A pioneering scheme with English language learners has had a significant impact on their understanding of infectious disease. The project, published in Research for all, was a collaborative partnership between University of Manchester and University College London academics, Bolton College English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) tutors and their learners. The University of Manchester … Continue reading Language scheme improves understanding of health

Expecting GPs to use medical records to identify individual patients who are most vulnerable to cold weather is unrealistic, according to a study by researchers at the University of Bristol, UCL and the University of Birmingham. Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that GPs use existing data to identify … Continue reading It’s unrealistic to use data to identify winter death risks

A new study by experimental psychologists from the University of Bristol has examined whether cognitive bias modification (CBM) for facial interpretation, a digital health intervention that changes people’s perception for emotional expressions from negative to positive, might be useful in treating depression. The University of Bristol reports the study, published recently in Royal Society Open … Continue reading Are cognitive interventions useful in treating depression?

A clinical trial designed and co-ordinated by the University of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit to test an experimental drug in patients with head and neck cancer has launched today through the Combinations Alliance, a joint initiative between Cancer Research UK and the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMC) Network. The University of Birmingham … Continue reading Trial to improve treatment for head and neck cancer

Maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels may help to prevent the onset of inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, according to the University of Birmingham. The research also found that while Vitamin D can be effective at preventing the onset of inflammation, it is less effective once inflammatory disease is established because conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis … Continue reading Sufficient vitamin D may help prevent rheumatoid arthritis

A recently completed international study involving researchers from Swansea University, the University of Edinburgh and University College London has looked at clinical records, research, and regulatory frameworks to find out why useful health data is often not used, and to explore the implications of this for citizens and society. The Conversation reports that the researchers … Continue reading Problems that occur with health data non-use

The University of Manchester has reported that a Lancet commission of senior scientists has demanded root and branch reform of the way experimental therapies associated with regenerative medicine are carried out. The commission, led by cell biologist Professor Giulio Cossu from the University of Manchester, said the specialism is held back by poor quality science, … Continue reading Calls to improve regenerative medicine

The University of Bath has reported that, in new research from the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis, researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Bath’s Department for Health have identified that former elite, male rugby union players are at a greater risk of suffering from osteoarthritis, joint replacement … Continue reading High number of joint replacements in former rugby players

The University of Manchester has reported that a research team led by one of its professors has shown that a urine test, developed previously in Leicester, leads to a drop in blood pressure in people who had been struggling to regularly take their blood pressure lowering tablets. Professor Maciej Tomaszewski led the team from the … Continue reading Urine test shown to help lower blood pressure

A team of health economists has found a scheme launched by the Department of Health in 2011 to help patients stick to their drug regimens has been so successful, that in its first five years, it will save NHS England £517.6m in the long-term. Lead researcher Professor Rachel Elliott from the University of Manchester said … Continue reading New Medicine Service will save NHS England £517.6m