news 2018

Cardiff University has opened a brand new facility with the capacity to hold up to a million biological samples for medical research. The Cardiff University Biobank , opened today by Health Secretary Vaughan Gething, will give researchers quick and easy access to biological samples to be used in research for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses.

Children who are the youngest in their classroom are more likely to be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) than their older classmates, finds a new global study co-authored by UCL. The research, published in the  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , systematically reviewed studies that examine the relationship between a child's age relative to their classmates and their chances of being diagnosed with, or medicated for, ADHD.

Only a small proportion of cases of dementia are thought to be inherited - the cause of the vast majority is unknown. Now. Why do some people get these diseases while others don't? We know genetics plays a part, but why do people with no family history develop the disease? Patrick Chinnery The findings suggest that for many people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, the roots of their condition will trace back to their time as an embryo developing in the womb.

Oxford scientists report exciting new insights into the structure and function of the brain using genetic information and detailed brain images from UK Biobank. The researchers took data from detailed MR images from 10,000 UK Biobank participants, which are freely available from the resource to researchers around the world, to examine thousands of different measurements of the brain.

The health and balance of the gut microbiota is important in the progression of a bacterial infection, according to new research. A new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published , found that disease-causing bacteria were taking signals from the host's gut microbiota in order to spread and progress the infection.

Scientists have created a 'window' into the brain, which enables researchers to watch in detail how human brain cells connect to each other. In the new study, led by Imperial College London in collaboration with a group from the University of Cambridge , researchers for the first time successfully transplanted human brain cells into a mouse brain, and watched how they grew and connected to each other.

A scientific breakthrough has revealed a new way that bacteria evolves, thought to be at least 1,000 times more efficient than any currently known mechanism. The insights will help scientists to better understand how superbugs can rapidly evolve and become increasingly antibiotic resistant. The research, led by the University of Glasgow and the National University of Singapore and , has found a previously unknown method of genetic transduction - the process through which bacteria begins to evolve into potentially deadly superbugs.

Scientists at UCL have designed a virtual modelling technique which can create highly detailed 3D models of individual cancerous tumours and simulate the delivery of drugs in order to predict their effectiveness. In the study, researchers acquired high-resolution images of surgically-resected tumours and used mathematical modelling to run detailed computational experiments.

The use of e-cigarettes among smokers has shifted from more affluent early adopters to being used more widely across all socioeconomic groups, according to new UCL research. The study, published today in  Addiction  and funded by Cancer Research UK, is the first of its kind to look at the use of e-cigarettes, which includes vape pens and vape mods, by socioeconomic groups at the population level.

10 October 2018 Every year, thousands of people in the UK are affected by stillbirth. The loss of a baby has many effects on parents and their families in the shortand long-term and care is often inconsistent. To address how to measure the impact of the care bereaved families receive, researchers from the University of Bristol are appealing to parents who have experienced a stillbirth to find out what impact the loss has had on their health.

More young people are choosing not to drink alcohol, and many others are drinking less, according to a UCL research team. The study, published in BMC Public Health , analysed a 10-year period of data from the annual Health Survey for England. Researchers found that the proportion of 16 to 24 year olds who don't drink alcohol increased from 18% in 2005 to 29% in 2015.

A patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), is set to be given a pioneering treatment, which has been developed by researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Prion Unit at UCL. CJD is a rare but devastating disease that causes brain damage and for which there is currently no treatment. It is always fatal and most patients sadly die within six weeks of diagnosis.

The first clinical trial of novel approach to modifying the progression of Alzheimer's disease has opened in London, led by UCL researchers. The study is being conducted at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Clinical Research Facility at the Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre at Queen Square, assisted by the Royal Free Hospital.

Positive results of the world's first gene therapy trial for a genetic cause of blindness known as choroideremia have been reported . The trial involved 14 patients receiving a single injection into the back of the eye of a virus containing the missing gene and began in 2011 at the Oxford Eye Hospital - part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

A study published used genetic data from nearly a million people across Europe and North America to highlight some of the key ways in which type 2 diabetes develops, and to find several genes which could be attractive targets for the creation of new therapeutic drugs.

A pan-European network to tackle problematic internet usage officially launches today with the publication of its manifesto, setting out the important questions that need to be addressed by the research community.

A small clinical trial has shown that a new drug has promise for targeting tumours in patients with an aggressive type of blood cancer. Multiple myeloma is a relatively rare type of cancer that develops in the bone marrow - the spongey tissue inside the bone where new blood cells are produced - often spreading to multiple sites within the body.

New research from King's College London suggests the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may have led to an increase in the rate of probable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among members of the UK Armed Forces. The results, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry today, estimate the overall rate of probable PTSD among current and ex-serving military personnel to be 6% in 2014/16, compared to 4% in 2004/6.

5 October 2018 The age-old adage "I'll sleep on it" has proven to be scientifically sound advice, according to a new study which measured changes in people's brain activity and responses before and after a nap. The findings, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, support the advice which suggests that a period of sleep may help weighing up pros and cons or gain insight before making a challenging decision.

The growing workload crisis in NHS primary care could be helped by a fleet of community health workers, a study shows. Published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine , the modelling study was led by researchers at Imperial College London.