news 2020

Industrial and vehicle pollution in the skies above East China's major cities is boosting the amount of atmospheric soluble iron particles - creating health risks for citizens, a new study reveals. Research indicates that acidic gases emitted from power generation, industry and vehicle exhausts are helping to dissolve insoluble iron particles in Beijing, Handan, Zhengzhou and Hangzhou.

The neurochemicals dopamine and serotonin are involved in perception, working at sub-second speeds to shape how people perceive the world and take action, finds a new study co-led by UCL researchers. The findings, published in Neuron , demonstrate for the first time in humans that two neurochemicals best known for their roles in reward processing also integrate people's perceptions of the world with their actions.

Scientists have developed a new 'Precision Medicine' approach to treating the damaged DNA in the cancer cells of Pancreatic Cancer patients. The findings mark an important step forward for potential treatment options for pancreatic cancer, improving the options and outcomes for a disease where survival rates have remained stubbornly low.

A University of Glasgow-led national centre for research into inflammatory arthritis is proud to announce it has awarded 12 PhDs in its first round of funding, creating a new cadre of young scientists trained in pathogenesis research to fight arthritis. The Research into Inflammatory Arthritis Centre Versus Arthritis (RACE), who received renewed funding of nearly £2m over five years from Versus Arthritis last August, is now in its second phase and will be appointing a further 12 PhD students shortly - seven PhD students will start this year, with five more to start in 2021.

About 24,000 more people died in Lombardy than expected between January and April, and only 14,000 of these deaths were confirmed as being related to Covid-19, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and Imperial College London. The study, published in PLOS ONE , looked at the number of deaths in each of the 7,251 local authority areas of Italy during the first four months of the year and compared these figures with predictions based on data from 2016-2019.

Asking people simple questions about their social situation in addition to medical measures will give a more accurate picture of who might have a heart attack in the future, finds a study led by UCL researchers. The study, published this week in the European Heart Journal , shows for the first time, that factors such as educational qualifications, employment, marital status, mental health, BMI and physical activity could be crucial in identifying who is most at risk of heart disease.

Athletes using legal performance enhancing and medical sport supplements are more likely to dope than those using sport foods and superfoods, a new study reveals. While some sport supplements may be necessary for an athlete's programme, taking ergogenic and medical sport supplements may inadvertently lead to sports people developing favourable attitudes towards doping Researchers at the University of Birmingham and Canterbury Christ Church University are calling for bespoke anti-doping education for athletes using such supplements to prevent them turning to banned substances.

The report brings together data from 32 studies, which evaluated a range of risk factors over an average follow up period of seven to ten years. Pregnancy complications, along with several other factors, including starting periods early, the use of combined oral contraceptives and early menopause are linked to a heightened risk of heart disease and stroke in later life, according to new analysis of data by a team of researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick and Queen Mary's University London, published today (Wednesday 7 October 2020) in the BMJ.

86% of people who tested positive for Covid-19 during lockdown did not have virus symptoms (cough, and/or fever, and/or loss of taste/smell), finds a study by UCL researchers. The authors say a more widespread testing programme is needed to catch 'silent' transmission. The study, which is published today in Clinical Epidemiology, used data from the Office for National Statistics Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey pilot study - a large population based survey looking at the association between Covid-19 symptoms and Covid-19 test results.

E-cigarette use among young people has fallen for the first time in Wales but declines in youth smoking have stalled, analysis from Cardiff University shows. The report is based on responses from 119,388 11-16 year-olds who took part in the School Health Research Network's (SHRN) 2019 Student Health and Wellbeing survey, one of the largest youth health surveys of its kind in the UK.

The study is an extension of previous work to establish convalescent immunity in NHS staff at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Healthcare workers who self-isolated after developing symptoms of COVID-19 were more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency, with workers from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds particularly affected, a new study by experts at the University of Birmingham has found.

A mathematician from Cardiff University has developed a new method for processing large volumes of COVID-19 tests which he believes could lead to significantly more tests being performed at once and results being returned much quicker. Dr Usama Kadri, from the University's School of Mathematics, believes the new technique could allow many more patients to be tested using the same amount of tests tubes and with a lower possibility of false negatives occurring.

Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much debate about the danger to hospital staff from anaesthetic procedures. Concerns include that placing a tube in the patient's airway (intubation) before surgery or removing it at the end (extubation) may produce a fine mist of small particles (called aerosols) and spread the COVID-19 virus to nearby staff.

Setting up 'COVID-19 free' hospital areas for surgical patients could save lives during the second wave of the pandemic - reducing the risk of death from lung infections associated with coronavirus, a new global study reveals. Researchers working together in Brazil and beyond found that that patients who had their operation and hospital care in 'COVID-19 free' areas had better outcomes.

Boys and girls who experience puberty earlier than their peers have an increased risk of self-harm in adolescence, a study funded by the National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC) and published in the journal Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences today [Tuesday 6 October] has found.

At least 38% of older adults in psychiatric wards in London were infected with COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research team reports in The Lancet Psychiatry that 15% of infected patients (19 people) in the mental health wards died from the illness.

Imaging techniques could replace the need for invasive tissue biopsies in helping rapidly determine whether cancer treatments are working effectively, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. Currently, patients can wait a long time to find out if a treatment is working.

Numerous animals may be vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, according to a large study modelling how the virus might infect different animals' cells, led by UCL researchers. The study, published in  Scientific Reports , reports evidence that 26 animals regularly in contact with people may be susceptible to infection.

Small, close-knit communities are at high risk for rapid, intense COVID outbreaks especially if they haven't yet experienced outbreaks of COVID-19, shows a new study by the University of Oxford and Northeastern University, Boston. The paper, published today , shows that whether COVID outbreaks come to a fast, dramatic peak or whether they are long and drawn-out is more closely related to city layout and social structures than city size and density.

Bristol is part of a major new international project to improve our understanding of severe coronavirus infection in humans. The study, funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will analyse samples from humans and animals to create profiles of various coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.