Image copyright SPL The UK-based winners cracked the brain’s “reward centre” It influences your happiness, pleasure or motivation to do something But the system can go wrong turning people into addicts Three UK-based scientists have won a prestigious prize worth 1m euros for studying the brain’s reward centre. Their work helps understand our drive to […]
Image copyright Science Photo Library Image caption Individuals with autism have less activity in the amygdala (shown in red) Edinburgh University researchers hoping to develop new treatments for autism have received a £20m funding boost from a US philanthropic foundation. The Simons Foundation has given the cash for studies into the biological mechanisms that underpin […]
Image copyright SPL Image caption Healthy red blood cells are round, but the genetic defect makes them sickle shaped A French teenager’s sickle cell disease has been reversed using a pioneering treatment to change his DNA. The world-first procedure at Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris offers hope to millions of people with the blood disorder. […]
Image copyright stockvisual Safety at four in five hospital trusts in England is not good enough, a leading hospital inspector has warned. Professor Sir Mike Richards says that the NHS stands on a “burning platform” and that the need for change is clear. His warning follows a review which said staffing and overcrowding were major […]
Image copyright Thinkstock Two-thirds of women with extreme sickness in pregnancy are not given enough information or the drugs to treat it, charities say. In a survey of nearly 400 women with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), half also said accessing care was difficult. The illness is so bad for some that 1,000 wanted pregnancies are terminated […]
Media captionAbiageal only weighed 1.3lb (609g) when she had the operation A baby born four months early has been taken home by her parents after surviving pioneering surgery. Abiageal Peters was born at 23 weeks, weighing just over 1lb and suffering from a ruptured intestine. She became the youngest patient ever to be operated on […]
Image copyright Phoebe Grigor Image caption Ella was born to John Smith’s daughter, Catherine Smith When Catherine Smith’s daughter Ella was born prematurely at 28 weeks, she feared the worst would happen. Ella weighed just 1lb 10oz (737g) and was about the size of an adult’s hand. For weeks she was kept in an incubator. […]
Image copyright Sara Jonasson, KalmarPosten Image caption Anna Larsson decided to cut down the amount of sugar in her daughter’s diet, and was amazed by the result A Swedish mother’s successful stand against sugar has turned her into a social media sensation. Anna Larsson decided to cut out sweet treats after realising how bad her […]
Image copyright SPL Early warning signs may have been missed in up to one in six people who died of a heart attack in English hospitals, a study suggests. All heart attack admissions and deaths between 2006 and 2010 were analysed. Imperial College London researchers found 16% of those who died had been admitted to […]
Image copyright SPL Image caption Osteoporosis leads to thinning of the bones Drugs used to treat weak bones in elderly patients suffering from osteoporosis may actually make them weaker, research suggests. Scientists at Imperial College London examined the bone structure of hip-fracture patients who had been treated with bisphosphonates. They found evidence the drugs were […]
