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A drug known as a "gene silencer" has shown promise in reducing hospitalisation and deaths from a devastating condition known as transthyretin (ATTR) cardiac amyloidosis, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalisation in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and also in those with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction (HFmrEF/HFpEF), according to new research.

The number of people with food allergy in the UK has more than doubled since 2008, with the largest increase seen in young children. In a new analysis, researchers from Imperial College London estimate that the number of people living with food allergies in England has increased significantly between 2008 and 2018.

The anti-obesity medication semaglutide may help to prevent heart attacks and other major adverse cardiac events among overweight people who have cardiovascular disease, whether or not they also have heart failure, according to a new study led by UCL's Professor John Deanfield. The results follow previous research* from the same international team finding that weekly injections of semaglutide were linked to a 20% reduction in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) such as heart attacks and strokes for people with obesity or who were overweight and had cardiovascular disease.

A ground-breaking study involving Kenyan sex workers has shone a light into the immune response to gonorrhoea, paving the way for more effective vaccines. Carried out by scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Oxford working in collaboration with the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Unity in Kenya, The findings come amid recent reports showing Gonorrhoea - a sexually transmitted disease - is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and could become untreatable in the future.

Scientists have discovered how the hospital superbug C.diff rapidly evolves resistance to the frontline drug used for treatment in the UK. Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), a type of bacteria which often affects people who have taken antibiotics, is responsible for approximately 2,000 deaths annually in the UK.

A special type of MRI scan where patients inhale 100% oxygen could result in lower radiotherapy doses for some cancer patients. The study led by scientists at The University of Manchester and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, could potentially benefit patients by using a technique called Oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (OE-MRI).

The discovery of new regulator-affecting immune cells could lead to novel treatments to reduce inflammation in diseases, including arthritis and severe COVID-19. The new research, carried out by a large collaboration including researchers at the University of Glasgow, focused on how immune cells sense their environment -activity that triggers responses which are finely balanced, to protect against disease and infection, and to reduce cell-damaging inflammation.

A drug prescribed for diabetes and weight loss has been shown to reduce brain shrinkage in Alzheimer's patients by almost 50%. The drug, called liraglutide, is one of the glucagon-like peptide receptor (GLP-1) agonists which also includes semaglutide - known as Wegovy or Ozempic - which are licensed for managing overweight and obesity and for type 2 diabetes.

The incidence of heart attacks and strokes was lower after COVID-19 vaccination than before or without vaccination, according to a new study involving nearly the whole adult population of England. This research further supports the large body of evidence on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, which has saved millions of lives worldwide Samantha Ip The study, published today in Nature Communications , showed that the incidence of arterial thromboses, such as heart attacks and strokes, was up to 10% lower in the 13 to 24 weeks after the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Infecting volunteers with malaria reveals why some get sick and others don't - and points to ways to induce stronger immunity through vaccination. A 'human challenge' study - purposefully infecting volunteers with malaria - has revealed crucial insights into how new, more effective malaria vaccines can be designed.

A new state of the art review, published in The Lancet , highlights the scale and impact of Long COVID. It explains biological mechanisms behind the condition and suggests priority areas for future research. In a new review paper , researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Leeds and Arizona, analysed dozens of previous studies into Long COVID to examine the number and range of people affected, the underlying mechanisms of disease, the many symptoms that patients develop, and current and future treatments.

A drug that is currently used for the treatment of psoriasis has been found to be effective in treating the early stages of type-1 diabetes in children and adolescents, finds a new clinical trial led by Cardiff University. The new study has shown that Ustekinumab, an established immunotherapy that has been used to treat psoriasis since 2009, is effective in preserving the body's ability to produce insulin in type-1 diabetes - bringing the goal of managing type-1 diabetes without insulin a step closer.

The new recombinant shingles vaccine 'Shingrix' is associated with a reduced risk of dementia compared to an earlier shingles vaccine, according to a major new study published in Nature Medicine . It is also more protective than vaccines against other infections.

University of Glasgow cancer scientists will play a leading role in a new research centre to help find a cure for the most aggressive form of brain cancer. The Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence is jointly funded by the charities Brain Tumour Research and Beatson Cancer Charity, and will be a unique collaboration based at laboratories at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh.

Markers in the blood that predict whether glaucoma patients are at higher risk of continued loss of vision following conventional treatment have been identified by researchers at UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital. Over 700,000 people in the UK have glaucoma and it is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.

Leading doctors and researchers have warned critical challenges in cancer care in the UK need to be urgently addressed by policymakers. In a review published in The Lancet Oncology , a team of UK cancer care professionals has outlined ten time-critical issues impacting the delivery of cancer care services by the NHS.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to identify drug resistant infections, significantly reducing the time taken for a correct diagnosis, Cambridge researchers have shown. The team showed that an algorithm could be trained to identify drug-resistant bacteria correctly from microscopy images alone.

One in five UK healthcare workers may not be fully immunised against measles, new research has found. In a letter published in The Lancet, a team of immunology experts led by Professor Alex Richter at the University of Birmingham examined measles immunity in two groups of healthcare workers (HCWs). The findings revealed that among a cohort of more than 400 HCWs, 13% of participants lacked measles antibodies, with a further 7.5% had borderline antibody status.

Hope for long-term antidepressant users as study shows half can come off drugs with simple support Nearly half of long-term antidepressant users can quit the drugs with GP support and access to internet or telephone helplines alone, a study has revealed. Scientists found that more than 40 per cent of people who were well and not at risk of relapse managed to come off the medication with advice from their doctors.