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Focusing on rare conditions could significantly reduce the burden of kidney disease on both patients and the NHS, according to a major new study led by UCL and the UK Kidney Association. The study, published in The Lancet to mark World Kidney Day, draws on the largest rare kidney disease dataset ever created.

Children with acute malnutrition across Africa and Asia have a higher risk of treatment failure and malaria reinfection, even after being given the best currently available and recommended malaria treatment. Researchers from the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO) at Oxford University analysed data from over 11,000 young children for this study, published in Lancet Global Health .

A new study involving UCL researchers has found that better prostate cancer treatments could reach men almost two years earlier than is currently possible. Currently, it takes around 10 years for new treatments to be studied in large-scale trials. However, the new research showed that the length of time a man lives without his cancer progressing - known as progression-free survival - reasonably predicts how long he will eventually live ('overall survival').

Researchers at UCL and UCLH have successfully completed the first trial of a therapy designed to restore hearing loss. The REGAIN trial, the results of which were published in Nature Communications , was the first study of a treatment aimed at restoring lost hearing, focusing on a drug with the technical name gamma secretase inhibitor LY3056480.

People in the UK were treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy less often than in comparable countries and faced long waits for treatments, according to two new studies led by UCL researchers. For the two papers, published in The Lancet Oncology and part-funded by Cancer Research UK, an international team of researchers examined data from over 780,000 people with cancer diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 in four comparable countries (Australia, Canada, Norway and the UK).

The currently recommended five-day course of molnupiravir, an antiviral treatment, may not be long enough to treat COVID-19, according to a new paper involving UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Communications , was conducted as part of PANORAMIC, an ongoing clinical trial evaluating potential treatments for COVID-19.

A reusable vest that can map the electric impulses of the heart in fine detail could detect abnormalities from a potentially fatal heart disease much earlier than is currently possible, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology , found that an electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) vest, developed by Dr Gaby Captur at UCL, could detect electrical changes associated with an inherited heart muscle condition at a stage when standard tests do not pick up signs of disease.

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.