Bedcovers which form a barrier to house dust mites appear to reduce asthma flare ups in children, according to new research conducted by the University of Manchester (University of Manchester, 2017). Mite allergy is one of the most common asthma triggers, and in partnership with viral infection can greatly increase hospital admission risk. In the … Continue reading Mite-proof bedcovers may reduce asthma flare ups in children

Research at Swansea University could help predict further attacks and detect problems in heart attack patients (BBC News, 2017). Scientists have analysed a cell found in heart scar tissue which could cause increased risk of cardiac arrest. Myofibroblasts cells in patients might increase the likelihood of an electrical “short circuit”. Professor Chris George said “Cells … Continue reading Swansea University research could predict further heart attacks

Researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Manchester have found a way to mimic the way cells in living organisms talk to the world around them by creating a synthetic receptor which can respond to chemical signals just like its natural equivalent (University of Bristol, 2017, University of Manchester, 2017). Professor Jonathan … Continue reading Synthetic receptor mimics the the way cells talk to the world around them

Researchers from the University of Liverpool and the Sichuan Antibiotics Industrial Institute have discovered a novel treatment for advanced prostate cancer which raises concerns about the way treatment is currently conducted (University of Liverpool, 2017). Professor Youqiang Ke, from the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Translational Medicine, led the research, published in Oncotarget, which focused … Continue reading New approach to treat advanced prostate cancer

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