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A medication, commonly used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, has been found to significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular death in patients with heart failure. A team of international researchers also found that the same drug was able to reduce worsening heart failure. Two linked studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Nature Medicine, and delivered at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2022 in Barcelona, looked at the benefits of prescribing the drug dapagliflozin (Farxiga) to patients with heart failure.

A national study led by UCL researchers is investigating whether a readily available anti-sickness drug could treat dementia-related hallucinations. The Trial of Ondansetron as a Parkinson's HAllucinations Treatment, or TOP HAT study, is now recruiting volunteers across England, Scotland and Wales to evaluate whether ondansetron, an anti-sickness drug used in the NHS for cancer patients, could also be used for treating hallucinations in people with Lewy body dementia or Parkinson's disease.

Two drugs, eszopiclone and lemborexant - both not currently licenced for the treatment of insomnia in the UK - were shown to perform better than others, both in the acute and long-term treatment of insomnia in adults, according to a new Oxford study exploring the pharmacological management of insomnia.

Children in the UK and Republic of Ireland who are diagnosed with Wilms tumour - the most common children's kidney cancer - are less likely to survive without relapse than those in Germany and France due to later diagnosis, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in JCO Global Oncology , compared tumour size and stage of cancer at diagnosis with survival chances of 3,176 children with Wilms tumour.

A new study has found that a highly antibiotic-resistant strain of the superbug MRSA - methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus - has emerged in livestock in the last 50 years, probably due to widespread antibiotic use in pig farming. Cases of livestock-associated MRSA in humans are still only a small fraction of all MRSA cases in human populations, but the fact that they-re increasing is a worrying sign.

A new path to help stop the spread of antibiotic resistance has been uncovered by a team led by UCL and Birkbeck researchers, in a move that could impact the lives of millions globally. The pioneering research the structure of the transport apparatus that enables the spread of antibiotic resistant genes between bacteria.

New research co-led by scientists at UCL, found that existing drugs modifying the effect of the hormone progesterone, such as mifepristone, could reduce the risk of aggressive "triple negative" breast cancer in women with an alteration of the BRCA1 gene. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is most common in women who have a BRCA1 mutation and this type of cancer affects 13 in every 100,000 women.

Digital interventions that help people take their asthma medication better, such as 'smart' inhalers or text messages, may cut the risk of asthma attacks by half, finds a new review of evidence led by UCL, Queen Mary University of London, and University of Auckland researchers. The new Cochrane Review paper found that digital interventions improve medication adherence by 15% and can yield a clinically-significant improvement in asthma control.

Many ethnic minority patients in England with the most common form of atrial fibrillation (AF) are not being prescribed the blood thinners they need to lower their risk stroke, according to data scientists at The University of Manchester. The study compared recommended treatment (oral anticoagulation such as warfarin), less effective treatment (aspirin), and no treatment.

Millions of patients with incurable breast cancer could benefit from new Welsh-led research. A clinical trial by Cardiff University, Velindre University NHS Trust and AstraZeneca, found a combination of drugs could help prolong the lives of patients with incurable disease. The findings were presented at the world's biggest cancer conference in Chicago last weekend and published simultaneously in the Lancet Oncology journal.

A correlation between a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and a small but significant rise in cases of the serious neurological condition Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), has been identified by UCL scientists, as part of an analysis of NHS data. However, researchers say it remains unclear what the cause of the link is; furthermore the small numbers of GBS cases observed appear similar to increases previously seen in other mass vaccination campaigns.

New research has found that Pseudomonas bacterium develops resistance much faster than usual to a common 'last-resort' antibiotic. A study published today in Cell Reports reveals how populations of a bacterium called Pseudomonas respond to being treated with Colistin, a 'last resort' antibiotic for patients who have developed multi-drug resistant infections.

The UK Coronavirus Cancer Evaluation Project has delivered the world's largest analysis of the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on people with cancer.

One in eight people who were hospitalised with COVID-19 between May 2020 and March 2021 were later diagnosed with myocarditis, or heart inflammation, according to major new research into the clinical long-term effects of COVID-19. The largest study of its kind to date was led by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC), and followed for one year, in real time, 159 patients after they were hospitalised with COVID-19.

New reporting guidelines, jointly published and the BMJ by Oxford researchers, will ensure that early studies on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to treat real patients will give researchers the information needed to develop AI systems safely and effectively. Artificial Intelligence in medicine has shown promising results in numerous simulation studies, but very few AI systems have yet been used in patient care.

Antibiotics given to women before a caesarean birth have no effect on the risk of early childhood conditions, such as asthma or eczema, suggests a study by researchers at the Universities of Warwick and Birmingham. The research, published today (18 May 2022) in The BMJ, and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, provides further evidence to support recommendations made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Home and lifestyle activities are major contributors to water quality. Social interventions may provide the most sustainable solution. Household and lifestyle activities are key contributors to water quality, according to new research from the University of Bath. Social interventions - such as social prescribing - may provide a more sustainable solution to this problem than improvements to wastewater treatment processes.

Krill oil may be beneficial to muscle function and size in healthy people over the age of 65, according to new research. The study - led by the University of Glasgow's Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences (ICAMS) and published in Clinical Nutrition - found that krill oil supplementation of four grams per day could have beneficial effects on skeletal muscle function and size in this age group.

Talking therapies may improve symptoms of depression for people with dementia, finds a new review led by UCL researchers, providing hope for a group who typically do not benefit from antidepressants. Feelings of anxiety and depression are common in people living with dementia and mild cognitive impairment, but the best way to treat these symptoms is currently unknown, as medicines often used to treat these symptoms may not be effective for people with dementia and may cause side effects.

Scientists from Cardiff University have detailed the molecular make-up of the fatty outer envelope of SARS-CoV-2 for the first time - and say it could prove an important new target for antivirals. The team's work on the viral lipid envelope showed it had significant differences to healthy host cell membranes, suggesting the potential for it to be selectively targeted.