46 minutes agoShareSaveTiffany WertheimerShareSavePA MediaPregnant women should ignore Donald Trump’s claims that taking paracetamol could lead to their child having autism, the UK’s health secretary has said.”I trust doctors over President Trump,” Wes Streeting told ITV’s Lorraine programme, adding that expectant mothers should not pay “any attention whatsoever” to the US president’s unfounded claims.It comes after Trump said that the pain reliever Tylenol, known as paracetamol in the UK, “is no good” for pregnant women to use, citing a disputed link between the drug and autism.Medical experts have strongly pushed back, and health officials in the UK have stressed that paracetamol remains the safest painkiller available to pregnant women. On its website, the NHS says it is “the first choice of painkiller if you’re pregnant. It’s commonly taken during pregnancy and does not harm your baby.”Aspirin and ibuprofen are not normally recommended because these drugs can affect the baby’s circulation. Untreated fever in pregnancy can also be potentially harmful in pregnancy.On Monday, Trump announced that doctors in the US would be advised not to prescribe Tylenol to pregnant women, who, he said, should “fight like hell not to take it”.However, on Tuesday morning, Streeting said: “I’ve just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None.”He cited a major Swedish study last year involving 2.4 million children, which found no link between the drug and autism.”Don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine,” Streeting said, urging people to instead listen to British doctors, scientists and the NHS.Health authorities were quick to denounce Trump’s claims. The UK’s National Autistic Society, which represents autistic people and their families, criticised him for spreading misinformation and “fearmongering”.”This is dangerous, it’s anti-science and it’s irresponsible,” said the organisation’s Mel Merritt in a strongly worded statement. The Trump administration is “peddling the worst myths” and “undermining decades of research by respected experts in the field”, she added.Getty ImagesTrump’s announcement follows a review of research in August, led by the dean of Harvard University’s Chan School of Public Health, which found a potential association, meaning that children may be more likely to develop autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders when exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy. But there may be other explanations for that link.The team analysed 46 older studies, of which 27 reported a link between the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in the painkiller, and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and ADHD. But others they looked at showed no significant link.The authors said that more research was needed to confirm the findings, but recommended cautious time limited use of the drug. They also recognised that it was still important for treating maternal fever and pain.Another study conducted in Japan earlier this year found a small increased risk of autism linked to acetaminophen. But it said “misclassification and other biases may partially explain these associations”.But the Swedish study last year found no evidence to support a casual link between autism and acetaminophen.The widely held view of researchers is that there is no single cause of autism, which is thought to be the result of a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors.In a statement to the BBC, Tylenol maker Kenvue said the science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. “We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers.”Monique Botha, a professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University, said the “fearmongering” could stop women from seeking appropriate care during their pregnancy.”There is no robust evidence or convincing studies to suggest there is any causal relationship,” the professor said, adding that paracetamol is a “a much safer pain relief option during pregnancy than basically any other alternative”.Echoing this, Professor Claire Anderson, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said that the drug has been “used safely by millions of people for decades, including during pregnancy”. In the US, the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists disputed the link made by Trump, and said there is “no clear evidence that proves a direct relationship” between the use of acetaminophen and foetal developmental issues.Dr Steven Fleischman said the claim “dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children”.In a notice to doctors, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said professionals should consider limiting the use of Tylenol, while also taking into account that it is the safest over-the-counter option to treat fever and pain in pregnant women, which can also harm maternal and foetal health.”To be clear, while an association between acetaminophen and autism has been described in many studies, a causal relationship has not been established and there are contrary studies in the scientific literature,” the FDA wrote.Speaking alongside Trump, US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said the FDA would also begin the process of initiating a safety label change on the medication and launch a public health campaign to spread awareness.In the past, Kennedy has offered debunked theories about the rising rates of autism, blaming vaccines despite a lack of evidence.Trump has also promoted unsubstantiated medical claims, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Routine blood samples, such as those taken daily at any hospital and tracked over time, could help predict the severity of an injury and even provide insights into mortality after spinal cord damage, according to a recent University of Waterloo study.
The research team utilized advanced analytics and machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, to assess whether routine blood tests could serve as early warning signs for spinal cord injury patient outcomes.
More than 20 million people worldwide were affected by spinal cord injury in 2019, with 930,000 new cases each year, according to the World Health Organization. Traumatic spinal cord injury often requires intensive care and is characterized by variable clinical presentations and recovery trajectories, complicating diagnosis and prognosis, especially in emergency departments and intensive care units.
“Routine blood tests could offer doctors important and affordable information to help predict risk of death, the presence of an injury and how severe it might be,” said Dr. Abel Torres Espín, a professor in Waterloo’s School of Public Health Sciences.
The researchers sampled hospital data from more than 2,600 patients in the U.S. They used machine learning to analyze millions of data points and discover hidden patterns in common blood measurements, such as electrolytes and immune cells, taken during the first three weeks after a spinal cord injury.
They found that these patterns could help forecast recovery and injury severity, even without early neurological exams, which are not always reliable as they depend on a patient’s responsiveness.
“While a single biomarker measured at a single time point can have predictive power, the broader story lies in multiple biomarkers and the changes they show over time,” said Dr. Marzieh Mussavi Rizi, a postdoctoral scholar in Torres Espín’s lab at Waterloo.

The models, which do not rely on early neurological assessment, were accurate in predicting mortality and the severity of injury as early as one to three days after admission to the hospital, compared to standard non-specific severity measures that are often performed during the first day of arrival to intensive care.
The research also found that accuracy increased over time as more blood tests became available. Although other measures, such as MRI and fluid omics-based biomarkers, can also provide objective data, they are not always readily accessible across medical settings. Routine blood tests, on the other hand, are economical, easy to obtain, and available in every hospital.
“Prediction of injury severity in the first days is clinically relevant for decision-making, yet it is a challenging task through neurological assessment alone,” Torres Espín said. “We show the potential to predict whether an injury is motor complete or incomplete with routine blood data early after injury, and an increase in prediction performance as time progresses.
“This foundational work can open new possibilities in clinical practice, allowing for better-informed decisions about treatment priorities and resource allocation in critical care settings for many physical injuries.”
The study, Modeling trajectories of routine blood tests as dynamic biomarkers for outcome in spinal cord injury, was published in Nature’s NPJ Digital Medicine Magazine.

2 hours agoShareSaveShareSaveGetty ImagesUS President Donald Trump has claimed there is a link between the use of painkiller Tylenol by pregnant women and an increased risk of autism in some children.Going against current scientific advice and medical opinion, he said the drug, known as paracetamol in many countries, “is no good” and women should “fight like hell” to only take it in extreme cases, such as for high fevers.Medical bodies say the drug is safe and that it remains the best treatment for pain and fever during pregnancy.What is autism and how is it diagnosed?Autism is a form of lifelong neurodivergence and disability that affects how people experience and interact with the world.It is a spectrum, meaning it includes a wide range of characteristics which vary from person to person.It can include those with high support needs who are non-speaking, and those with above-average intelligence who might struggle with social interaction or communication.Some autistic people may have intense interests, prefer order and routine, and use repeated movements or actions to calm themselves or express joy.Autism is not a learning disability or a mental health condition.However, the UK National Autistic Society says around a third of autistic people also have a learning disability, and rates of mental health problems are higher.There is no blood test or brain scan to determine who has autism. Instead, a diagnosis is based on a doctor’s observations.How many people have autism?The number of children diagnosed with autism has risen sharply in many countries.In the US, one in 31 children were identified with autism in 2022, up from 1 in 149 in 2000. The rate for eight-year-old boys was significantly higher than for girls. In the UK, research published in the Lancet medical journal in 2023 found that one in 34 children aged 10 to 14 years old were diagnosed with autism (in 2018).Comparing autism rates for different countries is difficult. The way the figures are collected tends to change based on diagnostic practices, awareness levels, healthcare access and cultural differences.Research published in 2022 looked at 71 studies and found an average prevalence of around 1%. Numbers ranged from 0.075% in Bangladesh to 3.9% in Australia.Why have rates of autism been rising?While the number of people officially identified or diagnosed with autism has risen sharply, most researchers believe that this reflects increased awareness and changes to the way it is classified.For example, some people who have difficulty with social interaction and non-verbal communication were once told they had Asperger’s Syndrome.But, in 2013, the diagnostic criteria of ASD – or Autism Spectrum Disorder – was broadened to include people with Asperger’s Syndrome in the US. The same wider definition has been used in countries, including the UK, which saw an eight-fold rise in new autism diagnoses between 1998 and 2018.A 2007 study in the UK found that as, long as the same criteria was being used, rates of autism were similar in adults and children. This supports the idea that it is more recognised today than in the past.However, US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr has sharply criticised that view, describing it as “epidemic denial”.At a news conference in April, he described autism as “preventable”. He has previously offered several debunked theories about the causes, including blaming vaccines, despite a lack of evidence.Does Tylenol cause autism?Getty ImagesNo, there is no evidence that Tylenol causes autism.Trump’s comments have shocked many medical bodies, which recommend the drug for pain and fever during pregnancy.The widely held view of researchers worldwide is that there is no single cause of autism. It is thought to be the result of a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors.For scientists looking at the data, it is difficult to separate out the effects of one action, like taking a painkiller, from other factors such as parental health, genetics and environmental conditions.The Trump administration has cited some recent studies which have shown a potential association, which means the drug could increase the risk of autism in some children. But there may be other explanations for that link. In August, a team led by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the US analysed 46 older studies.Of these, 27 reported a link between the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in the painkiller, and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and ADHD. Nine showed no significant link and four indicated an opposite, protective, effect.The authors said more work was needed to confirm their findings but recommended “cautious, time-limited use” of the painkiller during pregnancy.Another study, in 2024, analysed 2.5 million babies born in Sweden. It compared autistic children with their siblings to control for genetic factors, and found no evidence to support a causal link between autism and the use of the painkiller.A Japanese study published in 2025 also looked at what happened to siblings after birth and found a small increased risk of autism linked to acetaminophen. But it said “misclassification and other biases may partially explain these associations”.The Autism Science Foundation, a US charity, says that based on existing data there is not enough evidence to support a link between Tylenol and autism.But it says that taking any medication during pregnancy should be approached with caution and medical advice should be sought.In a statement to the BBC, Tylenol maker Kenvue said the science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism.”We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers.”What is the advice on pain relief in pregnancy?Acetaminophen, or paracetamol, is the recommended first-line medication for pain and fever during pregnancy by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and other medical organisations worldwide.There is some evidence that high fevers during pregnancy, particularly during the first trimester, can harm the baby, with a higher risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, or birth defects called NTDs, or neural tube defects.Following Trump’s announcement, health officials stressed that paracetamol remains the safest painkiller available to pregnant women.UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this.”As with any pain-relieving medicine, it should be used at the lowest effective dose, for the shortest possible time and as infrequently as possible.Ibuprofen is not usually recommended, unless it’s prescribed by a doctor, especially if someone is more than 20 weeks pregnant, because it can affect the baby’s circulation and kidney function.Paracetamol is considered to be one of the safest drugs in the world when taken at the correct dose. Like all medicines, there is an overdose risk if more than the recommended dose is taken.For adults, the usual dose is one or two 500mg tablets at a time, up to four times in 24 hours, according to the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK.It describes paracetamol as the “first choice” pain killer for women who are breastfeeding.What is folinic acid or leucovorin?Getty ImagesUS Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr also signalled that a drug called leucovorin, normally given to cancer patients to reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy, would soon be approved as a treatment for children with autism.But researchers have cautioned that the science is still in the very early stages, and more work is needed before any firm conclusions can be reached.Folate, also known as vitamin B9, is found in many foods and helps the body form health red blood cells.The Autism Science Foundation says that low folate levels during early pregnancy have been linked in some studies to an increased risk of autism in children, though the findings are not consistent.Studies in Norway, the US and Israel found that mothers who took folic acid supplements around conception had children with a 30-70% lower likelihood of autism. Other studies did not find a significant association.The charity says the suggestion that folate may improve some symptoms comes from trials of a cancer drug known as leucovorin or folinic acid.Some research has shown that unlike regular folic acid, folinic acid can more easily cross the blood brain barrier and address a deficiency of the vitamin.Four small, randomised trials, all using different doses and measurements of success, have been carried out.One, from 2016, studied 48 autistic children in the US and found improvements in verbal communication compared with a placebo.

Drinking too little water could increase our vulnerability to stress-related health issues, according to a new study from scientists at LJMU.
People who drink less than the recommended daily fluid intake experience a greater stress hormone response, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and depression.
A new study, published recently in the Journal of Applied Physiology, found that individuals who drank less than 1.5 liters of fluid – or seven cups of tea – per day had a cortisol response to stress that was over 50% higher than those who met daily water intake recommendations.
Study lead Professor Neil Walsh, a physiologist in LJMU’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, said: “Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone and exaggerated cortisol reactivity to stress is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and depression.”
“If you know you have a looming deadline or a speech to make, keeping a water bottle close could be a good habit with potential benefits for your long-term health.”
Poor long-term health
With the project funded by Danone R&I, Neil and his team divided healthy young adults into two equally sized groups, representing the lowest and highest 25% for daily fluid intake. The ‘low fluid’ group consisted of individuals who typically drank less than 1.5 liters of fluid per day (water, hot drinks etc.). The ‘high fluid’ group included individuals who regularly met the daily water intake recommendations – 2 liters for women and 2.5 liters for men. Both groups were matched for key factors known to influence stress responses such as psychological characteristics and sleep.

Participants maintained their usual drinking habits for one week, during which hydration levels were monitored in blood and urine samples. Then participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test, widely used to simulate real-world stress through a mock job interview and a mental arithmetic task.
Dr Daniel Kashi, a member of the study team, said: “Both groups felt equally anxious and experienced similar increases in heart rate during the stress test. However, only the ‘low fluid’ group showed a significant increase in saliva cortisol in response to the stress test.”
He added: “Although the low fluid group did not report being thirstier than the high fluid group, they had darker and more concentrated urine, clear signs of poor hydration. An important observation was that poor hydration was associated with greater cortisol reactivity to the stress test. Exaggerated cortisol reactivity to stress has been associated with poor long-term health.””If you have a stressful schedule, keeping a bottle of water close could be a good habit.”
Dr Daniel Kashi, physiologist, LJMUWhy is dehydration harmful?
The answer lies in the body’s water-regulation system, which is closely connected to the brain’s stress-response center. When the body senses dehydration, whether due to inadequate fluid intake or excessive fluid loss, it triggers the release of a hormone called vasopressin. Vasopressin acts primarily on the kidneys, promoting water reabsorption to maintain blood volume and electrolyte balance. This conservation mechanism comes at a cost. Sustained vasopressin release places additional strain on the kidneys, which must work harder to concentrate urine and manage electrolyte balance.

Vasopressin also acts on the brain’s stress-response center, the hypothalamus, where it can influence the release of cortisol. This dual role for vasopressin helps maintain blood volume and electrolyte balance but also increases cortisol.
The researchers say that while further long-term studies are needed, the findings reinforce current water intake recommendations – approximately 2 liters of fluid each day for women and 2.5 liters for men.
Hydration helps us manage stress
“Being hydrated may help your body manage stress more effectively,” added Dr Kashi. A practical way to check your hydration status is to monitor your urine colour — light yellow typically indicates good hydration.
“If you know, for example, that you have a stressful schedule, maybe a looming deadline or a speech to make, keeping a water bottle close could be a good habit with potential benefits for your long-term health.”

Do you have a meditation app on your smartphone, computer or wearable device? Well, you’re not alone.
There are now thousands of meditation apps available worldwide, the top 10 of which have been collectively downloaded more than 300 million times. What’s more, early work on these digital meditation platforms shows that even relatively brief usage can lead to benefits, from reduced depression, anxiety, and stress to improved insomnia symptoms.
“Meditation apps, such as Calm and Headspace, have been enormously popular in the commercial market,” said J. David Creswell, a health psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University and lead author of a review paper on meditation apps, published today in the journal American Psychologist. “What they’re doing now is not only engaging millions of users every day, but they’re also creating new scientific opportunities and challenges.”
One huge boon provided by meditation apps for users is access.
“You can imagine a farmer in rural Nebraska not having many available opportunities to go to traditional group-based meditation programs, and now they have an app in their pocket which is available 24/7,” said Creswell, who is the William S. Dietrich II Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience.
Meditation apps also provide scientists with opportunities to scale up their research.
“Historically, I might bring 300 irritable bowel syndrome patients into my lab and study the impacts of meditation on pain management,” said Creswell. “But now I’m thinking, how do we harness the capacity of meditation apps and wearable health sensors to study 30,000 irritable bowel syndrome patients across the world?”
Combined with products that measure heart rate and sleep patterns, such as Fitbit and the Apple Watch, meditation apps now also have the capacity to incorporate biometrics into meditation practices like never before.

The biggest takeaway, though, is that meditation apps are fundamentally changing the way these practices are distributed to the general public. Scientific studies of use patterns show that meditation apps account for 96 percent of overall users in the mental health app marketplace.
“Meditation apps dominate the mental health app market,” said Creswell. “And this paper is really the first to lay out the new normal and challenge researchers and tech developers to think in new ways about the disruptive nature of these apps and their reach.”
Meditation apps challenge users to train their minds, in small initial training doses
As with in-person meditation training, meditation apps start by meeting users where they are. Introductory courses may focus on breathing or mindfulness, but they tend to do so in small doses, the merits of which are still being debated.
According to the data, just 10 to 21 minutes of meditation app exercises done three times a week is enough to see measurable results.
“Of course, that looks really different from the daily meditation practice you might get within an in-person group-based meditation program, which might be 30 to 45 minutes a day,” said Creswell.

The a la carte nature of meditation through a smartphone app may appeal to those pressed for time or without the budget for in-person coaching sessions. Users may also find it comforting to know that they have access to guided meditation on-demand, rather than at scheduled places, days, and times.
“Maybe you’re waiting in line at Starbucks, and you’ve got three minutes to do a brief check-in mindfulness training practice,” said Creswell.
Finally, as meditation apps continue to evolve, Creswell believes integration of AI, such as meditation-guiding chat-bots, will only become more common, and this will offer the option of even more personalization. This could mark an important development for meditation adoption at large, as offerings go from one-size-fits all group classes to training sessions tailored to the individual.
“People use meditation for different things, and there’s a big difference between someone looking to optimize their free-throw shooting performance and someone trying to alleviate chronic pain,” said Creswell, who has trained Olympic athletes in the past.
The elephant in the room
Of course, with new technology comes new challenges, and for meditation apps, continued engagement remains a huge problem.
“The engagement problem is not specific to meditation apps,” said Creswell. “But the numbers are really sobering. Ninety-five percent of participants who download a meditation app aren’t using it after 30 days.”
If the meditation app industry is going to succeed, it will need to find ways to keep its users engaged, as apps like Duolingo have. But overall, Creswell said the market demand is clearly there.
“People are suffering right now. There are just unbelievably high levels of stress and loneliness in the world, and these tools have tremendous potential to help,” he said.
“I don’t think there is ever going to be a complete replacement for a good, in-person meditation group or teacher,” said Creswell. “But I think meditation apps are a great first step for anyone who wants to dip their toes in and start training up their mindfulness skills. The initial studies show that these meditation apps help with symptom relief and even reduce stress biomarkers.”

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have uncovered dementia-like behavior in pancreas cells at risk of turning into cancer. The findings provide clues that could help in the treatment and prevention of pancreatic cancer, a difficult-to-treat disease linked to 6,900 deaths in the UK every year.*
The research was published on August 15 in the journal Developmental Cell, and was funded by Cancer Research UK, with additional support from Wellcome, theMedical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Researchers from the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre studied pancreas cells in mice over time, to see what was causing healthy cells to turn into cancer cells. They discovered that pancreatic cells at risk of becoming cancerous, known as pre-cancers, develop faults in the cell’s recycling process (known as “autophagy”).
In pre-cancer cells, the researchers noticed excess “problem protein” molecules forming clumps – behavior seen in neurological diseases such as dementia. The researchers also noticed similar clumping occurring in human pancreas samples, suggesting this happens during pancreatic cancer development.
Cancer Research UK Senior Fellow at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Simon Wilkinson, said: “Our research shows the potential role autophagy disruption plays in the beginnings of pancreatic cancer. While early stage, we can potentially learn from research into other diseases where we see protein clumping, such as dementia, to better understand this aggressive type of cancer and how to prevent it.”
Although survival for many types of cancer has improved over recent decades, this has not been the case for pancreatic cancer. This is partly because it is often diagnosed at a late stage, where treatment options are limited.** To address this, the researchers wanted to learn more about what may be causing pancreas cells to turn into cancer.
Multiple cancer types, including pancreatic cancer, are linked to a faulty mutation in a gene called KRAS, but scientists are increasingly learning that genetic changes are not the whole story.

One of the ways cells keep people healthy is by breaking down excess molecules they no longer need, through a recycling process called “autophagy.” Autophagy is particularly important in the pancreas to control the level of digestive proteins and hormones the pancreas produces to help break down food.
Scientists have studied autophagy in detail over many years and are learning the key role it plays in diseases such as cancer. In some cases, cancer cells can become “addicted” to autophagy, hijacking the recycling process to help cancer cells divide and grow more quickly***.
This research, on the other hand, suggests the combined effect of the faulty KRAS gene and disrupted autophagy could be driving the development of pancreatic cancer. The researchers plan to study these processes in more detail, to see if they can help predict or possibly reverse the start of pancreatic cancer, and if factors like age, sex, or diet play a role.
Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, Dr Iain Foulkes, said:
“Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK each year and, sadly, too many of those cases are found at a stage where treatment options are limited. While further work is needed, these findings could provide vital clues into how we can better understand how pancreatic cancer develops.”
Research into pancreatic cancer is one of Cancer Research UK’s top priorities. We fund research into the causes of pancreatic cancer, tests to diagnose the disease, and clinical trials designed to look at improving treatment, reducing side effects, and controlling symptoms**.

The paper, titled “ER-phagy and proteostasis defects prime pancreatic epithelial state changes in KRAS-mediated oncogenesis” was published on August 15 in Developmental Cell.
Notes
*Pancreatic cancer statistics. Cancer Research UK. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/pancreatic-cancer. Accessed July 2025.
**Research into pancreatic cancer. Cancer Research UK. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/pancreatic-cancer/research-clinical-trials/pancreatic-cancer. Accessed July 2025.
***Pimentel et al. Autophagy and cancer therapy. Cancer Letter. 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.217285.

TSPO, a key biomarker of brain inflammation, could help detect Alzheimer’s disease years before memory loss and other symptoms set in – potentially leading to advances in how the disease is diagnosed and treated, according to a study published in Acta Neuropathologica.
“This is the first study to really examine how early this biomarker increases and where it begins rising in the brain,” said Tomás R. Guilarte, lead researcher and dean of FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work. “If we can use this information to help delay Alzheimer’s progression by even five years, it can drastically improve patients’ lives and reduce disease prevalence.”
Guilarte, an internationally established expert on TSPO (or translocator protein 18 kDa) has studied the protein for more than three decades. His work helped establish it as a reliable imaging biomarker used in diagnosing neuroinflammation in various neurodegenerative, neurological and psychiatric disorders.
For this study, Guilarte and his team used advanced imaging software to track TSPO levels in genetically engineered mouse models of familial Alzheimer’s and confirmed their findings using human brain tissue donated by members of the world’s largest group of individuals with early-onset familial Alzheimer’s, located in Antioquia, Colombia.
These families carry the “paisa” mutation, identified by the late Dr. Francisco Lopera, one of the authors of the study, who remained dedicated to finding ways to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. For carriers of this mutation, symptoms typically begin in their 30s to 40s; they die in their 50s.
In the mouse model, researchers detected elevated TSPO levels in the subiculum – a critical part of the hippocampus – as early as six weeks of age, roughly equivalent to age 18-20 in humans. Microglia, the brain’s main immune cells, specifically those clustered around amyloid plaques, had the highest levels of TSPO. Notably, female mice had higher TSPO levels, mirroring real-world statistics: two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients are women.
The brain tissue samples from the Colombian patients with the paisa mutation showed the same pattern. Even in late-stage Alzheimer’s, TSPO remained high in microglia near plaques. These results raise new questions about TSPO’s function – whether it contributes to damage or protects the brain – and whether blocking or enhancing it could halt disease progression.
The team is now working with a specially developed Alzheimer’s mouse model lacking TSPO to explore these questions further. They’re also expanding the study to include sporadic, late-onset Alzheimer’s cases, the form that accounts for over 90% of all diagnoses.
“The more we understand these processes,” said Daniel Martínez Pérez, first author and Ph.D. candidate in Guilarte’s lab, “the closer we get to tailoring treatments that can truly help – before it’s too late.”

Just nowShareSaveEmily HoltBBC NewsShareSaveHolly Hagan-BlythSex is an integral part of many people’s relationships. But for some, a loss of libido is common after life-changing events, such as pregnancy and childbirth, according to the NHS. Reality TV star and fitness coach Holly Hagan-Blyth says this happened to her after having her son.”I could have said, ‘listen, if you don’t touch me ever again, I’m not even bothered’ because that’s just how I felt at the time,” she said when co-hosting the CBeebies Parenting Helpline. Sex and relationship therapist Rachel Gold said mothers often expect to become intimate again after their six-week postnatal check.”I think that really fools people into believing that this must be the time to have sex again, but it isn’t true.” Holly said her sex drive dipped after the arrival of her son Alpha-Jax in 2023 and she started to avoid any sort of intimacy.”Whenever I would give him [her husband Jacob] any type of affection, like a touch or a cuddle, I felt it was going to lead to the full thing, to sex, and I didn’t want that.””I started having a negative connotation doing anything towards him.”Being open with her husband helped, she says.”As soon as I said, this is how I’m feeling, ‘whenever I’m cuddling you and touching, can we just not make it lead to the next thing? Because it’s just making me not want to do that’, and all of a sudden everything was so much better because that pressure was taken off.”Her husband Jacob was worried she no longer fancied him.”I was like, ‘you need to realise this has nothing to do with you. I am feeling this way at the moment, but I don’t think any differently of you.'””I don’t really feel like having sex right now, or even maybe in the next few months. This is my issue that I’m going through, and I just need to work through it.”Holly hopes that couples experiencing the same issues can be more open.”People do say the relationship changes after having a child, but I don’t think that until you’re in it, you really, truly, realise how much it changes.”Dr Jennifer Lincoln, a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology, says there are many reasons why women may not want to have sex after giving birth. “There’s a lot of healing that happens. It takes about six weeks for the uterus to return to its pre-pregnancy size. Any tears in the vagina or perineum are also healing.”There are also big hormonal changes for women which can impact their libido. “Levels of estrogen and progesterone drop drastically. The lower estrogen levels can lead to physical changes like vaginal dryness, which can make sex painful.” “People usually think menopause is the single most acute shift in hormone levels that a woman will ever experience, but actually the few days surrounding childbirth are.”Holly Hagan-BlythIt’s not just an issue that affects mothers. CBeebies Parenting Helpline listener Frankie, who had her baby three months ago, said her male partner had gone off sex.”I hate my body at the moment, and all I want is a bit more attention from my partner, but he just doesn’t want to have sex with me anymore. I feel stuck.”Rachel says that men sometimes struggle to be open about their feelings.”Stepping into fatherhood can bring up all sorts of things in a man… that could be a very big factor putting him off wanting to have sex.”Fleur Parker, a practitioner from childbirth charity the NCT, says dealing with these emotions is often not seen as a priority for men.”Talking honestly to your partner about how you’re feeling can really help; do not assume they know what’s happening or what you are thinking.”Tips for couples starting sex again after birthIf penetration hurts, say so. If you pretend that everything’s all right when it isn’t, you may start to see sex as unpleasant Take it gently, hormonal changes after childbirth may mean couples may need to use a lubricant to help make sex more comfortableMake time to relax together. You’re more likely to engage in intimacy when your minds are on each other rather than on other thingsGet help if you need it. If a mother is still experiencing pain when they have their postnatal check, it is important to talk to a local GPAdvice provided by the NHS

The UK government should offer discount visas to US cancer scientists who have had their research cancelled by the Trump administration, Sir Ed Davey will say.”The UK should step up and say: If Trump won’t back this research, we will,” the Liberal Democrat leader will say in a speech to his party’s conference in Bournemouth on Tuesday.He will propose the setting up of a fellowship scheme for US scientists seeking to escape the US government’s “anti-science agenda”.The Lib Dem leader has stepped up his attacks on the US president this week and accused Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of wanting to turn the UK into “Trump’s America”.His staunch criticism of Farage, President Trump and his allies is expected to be a big theme of Sir Ed’s keynote speech on the final day of his party’s conference.In February, the US government cut billions of dollars from overheads in grants for biomedical research as a part of broader cost-saving measures.The US government said it was “vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overheads”. At the time, the boss of the American Society of Clinical Oncology said the move “would be devastating to the pace and progress of cancer research in America”.”Slashing federal research funding at a time when science is revolutionising cancer care risks leaving millions of patients without the promise and potential of life-saving breakthroughs,” said Clifford Hudis. According to a poll conducted by the Nature journal, 75% of its readers were considering leaving the US and heading to Europe or Canada as a result of the actions of Trump.The Liberal Democrats have not set out what level of discounts the UK government should offer to researchers wanting to come to the UK. Costs to purchase a visa can exceed £1,000.In his conference speech, Sir Ed will argue that the UK should be “stepping into the vacuum left by Trump’s anti-science agenda – leading the world in the fight against cancer”.The Liberal Democrat leader is also expected to criticise Reform UK party members for applauding a US decision to cut research for mRNA vaccines. Twenty-two projects had been examining how the vaccine technology could counter viruses such as bird flu. Sir Ed will say: “It is hard to express the cruelty and stupidity of cutting off research into medicine that has the power to save so many lives.”In addition to criticising Trump, Sir Ed has also been increasingly vocal in his attacks on the billionaire and former Trump ally Elon Musk.On Sunday, he called on the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom to “go after” Musk over “crimes” he claims are being committed on the tech mogul’s social media platform X.Sir Ed has also accused Musk of “inciting violence” when he addressed a rally in London via video link. In response, the X owner called the Liberal Democrat leader a “craven coward”.Asked by Sky News if he was worried about legal threats from Musk, Sir Ed said: “If he … sues me, let’s see how he fares, because I don’t think he’ll win.”The Lib Dems have become well known for their political stunts alongside a policy offer focused on social care and other priorities under Sir Ed’s leadership.It brought them success at last year’s general election, with the party winning 72 seats in the House of Commons – its highest ever share.But the Lib Dems have struck a more serious tone at this year’s conference, as the party considers it’s next move ahead of local elections next year.On the opening night of the conference, former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron draped himself in a flag and called on members to “reclaim patriotism” from the far right.Farron told a hall full of activists to “stop being so flaming squeamish and English” and reclaim the UK’s flags from groups who seek to “divide and destroy”.Unusually for the Lib Dems, they have gone out of their way to claim that they are the true patriots, in contrast to Farage, who they have dubbed a “plastic patriot”.In an interview with the BBC, Sir Ed said his party has a moral duty to keep Farage and his Reform UK party out of power.

19 minutes agoShareSavePhilippa RoxbyHealth reporterShareSaveAndrea BradyGPs in England are being urged to “think again” if they see a sick patient three times and can’t pin down a diagnosis, or find their symptoms are getting worse.The new NHS initiative, called Jess’s Rule, is named after Jessica Brady who contacted her GP on more than 20 occasions after starting to feel unwell in the summer of 2020. She was told her symptoms were related to long Covid and that she was “too young for cancer”. She died from advanced stage 4 cancer later that year, aged 27.Health Secretary Wes Streeting said her death was “a preventable and unnecessary tragedy” and the rule would improve patient safety by helping GPs “catch potentially deadly illnesses”.’Her body was failing her’Jessica Brady was a talented engineer at Airbus, involved in the design of satellites. Her mum, Andrea, told Radio 4’s Today programme that Jess was a very healthy young woman when the pandemic hit in 2020.But in July of that year, she didn’t feel right and contacted her GP practice repeatedly over the next five months about her symptoms.Over time they became “increasingly debilitating”, Andrea says.”She had unintentionally lost quite a lot of weight, had night sweats, chronic fatigue, a persistent cough and very enlarged lymph nodes.”But because of her age, it was obviously considered there wasn’t anything wrong.”Jess had contact with six different doctors at her GP surgery and three face-to-face consultations with a family doctor, but no referral to a specialist was made.”Her body was failing her,” says Andrea. “It was hard for Jess to advocate for herself. She was saying ‘What’s the point? Nothing will happen.'”When the family decided to arrange a private appointment and she was referred to a specialist, it was too late.Jess was given a terminal cancer diagnosis in November and died three weeks later – just days before Christmas 2020.The family hopes Jess’s Rule will help to increase awareness of the importance of GPs acting quickly for patients who are steadily deteriorating.”She wanted to make a difference,” Andrea says. “Jess knew her delayed diagnosis was instrumental in the fact she had no treatment options open to her, only palliative care.”She felt strongly she didn’t want this to happen to other people.”Andrea BradyJess’s Rule is not a law, but a strong reminder to GPs to take a “three strikes and rethink approach” after three appointments, to prevent avoidable deaths.This could mean arranging face-to-face consultations with a patient previously only spoken to on the phone, ordering extra tests or asking for a second opinion from a colleague. GPs should also consider referring patients to a specialist.The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), which was involved in drawing up the guidance, said no doctor ever wanted to miss signs of serious illness, such as cancer.”Many conditions, including many cancers, are challenging to identify in primary care because the symptoms are often similar to other, less serious and more common conditions,” said Prof Kamila Hawthorne, chair of RCGP.”If a patient repeatedly presents with the same or similar symptoms, but the treatment plan does not seem to be making them better – or their condition is deteriorating – it is best practice to review the diagnosis and consider alternative approaches.”Research suggests younger patients and people from ethnic minority backgrounds often face delays before being diagnosed with a serious condition, because their symptoms don’t appear similar to white or older patients.RCGP has worked with Jess Brady’s family to develop an educational resource for GPs on the early diagnosis of cancer in young adults.The Department of Health said many GP practices already used the correct approach, but that Jess’ s Rule would make this “standard practice across the country”.Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting thanked Jess’s family, saying they had campaigned tirelessly through “unimaginable grief” to ensure Jessica’s legacy helps to save the lives of others.”Patient safety must be the bedrock of the NHS, and Jess’s Rule will make sure every patient receives the thorough, compassionate, and safe care that they deserve, while supporting our hard-working GPs to catch potentially deadly illnesses,” he said.Paul Callaghan, from Healthwatch England, which represents people who use health and social care services, said the rule should be implemented “quickly and consistently”.”It’s also imperative that specialist teams have the resources to deal with potential increases in demand, resulting from increased referrals,” he said.