Post Archive by Year

Some new research from UCL will be of interest to anyone who has epilepsy or knows someone with the condition, especially the parents of a child who has it. It shows how clever the brain is at protecting itself. Slow brainwaves that … Read More

Several people I know have had stents fitted and it’s changed their lives. A stent is a tiny tube-shaped device that helps keep narrowed blood vessels open, particularly the coronary vessels that supply the heart. A stent implanted in a … Read More

Problems with walking can affect about 90% of people with advanced Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, these walking disorders are often resistant to the treatments that are currently available. While searching for a solution, neuroscientists and neurosurgeons at the universities of Bordeaux, France, and … Read More

Loneliness is so bad for us it should come with a government health warning, and it’s only ­recently we have come to understand just how important it is to our health and wellbeing. Glasgow University researchers have painted quite a … Read More

Worldwide, one in 10 pregnant mums experience a dangerous increase in blood pressure. And about a third of them will develop the condition over the next 10 years, with a long-term risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure. How can we offset this future risk? … Read More

Three cheers for King Charles! Those are not words I thought would readily escape my lips – but the king’s preparedness to share his prostate with the nation is really rather wonderful. In this respect, as in many others, the King’s a good … Read More

The pancreas, a slim pad of ­tissue which sits in the curve of the small intestine under the stomach, performs two roles. For the first, its beta-cells produce insulin that regulates blood sugar. We need pancreatic beta-cells to survive. In … Read More

I did know about our main body clock in the brain that keeps our body systems working in unison but I was unfamiliar with the independent body clocks in our joints and spine. Manchester University researchers claim consistent patterns of daily ­exercise and rest … Read More

Remember all those lateral flow tests we used to do during the Covid pandemic and ­occasionally still do? Well, that useful technology has a life beyond Covid – it can detect brain tumours. A team at Nottingham Trent ­University is developing a simple test … Read More

Most patients would have something to say about how doctors speak to them – and not all of it ­flattering. Intuitively, we’d say good communication gets better results than bad. And fascinating ­research illustrates how doctors talk to patients with … Read More