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A new marker that could be used to diagnose fatal breast cancer up to one year ahead of current methods has been identified in a study led by UCL. The study, published in Genome Medicine today, found that changes detected in a part of DNA which the researches named EFC#93 could suggest early signs of deadly breast cancer.

Physical fitness is associated with better cognitive performance in older adults with dementia, according to a new study from UCL. The positive effects were found to be independent of past levels of exercise and illness duration, suggesting it's never too late to benefit from good levels of physical fitness, even after the onset of dementia.

Dementia with Lewy bodies has a unique genetic profile, distinct from those of Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease, according to the first large-scale genetic study of this common type of dementia which was led by UCL. The genome-wide association study, conducted by a UCL-led collaboration of 65 academics in 11 countries and funded by Alzheimer's Society and the Lewy Body Society, is published today in The Lancet Neurology .

A UCL-led research team has identified a rare mutation that causes one family to have unusually low sensitivity to pain. The researchers hope the findings, published today in Brain , could be used to identify new treatments for chronic pain. They studied an Italian family, the Marsilis, which includes six people who have a distinctive pain response that has not been identified in any other people.

Social stress factors such as loneliness and being unemployed, in addition to conventional risks such as smoking and high blood pressure, are associated with higher risks of developing heart disease, according to a new UCL-led study. The study, published by PLOS Medicine this week, analysed cohort data from three eastern European countries and found that heart disease incidence is more likely among people who rarely see their friends and relatives, are single, unemployed, less wealthy, and have depression-like symptoms.

Two giant galaxies seen when the universe was only 780 million years old, or about 5% of its current age, have been identified by an international team involving UCL scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The latest observations push back the epoch of massive-galaxy formation and reveal that these uncommonly large galaxies are nestled inside an even larger cosmic structure, a halo of dark matter several trillion times bigger than the sun.

Rates of psychosis can be close to eight times higher in some regions compared to others, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL, King's College London and the University of Cambridge. The study, published today in JAMA Psychiatry , was the biggest international comparison of incidence of psychotic disorders, and the first major study of its kind in more than 25 years.

Storytelling promoted co-operation in hunter-gatherers prior to the advent of organised religion, a new UCL study reveals. The research shows that hunter-gatherer storytellers were essential in promoting co-operative and egalitarian values before comparable mechanisms evolved in larger agricultural societies, such as moralising high-gods.

Adolescents' non-alcoholic drinks preferences are strongly influenced by their own individual circumstances and lifestyle choices, but not by their families and home environment, according to a new UCL study. The study, published in Scientific Reports and funded by the Medical Research Council, is the first paper to establish the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences on liking for a range of common non-alcoholic beverages, in a large population-based sample of older adolescent twins.

HIV drug resistance is approaching and exceeding 10% in people living with HIV who are about to initiate or reinitiate first-line antiretroviral therapy, according to the largest meta-analysis to date on HIV drug resistance, led by researchers at UCL and the World Health Organization (WHO) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the WHO.

In stressed newborn babies, behaviour alone is not a reliable way of assessing pain, according to new UCL and UCLH research. The study, published today in Current Biology and funded by the Medical Research Council UK, found that hospitalised newborns, who are already stressed by their environment have a much larger pain response in their brain following a routine clinical skin lance than non-stressed babies.

The lifespans of flies and worms are prolonged by limiting the activity of an enzyme common to all animals, finds a UCL-led study. The enzyme - RNA polymerase III (Pol III) - is present in most cells across all animal species, including humans. While it is known to be essential for making proteins and for cell growth, its involvement in ageing was unexplored until now.

Marriage may lower the risk of developing dementia, concludes a UCL-led synthesis of the available evidence published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry . Lifelong singletons and widowers are at heightened risk of developing the disease, the findings indicate, although single status may no longer be quite the health hazard it once seemed to be, the researchers acknowledge.

An experimental therapy which involves a face-to-face discussion between a person with schizophrenia and an avatar representing their auditory hallucination may help reduce symptoms, when provided alongside usual treatment, according to a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. The randomised controlled trial compared the avatar therapy to a form of supportive counselling (adapted specifically for the study).

A cheap and widely used drug, used to treat conditions such as heartburn, gastritis and ulcers, could work against the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB), according to new research from UCL and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The study, published today in PLOS Medicine , found that people who used lansoprazole, as opposed to similar drugs omeprazole or pantoprazole, were a third less likely to develop TB.

A new simple test that helps predicts which people with type 2 diabetes will benefit most from weight loss surgery has been developed by a UCL-led team. The study, published today in Diabetic Medicine , also reports that keeping the weight off after bariatric surgery is more important than which type of weight loss operation was done.

Adolescents whose fathers have depressive symptoms are more likely to experience symptoms of depression themselves, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. While the link between mothers' depression and depression in their children is well-established, the new Lancet Psychiatry study is the first to find an association between depression in fathers and their teenaged children, independent of whether the mother has depression, in a large sample in the general population.

Machine learning could improve our ability to determine whether a new drug works in the brain, potentially enabling researchers to detect drug effects that would be missed entirely by conventional statistical tests, finds a new UCL study published today in Brain . "Current statistical models are too simple.

People excluded from mainstream society in high-income countries have a tenfold increased risk of early death, according to research from UCL, homeless health charity Pathway and an international team of experts. The researchers found the mortality rate among socially excluded groups including homeless people, people who sell sex, prisoners and people who use hard drugs, was nearly eight times higher than the population average for men, and nearly 12 times for women.

A team involving UCL scientists has developed a new device that could revolutionise our understanding of the brain by allowing researchers to map the activity of complex neural networks that control behaviour and decision making, in a way never before possible. The Neuropixels probes are described in a paper .