news 2026

New research from The University of Manchester has shown that debates and resistance about wearing face masks go back a lot further than the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just over one in 10 deaths from a wide range of infectious diseases are associated with obesity worldwide, finds a major new study led by a UCL researcher. People with obesity face a 70% higher risk of hospitalisation or death from an infection than those of a healthy weight, suggest the findings published in The Lancet .

An understudied group of bacteria in our gut microbiome appears to play a central role in keeping us healthy, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. These are a fundamental and underappreciated component of human health. Alexandre Almeida In a huge global study led by University of Cambridge researchers, a single group of bacteria - named CAG-170 - has repeatedly shown up in high numbers in the gut microbiomes of healthy people.

Diabetes drugs that may soon be prescribed more widely in England could save thousands of lives each year, suggests a new study by researchers at UCL and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Last August the UK diabetes guideline committee at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) proposed SGLT-2 inhibitors alongside another drug, metformin, as a first-line treatment for people with type 2 diabetes.

A major study by UCL and Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan (INT) researchers has for the first time shown in detail how far children's cancer has spread at diagnosis in a way that can be compared between countries. While poorer survival following late-stage diagnosis is well recognised, the study is the first to show that differences in tumour stage at diagnosis may explain why childhood cancer survival varies between some European regions and tumour types.

In an article for the Institute of Alcohol Studies, Dr Sharon Cox (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) reports on new analysis finding that one in eight people who drink at increasing or higher-risk levels felt guilt or remorse after drinking in the past six months. Many people recognise the feeling.

A team led by UCL researchers with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and Moorfields Eye Hospital, found B cells-alongside T cells-play a key role in arthritis-related eye disease (JIA uveitis), a condition that can cause long-term vision loss in children. The study, funded by the Medical Research Foundation, Moorfields Eye Charity, Arthritis UK and Fight for Sight challenges how the disease has been previously understood, and could open the door to new treatments that help protect children's sight.

New study, funded by Tommy's, finds care for pregnancy loss in the second trimester varies across the UK Care, including medication, bereavement support and interventions during subsequent pregnancies varies across the UK and Ireland 'A clear care pathway needs to be established' to ensure equitable appropriate care is provided across all'healthcare providers The care that women receive following a miscarriage during the second trimester of pregnancy varies according to where in the UK and Ireland the woman is treated, new research shows.

Dr Darío Moreno Agostino (UCL Institute of Education) outlines his research into the mental health of baby boomers and generation X throughout their adulthoods, revealing persistent gender and socioeconomic inequalities and increased distress levels during the pandemic. It's been almost five years since the end of the COVID lockdowns.

Statins do not cause the majority of the conditions that have been listed in their package leaflets, including memory loss, depression, sleep disturbance, and erectile and sexual dysfunction, according to the most comprehensive review of possible side effects. The study was led by researchers at Oxford Population Health and published in The Lancet .

High levels of testosterone in the blood have been linked to a greater risk of coronary artery disease in men, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge.

Memory dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease may be linked to impairment in how the brain replays our recent experiences while we are resting, according to a new study in mice by UCL scientists. The researchers say their findings, published in Current Biology , could help scientists develop drug treatments targeting this impaired brain function, or help design new tests for early diagnosis.

Cambridge researchers have revealed a detailed picture of how the human brain grows from mid-pregnancy through the first weeks after birth and identified that sex differences in brain growth are apparent from mid-pregnancy onwards. This study addresses the age-old question of whether nature plays a role in shaping sex differences in the brain Alex Tsompanidis There has long been debate over exactly how early in human brain development sex differences first emerge, and what causes them.

New research reveals how Parkinson's spreads from the gut to the brain, with the help of immune cells - offering a new potential therapeutic strategy - in a study in mice led by scientists at the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL. Scientists have long theorised that Parkinson's may start in the gut.

Researchers find reducing salt in everyday foods could prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes A new study led by researchers in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences has found that if the UK food industry had met the government's voluntary 2024 salt reduction targets, substantial improvements could have been made in cardiovascular health, leading to major savings for the NHS - all without the public having to change their eating habits.

Researchers at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) have developed the first-ever lab-grown mini-stomach that contains the key components of the full-sized human organ. Known as a multi-regional assembloid, the pea-sized mini-stomach is the first to contain the fundic region (the upper portion of the stomach), the body (the central region where food is mixed with acid and enzymes), and the antrum (the lower part of the stomach that breaks down food before entering the small intestine).

A new University of Manchester and Edinburgh study published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity has found that people who have had a stroke have fewer of a specific type of immune cell called B cells, which normally produce antibodies to fight off infections. Surprisingly, the same compromising immune changes were seen when healthy B cells were exposed to noradrenaline - a chemical released by the body after stroke, but also during stress, illness, or intense physical activity.

The mpox virus appears to be circulating silently in parts of Nigeria, in many cases without the symptoms typically associated with the disease, according to new research led by scientists from the University of Cambridge and partners in Nigeria. The findings may have implications for controlling the spread of the disease.

Scientists seeking answers to the mystery of why cancer occurs in certain parts of the body and not others may have found a new way to tackle some hard-to-treat cancers. The research team focused on genetic faults that allow cancer to hijack a signalling system in the body which tells cells when, and when not, to grow.

Researchers have developed a wearable, comfortable and washable device called Revoice that could help people regain the ability to communicate naturally and fluently following a stroke, without the need for invasive brain implants. The device, whose development was led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, uses a combination of ultra-sensitive sensors and artificial intelligence to decode speech signals and emotional cues to allow people with post-stroke speech impairment to communicate naturally.