Inviting men with no symptoms to a one off PSA test for prostate cancer does not save lives, according to results from the largest ever trial conducted by Cancer Research UK-funded scientists based at the University of Bristol. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Researchers at the Universities … Continue reading Largest trial ever to investigate prostate cancer screening

Institutions that fail to report the results of their drug and medical trials will be named on a new website. The BBC reports Trials Tracker logs which clinical trials have missed deadlines for reporting their results in the US. Some pharmaceutical organisations have been accused of burying unfavourable drug and medical test results. Dr Ben … Continue reading Website names unreported drug trials

A study jointly led by the University of Birmingham and University of Edinburgh has revealed that a new scanning technology could almost halve the number of liver biopsies carried out on people with fatty liver disease. The University of Birmingham reports the authors of the study, which was also carried out in collaboration with the … Continue reading Scanning technology could halve number of liver biopsies

The realities of implementing alternatives to face to face GP consultations, such as telephone, email, online and video consultations, mean that hoped for reductions in GP workload and increases in available appointments might not be realised. NHS policy encourages general practices to introduce alternatives to face to face consultations as a way of increasing access … Continue reading Alternatives to seeing a GP unlikely to deliver benefits

Postnatal depression which persists beyond six months after birth and is severe, increases the risk of children exhibiting behavioural problems, achieving lower GCSE mathematics grades at sixteen years old and having depression at eighteen years old. Postnatal depression which is persistent (whether moderate or severe) increases mothers’ risk of continuing to experience depressive symptoms beyond … Continue reading Risks to children of persistent postnatal depression

Older patients who do not see the same GP over a period of time are at higher risk of emergency hospital admission than those who see the same or a small number of GPs, according to new research. The University of Bristol reports that its researchers, along with colleagues at the University of Oxford, found … Continue reading Not seeing the same GP increases hospital admission risk

New research published in Diabetic Medicine has shown that people with diabetes and an infected foot ulcer have worse outcomes than previously thought. In the first year after being seen at a clinic with an infected ulcer, 15.1% of study participants had died and 17.4% had had an amputation of part or all of their … Continue reading Outcomes for diabetic foot ulcers worse than thought

Two recent studies led by the University of Bristol provide significant new hope in the fight against antibiotic resistance. By identifying what makes some bacteria resistant to the most commonly prescribed antibiotics, and how this can be reversed, the findings have demonstrated potentially life saving consequences and could help reverse the tide of antibiotic resistance. … Continue reading Hopes of reversing antibiotic resistance

A new study published in Nature, conducted by an alliance between industry and academia involving the University of Liverpool, who reported on the study, has highlighted a new approach to targeting key cancer-linked proteins, which were thought to be undruggable. The majority of cancers have a faulty or inactive gene, p53, which allows them to … Continue reading Researchers drug the undruggable

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