news 2024

A UCL-developed app that provides speech therapy for people with the language disorder aphasia has been found to significantly improve their ability to talk. iTalkBetter, developed by the Neurotherapeutics Group at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, provides users the digital platform to practice over 200 commonly used words, in their own time and without any limits on the amount of therapy they receive.

SARS-CoV-2 triggers the production of the antiviral protein IFN- ? , which is associated with fatigue, muscle ache and depression. New research shows that in Long COVID patients, IFN- y production persists until symptoms improve, highlighting a potential biomarker and a target for therapies. We hope that this could help to pave the way to develop therapies and give some patients a firm diagnosis Benjamin Krishna A University of Cambridge-led study identifies the protein interferon gamma (IFN- ?

A review has shed light on the groundbreaking advancements in the simulation of blood flow within the intricate vascular system that could transform medical treatment and device innovation for vascular diseases. Modelling vascular flow is crucial for understanding and treating vascular diseases, but traditional methods are labour and computationally intensive.

Overactivation of the immune system leading to circulation of inflammatory proteins around the body contributes to the development of long covid, and could be targeted to provide treatments for patients, finds new research. Cardiff University research has uncovered biological markers that could be targeted by repurposing medication to treat long covid.

Protein biomarkers predict dementia 15 years before diagnosis - according to new study In the largest study of its kind, scientists have shown how protein "biomarkers" predict dementia 15 years before diagnosis. The research, published today in Nature Aging, shows how profiles of proteins in the blood accurately predict dementia up to 15 years prior to clinical diagnosis.

FuncOmap directly maps the functional states of oncoproteins in patients' tumour sections, so that clinicians can predict which treatments will work best. Published on Friday 9 February 2024 Last updated on Monday 19 February 2024 Scientists have developed a new AI tool that maps the function of proteins in a cancerous tumour, enabling clinicians to decide how to target treatment in a more precise way.

A recently approved malaria vaccine could prevent hundreds of deaths and hundreds thousands of cases of the disease. Malaria vaccine R21/Matrix-M could prevent one death for approximately every 159 vaccinated children in settings with year-round malaria transmission and for every 153 vaccinated children in seasonal settings over 15 years, according to the modelling study.

Drugs commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The authors of the new Neurology paper found that men prescribed erectile dysfunction drugs were 18% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease years later. The study included 269,725 men who were diagnosed with erectile dysfunction and who did not have any memory or thinking problems at the start of the study.

Magic mushrooms, LSD and other psychoactive compounds may help to improve sexual function for months after the psychedelic experience. These are the findings of the first known scientific investigation into the effects of psychedelics on sex, which finds participants reported improvements across a range of measures for several weeks after an acute psychedelic experience.

First study tracking how NK cells respond in tumours found that stimulating the IL-15 pathway prevented the rapid loss of function and improved tumour control Some immune cells in our bodies see their 'killer instinct' restricted after entering solid tumours, according to new research. In a new paper published in Nature Communications , a team led by researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Cambridge found how immune cells called natural killer cells (NK cells) rapidly lose their functionality when entering and residing in tumours.

Changes to blood pressure over time could be used to identify patients at greatest risk of heart attack and stroke. These are the findings of a new analysis from the ASCOT study, led by researchers from Imperial College London and published today in the European Heart Journal. It reveals that patients with blood pressure that varies significantly from one doctor's visit to the next may be at greater risk of cardiovascular events compared to those with high blood pressure but low variability, and which is kept under control with medication.

Cambridge scientists may have discovered a new way in which fasting helps reduce inflammation - a potentially damaging side-effect of the body's immune system that underlies a number of chronic diseases. Our work adds to a growing amount of scientific literature that points to the health benefits of calorie restriction Clare Bryant In research published in Cell Reports , the team describes how fasting raises levels of a chemical in the blood known as arachidonic acid, which inhibits inflammation.

Digistain, a company with its roots at Imperial, has proven the worth of its breast cancer assessment method in a significant clinical trial. A method that rapidly predicts breast cancer survival rates, based on a technique invented at Imperial, has been successfully tested in a clinical validation study.

Cancer Research scientists have made an unusual discovery that could help to identify patients who are up to two and a half times more likely to respond to currently available cancer drugs. Cancer Research scientists have made an unusual discovery that could help to identify patients who are up to two and a half times more likely to respond to currently available cancer drugs.

A simple blood test could help diagnose patients with the deadliest form of brain cancer, sparing them from undergoing invasive, highly-risky surgery. In a world-first, the new technique has been proven for glial tumours including glioblastoma (GBM), the most commonly-diagnosed type of high-grade brain tumour in adults.

New research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has led to the UK government approving the use of digital pathology to help speed up analysis of cancer screening samples. This allows the benefits offered by digital pathology to be used to improve cancer screening particularly in bowel, breast, lung and cervical cancers.

Doctors might one day be able to target children and young people with arthritis most likely to be helped by its first-line treatment, thanks to the application of machine learning by University of Manchester scientists. Though methotrexate is the first-line drug to be given for Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), it is only effective or tolerated in half of the children and young people who receive it.

New research from the Dept of Psychology looked at physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms experienced by people taking antidepressants. Published on Tuesday 16 January 2024 Last updated on Tuesday 16 January 2024 Coming off antidepressants is known to trigger physical symptoms, such as restlessness, fatigue and excessive sweating, but new research suggests people can also experience emotional and social difficulties, and changes in their thinking patterns when they stop taking antidepressants like Prozac.

Recent SARS-CoV-2 variants such as BA.4 and BA.5 developed abilities missing from the first Omicron variants that allowed them to overcome humans' innate immunity, according to research from UCL. The study, published in Nature Microbiology , examined viral evolution in eight Omicron variants to better understand how the virus has reacted since the introduction of vaccinations 1 .

Between a third and a half of the populations of the four UK nations had not had the recommended number of COVID vaccinations and boosters by summer 2022, according to the first research study to look at COVID-19 vaccine coverage of the entire UK population. These results can be used to help create health policy and public health interventions to improve vaccine uptake Angela Wood The findings, published today in The Lancet , suggest that more than 7,000 hospitalisations and deaths might have been averted in summer 2022 if the UK had had better vaccine coverage.