demonstrating that textile dust exposure is associated with an increased risk for RA.


Aspirin cuts cancer rates in people with hereditary risk by more than half

600 mg aspirin per day for a mean of 25 months substantially reduced cancer incidence after 55·7 months in carriers of hereditary colorectal cancer.


Researchers from the University of Leicester have for the first time discovered that bacteria that cause respiratory infections are directly affected by air pollution - increasing the potential for infection and changing the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment.

Therefore our study highlights that air pollution has a significant effect on bacteria that has been largely overlooked.


Scientists have discovered an enzyme that acts as a ‘fertility switch’, in a study published in Nature Medicine today.

Thus, depending on the cellular compartment, deregulated SGK1 activity in cycling endometrium interferes with embryo implantation, leading to infertility, or predisposes to pregnancy complications by rendering the feto-maternal interface vulnerable to oxidative damage.


UK deaths from heart disease and stroke have plummeted by almost 70% over the past 30 years, but these improvements have not been equally distributed among all four countries, or between men and women, finds an analysis of the available data, published online in the journal Heart.

This review highlights that improvements in the burden of CVD have not occurred equally between the four constituent countries of the UK, or between men and women.


Flu vaccine unlikely to trigger reaction in children with egg allergy and asthma

No systemic allergic reactions occurred (upper 95% confidence interval for population 0.47% and in participants with anaphylaxis to egg 1.36%).


A more nuanced approach to role of alcohol in heart health is needed

To investigate the association between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease at higher resolution by examining the initial lifetime presentation of 12 cardiac, cerebrovascular, abdominal, or peripheral vascular diseases among five categories of consumption.


A new study led by the University of Leicester to understand how to improve the health of severe asthma patients has made a breakthrough finding.

PP5-dependent impairment of GRα function represents a novel mechanism driving GC insensitivity in ASM in severe asthma.


University of Leeds researchers have used next-generation DNA sequencing techniques to discover what causes a rare form of inherited eye disorders, including cataracts and glaucoma, in young children.

Our findings imply that peroxidasin is essential for normal development of the anterior chamber of the eye, where it may have a structural role in supporting cornea and lens architecture as well as an enzymatic role as an antioxidant enzyme in protecting the lens, trabecular meshwork, and cornea against oxidative damage.


A new way of examining networks is revealing how different areas of the brain team up to help people learn.

Our results indicate that flexibility, which we measure by the allegiance of nodes to modules, in one experimental session predicts the relative amount of learning in a future session.


Scientists have identified a diabetes drug which halves the mortality rate of a deadly infectious disease found throughout Southeast Asia and Northern Australia.

Survival was greater in diabetics than in nondiabetics (38% vs 45%, respectively, P = .04), but the survival benefit was confined to the patient group taking glyburide (adjusted odds ratio .47, 95% confidence interval .28–.74, P = .005).


New knowledge about the mechanism of specific protein complexes in the body could help in the development of better drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s, according to research led by the University of Leicester.

The crystal structure of the HDAC1:MTA1 complex bound to a novel peptide-based inhibitor and to inositol hexaphosphate suggests a molecular basis of substrate recognition, and an entropically driven allosteric mechanism of activation.


These results provide strong support for ROBO1 as a gene involved in a core trait underpinning language acquisition, with a specific function in supporting a short-term buffer for arbitrary phonological strings.


Middle aged diabetes patients can die six years earlier

In addition to vascular disease, diabetes is associated with substantial premature death from several cancers, infectious diseases, external causes, intentional self-harm, and degenerative disorders, independent of several major risk factors.


The number of hospital cases of self-inflicted harm, such as cutting and overdosing on prescription meds, has risen steadily since 2008 in England among men, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

Trends in rates of self-harm and suicide may be closely related; therefore, self-harm can be a useful mental health indicator.


Processed food diet in early childhood diet may lower subsequent IQ

There is evidence that a poor diet associated with high fat, sugar and processed food content in early childhood may be associated with small reductions in IQ in later childhood, while a healthy diet, associated with high intakes of nutrient rich foods described at about the time of IQ assessment may be associated with small increases in IQ.


Giving corticosteroid drugs to mothers at risk of preterm delivery - from as early as 23 weeks of pregnancy - is associated with a lower rate of death and serious illness for their babies, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

Among infants born from 23 to 34 weeks' gestation, antenatal exposure to corticosteroids compared with no exposure was associated with lower mortality and morbidity at most gestations.


Scientists at the University have found that eye movement patterns of Chinese people, born and raised in China, are different to those of Caucasian people living in Britain.

This pattern of response had been reported to be very uncommon in healthy, naive subjects.


Revision of standards is needed to test sunglasses quality and establish safe limits for the lenses' UV filters, according to research published in the open access journal Biomedical Engineering OnLine.

We provide evidence of the need to re-evaluate the parameters of the tests to establish appropriate safe limits for UV irradiance.


The team of immunologists led by Drs Ghaem-Maghami and Martinez-Pomares in the University’s School of Molecular Medical Sciences, and funded by the charity Asthma UK, have identified a cell component which plays a key role in triggering allergic responses to cat dander.

Our data show for the first time that Fel d 1 is a novel ligand of the cysteine-rich domain of MR and that MR is likely to play a pivotal role in allergic sensitization to airborne allergens in vivo.


The judgements we make about the intimacy of other couples’ relationships are influenced by the brain chemical serotonin, an Oxford University study has found.

Our results suggest that central serotonin activity influences the appraisal of close intimate partnerships, raising the possibility that serotonergic dysfunction contributes to altered cognitions about relationships in psychiatric illnesses.


A team led by researchers at the University has identified bacterial infection as a possible cause of Overactive Bladder Syndrome (OAB).

These data suggest that increased ATP release from the urothelium, involving bacterial colonization, may play a role in the heightened symptoms associated with pyuric OAB patients.


An early study in mice has shown that leukaemic stem cells can be abolished by suppressing two proteins found in the body.

Together, these results reveal an important functional interplay between MLL/Hox and Bmi1 in regulating cellular senescence for LSC development, suggesting that a synergistic targeting of both molecules is required to eradicate a broader spectrum of LSCs.


People with one of the genetic profiles associated with increased body weight (known as the FTO gene) respond equally well to diet, exercise, and drug based weight loss interventions as the rest of the population, concludes a study in The BMJ today.

We have observed that carriage of the FTO minor allele was not associated with differential change in adiposity after weight loss interventions.


An individual’s social norms in terms of what they consider acceptable weight are formed during childhood, and are not highly influenced by our later social networks according to the study published online this week in Obesity.

The findings indicate that time constant factors explain some of the overall correlation in sibling BMI for both cohorts of siblings.


Cutting exposure to common environmental synthetic chemicals by 25 per cent might ward off more than 150,000 cases of diabetes in Europe and save €4.5 billion every year, suggest estimates published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Results Reduction of chemical exposures was associated with a 13% (95% CI 2% to 22%) reduction in prevalent diabetes, compared with 40% resulting from an identical (25%) reduction in body mass index (BMI) in cross-sectional analyses.


However, treatment was also linked with an increased risk of complications such as preterm delivery, gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia.

Thyroid hormone treatment was associated with decreased risk of pregnancy loss among women with subclinical hypothyroidism, especially those with pre-treatment TSH concentrations of 4.1-10 mIU/L.


People who have recently begun an attempt to quit smoking tobacco are more likely to try to drink less alcohol than other smokers, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

Smokers who report starting a quit attempt in the last week also report lower alcohol consumption, including less frequent binge drinking, and appear more likely to report currently attempting to reduce their alcohol consumption compared with smokers who do not report a quit attempt in the last week.


In contrast, positive expectations of treatment doubled the natural physiological or biochemical effect of the opioid drug among the healthy volunteers in the study.

On the basis of subjective and objective evidence, we contend that an individual's expectation of a drug's effect critically influences its therapeutic efficacy and that regulatory brain mechanisms differ as a function of expectancy.


Study adds to evidence that psychological distress could predict certain physical conditions

This study contributes to the growing evidence that psychological distress might have some predictive capacity for selected cancer presentations, in addition to other somatic diseases.


Bowel cancer patients are more likely to survive if treated in hospitals where lots of clinical research is taking place - even if they themselves are not involved in trials, a study has found.

There is a strong independent association between survival and participation in interventional clinical studies for all patients with CRC treated in the hospital study participants.


New ‘homing’ treatment could aid recovery for brain damaged patients

In experimental TBI, CD59-2a-CRIg administered posttrauma homed to sites of injury and significantly reduced MAC deposition, microglial accumulation, mitochondrial stress, and axonal damage and enhanced neurologic recovery compared with placebo controls.


A Cardiff University-led study has discovered that a protein provides protection against the effects of alcohol in the pancreas.

Calmodulin protects by reducing calcium release sensitivity.


The number of older people in England living with more than one chronic condition could have risen by ten per cent in the last decade putting increasing pressure on the NHS, new research has suggested.

In contrast, the prevalence of multimorbidity steadily increased over time (31.7 % in 2002/2003 vs. 43.1 % in 2012/2013).


Even mild stress is linked to long-term disability

Mild psychological distress may be associated with more long-term disability than previously acknowledged and its public health importance may be underestimated.


Study reports that vitamin D supplements reduce risk of acute respiratory infections

Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall.


Rising temperatures across the world may be playing a part in the growing numbers of people developing diabetes, suggests research published online in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

Our findings indicate that the diabetes incidence rate in the USA and prevalence of glucose intolerance worldwide increase with higher outdoor temperature.


The number of people requiring palliative care over the next 25 years is likely to increase substantially, requiring a shift in healthcare priorities in England and Wales, according to new research published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.

If recent mortality trends continue, 160,000 more people in England and Wales will need palliative care by 2040.


Genetic mutations that cause schizophrenia could be linked to systems in the brain responsible for learning and memory, a study suggests.

Our data indicate that defects in NMDAR postsynaptic signalling and, possibly, ARC complexes, which are known to be important in synaptic plasticity and cognition, play a significant role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.


Parents in Northern India favour boys over girls when it comes to making sure that their children's heart problems are corrected--even when treatment is provided completely free of charge--reveals research published in the online journal Heart Asia.

Significant gender discrepancies exist in healthcare-seeking behaviour of patients in North India despite the provision of free cardiac treatment.


A study of schizophrenia patients has found profound disruptions in their sleep patterns, with half also having irregular body clocks that are out of synch with the pattern of night and day.

Significant sleep/circadian disruption occurred in all the participants with schizophrenia.


MicroRNAs could increase the risk of amputation in diabetics

We found that microRNA-503 (miR-503) expression in ECs is upregulated in culture conditions mimicking diabetes mellitus (high D-glucose) and ischemia-associated starvation (low growth factors).


New research published this week suggests the growth rate of the brain’s cerebral cortex in babies born prematurely may predict how well they are able to think, speak, plan and pay attention later childhood.

The rate of cerebral cortical growth between 24 and 44 weeks PMA predicts global ability in later childhood, particularly complex cognitive functions but not motor functions.


High blood pressure should be diagnosed using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (repeated measurements throughout a 24-hour period), which is not only more clinically accurate than clinic-based measurements but is better value for money, according to University of Birmingham research published online today in the Lancet.

Ambulatory monitoring as a diagnostic strategy for hypertension after an initial raised reading in the clinic would reduce misdiagnosis and save costs.


Switching drugs improves breast cancer patient survival rates

The protective effect of switching to exemestane compared with continuing on tamoxifen on risk of relapse or death was maintained for at least 5 years post-treatment and was associated with a continuing beneficial impact on overall survival.


The impact of serious mental illness on life expectancy is marked and generally higher than similarly calculated impacts of well-recognised adverse exposures such as smoking, diabetes and obesity.


The first study of its kind in the world — involving 336 children aged between six months and 16 years old — has shown that installing a water softener for three months brings no additional relief for eczema sufferers.

Water softeners provided no additional benefit to usual care in this study population.


Women in developed nations with strong Catholic heritage less likely to breastfeed

In this ecological study, we found consistent negative correlations between Catholicism and breast feeding initiation rates.


A study by Cardiff University has found several areas of primary care where improvements are needed to reduce harm to sick children.

This study highlights opportunities to reduce iatrogenic harm and avoidable child deaths.


* Adjunctive daily supplementation with encapsulated fruit, vegetable and berry juice powder concentrates and clinical periodontal outcomes: a double-blind RCT.

Adjunctive juice powder concentrates appear to improve initial pocket depth reductions in nutritionally replete patients, where plasma micronutrient bioavailability is attainable.


Study suggests why HIV-uninfected babies born to mothers with HIV might be more vulnerable to infections

Among South African infants, antenatal HIV exposure was associated with lower specific antibody responses in exposed uninfected infants compared with unexposed infants at birth, but with robust responses following routine vaccination.


Sugary drinks associated with higher blood pressure

SSB intake higher by 1 serving per day (355 mL/24 hours) was associated with systolic/diastolic BP differences of +1.6/+0.8 mm Hg (both P <0.001) and +1.1/+0.4 mm Hg ( P <0.001/<0.05) with adjustment for weight and height.


Knowing that there is a small chance of getting a painful electric shock can lead to significantly more stress than knowing that you will definitely be shocked, finds a new UCL study funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).

We observed a coupling between emotional and somatic state, with subjective and physiological tuning to uncertainty tightly correlated.


Bear bile chemical could help keep hearts in rhythm

Taurocholate in the FH model, but not in the MH model, slowed conduction velocity from 19 to 9 cm/s, induced early after depolarizations, and resulted in sustained re-entrant arrhythmias.


New drug could treat mixed-lineage leukaemia (MLL).

These findings establish the displacement of BET proteins from chromatin as a promising epigenetic therapy for these aggressive leukaemias.


US teens are more likely to vape for the flavourings found in e-cigarettes rather than nicotine, suggests research published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

These results challenge the common assumption that all vaporiser users inhale nicotine.


Scientists identify gene responsible for severe skin condition

The presence of the allele increased the risk from 5.0% to 26.0%, whereas its absence reduced the risk from 5.0% to 3.8%.


A diet high in polyphenols could help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and associated health risks, according to a new study by the University of Glasgow.

Our data suggest that the P-R drink may have beneficial effects on urinary biomarkers of CAD.


People with low levels of iron in the blood have a higher risk of dangerous blood clots, according to research published in the journal Thorax today.

In this population, low serum iron levels attributed to inadequate replacement of haemorrhagic iron losses are associated with elevated plasma levels of coagulation factor VIII and venous thromboembolic risk.


Combining marine fish oil, cocoa extract and phytosterols into a dietary supplement could offer new hope in the fight against heart disease, a new University study suggests.

The formulation was able to hinder multiple key steps of atherosclerosis development in vitro by inhibiting monocyte recruitment, foam cell formation and macrophage polarisation towards an inflammatory phenotype.


Wide and stubborn variations in longevity have persisted across Europe over the past 20 years, indicates research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

These inequalities could arise from a myriad of population health determinants (eg, poverty, unhealthy lifestyles), which merit further study.


An international study of 220,000 people has challenged the idea that obese people who have an “apple shape” - fat around the middle section of the body - are at higher risk of heart attacks and strokes than obese people with other types of fat distribution.

BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio, whether assessed singly or in combination, do not importantly improve cardiovascular disease risk prediction in people in developed countries when additional information is available for systolic blood pressure, history of diabetes, and lipids.


Boosting a woman’s confidence makes her better at spatial tasks, University of Warwick scientists have found, suggesting skills such as parking and map-reading could come more easily if a woman is feeling good about herself.

Thus, confidence mediates the sex difference in mental rotation performance and hence the sex difference appears to be a difference of performance rather than ability.


Social engagement through civic group activities, such as being a member of a political party, an environmental group, neighborhood watch, a voluntary service group or other community based groups, is associated with better cognitive function at age 50, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Psychology which included 9,119 men and women from England, Scotland and Wales.

The results indicate that modest associations between adult social engagement and cognitive function at age 50 persist after adjusting for covariates which included health, socio-economic status and gender, supporting theories of neuroplasticity.


Boredom is provoking as many as a third of drivers to take unnecessary risks at the wheel, a new study has found.

The significant differences found enable the clusters to be seen in wider terms than simply boredom; they are considered in terms of theories of flow and arousal and also in light of previous attempts to classify driver types.


Acupuncture may help to improve the subtle memory loss that precedes the development of dementia, otherwise known as mild cognitive impairment, or MCI for short, suggests a review of the available published evidence in Acupuncture in Medicine.

Acupuncture appears effective for AMCI when used as an alternative or adjunctive treatment; however, caution must be exercised given the low methodological quality of included trials.


But foot orthotics can work well, finds pooled analysis of available published data

Meta-analysis found that foot orthoses were effective for preventing overall injuries (risk ratio (RR) 0.72, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.94) and stress fractures (RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.76), but not soft-tissue injuries (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.14).


In a UK study of 5,658 women, 3% were found to have an active eating disorder in mid-life, a figure higher than expected as eating disorders are primarily associated with adolescence or early adulthood. The research was published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.

By mid-life a significant proportion of women will experience an ED, and few women accessed healthcare.


Female physicians are reimbursed significantly less than their male counterparts, even after adjusting for how hard a physician works, their productivity and years of experience, finds a new study--one of the largest carried out in recent times--published in the online edition of Postgraduate Medical Journal.

After adjustment for how hard a physician works, his/her years of experience and his/her productivity, female healthcare providers are still reimbursed less than male providers.


A team of researchers led by Cardiff University has identified two genes that influence a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

These genetic findings provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated innate immune response contributes directly to the development of Alzheimer's disease.


A high ratio of two types of immune system cell is linked to an increased risk of disease recurrence after a diagnosis of early stage breast cancer, finds the first study of its kind, published on the eve of international Women's Day (March 8) in the online journal ESMO Open.

This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show a significant correlation between high NLR and worse prognosis in Caucasian patients with early breast cancer by means of propensity score-matched analysis.


Scientists have identified new ways to provide vaccines against polio, which do not require the growth of live virus for their manufacture.

Here, we demonstrate that the ECs of type 1 PV can be stabilized by selecting heat-resistant viruses.


In Mexico, a 10% tax on sugar sweetened drinks has been associated with an overall 12% reduction in sales and a 4% increase in purchases of untaxed beverages one year after implementation, finds a study published by The BMJ this week.

What this study adds The tax on sugar sweetened beverages was associated with reductions in purchases of taxed beverages and increases in purchases of untaxed beverages.


University of Leicester research team discovers vision-related abnormalities that could help in diagnosis of illness

Pattern-related visual stress may represent an identifiable clinical feature of ME/CFS that will prove useful in its diagnosis.


Yoga can provide more effective treatment for chronic lower back pain than more conventional methods, according to the UK’s largest ever study into the benefits of yoga.

Offering a 12-week yoga program to adults with chronic or recurrent low back pain led to greater improvements in back function than did usual care.


University of Manchester researchers have developed a new scoring system that can better predict how long patients with advanced cancer are likely to survive than current prognosis methods.

In patients with advanced cancer no longer being treated, a combination of clinical and laboratory variables can reliably predict two week and two month survival.


Mothers in developing countries who give birth by caesarean section are at no significant extra risk from having the procedure carried out by non-physician clinicians, or ‘clinical officers’, according to major new research from the University of Birmingham published in the British Medical Journal (Friday May 20).

Clinical officers and doctors did not differ significantly in key outcomes for caesarean section, but the conclusions are tentative owing to the non-randomised nature of the studies.


HIV drug resistance to tenofovir, an antiretroviral drug vital to most modern HIV treatment and prevention strategies, is surprisingly and worryingly common according to a large study led by UCL and funded by the Wellcome Trust.

We recorded drug resistance in a high proportion of patients after virological failure on a tenofovir-containing first-line regimen across low-income and middle-income regions.


The study found that those who went to comprehensive schools were not disadvantaged in terms of social mobility compared with those who attended grammar schools and secondary moderns.

Overall, our findings suggest that comprehensive schools were as good for mobility as the selective schools they replaced.


Short bursts of intensive exercise provide a more “time-efficient” and realistic way of preventing, delaying and managing Type 2 diabetes and also losing weight, a study has found.

HIIT appears effective at improving metabolic health, particularly in those at risk of or with type 2 diabetes.


A study published by The BMJ today finds a consistent association between higher blood glucose (sugar) levels during pregnancy and increased risk of complications around the time of birth, but there is no clear evidence of a threshold effect.

There was a graded linear association between fasting and post-load glucose concentration across the whole glucose distribution and most adverse perinatal outcomes in women without pre-existing or gestational diabetes.


Research from the University of Sheffield has found that a common treatment for a life-threatening heart condition has little significant impact on patient outcomes.

Despite a 78.6% reduction in prescribing of antibiotic prophylaxis after the introduction of the NICE guideline, this study excluded any large increase in the incidence of cases of or deaths from infective endocarditis in the two years after the guideline.


The research, carried out by the University of Leeds and funded by the British Heart Foundation, showed that the risk of a heart patient dying in hospital almost halved across all age groups between 2003 and 2010.

For STEMI and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), there were reductions in in-hospital mortality from 2003 to 2010 across all age groups including the very elderly.


Ataluren restores function to REP1 in human choroideremia cells and zebrafish

This comprehensive study on the use of PTC124 and PTC-414 as successful nonsense suppression agents for the treatment of CHM highlights the translational potential of these drugs for inherited retinal disease.


Breastfeeding for four months or more is associated with fewer behavioural problems in children at age 5, an Oxford University study suggests.

The findings suggest that, at least in term children, longer duration of breast feeding is associated with fewer parent-rated behavioural problems in children aged 5 years.


Prolonged breastfeeding does not protect against eczema

Although there was a protective effect of ever having been breastfed on more severe disease, we found no evidence that exclusive breastfeeding for 4 months or longer protects against eczema.


Researchers from the University of Bristol have discovered that a chemical compound in the brain can weaken the synaptic connections between neurons in a region of the brain important for the formation of long-term memories.

These results show that synaptic stimulation of muscarinic receptors alone can be critical for plastic changes in excitatory synaptic transmission in the mPFC.


This is the largest clinical trial of body dysmorphic disorder ever conducted, and the first to evaluate the effect of an internet based programme for the condition.

BDD-NET was superior to supportive therapy and was associated with significant improvements in severity of symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD-YBOCS group difference −7.1 points, 95% confidence interval −9.8 to −4.4), depression (MADRS-S group difference −4.5 points, −7.5 to −1.4), and other secondary measures.


Exposure to a particular group of chemicals widely used in pest control for people, pets, and crops, may be linked to behavioural difficulties in 6 year olds, suggests research published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

The present study suggests that exposure to certain pyrethroids, at environmental levels, may negatively affect neurobehavioral development by 6 years of age.


Promoting young people's levels of well-being and making them aware of the harms of smoking and drinking could keep them away from alcohol and cigarettes, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

Findings showed higher happiness scores were longitudinally associated with adolescents’ persistent non-use (RRR=1.06, 95% CI=1.01-1.13).


The findings show that, despite clear national guidelines, patients with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation and those who require surgery at the weekend are less likely to receive it.

Patients with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation and those who require surgery at the weekend were less likely to receive THA.


Effects independent of current state of brain health, finds evidence review

Physical exercise improved cognitive function in the over 50s, regardless of the cognitive status of participants.


There is 'suggestive evidence' for a link between air pollution and a heightened risk of stillbirth, indicates a summary of the available data, published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

The body of evidence suggests that exposure to ambient air pollution increases the risk of stillbirth.


University scientists have made an important breakthrough in understanding how different individuals respond to aspirin.

Thrombin elevated ∼900 lipids >2-fold with 86% newly appearing and 45% inhibited by aspirin supplementation, indicating COX-1 is required for major activation-dependent lipidomic fluxes.


The use of recreational amphetamine, popularly known as ‘speed,’ ‘ice,’ and ‘ecstasy,’ may hasten the biological ageing of the heart, suggests research, published in the online journal Heart Asia.

These results show that subacute exposure to amphetamines is associated with an advancement of cardiovascular-organismal age both over age and over time, and is robust to adjustment.


Computer analysis of brain scans could help predict how severe the future illness course of a patient with psychosis will be, according to research led by Dr Paola Dazzan at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s.

We provide preliminary evidence of MRI application in the individualized prediction of future illness course, using a simple and automated SVM pipeline.


"Screen and treat" policies to preventing type 2 diabetes are unlikely to have substantial impact on this growing epidemic, concludes a study published by The BMJ today.

These findings suggest that “screen and treat” policies alone are unlikely to have substantial impact on the worsening epidemic of type 2 diabetes.


When reading direct quotations, the brain ‘hears’ the voice of the speaker, say scientists.

Combining fMRI with eye tracking in human volunteers, we show that silent reading of direct versus indirect speech engenders differential brain activation in voice-selective areas of the auditory cortex.


The research has found that a series of movements in the egg in the first hours after fertilisation can be used to predict which embryos have the best chance of survival.

Most importantly, the relationship between the movements and the events of egg activation makes it possible to use the movements alone to predict developmental potential of the zygote.


A study of 1,300 pregnant women in Leeds, published in Human Reproduction, found that the higher total iron intake from food and supplements during the first trimester of pregnancy, the more likely it is for a woman to have a bigger baby.

There was a positive relationship between total iron intake, from food and supplements, in early pregnancy and birthweight.


2-year-olds adept at using touch-screen technology

From 2 years of age toddlers have the ability to interact purposefully with touch-screen devices and demonstrate a variety of common skills required to utilise touch-screen technology.


Cardiff University PhD student Luke Piggott has identified a weakness in breast cancer cells which could help prevent the disease from spreading.

We describe an apoptotic mechanism that selectively and repeatedly removes bCSC activity from breast cancer cell lines and suggest that a combined TRAIL/FLIPi therapy could prevent metastatic disease progression in a broad range of breast cancer subtypes.


Scientists at the University have developed a ground-breaking technique that uses a urine test to help to diagnose adrenal cancer.

Urine steroid metabolomics is a novel, highly sensitive, and specific biomarker tool for discriminating benign from malignant adrenal tumors


Chickens genetically modified to prevent them spreading bird flu have been produced by researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh.

Although the transgenic birds succumbed to the initial experimental challenge, onward transmission to both transgenic and nontransgenic birds was prevented.


Adolescents who recall seeing e-cigarettes in shops are more likely to have tried them in the past and are more likely to intend to try them in the future, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

This study has found a cross-sectional association between self-reported recall of e-cigarette POS displays and use of, and intention to use, e-cigarettes.


University of Leicester researchers identify new process for preventing narrowing of airways that could lead to new treatments for disease

By using a genetically engineered mouse expressing a G protein-biased M3-mAChR mutant, we reveal the first evidence, to our knowledge, of a role for M3-mAChR phosphorylation in bronchial smooth muscle contraction in health and in a disease state with relevance to human asthma.


Neglectful and controlling parents linked to mental health problems in children

Although our findings are limited by having no objective evidence that children’s perceptions of emotional neglect are directly associated with actual neglect, children’s perceptions of neglect and control are associated with over twice the odds of psychiatric disorder at age 15.


UK toddlers are consuming more calories and protein than recommended, potentially putting them at risk of obesity in later life, according to UCL research.

At a population level, young children in the UK are exceeding recommended daily intakes of energy and protein, potentially increasing their risk of obesity.


Replacing professional nurses with nursing assistants linked to heightened death risk

Reducing nursing skill mix by adding nursing associates and other categories of assistive nursing personnel without professional nurse qualifications may contribute to preventable deaths, erode quality and safety of hospital care and contribute to hospital nurse shortages.


Significant numbers of patients whose HIV strains developed resistance to older generation drugs are also resistant to modern drugs, finds a new study led by UCL and funded by Wellcome.

We detected associations between TAMs and drug resistance mutations both between and within studies; the correlation between the study-level proportion of patients with tenofovir resistance and TAMs was 0·64 (p Interpretation TAMs are common in patients who have failure of first-line tenofovir-containing regimens in sub-Saharan Africa, and are associated with multidrug resistant HIV-1.


Distinctive geographical patterns linked to differences in measurement, environment, and policy

Noteworthy patterns included seven states in Appalachia and the Southeast with high relative rates of unintentional firearm deaths (2.14-4.06 times the national average) and five states on the West Coast with high relative rates of legal intervention deaths (1.76-3.49 times the national average).


Targeting a toxin released by virtually all strains of MRSA could help scientists develop new drugs that can fight the superbug.

Taken together, we report the discovery and characterization of a unique core genome-encoded superantigen, providing new insights into the evolution of pathogenic S. aureus and the molecular basis for severe infections caused by the CA-MRSA USA300 epidemic clone.


But it lasts much longer than it does in rest of Europe or US

UK children show relatively long persistence of treatment with ADHD medications compared to other countries.


Autoimmune disease may be linked to a heightened risk of dementia, indicates a large long term study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

The associations with vascular dementia may be one component of a broader association between autoimmune diseases and vascular damage.


The study, by researchers from University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science, is the first to examine drinking behaviors in very early adolescence in relation to a wide range of factors that are associated with alcohol consumption in children, such as family, friends and the young person’s views about alcohol.

Cohort members whose mothers drank were more likely to drink (light/moderate = 1.6, 1.3 to 2.0, heavy/binge = 1.8, 1.4 to 2.3).


Doses of this respiratory irritant often higher than those derived from conventional cigarettes

The benzaldehyde doses inhaled with 30 puffs from flavoured e-cigarettes were often higher than doses inhaled from a conventional cigarette.


Tighter local alcohol licensing curbs linked to fewer drink-related hospital admissions

Local licensing policies appear to be associated with a reduction in alcohol-related hospital admissions in areas with more intense licensing policies.


More precise estimates of cancer risks associated with prolonged, low level exposure to ionising radiation among nuclear industry workers are published by The BMJ today.

Results suggest a linear increase in the rate of cancer with increasing radiation exposure.


Patients receiving cancer treatment could increase their chance of survival by up to 20% and help stop their cancer from spreading by taking a low-dose of aspirin, new University research suggests.

Six single studies of other cancers suggested reductions in cause specific mortality by aspirin, and in five the effect is statistically significant.


How new fathers see themselves in child's early years seems to be most influential

Psychological and emotional aspects of paternal involvement in children's early upbringing, particularly how new fathers see themselves as parents and adjust to the role, rather than the quantity of direct involvement in childcare, is associated with positive behavioural outcomes in children.


Being a short man or an overweight woman is associated with lower chances in life in areas such as education, occupation, and income, concludes a study published by The BMJ today.

These data support evidence that height and BMI play an important partial role in determining several aspects of a person's socioeconomic status, especially women's BMI for income and deprivation and men's height for education, income, and job class.


Smoking linked to shorter survival after motor neurone disease diagnosis

This study has demonstrated in a large population-based cohort of patients with ALS that cigarette smoking is an independent negative prognostic factor for survival, with a dose–response gradient.


Men develop diabetes at lower BMIs than women

Men are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at lower BMI than women across the age range.


Researchers at King’s College London have used cells found naturally in the body, to re-educate the immune system to prevent rejection of an organ transplant while remaining capable of fighting infections and cancer.

In a humanized mouse model of alloimmune-mediated injury of human skin grafts, alloantigen-specific Tregs resulted in a significant reduction in clinically relevant indicators of dermal tissue injury when compared with polyclonal Tregs, restoring a histology comparable to healthy skin.


Scientists at King’s College London have for the first time uncovered a gene responsible for Adams-Oliver Syndrome (AOS), a condition which can cause birth defects of the heart, limbs or blood vessels.

Constitutively active ARHGAP31 mutations result in a loss of available active Cdc42 and consequently disrupt actin cytoskeletal structures.


Parenthood is associated with a longer life than childlessness, particularly in older age, when health and capacity may start to decline, finds research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Having children is associated with increased longevity, particularly in an absolute sense in old age.


Once-weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) differ in their efficacy and safety profiles, according to new research by the University of Leicester.

Compared with other once-weekly GLP-1RAs, dulaglutide, 1.5 mg; once-weekly exenatide; and taspoglutide, 20 mg, showed a greater reduction of HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, and body weight.


A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Birmingham has identified a 21 day treatment threshold to facilitate renal recovery and significantly improve survival rates of myeloma or Kahler’s disease; a cancer of the bone marrow.

In conclusion, recovery of renal function in myeloma kidney depends on early reduction of serum FLCs, and this recovery associates with a significant survival advantage.


Littered cigarette butts may be an important source of metal contaminants leaching into the marine environment and potentially entering the food chain, suggests research published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

Considering the estimated number of cigarette butts littered annually, the results of this study indicated that considerable metals including Cd, Fe, As, Ni, Cu, Zn and Mn may enter the marine environment each year from cigarette litter alone.


Fair-skinned people who burn quickly in the sun may need to take supplements to ensure they get the right amount of vitamin D, according to a new study.

Sun exposure was associated with increased vitamin D levels, but levels more than 60 nmol/L were reached on average only in individuals reporting lengthy exposure (≥12 h/weekend).


The prevalence of smoking in China has fallen among women, but remains stubbornly high among men, reveals research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

The prevalence of smoking remained extremely high in men, but low and falling in Chinese women.


‘Friendly bacteria’ can play a role in helping to prevent high blood cholesterol levels, and support current treatment programmes for heart disease. This is the finding of a collaborative study between the University and probiotic manufacturer, Cultech Ltd.

This in vitro study identified L. plantarum CUL66 as a cholesterol lowering bacteria by highlighting its ability to beneficially regulate multiple in vitro events associated with intestinal cholesterol metabolism and provides evidence of efficacy for its inclusion in future in vivo studies.


More research to improve reliability is urgently needed, say experts Healthcare professionals have high variation in judgement when assessing the same claimant for disability benefits, finds a review published by The BMJ today.

Despite their common use and far reaching consequences for workers claiming disabling injury or illness, research on the reliability of medical evaluations of disability for work is limited and indicates high variation in judgments among assessing professionals.


Clues about how the human gut helps regulate our appetite have come from a most unusual source – fruit fly faeces.

We then identify a key homeostatic role for autonomic neurons and hormones, including a brain-gut circuit of insulin-producing neurons modulating appetite, a vasopressin-like system essential for fluid homeostasis, and enteric neurons mediating sex peptide-induced changes in intestinal physiology.


A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan for coronary heart disease is better than the most commonly-used alternative, a major UK trial of heart disease patients has shown.

The sensitivity and negative predictive value of CMR and SPECT differed significantly (p Interpretation CE-MARC is the largest, prospective, real world evaluation of CMR and has established CMR's high diagnostic accuracy in coronary heart disease and CMR's superiority over SPECT.


Listeners in a noisy situation benefit from facing slightly away from the person they are listening to, turning one ear towards the speech, concludes a study by Cardiff University, funded by UK charity Action on Hearing Loss (RNID).

Exploiting the benefit of head orientation is thus a robust hearing tactic that would benefit both NH listeners and CI users in noisy listening conditions.


Pets can help people manage their long-term mental health conditions, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry.

This study aimed to explore the role of pets in the support and management activities in the personal networks of people with long-term mental health problems.


Severe gum disease, known as periodontitis, may be an early sign of type 2 diabetes, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

The dental office, with particular focus on patients with severe periodontitis, proved to be a suitable location for screening for (pre)diabetes; a considerable number of suspected new diabetes cases were identified.


Researchers found that of the 235 women surveyed 27 per cent had shortness of breath and 26 per cent experienced nausea – both symptoms which can be managed with medication.

Despite improvements in treatment and survival of women with metastatic breast cancer, this group reports high symptom burden and dissatisfaction with elements of their care, indicating that alternative models of service delivery should be explored.


Laws limiting alcohol sales may have measurable public health effects

Greater access to alcohol was associated with more atrial fibrillation and less myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure, although an increased risk of congestive heart failure was seen shortly after alcohol sales were liberalized.


RP Genome Project research discovers 6 faults in the REEP6 gene that affect families in the UK and USA

Human 3D organoid optic cups were used to investigate REEP6 expression and confirmed the expression of a retina-specific isoform REEP6.1, which is specifically affected by one of the frameshift mutations.


The work, published in the open access journal Genome Medicine, examined variations in composition and function of the gut microbiota in relation to existing clinical T2D indicators like Body Mass Index (BMI) or Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS, the amount of glucose found in the blood after an overnight fast). The researchers showed that changes in the gut microbiota that can be observed in clinical T2D are already present at sub-clinical and pre-onset stages of the condition. The ability to detect changes like this before T2D symptoms develop might be useful for early diagnosis and intervention, thus providing a new way to potentially reduce the time between detection of T2D and onset and thus mitigate the effects of the disease.

We found changes both in composition and in function of the sub-clinical gut microbiome, including a decrease in Akkermansia muciniphila suggesting a role prior to the onset of disease, and functional changes reflecting a response to oxidative stress comparable to that previously observed in chronic T2D and inflammatory bowel diseases.


'Sensitivity gene' predicts CBT benefit for children

Children with the short-short genotype were significantly more likely to respond to CBT than those carrying a long allele.


Children taught to read at seven still learn at same pace as a four year old

The younger children showed similar, and in some cases, better progress in literacy than the older children; this was attributed to more consistent and high-quality synthetic phonics instruction as is administered in standard schools.


Siblings of people with autism show a similar pattern of brain activity to that seen in people with autism when looking at emotional facial expressions.

The response in unaffected siblings did not differ significantly from the response in autism.


Gender-specific differences between the levels and structures of proteins present in the white matter and the mitochondria of the brains of men and women suffering from dementia have been revealed for the first time in a study published in the open access journal Molecular Brain.

Our study demonstrates that gender-linked modulation of white matter and mitochondria proteomes influences neuropathology of the temporal lobe in AD + CVD.


University of Leicester research team leads new study strengthening therapeutic potential for dietary interventions

We conclude that enhancing the availability of NAD + by either the use of a diet supplemented with NAD + precursors or the inhibition of NAD + -dependent enzymes, such as PARPs, which compete with mitochondria for NAD + , is a viable approach to preventing neurotoxicity associated with mitochondrial defects.


People who use commonly prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat pain and inflammation could be raising their risk of having a heart attack, as early as in the first week of use and especially within the first month of taking high doses of such medication, suggests a study in The BMJ this week.

All NSAIDs, including naproxen, were found to be associated with an increased risk of acute myocardial infarction.


The number of people in the UK with type 2 diabetes has trebled over the last two decades, concludes a study led by Cardiff University.

The prevalence of diagnosed Type 2 diabetes trebled in the UK between 1991 and 2013.


A short burst of vigorous physical activity like running and jogging is important for building bones in children, whereas more gentle exercise like walking, even for a longer period, has little effect.

Vigorous day-to-day PA is associated with indices of BMC(C) and geometry in adolescents, whereas light or moderate PA has no detectable association.


Using information collected in a liver biopsy study, researchers at Cardiff University have developed a method of determining the onset of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) through the analysis of lipids, metabolites and clinical markers in blood.

A score based on MS (glutamate, isoleucine, glycine, lysophosphatidylcholine 16:0, phosphoethanolamine 40:6) and knowledge of AST, fasting insulin, and PNPLA3 genotype is significantly better than a score based on clinical or metabolic profiles alone in determining the risk of NASH.


A new study reveals that the progressive loss of lung function in asthma sufferers could be entirely independent of the effects of inflammation.

Bronchoconstriction without additional inflammation induces airway remodeling in patients with asthma.


Scientists from the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast and Almac Discovery Ltd have developed a new treatment for cancer which rather than attacking tumours directly, prevents the growth of new blood vessels in tumours, starving them of oxygen and nutrients, thereby preventing their growth.

FKBPL and its peptide derivative AD-01 have potent antiangiogenic activity.


Surgical patients with a history of migraines have a greater risk of stroke and readmission to hospital, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

Patients with migraine were at increased risk of perioperative ischemic stroke (adjusted odds ratio 1.75, 95% confidence interval 1.39 to 2.21) compared with patients without migraine.


Medical Research Council-funded University of Leicester study shows folinic acid can protect neurons in fruit flies

We show that an FiA-enriched diet begun at early to middle stages of adulthood prevents the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons observed in pink1 mutants.


Antibiotics can still kill drug-resistant bacteria if they 'push' hard enough into bacterial cells, finds new UCL-led research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

We examined the surface forces generated by four antibiotics; vancomycin, ristomycin, chloroeremomycin and oritavancin against drug-susceptible and drug-resistant targets on a cantilever and demonstrated significant differences in mechanical response when drug-resistant targets are challenged with different antibiotics although no significant differences were observed when using susceptible targets.


New research could help in the treatment of kidney disease

An HLA-DQA1 allele on chromosome 6p21 is most closely associated with idiopathic membranous nephropathy in persons of white ancestry


The UK’s failure to fortify flour with folic acid has caused around 2000 avoidable cases of

Failure to implement folic acid fortification in the UK has caused, and continues to cause, avoidable terminations of pregnancy, stillbirths, neonatal deaths and permanent serious disability in surviving children.


Group therapy helps MS sufferers cope with depression, study finds

Patients receiving treatment were less distressed and had less depression and anxiety.


Mom's high-fat diet may have a lasting impact on baby's gut

Similar to the primate, independent of maternal body mass index, a maternal high-fat diet is associated with distinct changes in the neonatal gut microbiome at birth which persist through 4–6 weeks of age.


Women with dementia have fewer visits to the GP, receive less health monitoring and take more potentially harmful medication than men with dementia, new UCL research reveals.

People with dementia, in particular women, appear to receive less primary healthcare, but take more psychotropic medication that may negatively impact their physical health.


All three are early life factors which can be modified and the research highlights the possibility that prompt intervention could have an impact in curbing the growth in childhood overweight and obesity.

Several potentially modifiable early life factors including smoking in pregnancy, skipping breakfast, and bedtime routines were important predictors of BMI development in the overweight and obese range, and high BMI growth was linked to worse psychosocial well-being.


Researchers are one step closer to understanding how an individual’s genetic make-up predisposes them to Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a common auto-immune arthritis which causes pain and stiffness of the spine, and in serious cases, progressive fusion of the vertebrae and other affected joints.

Here we report the identification of three variants in the RUNX3, LTBR-TNFRSF1A and IL12B regions convincingly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (P -8 in the combined discovery and replication datasets) and a further four loci at PTGER4, TBKBP1, ANTXR2 and CARD9 that show strong association across all our datasets (P -6 overall, with support in each of the three datasets studied).


A study published by The BMJ today finds no increased risks to newborn babies if their mothers have taken drugs to prevent or treat influenza during pregnancy.

This large multinational register study found no increased risks of adverse neonatal outcomes or congenital malformations associated with exposure to neuraminidase inhibitors during embryo-fetal life.


Teen vaping acts as a "one way bridge" to future smoking among those who have never smoked before, and may not stop those who have smoked before from returning to it, concludes a small US study, published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

Vaping as a risk factor for future smoking is a strong, scientifically-based rationale for restricting youth access to e-cigarettes.


The first new asthma pill for nearly 20 years has the power to significantly reduce the severity of the condition, a study led by the University of Leicester has found.

Interpretation Fevipiprant reduces eosinophilic airway inflammation and is well tolerated in patients with persistent moderate-to-severe asthma and raised sputum eosinophil counts despite inhaled corticosteroid treatment.


The antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection might inadvertently be boosting gay/bisexual men's susceptibility to the bacteria responsible for syphilis, Treponema pallidum, conclude researchers in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

HAART agents have the potential to alter the innate and acquired immune responses in ways that may enhance susceptibility to T. pallidum .


To address this problem and to investigate the current understanding of chikungunya-dengue co-distribution, the study, led by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, created global maps that represent the geographical spread of both viruses, identifying their current geographical limits, as well as countries at risk of future infection.

Maps generated from the newly compiled lists of the geographic distribution of both pathogens and vectors represent the current geographical limits of chikungunya and dengue, as well as the countries/territories at risk of future incursion by both viruses.


About half of obese individuals in a working population in Spain are metabolically healthy - they are obese but do not present metabolic abnormalities like disturbed insulin signaling or inflammation, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

The prevalence of individuals with a MHO phenotype in the working population is high.


A period of controversy over the risks and benefits of statins, covered widely in the UK media, was followed by a temporary increase in the number of people stopping their statin treatment, finds a study in The BMJ today.

A period of intense public discussion over the risks: benefit balance of statins, covered widely in the media, was followed by a transient rise in the proportion of people who stopped taking statins.


Diseases of the immune system such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis could be treated by a gas produced naturally by the body, scientists at the University have found.

NO may therefore represent an important endogenous regulator to prevent overexpansion of Th17 cells and control of autoimmune diseases caused by environmental pollutants.


Psychologists at the University of Birmingham have discovered that focussing on eating lunch and paying great attention to the food can reduce snacking in the afternoon, according to research published in the journal Appetite.

These results suggest that enhancing meal memory by paying attention to food while eating can reduce later intake and are consistent with the suggestion that memory plays an important role in appetite control.


Older people newly prescribed sleeping pills like benzodiazepines and ‘Z-drugs’ have over double the odds of a hip fracture in the first two weeks compared with non-users, according to a new study by researchers at Cardiff University and King’s College London.

There is strong evidence that both BNZ and Z-drugs are associated with an increased risk of hip fracture in the older person, and there is little difference between their respective risks.


Eight genes which control levels of the main steroid produced by the adrenal gland, believed to play a role in ageing and longevity, have been uncovered by an international consortium of scientists, co-led by King’s College London.

Several SNPs were associated with changes in gene expression levels, and the related genes are connected to biological pathways linking DHEAS with ageing.


A study published by The BMJ today provides more details of an association between Zika virus infection in the womb and a condition known as arthrogryposis, which causes joint deformities at birth, particularly in the arms and legs.

The arthrogryposis was unrelated to the abnormalities of the joints themselves, but was possibly of neurogenic origin, with chronic involvement of central and peripheral motor neurones leading to deformities as a result of fixed postures in utero.


In a paper published in the journal Cell Death and Differentiation, the team discovered that a gene called ATF4 plays a key role in Parkinson’s disease, acting as a ‘switch’ for genes that control mitochondrial metabolism for neuron health.

Our findings show a central contribution of ATF4 signalling to PD that may represent a new therapeutic strategy.


Household smoke increases severity of bronchiolitis in babies

Low admission weight and householder tobacco smoking increased the risk of severe bronchiolitis in infants admitted to hospital.


Community-led regeneration in deprived neighbourhoods can improve the mental health of residents, concludes research by Cardiff University.

These results show the targeted regeneration of deprived neighborhoods can improve mental health.


Researchers at the University of Leicester have solved the three-dimensional structure of a gene repression complex that is known to play a role in cancer

An EM structure, supported by SAXS and crosslinking, reveals the architecture of the dimeric HDAC1:MTA1:RBBP4 assembly which forms the core of the NuRD complex.


Children under the age of 6 are four times as likely to end up in hospital after contact with laundry pod detergent as children exposed to other types of detergent, finds research published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

A greater effort should be made to appropriately educate the public about the dangers of laundry detergents, specifically pods, so a safe home environment can be established.


New study finds a link between frequent tests and overtreatment of the condition

Compared with guideline recommended testing, excessive testing was associated with treatment intensification (odds ratio 1.35 (95% confidence interval 1.22 to 1.50)).