Despite progress in understanding the genetics of rare childhood epilepsies, the common adult forms of epilepsy have proven less amenable to traditional gene-discovery analyses (Swansea University, 2017). The Epi4K consortium of experts, which includes academics from Swansea University, decided to assess the contribution of genome-wide ultra rare genetic variation in the common epilepsies. The results … Continue reading Swansea University scientists take part in largest study into the genetics of common epilepsy

Cardiff University researchers have revealed the biggest barriers to people taking up running as exercise (Cardiff University, 2017). Cardiff University’s School of Healthcare Sciences investigated what motivated people to run.The barriers include people simply being too busy, safety fears over running alone, particularly among women, and concerns about running on busy roads. Study participants were … Continue reading Barriers to taking up running revealed

Aberystwyth University is launching a brand new Well-being and Health Assessment Research Unit (WARU) during an Open Day on March 15th (Aberystwyth University, 2017). The unit is located in Aberystwyth University’s IBERS (Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences) Carwyn James Building on the Penglais Campus, and scientists there will be undertaking research activity and … Continue reading Aberystwyth University opens new unit to promote health and wellbeing

A new Health and Wellbeing Academy which aims to give people more support to lead healthier lives is being officially opened today by Wales’ Health Secretary Vaughan Gething (WalesOnline, 2017). The academy offers a range of services, complementing those already being provided by the NHS. It includes an audiology department which provides hearing tests and … Continue reading Innovative new Health and Wellbeing Academy opens at Swansea University

Scientists have succeeded in cryogenically freezing and rewarming sections of heart tissue for the first time, in an advance that could pave the way for organs to be stored for months or years (The Guardian, 2017). If the technique scales up to work for entire organs, and scientists predict it will, it could save the … Continue reading Cryogenically frozen hearts could one day be used in transplants

Artificial mouse embryos grown from stem cells in a dish could help unlock secrets of early development and infertility (New Scientist, 2017). Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz at the University of Cambridge and her team made the embryos using embryonic stem cells, the type of cells found in embryos that can mature into any type of tissue in … Continue reading Artificial mouse embryos created in the lab

Researchers at Cardiff University have discovered genetic variation is the reason why some immune systems overreact to viruses (Cardiff University, 2017). Previous research had revealed that a gene called Ifitm3 influences how sensitive people are to influenza, with a variant form of the gene making cells more susceptible to viral infection. This new research reveals … Continue reading Genetic variation is the reason some immune systems overreact to viruses

A Bristol team has used a deep brain stimulation technique to dramatically reduce a woman’s high blood pressure, the first time in the world the procedure has been carried out for hypertension (University of Bristol, 2017). The case led by North Bristol NHS Trust consultant neurosurgeon Nik Patel working alongside researchers at the University of … Continue reading High blood pressure can be reduced with deep brain stimulation

The human whipworm, which infects five hundred million people and can damage physical and mental growth, is killed at egg and adult stage by a new drug class developed at the University of Manchester, University of Oxford and University College London (University of Manchester, 2017). Current treatments for human whipworm are based on nineteen sixties … Continue reading New drug class kills human whipworm

An international clinical trial conducted by the University of Liverpool has shown that the drug liraglutide 3.0 mg may reduce diabetes risk by 80% in individuals with obesity and pre-diabetes according to a study published in The Lancet (University of Liverpool, 2017). The three year SCALE obesity and pre-diabetes trial followed 2,254 adults with pre-diabetes … Continue reading New approach to reducing diabetes risk