Among people prescribed antipsychotics on the NHS for a diagnosis of severe mental illness, people from ethnic minority backgrounds and those from deprived areas in the UK are prescribed higher doses, according to an analysis led by UCL researchers. The researchers say their findings, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry and supported by Wellcome, do not confirm why some groups are prescribed higher doses, but raise concerns that certain groups may be given higher than necessary doses with associated risks of side effects.

University of Bath study warns CGMs can prompt harmful dietary changes and distort perceptions of health.

Enhancing levels of 'healthy fats' like omega-3s in the brain could be beneficial in motor neurone disease (MND) finds a new study in fruit flies and brain cells, led by UCL researchers. Previous epidemiological studies have linked high dietary levels of omega-3 fatty acids - like those found in oily fish, nuts and seeds - with a lower risk of developing MND, and longer survival in people affected by the disease.

A new AI system could help prevent elephant poaching in Malaysia, according to researchers at Cardiff University. PoachNet is a new machine-learning tool designed by integrating deep learning, elephant GPS data, and elephant behavioural knowledge, to help predict and prevent poaching in Sabah. Cardiff University research from the School of Computer Science and Informatics and School of Biosciences used machine-learning and a smart database to create a system that can predict poaching risks.

The UK's new legal requirement for folic acid to be added to non-wholemeal wheat flour does not go far enough and a bolder policy would prevent hundreds more birth defects each year, say researchers including UCL's Professor Sir Nicholas Wald. In a new study, published in the , the research team argue that the evidence has been consistent that higher levels of folic acid fortification would prevent about 80% of neural tube defects - defects which result in life-threatening and disabling spinal conditions such as spina bifida and anencephaly.

A new service aimed at supporting older people who are starting to become frail, could reduce emergency hospital admissions by more than a third and save the NHS money, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The results from the clinical trial, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), evaluated the effect and cost-effectiveness of a new service, consisting of six personalised home-based visits from a support worker, tailored to each person to identify what they need to stay well and independent.

New research from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has identified a set of key recommendations to further improve canine health and welfare research in the UK. This includes the need for more efficient grant applications, stronger collaboration between funders and research institutions and the prioritisation of research that has direct welfare benefits for dogs.

A new study led by researchers from Oxford Population Health has shown that a range of environmental factors, including lifestyle (smoking and physical activity) and living conditions, have a greater impact on health and premature death than our genes. The researchers used data from nearly half a million UK Biobank participants to assess the influence of 164 environmental factors and genetic risk scores for 22 major diseases on ageing, age-related diseases, and premature death.

Biliary tract cancer is increasing in incidence and mortality across Europe, with more people under the age of 60 years-old now impacted by the disease. However, despite this, knowledge about these tumours remains low both among health professionals and authorities, as well as in society in general.

An unreleased system designed to assist researchers has the potential to "supercharge science", according to researchers. A partnership between Imperial, the Fleming Initiative , and technology giant Google gave scientists access to a powerful new artificial intelligence, designed to make research faster and more efficient.

A new psychological therapy designed by a team of UCL-led researchers has been found to reduce rates of violence and aggression among male offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), investigated whether aggression and antisocial behaviours could be improved by a modified form of mentalisation-based treatment (MBT).

The immune systems of cancer patients are highly disrupted, with those who have a higher number of immune cells in their blood having a better survival rate, finds a new study that uses a pioneering technique developed by researchers at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. The tool, described in Nature Genetics , is called Immune Lymphocyte Estimation from Nucleotide Sequencing (ImmuneLENS).

Researchers have developed comfortable, washable 'smart pyjamas' that can monitor sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea at home, without the need for sticky patches, cumbersome equipment or a visit to a specialist sleep clinic. We need something that is comfortable and easy to use every night, but is accurate enough to provide meaningful information about sleep quality Luigi Occhipinti The team, led by the University of Cambridge, developed printed fabric sensors that can monitor breathing by detecting tiny movements in the skin, even when the pyjamas are worn loosely around the neck and chest.

Older people have greater life satisfaction and sense of life's worth than they did before the Covid-19 pandemic, finds a new study led by a UCL researcher. The research, published in Aging and Mental Health , used the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to track 3,999 people over the age of 50 in England for 11 years.

Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smell 'woody,' 'spicy' and 'sweet', finds a new study led by researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana, revealing new details about mumification practices. The research, published in Journal of the American Chemical Society , is the first time that the smells of mummified bodies have been systematically studied combining a mix of instrumental and sensory techniques, including an electronic 'nose' and trained, human 'sniffers.' Nine ancient Egyptian mummified bodies were studied.

Researchers have decoded the signals between hand movements and the brain, paving the way for more natural-feeling prosthetics. In the study, published in Science Robotics , researchers unpicked the connections between hand movement patterns and the control patterns from motoneurons in the spinal cord.

Researchers have made the surprising discovery that a type of gut bacteria has evolved to use one of their enzymes to perform an important function after death. Darwin's theory of natural selection provides an explanation for why organisms develop traits that help them survive and reproduce. Because of this, death is often seen as a failure rather than a process shaped by evolution.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have found that young adults (aged 25-34) with learning disabilities are 9 times more likely to die from treatable causes, compared to young adults in the general population. New research, led by the team at the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory also found that, for adults of all'ages with learning disabilities, the risk of premature mortality is 3 times higher compared with adults in the general population.

Low-cost sensors and innovative techniques allowed researchers to discover that pollution levels in houses were higher and more variable than outdoor levels. People may be exposed to unhealthy levels of airborne pollutants inside their homes, even if the outdoor air quality is good, a new study reveals.

Schoolchildren who are taught that stress and sadness are normal parts of life are likely to have better mental health, finds a new study led by UCL and mental health charity, Anna Freud. The Education for Wellbeing trial, which was commissioned and funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and led by researchers from the Evidence Based Practice Unit (a collaboration between UCL and Anna Freud), investigated which strategies are most effective at improving the mental health awareness of British schoolchildren.