19 minutes agoShareSaveNat WrightHealth ProducerShareSaveGetty ImagesJudith BurnsBBC NewsShareSaveErrors by machines used to diagnose diabetes mean at least 55,000 people in England will need further blood tests, a BBC investigation has discovered.Some patients have been wrongly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and even prescribed medication they don’t need – and there could be more people affected say NHS England.NHSE has confirmed 16 hospital trusts use the machines, made by Trinity Biotech, which have produced inaccurate test results.In a statement, Trinity Biotech says it is working closely with the UK health regulator and has contacted all hospitals who use the machines. The BBC first reported in September 2024 that 11,000 patients faced re-testing after a machine at Luton and Dunstable Hospital issued incorrect diabetes results.NHS England now say type 2 diabetes diagnoses rose by 10,000 in 2024, 4% more than expected.The procedure, known as the haemoglobin A1C test, measures average blood sugar levels which are used to diagnose type 2 diabetes and monitor the condition.According to the medicines and healthcare regulator (MHRA), issues with the tests on these machines was first reported in April 2024.’It’s had a huge effect on my life’Vicky Davies, 36, from Kingston upon Hull was first told she had type 2 diabetes in October 2024. She was advised to try and lose weight first, sent for eye screening and was later prescribed four tablets of Metformin a day – the maximum dose. In April 2025 she had further blood tests as part of her three month review and was told that she wasn’t diabetic, which she assumed was because she had been on Metformin.Later that month though, she was told her blood results might not have been accurate and advised to come off the medication immediately.During the four months she took metformin she suffered with stomach issues and dizziness and still feels stressed. “It’s had a huge effect on my life. Since the diagnosis I have suffered with stress and had to take time off work to attend appointments.”I’ve complained to my GP, but I didn’t really get an apology. I’m just so angry,” she told BBC News. In a letter from her GP, they said they were not aware of the problems occurring in the laboratories and that they work to the best of their ability with the medical information available.In September 2024, a message on the Bedfordshire trust website said 11,000 patients needed to be re-tested. It warned some of them could have been misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes as a result of problems with tests analysed at the hospital’s laboratory.The trust apologised “for any emotional distress and inconvenience”.In July 2025, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had received reports describing a positive bias delivered by the Trinity Biotech machines.This resulted in some patients being incorrectly diagnosed as pre-diabetic or diabetic.Side effectsNHS trusts are already recalling patients for repeat tests and NHS England says anyone who needs a repeat test will be contacted by their GP or local hospital.It adds that, for people who may have been wrongly diagnosed as a result of this issue, the risk is low and they would be given lifestyle advice and offered support programmes first.Metformin, which may have been mistakenly prescribed for some of these patients, works by lowering blood sugar levels by improving the way the body handles insulin.If you experience these symptoms whilst taking diabetes medication: hypoglycaemia (shaking/trembling, sweating, confusion, loss of consciousness)and hyperglycaemia (excessive thirst, blurred vision, recurrent infections)The advice is to seek medical attention immediately.Dr Clare Hambling, diabetes national clinical director for NHS England, said: “Being potentially misdiagnosed with any long-term condition, such as type 2 diabetes, is understandably worrying, however the clinical risk of harm to patients following this issue is low.”NHS England says fewer than 10% of their laboratories were affected and all have either replaced the machines or addressed calibration issues.In response to an inquiry from the BBC, Trinity Biotech said: “The company has worked closely with the MHRA to resolve the issues experienced by some UK labs using the system.”The statement also said the company had “issued three Field Safety Notices in 2024 to all UK users, informing them of a potential positive bias issue.” These notices included “reiteration of details of the actions to be taken to ensure optimum operation of the system, with an emphasis on the importance of operating the system per the manufacturer’s instructions,” the statement continued.

As we age, what and how much we eat tends to change. However, how meal timing relates to our health remains less understood. Researchers at Mass General Brigham and their collaborators studied changes to meal timing in older adults and discovered people experience gradual shifts in when they eat meals as they age. They also found characteristics that may contribute to meal timing shifts and revealed specific trajectories linked to an earlier death. The results are published in Communications Medicine.
“Our research suggests that changes in when older adults eat, especially the timing of breakfast, could serve as an easy-to-monitor marker of their overall health status. Patients and clinicians can possibly use shifts in mealtime routines as an early warning sign to look into underlying physical and mental health issues,” said lead author Hassan Dashti, PhD, RD, a nutrition scientist and circadian biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. “Also, encouraging older adults in having consistent meal schedules could become part of broader strategies to promoting healthy aging and longevity.”
Dashti and his colleagues — including senior author Altug Didikoglu, MSc, PhD, of the Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey — examined key aspects of meal timing that are significant for aging populations to determine whether certain patterns might signal, or even influence, health outcomes later in life. The research team analyzed data, including blood samples, from 2,945 community-dwelling adults in the UK aged 42-94 years old who were followed for more than 20 years. They found that as older adults age, they tend to eat breakfast and dinner at later times, while also narrowing the overall time window in which they eat each day.
Later breakfast time was consistently associated with having physical and mental health conditions such as depression, fatigue and oral health problems. Difficulty with meal preparation and worse sleep were also linked with later mealtimes. Notably, later breakfast timing was associated with an increased risk of death during follow-up. Individuals genetically predisposed to characteristics associated with being a “night owl” (preferring later sleep and wake times) tended to eat meals at later times.
“Up until now, we had a limited insight into how the timing of meals evolves later in life and how this shift relates to overall health and longevity,” said Dashti. “Our findings help fill that gap by showing that later meal timing, especially delayed breakfast, is tied to both health challenges and increased mortality risk in older adults. These results add new meaning to the saying that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day,’ especially for older individuals.”
Dashti noted that this has important implications as time-restricted eating and intermittent fasting gain popularity, where the health impacts of shifting meal schedules may differ significantly in aging populations from those in younger adults.
Authorship: In addition to Dashti, Mass General Brigham authors include Chloe Liu, Hao Deng and Anushka Sharma.
Funding: This study was supported by the National Institute of Health (R00HL153795).

The study followed 12,772 adults with an average age of 52 Researchers tracked seven artificial sweeteners typically found in ultra-processed foods like flavored water, soda, energy drinks, yogurt and low-calorie desserts People who consumed the highest total amounts of these sweeteners had faster decline in overall thinking and memory skills compared to people who consumed the lowest amounts The faster decline equaled about 1.6 years of aging Researchers found a link in people under 60 but not older than 60 While the study found links, it does not prove that sweeteners cause cognitive declineSome sugar substitutes may come with unexpected consequences for long-term brain health, according to a study published in the September 3, 2025, issueofNeurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study examined seven low- and no-calorie sweeteners and found that people who consumed the highest amounts experienced faster declines in thinking and memory skills compared to those who consumed the lowest amounts. The link was even stronger in people with diabetes. While the study showed a link between the use of some artificial sweeteners and cognitive decline, it did not prove that they were a cause.The artificial sweeteners examined in the study were aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol and tagatose. These are mainly found in ultra-processed foods like flavored water, soda, energy drinks, yogurt and low-calorie desserts. Some are also used as a standalone sweetener.
“Low- and no-calorie sweeteners are often seen as a healthy alternative to sugar, however our findings suggest certain sweeteners may have negative effects on brain health over time,” said study author Claudia Kimie Suemoto, MD, PhD, of the University of São Paulo in Brazil.
The study included 12,772 adults from across Brazil. The average age was 52, and participants were followed for an average of eight years.
Participants completed questionnaires about diet at the start of the study, detailing what they ate and drank over the past year. Researchers divided them into three groups based on the total amount of artificial sweeteners they consumed. The lowest group consumed an average of 20 milligrams per day (mg/day) and the highest group consumed an average of 191 mg/day. For aspartame, this amount is equivalent to one can of diet soda. Sorbitol had the highest consumption, with an average of 64 mg/day.
Participants were given cognitive tests at the start, middle and end of the study to track memory, language and thinking skills over time. The tests assessed areas such as verbal fluency, working memory, word recall and processing speed.

After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, researchers found people who consumed the highest amount of sweeteners showed faster declines in overall thinking and memory skills than those who consumed the lowest amount, with a decline that was 62% faster. This is the equivalent of about 1.6 years of aging. Those in the middle group had a decline that was 35% faster than the lowest group, equivalent to about 1.3 years of aging.
When researchers broke the results down by age, they found that people under the age of 60 who consumed the highest amounts of sweeteners showed faster declines in verbal fluency and overall cognition when compared to those who consumed the lowest amounts. They did not find links in people over 60. They also found that the link to faster cognitive decline was stronger in participants with diabetes than in those without diabetes.
When looking at individual sweeteners, consuming aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-k, erythritol, sorbitol and xylitol was associated with a faster decline in overall cognition, particularly in memory.
They found no link between the consumption of tagatose and cognitive decline.
“While we found links to cognitive decline for middle-aged people both with and without diabetes, people with diabetes are more likely to use artificial sweeteners as sugar substitutes,” Suemoto said. “More research is needed to confirm our findings and to investigate if other refined sugar alternatives, such as applesauce, honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar, may be effective alternatives.”
A limitation of the study was that not all artificial sweeteners were included. Also, diet information was reported by the participants, who may not have remembered accurately everything they ate.
The study was supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.

Just nowShareSaveShareSaveBBCAn NHS vascular surgeon who had his own legs removed has admitted two counts of insurance fraud and three of possessing extreme pornography.Neil Hopper, 49, of Truro, Cornwall, carried out hundreds of amputation operations before having his own legs removed in 2019.Truro Crown Court heard he lied to insurers by claiming that injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and not self-inflicted.It heard that in May 2019 Hopper had below knee amputations after a “mysterious illness”. In fact he had used ice and dry ice to freeze his own legs so they had to be removed, the court heard.Tempted by ‘greed’It heard Hopper had a “sexual interest in amputation”.Hopper had both legs amputated in May 2019 after complaining that his feet were in pain.He was treated for suspected sepsis before he was told by surgeons that he should have amputations and he was operated on.He did not tell the medics the real cause of his injuries, the court heard.The fraudulent insurance claims from two firms totalled more than £466,000 the court heard.He was tempted by “greed” the court was told.He had messaged a friend about the claims saying he should “milk it”.More than £50,000 of insurance money was sent to wife, £22,000 on a camper van, another £255,000 on building works and home improvements and a hot tub.He “enjoyed” the interest from the media in his case, prosecutors told the court.”His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so,” the court was told.”It seems to have been a long-standing ambition of his,” the court heard.This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

24 minutes agoShareSaveMichelle RobertsDigital health editor, BBC NewsShareSaveBBCIs it possible to become immortal with the help of organ transplants? That was the unexpected topic of discussion this week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met at a military parade in Beijing.A translator, speaking in Mandarin on behalf of Putin, told Xi how human organs can be repeatedly transplanted “so that one can get younger and younger” in spite of age, and might even be able to stave off old age “indefinitely”.”It’s predicted that in this century it might become possible to live to 150,” he added. Their smiles and laughter suggest it was a bit of banter, but might they be on to something? Organ transplants certainly save lives – in the UK, over 100,000 people have been saved in the last 30 years, says NHS Blood and Transplant. And continued advancements in medicine and technology mean transplanted organs are lasting far longer once in people. Some patients have had a kidney transplant that has kept working for more than 50 years. The lifespan of an organ depends on how healthy the donor and recipient is – plus how well they look after it.For example, if you were to have a new kidney from a living donor, you might expect it to last 20 to 25 years. If you get it from a deceased donor, that drops to 15 to 20 years.The type of organ matters too. A liver might last around 20 years, a heart 15 years and lungs nearly 10 years, according to research. Ticket to eternal life?Putin and Xi may be talking about having multiple organs transplanted and perhaps repeatedly. Having surgery is a big undertaking, though, with significant risks. Each time you go under the knife you are rolling the dice. Currently, people who get a new organ also have to take strong anti-rejection drugs called immunosuppressants for life. These can have side-effects, such as high blood pressure, and increase the risk of infections. Rejection – when your immune system starts to attack the transplanted organ because it recognises it as coming from a different person – can sometimes still happen even if you are taking your medication.Tailor-made organsScientists are working on making rejection-free organs, using genetically-altered pigs as the donors. They use a gene editing tool know as crispr to remove some of the pig genes and add certain human genes to make the organ more compatible. Breeding special pigs for this is ideal, say experts, since their organs are roughly the right size for people.The science is still extremely experimental, but a heart and a kidney operation has gone ahead. The two men who agreed to having the procedures were pioneers of this new field of transplantation medicine. Both have since died but helped advance xenotransplantation – the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. Another avenue being explored is growing brand new organs using our own human cells. Stem cells have the ability to grow into any type of cell or tissue found in the body. No research group has yet been able to make fully functional, transplantable human organs, but scientists are getting closer.In December 2020, UK researchers UCL and the Francis Crick Institute rebuilt a human thymus – an essential organ in the immune system – using human stem cells and a bioengineered scaffold. When transplanted into mice as a test, it appeared to work. And scientists at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London say they have grown human intestinal grafts using stem cells from patient tissue that could one day lead to personalised transplants for children with intestinal failure. But these advances are for treating ill health, rather than keeping people alive to 150. Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, meanwhile, is spending millions a year trying to reduce his biological age. He’s not tried getting new organs yet – as far as we know – but has infused himself with his 17-year-old son’s plasma. He’s since stopped that, after seeing no benefits and increased medical scrutiny from organisations such as the Food and Drug Administration. Dr Julian Mutz from King’s College London said beyond organ transplantation, approaches like plasma replacement are being explored, but these remain experimental. “Whether such strategies will have a meaningful impact on lifespan, particularly maximum human lifespan, remains uncertain, though it is an area of considerable scientific interest.”Prof Neil Mabbott, an expert in immunopathology at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, speculates that living to 125 years old might be the upper limit. “The verified oldest living person was a Frenchwoman, Jeanne Calment who lived for 122 years, between 1875 and1997, ” he told BBC News. Getty ImagesAnd while damaged and diseased organs may be replaceable by transplants, as we age our bodies become much less resilient or able to cope with physical stressors. “We begin to respond less effectively to infections, and our bodies become more frail, prone to injury and are less able to recover and repair. “The stress, trauma and impact of transplant surgery, alongside the continued use of immunosuppressive drugs required to prevent rejection of the transplanted organs would be too severe in patients of such advanced age.” He says rather than focussing on extending life-span, we should instead strive for healthy years lived. Prof Mabbott said: “Living a lot longer, but suffering from the multiple morbidities that can accompany aging, and in-and-out of hospital for another tissue transplant does not sound an attractive way to spend my retirement!”

A simple brainwave test developed at the University of Bath has been shown to detect signs of memory impairment linked to Alzheimer’s disease years before clinical diagnosis is typically possible.
Published in the journal Brain Communications the study by academics from the University of Bath and the University of Bristol, reports that Fastball EEG, a three-minute passive test that records electrical activity in the brain while participants view a stream of images, can reliably identify memory problems in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) — a condition that can lead to Alzheimer’s. This follows the group’s previous study in 2021 that demonstrated Fastball was sensitive to memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease.
Crucially, the research team has demonstrated for the first time that the test can be administered in people’s homes, outside of a clinical environment. Researchers say this opens the door to wider screening and monitoring using accessible, low-cost technology.
With the development of the breakthrough Alzheimer’s drugs, donanemab and lecanemab, an early diagnosis is more important than ever before. The drugs are clinically proven to be the most effective in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Despite this, in England, it is estimated that as many as 1 in 3 people do not currently have a dementia diagnosis, delaying treatments, support and research opportunities to tackle the condition.
The study was led by Dr George Stothart, a cognitive neuroscientist in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. He said:
“We’re missing the first 10 to 20 years of Alzheimer’s with current diagnostic tools. Fastball offers a way to change that — detecting memory decline far earlier and more objectively, using a quick and passive test.”
How the test works
Fastball is a passive EEG test that monitors the brain’s automatic responses to images — without requiring participants to follow instructions or recall information. This makes it more objective and accessible than traditional memory tests.

Key findings: Detected early memory issues in people with MCI likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Delivered reliable results in real-world home settings. Showed reduced memory responses even in patients who later progressed to dementia.Researchers say Fastball could be scaled for use in GP surgeries, memory clinics, or at home — helping deliver earlier, more accurate diagnoses.
Dr Stothart added: “There’s an urgent need for accurate, practical tools to diagnose Alzheimer’s at scale. Fastball is cheap, portable, and works in real-world settings.”
The study was funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences and supported by dementia research charity BRACE.
Chris Wiliams, CEO of BRACE Dementia Research, said: “Fastball is an incredible tool that could offer anyone who, for whatever reason, cannot access a dementia diagnosis in a clinical setting.
BRACE has been supporting the development of Fastball for several years, and we are excited to see what Dr Stothart’s team will achieve over the next few years with ongoing support from the charity.”

20 minutes agoShareSaveSmitha Mundasad and Judith BurnsBBC NewsShareSaveMerope MillsMartha’s rule, a way for families to seek an urgent second opinion if they are concerned about the care their loved ones receive, will be rolled out across all English hospitals delivering acute or short-term treatment. The telephone helpline, the result of a campaign by the parents of 13-year-old Martha Mills who died after serious failings in her care, has been piloted in 143 hospital sites in England since April 2024.Figures from NHS England show that since then there have been almost 5,000 calls, resulting in 241 potentially life-saving interventions. Martha’s mother, Merope Mills, welcomed the expansion on what would have been her daughter’s 18th birthday but wants UK-wide access. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the new figures proved the need for the rule and “a different, more equal kind of doctor-patient relationship”.Martha Mills, died at King’s College Hospital in London after developing sepsis. Her family’s concerns were not listened to. In 2022 a coroner ruled Martha would probably have survived if she had been transferred earlier to intensive care and given appropriate treatmentThe initiative encourages families, carers and patients to speak up if they notice changes in the patient’s condition and to seek an urgent review from a critical care team if the patient is deteriorating and their concerns are not being listened to.Under the scheme, clinicians also record daily insights about a patient’s health directly from families. Staff, including those in junior roles, can also ask for a review from a team independent of the one they work with. Data from NHS England shows of 4,906 calls to Martha’s Rule helplines, almost three quarters (71.9%) were from families seeking help: 720 led to changes in care, such as new antibiotics or drugs794 helped address delays in investigations or treatments1,030 helped resolve communication issues or problems with patients being discharged Merope Mills said she was delighted more people were going to get access to the rule. “I think the data proves there is an need for it and has reassured us and clinicians up and down the country that it is already saving lives. “And more importantly it has highlighted the need for a different, more equal kind of doctor-patient relationship in the country.” She called for an expansion of the scheme to the rest of the UK, saying it was unfair patients did not have access to it everywhere. She also highlighted a need for it in maternity care. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was grateful to NHS staff who have embraced the campaign and “most of all to Merope and Paul and the Mills family for their campaigning efforts”.He promised to share the latest results with colleagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.He said he had “seen and heard similar experiences where mothers were not listened to in maternity services”. “So I do think that there are common issues here for the NHS to learn from in terms of listening to patients, listening to women in particular, and making sure that we respond in the right way, in the right place, at the right time to avoid harm and in worst cases, fatalities.”On Radio 4, Ms Mills read out an email she had received from a Today programme listener who believed the life of a child in her family had been saved after calling the hotline. She read: “I followed Martha’s story on Radio 4, never thinking anyone I knew would need to use Martha’s rule. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done and are doing to raise awareness and to empower people in an environment where we all naturally feel intimidated.”Ms Mills said while she knows some people feel the word patient doesn’t apply to them: “The reality is we are all, as I know, one disaster away from it being about us… “It could be your mother, it could be your sibling, God forbid it could be your kid who one day needs this,” she said. An ongoing full evaluation of Martha’s rule will help inform its possible future expansion into hospitals involved in longer term care, mental health trusts and community settings.The Welsh Government is introducing a similar scheme, called Call4Concern, which is expected to be rolled out to all hospitals by the end of next year.The Scottish Government is testing a number of Martha’s rule pilots and considering developing a “more consistent, nationwide approach”. The department of health in Northern Ireland said it was “committed to improving patient safety” and whilst there were no immediate plans to introduce Martha’s rule there, it would continue to monitor the roll-out and impact in England.

9 minutes agoShareSaveKatie ThompsonBBC NewsShareSaveBBCJo BlackBBC News ShareSaveA mother who feared her two-year-old son’s untreated constipation could have killed him is calling for access to children’s continence services to be made a national priority. Elissa Novak said Ivan was constantly vomiting, losing weight and in severe pain when it was at its worst, and a doctor said 2kg of his 10kg (22lb) body weight was estimated to be stool.The number of children aged up to 16 admitted to English hospitals suffering with constipation, among other symptoms, is at a 10-year high, with more than 44,000 admissions in 2023-24, according to NHS figures.Children are being failed by the absence of dedicated bladder and bowel services in some parts of the country, an expert said.About 1.5 million children in the UK suffer with constipation, according to the charity Bladder and Bowel UK.As many children returned to school this week, charities have told the BBC they are seeing a spike in calls to their helplines.”It’s a huge problem and many healthcare professionals don’t consider it a serious issue in children,” said Davina Richardson, a children’s specialist nurse with the charity.”Discussing wee and poo is very un-British. It’s not something that we as a culture do.”Elissa said Ivan, who is now aged five, had been “completely robbed of his toddler years” due to health issues resulting from constipation.He was admitted to hospital 25 times in one six-month period in 2022 for emergency treatment.”It was horrific,” Elissa said. “He was so frail he couldn’t lift himself up or do anything.”He was in pain all the time and either screaming or just lying there because he was too weak.”Elissa NovakElissa, 35, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, said she had constantly gone to her GP to try to get help and answers.At that time in Warwickshire, there was no bowel or bladder community service, which meant they were going to A&E up to four times a week.It was only when things got to a crisis point that Elissa was told constipation was causing Ivan’s pain. She thinks he would have died had there been any further delay in treating it.Elissa was told Ivan’s entire colon was impacted, which had pushed up into his lung cavity and compromised his lungs. ‘Signs missed’

1 hour agoShareSaveShareSaveBBCStaff working for a scandal-hit NHS trust allegedly made “heartless” criticisms about families involved in the largest-ever maternity review and claimed relatives are taking part so they can seek compensation.Families also said they have been accused of grooming other affected families to join senior midwife Donna Ockenden’s independent review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).The review began three years ago after allegations of harm to babies and mothers, and now involves nearly 2,500 families.Trust chief executive Anthony May described the alleged comments made by staff as “shocking”.Speaking at the trust’s annual meeting on Wednesday, Mr May said: “Some families very recently have fed back to me shocking examples of being stigmatised or gaslit – criticised for either being part of the independent review or for campaigning for better services.”Families have heard that they are criticised for being in the review, and that they are in the review on the basis that they are seeking compensation.”The families tell me that there are instances where they feel they have reason to believe they can trace that back to colleagues that work in NUH.”Dr Jack and Sarah Hawkins, who both used to work for the trust until their daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016, have been campaigning to highlight failures at NUH ever since.They described the comments as “horrific” and “unfathomably heartless”.Dr Hawkins said: “We have been called ‘compo seekers’. “There has been a comment made that people are in this group because they have been groomed by Sarah and I and other people who have been around for a long time, and that has come out of NUH.”We want change. We don’t have any other reason to be in this fight.”The first thing to allow you to change is to recognise that you need to change. And if your attitude is that you don’t and that we are, in fact, scamming the system in some way, then it’s so disheartening.”We’re not doing this for any reason other than babies are dying and being harmed and mums are dying and being harmed and families are being ripped apart.””To reduce that down to ‘they’re seeking compensation’ is unfathomably heartless.”Ms Hawkins said: “Life couldn’t get any worse… and then they said this about us, and we just feel like these complete, utter monsters.”Dr and Ms Hawkins said they “absolutely” think there should be disciplinary action against staff who made the comments.LDRSMr May said he wrote an email to each staff member at the trust to explain that the comments are “not acceptable”.He said: “I can’t attribute it to an individual, and neither did the families, to be fair to them, and it could be on social media, it could be they hear it when they’re out and about.”No matter where they hear it or where it comes from, it’s got to stop. It’s absolutely shocking.”The families I’ve met are some of the most courageous people I’ve ever come across, who have not only suffered lifelong trauma, but they’re happy to tell their experiences over and over again to try and improve (services).”The vast majority of people who work in the trust would never, ever, dream of doing that but if they do, then there are processes that we can use to deal with that.”More than 850 members of staff at the trust have come forward to Ms Ockenden’s independent review of maternity care.NUH is also being investigated for potential offences of corporate manslaughter over deaths related to maternity services at its hospitals.More on this storyRelated internet links

The widely used diabetes drug metformin changes blood metal levels in humans. The Kobe University study is an important step in understanding the drug’s many actions and designing better ones in the future.
Metformin is the most widely prescribed diabetes drug in the world. Apart from lowering blood sugar levels, it is also known to have a broad range of beneficial side effects such as against tumors, inflammations and atherosclerosis. However, although it has been used for more than 60 years now, its mechanism of action is still not clear, hampering the development of even better drugs against these conditions.
Kobe University endocrinologist Wataru Ogawa says: “It is known that diabetes patients experience changes in the blood levels of metals such as copper, iron and zinc. In addition, chemical studies found that metformin has the ability to bind certain metals, such as copper, and recent studies showed that it is this binding ability that might be responsible for some of the drug’s beneficial effects. So, we wanted to know whether metformin actually affects blood metal levels in humans, which had not been clarified.” To do so, Ogawa and his team enlisted about 200 diabetes patients at Kobe University Hospital, half of which took metformin and half of which did not, in a study to analyze their blood serum levels for those metals and various metal deficiency indicators.
In the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, the Kobe University team now published the first clinical evidence of altered blood metal levels in patients taking metformin. They showed that drug-taking patients have significantly lower copper and iron levels and heightened zinc levels. Ogawa says: “It is significant that we could show this in humans. Furthermore, since decreases in copper and iron concentrations and an increase in zinc concentration are all considered to be associated with improved glucose tolerance and prevention of complications, these changes may indeed be related to metformin’s action.”
Recently, Japan has approved the use of imeglimin, a new diabetes drug that is a derivative of metformin but that should not be able to bind metals the same way as its parent. “Imeglimin is thought to have a different method of action, and we are already conducting studies to compare the effects the two drugs have,” says Ogawa.
It is not just about understanding the current drugs, however. Ogawa explains the bigger picture, saying: “We need both clinical trials and animal experiments to pinpoint the causal relationship between the drug’s action and its effects. If such studies progress further, they may lead to the development of new drugs for diabetes and its complications by properly adjusting the metal concentrations in the body.”
This research was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant 24H00638) and the Manpei Suzuki Diabetes Foundation. It was conducted in collaboration with a researcher from the Kagayaki Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic Sannomiya.