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42 minutes agoShareSaveNoor NanjiCulture reporterShareSaveGetty Images”It’s not about him, it’s about me,” declares Victoria Beckham (“him” being her husband Sir David Beckham).And that’s exactly what we get in a new three-part documentary, which drops on Netflix on Thursday.The former Spice Girl and fashion entrepreneur, 51, is determined to tell her own story – two years after former England captain Sir David, 50, released his own, hugely successful TV series.In the episodes, Victoria is strikingly open about her eating disorder, and how it made her “good at lying”.The series also takes us inside Victoria’s pop career, family life, struggles to reinvent herself and preparation for a major show at Paris Fashion Week.There are contributions from famous friends including Eva Longoria, and fashion titans such as Dame Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace.Here are our main takeaways from her documentary.Negative headlines about weightVictoria achieved dizzying fame in the Spice Girls, so it’s hard to believe that at school, she was “that uncool kid” who didn’t fit in.”I was definitely a loner at school”, she says, explaining she was bullied.She says that she first started getting criticised about her appearance and her weight at a young age.And when she joined the Spice Girls in 1994, she regularly faced negative headlines about her weight.Shutterstock”I was controlling [the narrative] in an incredibly unhealthy way. When you have an eating disorder, you become very good at lying,” she said.”And I was never very honest about it with my parents. I never talked about it publicly. It really affects you, when you’re being told constantly you’re not good enough. And I suppose that’ been with me my whole life.”But Lady Beckham says her bandmates Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell made her “feel more lighthearted, more fun”, and made her “feel good enough” about being herself.It’s a message she continues to instill in her daughter Harper, 14.”I tell Harper every day, be who you are,” she says.What was buried in Baden-Baden?AlamyAfter the release of their chart-topping debut single Wannabe in 1996, “Spice mania” swept the planet, with their self-styled “Girl Power” mantra – a brand of female empowerment that made them a global pop culture phenomenon.But Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls in 1998 and the group split up in 2001.Lady Beckham says she found the transition “really, really difficult”.She carried on making music, but the criticism she received “really hurt”.Then came the infamous WAG period. Pictures of Victoria and other wives-and-girlfriends supporting their footballer partners in the German town of Baden-Baden in 2006 were plastered all over the tabloids.”It was fun,” says Lady Beckham of that time in her life.But she now concedes there was an “element of attention seeking” to it all. “I was trying to find myself, I felt incomplete, sad, frozen in time maybe,” she says.After the family moved to the US, Lady Beckham decided she wanted to work in fashion.But to do that, she knew she had to shed her other personas – the Spice Girl, the WAG. “I buried those boobs in Baden-Baden,” she says.Victoria ‘almost lost everything’ in struggles with fashion businessLady Beckham is very honest about the struggles her fashion business faced.She says people didn’t see her as “cool at all”, and that a lot of people refused to take her seriously.And Vogue giant Dame Anna cements that view, when she says of Victoria’s fashion aspirations: “I thought maybe this was a hobby. I didn’t quite believe it.”We see the growth of Victoria Beckham Ltd but also the serious financial troubles it faced. Sir David says he didn’t think her business would survive, while Lady Beckham agrees.”I almost lost everything and that was a dark, dark time,” she says. “I used to cry before I went to work every day because I felt like a firefighter.”Getty ImagesShe says her firm was “tens of millions in the red”. In a later scene, her voice breaks, and she wells up in tears, when she recalls how Sir David stepped in to help her business out.But the series also shows her turn things around, and we see her pull out all the stops in the run-up to her triumphant Spring/Summer show at Paris Fashion Week in September 2024.Supermodel Gigi Hadid walked for her, wearing a striking emerald green gown. Dame Anna is shown in attendance, and, in an earlier clip, says Lady Beckham “totally proved us wrong”.Today, Victoria’s business has offices in London and New York, with its flagship store in Mayfair, London. The brand’s products are in 230 stores across 50 countries around the world, according to the company’s website.Family life carries on, amid reports of feud with BrooklynEPAThe couple’s eldest son, 26-year-old Brooklyn, gets a few mentions in the show and appears briefly. Lady Beckham brings him up in conversation, when discussing the morning sickness she faced while pregnant with him and performing with the Spice Girls.But for the past few months, much of the online interest around the Beckhams has focused on reports that Brooklyn and his wife Nicola have fallen out with the rest of the family.The couple were absent from David Beckham’s 50th birthday celebrations and did not post a birthday message online, fuelling the intrigue. Nicola has in the past denied there was a feud in the family. Sir David and Lady Beckham have never acknowledged the rumoured rift, and declined to comment when asked by BBC News.We did get a hint on the topic recently from Victoria, who told the Sunday Times how she felt Liam and Noel Gallagher’s reconciliation must have made their mother “so happy”.”As a mum, that must be… she must feel so happy to see her boys getting on,” she said.Showbiz reporter Catrina Rose notes there was “no hint” of any alleged feud in the series.”Victoria’s setting a lot of records straight here, but she’s not being drawn on this particular topic.”There’s a good explanation for why she doesn’t smileGetty ImagesLady Beckham’s pout became her defining look in the 1990s. But in the new series, she admits there’s a deeper reason as to why she never smiles.”The minute I see a camera, I change,” she says.”The barrier goes up, my armour goes on, and that’s when, you know, the miserable cow that doesn’t smile – that’s when she comes out. And I’m so conscious of that.”She adds that she would “rather not be that person” and wishes she had the confidence to walk out in front of cameras and smile.Elsewhere, she insists that she does actually smile.”I’ve looked miserable for all these years because when we stand on the red carpet, this guy has always gone on the left,” she says, gesturing at Sir David.”When I smile, I smile from the left, because if I smile from the right, I look unwell. So consequently I’m smiling on the inside, but no one ever sees it, so that’s why I look so moody.”New use for a noisy kitchen blender?The programme is filled with small details about the Beckhams’ relationship – many of which we didn’t know before.For example, Sir David starts a blender when he doesn’t want to listen to Victoria (so she says, anyway).The pair have fond memories of their whirlwind romance in the 1990s, which led to them getting married and having a baby within two years.Sir David reflects that his parents – and his manager – would have preferred him to marry a local girl who stayed in Manchester, where he was playing for Manchester United. “But I didn’t want that,” he says, opting instead for globe-trotting celebrity Victoria.”I was so excited, I wanted everyone to know I was dating Posh Spice,” the former England captain says.Lady Beckham, for her part, says she was never a young girl dreaming of getting married or becoming a mum. “It wasn’t until I met David that those things even occurred to me,” she says.There won’t be another Beckham babyIn the final episode, which was filmed before Sir David’s 50th birthday this year, the pair get reflective about everything they have achieved, and what lies ahead for them.”Success, it feels good, I’m not going to lie,” says Victoria. “I’ve still got a lot that I want to do.”Sir David, for his part, seems to have something else on his mind.”Now we’re both, well I’m almost 50, you’re 51, what’s next? Another baby?,” David asks his wife.Victoria laughs. “Another baby? My God. No.”Victoria Beckham, a three-part documentary series, is available now on Netflix.More on this story

Medications a person took years ago can still influence the community of microbes living in their gut, according to a large study conducted by the University of Tartu Institute of Genomics.By examining stool samples and prescription data from more than 2,500 participants in the Estonian Biobank’s Microbiome cohort, scientists discovered that most drugs they analyzed were associated with measurable changes in the gut microbiome. Many of these changes persisted long after people stopped taking the medications. The lasting impact was not limited to antibiotics: antidepressants, beta-blockers, proton pump inhibitors, and benzodiazepines also left distinct microbial “fingerprints.
“Most microbiome studies only consider current medications, but our results show that past drug use can be just as important as it is a surprisingly strong factor in explaining individual microbiome differences,” said Dr. Oliver Aasmets, lead author of the study. The findings underscore the importance of considering a person’s medication history when exploring connections between gut microbes and disease.Interestingly, benzodiazepines — commonly prescribed for anxiety — produced microbiome alterations similar to those seen with broad-spectrum antibiotics. The study also revealed that drugs within the same category, such as diazepam and alprazolam, can vary in how much they disturb gut microbial balance.Follow-up samples from a smaller group of participants showed that starting or discontinuing specific medications led to predictable shifts in gut microbes, supporting a likely cause-and-effect relationship. Although this second phase involved fewer samples, the researchers confirmed persistent effects from proton pump inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and several antibiotics, including penicillins in combination and macrolides.
“This is a comprehensive systematic evaluation of long-term medication effects on the microbiome using real-world medical health records,” said Professor Elin Org, the study’s corresponding author. “We hope this encourages researchers and clinicians to factor in medication history when interpreting microbiome data.”

Scientists at UBC Okanagan have discovered how plants create mitraphylline, a rare natural substance with potential anti-cancer properties.
Mitraphylline is part of a small family of plant-derived molecules known as spirooxindole alkaloids. These compounds feature unique, “twisted” ring-like chemical structures and are recognized for their strong biological effects, including anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activity.
Until recently, researchers did not understand the precise molecular process plants use to form spirooxindoles. That changed in 2023 when Dr. Thu-Thuy Dang and her team in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science identified the first plant enzyme capable of twisting a molecule into the distinctive spiro shape.
Building on that milestone, doctoral student Tuan-Anh Nguyen led the next phase of research and uncovered two enzymes that work together: one determines the molecule’s 3D arrangement, and the other completes the final twist that forms mitraphylline.
“This is similar to finding the missing links in an assembly line,” says Dr. Dang, UBC Okanagan Principal’s Research Chair in Natural Products Biotechnology. “It answers a long-standing question about how nature builds these complex molecules and gives us a new way to replicate that process.”
Because natural compounds often exist in only tiny quantities, they can be difficult and expensive to produce in the laboratory. Mitraphylline is one such compound, found in trace amounts in tropical trees like Mitragyna (kratom) and Uncaria (cat’s claw), both members of the coffee family.By identifying the enzymes responsible for assembling and shaping mitraphylline, the researchers have established a framework for producing this and related compounds more efficiently and sustainably.
“With this discovery, we have a green chemistry approach to accessing compounds with enormous pharmaceutical value,” says Nguyen. “This is a result of UBC Okanagan’s research environment, where students and faculty work closely to solve problems with global reach.”
“Being part of the team that uncovered the enzymes behind spirooxindole compounds has been amazing,” Nguyen adds. “UBC Okanagan’s mentorship and support made this possible, and I’m excited to keep growing as a researcher here in Canada.”

The project is the result of collaboration between Dr. Dang’s lab at UBC Okanagan and Dr. Satya Nadakuduti’s team at the University of Florida.
The work was supported by Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Alliance International Collaboration program, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar Program. Support also came from the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
“We are proud of this discovery coming from UBC Okanagan. Plants are fantastic natural chemists,” she says. “Our next steps will focus on adapting their molecular tools to create a wider range of therapeutic compounds.”

7 hours agoShareSaveVicky Johnson, Lucy Parry, Alice Evans and Gerry GeorgievaBBC Yorkshire & Lincolnshire InvestigationsShareSaveMike BarleyWhen Mike Barley almost died in a motorbike crash on the way home from work, he did not think his biggest worry during recovery would be the council tax bill he had been sent that same day. But after he missed a payment reminder letter while in hospital, his debts rocketed out of control.Mr Barley, 26, from Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, had a “well-paid” job as a software developer, and owned his own home, but the accident in March 2021 put him in hospital for a month with broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and severe injuries to his arms and legs.The same day as the accident, Mr Barley was sent a council tax bill for an instalment of £101.71. He missed the payment and was still in hospital when a reminder letter was sent to his home, so he missed that, too.Mr Barley said he was “stuck” on sick pay of £90 a week at the time and remembered thinking: “I’ve got no income any more – I can’t work, I can’t walk. Where is this money going to come from?”He says after telling his local council he would not be able to pay, they sent another letter, in June 2021, setting out a payment plan. It included two months of reduced payments but then demanded Mr Barley pay the rest of the year’s payments in advance – a total of about £1,000.Mr Barley’s council acted in line with the usual process for unpaid council tax in England. If you do not pay your monthly bill after three weeks, or you have three late payments, councils can demand the remainder of the year’s bill in full, and can send in bailiffs to collect the debt.Charities have long claimed the method of council tax debt enforcement in England punishes people who are genuinely struggling to pay – while the government says it is taking action against “archaic and aggressive” practices.BBC NewsAfter further reminder letters and warnings, Mr Barley’s case was passed to bailiffs, who sent a “threatening letter” telling him they would be coming over to seize and sell his belongings to help pay off his debt.”It was scary to be honest,” he said.Council tax funds public services such as care for the elderly, libraries and bin collections.It must be paid by anyone who owns a home, or lives in rented accommodation, unless they are eligible for exemptions.When councils bring in bailiffs to try to recover council tax debt, the person who owes money is charged an additional £75 for the initial bailiffs’ letter, £235 plus costs if a bailiff comes to their home to remove or sell goods, a £110 sale fee if goods are taken for sale, and 7.5% of the debt value over £1,500.Mr Barley said he tried to dispute the charges he faced because of the late bill, but received no support and bailiffs continued to deliver letters to his home.”It just makes you trapped, depressed,” he said.More stories from the investigations teamMr Barley said his relationship broke down under the strain of trying to cope with his escalating council tax debt, which he estimates reached a total of about £6,000.He fell behind on his mortgage and other payments too. He managed to get a credit card cleared, but his home was eventually repossessed, and he said he had such little money to spend on food that his meals consisted of bread smeared with ketchup.He said his council tax debt was “probably the worst” to deal with because of the speed with which the total amount increased.Mr Barley still owes about £1,700 of the £6,000, including £700 of bailiffs’ fees.He wants councils to stop bringing in bailiffs when the person in debt cannot pay.”It just adds charges,” he said. “If [people] can’t pay it in the first place, giving it to a bailiff is then going to make it harder.”Councils in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire referred about 38% more people to bailiffs in the most recent year of data than the previous 12 months, our research found.North East Lincolnshire Council said it could not comment on individual cases but had set aside a £100,000 hardship fund to support some of those unable to pay off their council tax debt.The council said on a case-by-case basis it sometimes gives people extra time to pay back their council tax, or helps them find ways to reduce their bill. Councils can decide to write off some debt too.Matt Sheeran, of free-to-use debt advice service Money Wellness, said people should seek help straight away if they did have problems paying their council tax.”It’s just so fast and so aggressive, so a lot of people are taken aback,” he said. “They just don’t realise how quickly [it] can escalate.”Money WellnessPeter Tutton, policy director at the StepChange charity, which also offers free debt advice, added the pressure some councils put on people when they chased payments could make people’s financial difficulties “worse”.”People respond to payment demands by missing other bills, turning their heating down, borrowing,” Mr Tutton said.Figures published in June showed local authorities in England are owed £6.6bn in council tax in total, up 50% from £4.4bn five years ago – despite councils writing off more council tax debt than they used to. In the most recent year of data, £250m such debt was written off, in comparison to £134m five years ago.Further data obtained by the BBC through Freedom of Information requests revealed:Councils are increasingly referring people to bailiffs to help retrieve outstanding debt.Across the 253 councils that provided us with information, 1.4 million accounts were referred to bailiffs in the past year – 46% more than four years ago.But the average amount they have been able to retrieve per account has gone down slightly, suggesting bailiff action may not be as effective as it used to be.In Bradford, West Yorkshire, the council referred 41% more people to bailiffs in the most recent year of data than the previous 12 months, our research found.The council put up council tax rates by almost 10% this year, as it tries to deal with rising debts which will see it owe more than £1bn by 2030.Those affected include Edmund Davies, who owes about £1,800 in council tax and is struggling to make ends meet with the £295 he receives in benefits each month.He said the council tax increase has made things much more difficult for people in his position.”I’d like to pay it – it’s just trying to come to an actual affordable agreement with the council that’s difficult,” said Mr Davies, who also pays £20 a month towards council text debt he owed from his previous address.”To pay any more… do I eat today, do I eat this week?” he said.BBC NewsMr Davies recently received groceries from the Bradford North Foodbank, where demand has risen by 30% over the past year.Foodbank manager Franco Biancardo said some of this increase was down to council tax debt. He is calling for the council to collect the debt “in a softer way” instead of going through the courts process.Bradford Council said it was committed to helping those struggling to pay council tax and has given an extra £1.2m in support this year.A spokesperson added that the rise in enforcement visits in the past year was due to reasons including new charges for homes left empty over a year, and clearing a backlog of cases.Central government is currently reviewing council tax debt-enforcement practices.A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was “taking robust action to tackle the archaic and aggressive collection practices that have seen vulnerable people who miss payments subjected to unmanageable lump sum payments and liability orders”.A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said councils had “a duty to residents to collect taxes” and that bailiffs and other enforcement were “a last resort”.Related stories

Skoltech scientists have devised a mathematical model of memory. By analyzing its new model, the team came to surprising conclusions that could prove useful for robot design, artificial intelligence, and for better understanding of human memory. Published in Scientific Reports, the study suggests there may be an optimal number of senses — if so, those of us with five senses could use a couple more!
“Our conclusion is of course highly speculative in application to human senses, although you never know: It could be that humans of the future would evolve a sense of radiation or magnetic field. But in any case, our findings may be of practical importance for robotics and the theory of artificial intelligence,” said study co-author Professor Nikolay Brilliantov of Skoltech AI. “It appears that when each concept retained in memory is characterized in terms of seven features — as opposed to, say, five or eight — the number of distinct objects held in memory is maximized.”
In line with a well-established approach, which originated in the early 20th century, the team models the fundamental building blocks of memory: the memory “engrams.” An engram can be viewed as a sparse ensemble of neurons across multiple regions in the brain that fire together. The conceptual content of an engram is an ideal abstract object characterized with regard to multiple features. In the context of human memory, the features correspond to sensory inputs, so that the notion of a banana would match up with a visual image, a smell, the taste of a banana, and so on. This results in a five-dimensional object that exists and evolves in a five-dimensional space populated by all the other concepts retained in memory.
The evolution of engrams refers to concepts becoming more focused or blurred with time, depending on how often the engrams get activated by a stimulus acting from the outer world via the senses, triggering the memory of the respective object. This models learning and forgetting as a result of interaction with the environment.
“We have mathematically demonstrated that the engrams in the conceptual space tend to evolve toward a steady state, which means that after some transient period, a ‘mature’ distribution of engrams emerges, which then persists in time,” Brilliantov commented. “As we consider the ultimate capacity of a conceptual space of a given number of dimensions, we somewhat surprisingly find that the number of distinct engrams stored in memory in the steady state is the greatest for a concept space of seven dimensions. Hence the seven senses claim.”
In other words, let the objects that exist out there in the world be described by a finite number of features corresponding to the dimensions of some conceptual space. Suppose that we want to maximize the capacity of the conceptual space expressed as the number of distinct concepts associated with these objects. The greater the capacity of the conceptual space, the deeper the overall understanding of the world. It turns out that the maximum is attained when the dimension of the conceptual space is seven. From this the researchers conclude that seven is the optimal number of senses.
According to the researchers, this number does not depend on the details of the model — the properties of the conceptual space and the stimuli providing the sense impressions. The number seven appears to be a robust and persistent feature of memory engrams as such. One caveat is that multiple engrams of differing sizes existing around a common center are deemed to represent similar concepts and are therefore treated as one when calculating memory capacity.
The memory of humans and other living beings is an enigmatic phenomenon tied to the property of consciousness, among other things. Advancing the theoretical models of memory will be instrumental to gaining new insights into the human mind and recreating humanlike memory in AI agents.

Researchers at the University of Bath, in collaboration with the Universities of Oxford and Bristol, have developed a molecule that prevents the clumping and build-up of a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease and related dementias. The team has successfully demonstrated it works in an animal model of Parkinson’s and hopes that in the future this could lead to a treatment that slows the progression of the disease.
Alpha-synuclein is a protein naturally found mainly in brain cells (neurons) where it regulates the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, allowing communication between the neurons.
In Parkinson’s disease, this protein sticks together into toxic clumps that cause nerve cell death and leads to patients suffering from symptoms such as tremors, difficulties moving and muscle stiffness. Whilst there are treatments available to relieve symptoms, there is currently no cure.
Normally, alpha-synuclein’s natural or “native state” is like a flexible strand, but when active it shapes itself into a helix, which is critical for its function in binding and transporting parcels of dopamine.
The team engineered a peptide fragment that locks alpha-synuclein into its healthy shape, blocking its conversion into the toxic clumps that cause nerve cell death.
Laboratory tests showed the peptide is stable, penetrates brain-like cells, and restores movement while reducing protein deposits in a worm model of Parkinson’s.
This breakthrough, published in the journal JACS Au, demonstrates the potential of rational peptide design to transform large, unstable proteins into compact drug-like molecules.

The findings mark a significant step towards developing new peptide-based treatments for currently untreatable neurodegenerative conditions. Professor Jody Mason, from the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Bath, said: “Our work shows that it is possible to rationally design small peptides that not only prevent harmful protein aggregation but also function inside living systems.
“This opens an exciting path towards new therapies for Parkinson’s and related diseases, where treatment options remain extremely limited.”
Dr Julia Dudley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, which funded the research, said:
“Dementia isn’t an inevitable part of ageing; it’s caused by diseases like Alzheimer’s. To make progress towards a cure for all forms of dementia, we need research focused on developing a broad range of treatments that can slow, stop and ultimately reverse these diseases.
“Although this is early research in an animal model, it’s exciting to see that this new molecule can prevent the build-up of misfolded alpha-synuclein.
“By stabilizing alpha-synuclein in its healthy form, this could open the door to a new class of treatments that could slow progression in diseases like Parkinson’s and dementia with Lewy bodies. We look forward to seeing this research taken to the next stage, potentially exploring how it would work in people.
“We’re delighted to see such promising advances from Alzheimer’s Research UK funded work opening up new avenues for treatments of the future, and the potential to change the lives of those affected by neurodegenerative diseases.”
Further research is needed, but the team hopes that continued progress will enable these and similar molecules to advance towards clinical testing in the coming years.

Results from the FigHTN Phase 2 clinical trial showed baxdrostat, a new medication that inhibits the production of the hormone aldosterone, lowered systolic blood pressure by about 5% when added to the existing medications taken by people with chronic kidney disease and who also have uncontrolled high blood pressure. The analysis also found that baxdrostat lowered the loss of albumin in the urine, which is a marker of kidney and cardiovascular risk, by 55% compared to placebo, suggesting that this medication may help delay the progression of kidney disease . These findings suggest the potential for baxdrostat to improve longer-term health outcomes like kidney and cardiovascular conditions and reduce the need for higher-cost care for people with uncontrolled high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease.Adding the novel medication baxdrostat to standard care may help manage high blood pressure and delay the progression of kidney disease in people with chronic kidney disease and uncontrolled high blood pressure , according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2025. This study was simultaneously published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.Chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure are closely linked and, when not managed appropriately, can lead to serious outcomes such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure and progression to kidney failure. Aldosterone, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, can play a role in both high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. Aldosterone causes sodium to be retained, which increases water retention and blood pressure. Over time, an excess of the hormone can lead to stiffening and thickening of blood vessels, which can contribute to heart damage and cause scarring in the kidneys, thereby playing a role in both high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease.
“These findings are encouraging for people living with chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure, two conditions that often go hand-in-hand and create a dangerous cycle,” said lead study author Jamie P. Dwyer, M.D., a professor of medicine in the division of nephrology and hypertension at University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City. “High blood pressure can worsen kidney function and declining kidney function can further elevate blood pressure, and these outcomes can be life-altering for patients.”
The study was designed to find whether adding baxdrostat to standard care is safe and could help lower blood pressure in people who have both chronic kidney disease (serious enough that they are likely to develop kidney failure or require a transplant during their lifetime) and uncontrolled high blood pressure. Their blood pressure has remained high despite already taking either an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), two medications that work on a group of hormones that act together to regulate blood pressure.
At the beginning of the study, participants had an average systolic (top number) blood pressure of 151 mm Hg despite treatment and evidence of kidney disease on laboratory testing. When the protein albumin was measured in the urine, the average level for participants was 714 mg/gm of creatinine; levels of 30 or higher may be a sign of chronic kidney disease. When a blood sample was used to measure the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, a key indicator of kidney function), the average level was 44mL/min/1.73. Levels that are persistently less than 60 suggest chronic kidney disease.
Of 195 initial study participants, 192 were randomized to begin treatment with low-dose (0.5 mg-1 mg) or high-dose baxdrostat (2 mg-4 mg) or a placebo in addition to standard care. Three people finished the study early due to adverse events, their own decision to leave the study or for other reasons.

After 26 weeks: The average systolic blood pressure had fallen 8.1 mm Hg more in participants receiving either dose of baxdrostat than in those receiving the placebo, a reduction of about 5%. High potassium levels in the blood, a known side effect of medications that block the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, occurred in 41% of participants on baxdrostat and 5% of those on placebo. Most cases were mild to moderate. There were no deaths or unanticipated adverse events during the trial, however, 9% of participants taking baxdrostat and 3% of those in the placebo group experienced a serious adverse event.In an exploratory analysis, the researchers looked at the amount of albumin lost in the urine, a type of protein that when found in the urine in high amounts is a predictor of cardiovascular and kidney disease. They found the urine albumin level was 55% lower in those taking baxdrostat than in those taking a placebo, comparable to the reduction seen with medications that delay the progression of kidney disease.
“The reduction in urine albumin gives us hope that baxdrostat may also help delay kidney damage. This potential is now being tested in two large Phase 3 trials to determine if baxdrostat delays the progression of kidney disease,” said Dwyer.
“These new findings are reassuring that this new class of antihypertensive medications are likely to have both kidney- and cardio-protective benefits and to be safe and effective for broad patient populations,” said Jordana B. Cohen, M.D., M.S.C.E., immediate past chair of the American Heart Association’s Hypertension and Kidney Cardiovascular Science Committee. “Patients with chronic kidney disease were historically often excluded from drug studies. It is particularly reassuring to know that patients with chronic kidney disease, who have very high rates of hypertension and elevated renin-angiotensin aldosterone activity, were represented in their own study, tolerated the medication well, and had both blood pressure and albuminuric benefits. This medication class could be a game changer in the management of hypertension in this patient group.” Cohen, who was not involved in this study, is deputy director and associate professor of medicine and epidemiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Study details, background and design: The study included 195 people with an average age of 66 years. Of the participants, 32% were women, 40% were non-Hispanic white and 80% had Type 2 diabetes. The study was conducted at 71 sites in the United States. Three participants were not randomized or included in the final analysis. All participants had uncontrolled high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher, or 130 mm Hg or higher for people with Type 2 diabetes ) despite taking the maximum tolerated dose of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker among their medications, with average systolic blood pressure of 151.2 mm Hg at the start of the study. All participants also had chronic kidney disease but were not in kidney failure (eGFR of 25-75 mL/min/1.73, average eGFR of 44 mL/min/1.73 at the start of the study; and urine albumin-creatinine ratio of 100 mg/g or higher, average of 713.8 at the start of the study). The 192 participants were randomized to one of the three treatment groups: low-dose baxdrostat (0.5 mg/day, increasing to 1 mg/day after two weeks); high-dose baxdrostat (2 mg/day, increasing to 4 mg/day after two weeks); or a placebo. After 26 weeks, blood pressure and kidney function tests were repeated, and the primary analysis compared changes in systolic blood pressure among the three groups. Adverse events were also reported for each of the three treatment groups. Baxdrostat is in a class of medications that inhibit the production of aldosterone and are being tested for their ability to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and heart failure. Baxdrostat is not approved for any use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Co-authors and their disclosures and funding sources are listed in the abstract. The study was funded by AstraZeneca, developer of baxdrostat.
Note: The study featured in this news release is a research abstract. Abstracts presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, and the findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

2 hours agoShareSaveAileen MoynaghBBC News NI health reporterShareSaveBBCA woman who has been left with partial sight after she delayed seeking medical help said she wishes she had gone to an optician when she first had symptoms as her vision could have been saved.Gail Cairns, from Belfast, started experiencing sight loss, headaches, and eye pain in July 2025, but waited four days before getting her eyes checked.After being scanned at an opticians through a free NHS scheme she was immediately referred to hospital for treatment. She had a serious eye condition that had left permanent damage.Getty ImagesMrs Cairns was diagnosed with Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NA-AION) and Pseudo Foster-Kennedy syndrome.Detailed scans by the optician showed damage to her optic nerve because of swelling in her brain.She was treated in hospital with steroids to reduce the swelling, but said “unfortunately the damage was done”.It has been “life changing” and she can no longer drive.”If I had known about this condition and how quickly things can change, I would have gone on the Monday.”The likelihood is that I would still be able to drive, and do all the normal things that I was doing,” she said.The 60-year-old said day-to-day things like cooking, going up and down stairs, reading to her grandchildren and putting on make-up are now difficult.But she said the “hardest part was in the hospital whenever my three-year-old granddaughter was sitting on the bed, and I couldn’t make out any of her features”.”I just took a lump in my throat, and it was like somebody punched me in the stomach.”That was the first time I teared up over it,” she said.Mrs Cairns had annual eye tests because of a family history of glaucoma but wants to encourage anyone with sudden changes in their eyes to act quickly.”Even the slightest change – don’t put it off – get it seen to by an optician immediately.”She is thankful that she has not lost her sight completely.Much like a GP, an optometrist is a primary care provider who is specialised in detecting and correcting conditions that affect vision and eye health.An optometrist is trained to recognise abnormalities in eyes, and many provide enhanced services, including same day NIPEARS appointments for urgent eye care issues, like how Mrs Cairns was seen.It is a service for patients who have developed a sudden eye problem within the previous 14 days, such as:Red eye(s)Pain and/or discomfort in the eyes, or around the eye areaSudden reduction in vision in one or both eyesRecent onset or sudden increase of flashes and/or floaters in one or both eyesSomething in your eye that you cannot remove yourselfThe service has been running since 2018, with more than 90% of practices providing the service, including Sam Baird’s in Dundonald where Mrs Cairns went.”Gail came in at 4 o’clock on a Friday afternoon with very painful eyes, not able to see clearly.”We got drops to make her eyes more comfortable. We scanned her and assessed that she needed urgent attention at the hospital,” he said.He was able to provide her with the scans of the optic nerve, “which are diagnostic of the condition, which meant that when she got to the Ulster Hospital she was admitted immediately as opposed to waiting for hours”.This meant Mrs Cairns could start treatment immediately.Mr Baird stressed the importance of getting your eyes checked as soon as symptoms appear as sight loss can happen very quickly.While he said Mrs Cairn’s case is rare, if she’d come in earlier in the week there might have been a different outcome.”Those are the small cases where it can make a very dramatic difference.”Opticians have the specialised equipment to do proper scans and a proper investigation of the eyes – something that the emergency room and GPs don’t have.”Mr Baird said the NIPEARS system is reducing pressure on “two ends” of the health service.”We’re taking the pressure off the GPs by taking care of minor eye conditions and we’re taking pressure off the ophthalmology hospital clinics because they’re not filled with unnecessary referrals,” he said.According to the Royal National Institute of Blind people (RNIB), every day 250 people start to lose their sight in the UK, which is equivalent to one person every six minutes.The charity says more than two million people are living with sight loss in the UK and half of them are blind and partially sighted and live with a long-term irreversible eye health condition.The RNIB said it is predicted that by 2050 the number of people with sight loss in the UK will double to more than four million.In September 2025, the Department of Health (DoH) highlighted the “vital role of community optometry in improving access to care and shaping the future of eyecare in Northern Ireland”.Raymond Curran, the DoH’s Head of Ophthalmic Services is encouraging people to look after their eyes as “50% of all sight loss is avoidable”.He said “primary care optometrists” should be the first port of call for eyes, as GPs are experiencing capacity issues.ED eye departments are struggling to cope with increased demand.The DoH said it is committed to making it easier for patients to access the care they need, and that community optometry shows how services delivered closer to home can detect problems early, reduce waiting lists, and ease pressure on hospitals.

Green tea is an ancient beverage recognized for its medicinal and antioxidant properties. It has been widely studied for its beneficial effects on metabolic diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Recent studies funded by FAPESP have deepened our understanding of the mechanisms of action of this infusion and revealed that green tea treatment reduced weight and significantly improved glucose sensitivity and insulin resistance in obese mice. These results reinforce the potential relevance of the beverage as an adjunct in the treatment of obesity in humans.
Rosemari Otton led the studies from the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Health Sciences at Cruzeiro do Sul University in São Paulo, Brazil. The scientist, who has dedicated more than 15 years to green tea research, explains that her initial motivation came from curiosity about the truth behind the popular belief that the drink aids in weight loss. The results of her most recent study were published in the journal Cell Biochemistry & Function.
To study the effects of green tea on obesity, the research team fed mice a high-calorie diet for four weeks, with both fat and what they call a “cafeteria diet,” which mimics the Western diet. “We give them chocolate, filled cookies, dulce de leche, condensed milk… In other words, the same type of food that many people consume on a daily basis,” says Otton.
After this initial phase, the animals underwent the green tea experiment for another 12 weeks. During this period, they continued on the high-calorie diet, but some of them began receiving standardized green tea extract at a dose of 500 mg per kilogram of body weight, administered intragastrically (via gavage).
“It’s a method that ensures they all receive the exact dose we want to study. If we put it in water, for example, we’d have no way of knowing how much the animal actually ingested,” says the researcher. For humans, this amount would be equivalent to consuming about 3 grams of green tea per day, or three cups.
However, according to the researcher, not all commercial green tea meets the necessary quality standards. “Ready-made tea bags do not always guarantee the quantity or quality of the compounds. The ideal for consumption would be to use standardized green tea extract, like those found in compounding pharmacies. This is a concentrated way of using the plant, with a guarantee of the presence of flavonoids, which are the health-beneficial compounds present in the green tea plant,” Otton points out.
One methodological difference in the study was the controlled room temperature. The animals were kept in a thermoneutral environment (28 °C) throughout the experiment. Animal facilities generally maintain an average temperature of 22 °C, which represents chronic cold for mice.

“Excessive cold activates compensatory regulatory mechanisms in the animals’ bodies, causing them to expend more energy to stay warm. This can mask the real effects of any substance,” explains the researcher. “If the animals are in a colder environment, the effect of the tea is enhanced by the activation of energy expenditure due to the cold. But by maintaining thermoneutrality, we were able to see the effects of green tea in a ‘clean’ way, without environmental interference,” she explains.
A previous study published in August 2022 in the European Journal of Nutrition found that obese mice treated with green tea experienced a reduction of up to 30% in body weight. “If a person loses 5% to 10% of their body weight, that’s already a lot. So this result in animals is very significant,” says the professor.
Muscular effect
Another highlight of the most recent study was the preservation of muscle morphology. Obesity typically causes a reduction in muscle fiber diameter, but green tea prevented this muscle atrophy. “One way to assess muscle function is to look at fiber diameter. If it increases, we have more active muscle components. Green tea managed to maintain this diameter, showing that it protects muscle against the harmful effects of obesity,” Otton explains.
In addition to morphological data, the researchers evaluated the expression of genes related to glucose metabolism. Treatment with green tea increased the expression of Insr, Irs1, Glut4, Hk1, and Pi3k – genes that are important for glucose uptake and use in muscles. The activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), an enzyme that is essential for glucose metabolism, was also restored.
According to Otton, there is evidence indicating that green tea does not affect the weight of lean animals, suggesting that it acts selectively against excess body fat. “It makes obese animals lose weight but keeps lean animals at a balanced weight. This shows that the tea seems to need an environment with excess nutrients to act, which supports the hypothesis that it acts directly on fat cells.”
Another aspect investigated by the team was the action of the compounds in isolation. “Green tea is a complex matrix with dozens of bioactive compounds. We’ve tried to separate these compounds and study their effects individually, but the whole extract is always more effective. There’s a synergy between the compounds that we can’t reproduce when they’re isolated,” she says.

According to the scientist, one hypothesis explaining the mechanism by which green tea affects obesity involves adiponectin, a protein produced by adipocytes that has anti-inflammatory and metabolic regulation functions. “We conducted a study with adiponectin-knockout mice, meaning they don’t produce it. And in these animals, green tea had no effect. This suggests that adiponectin is a key player in the mechanism of action of the tea,” she comments.
Real-life effects
Despite the encouraging results of the mouse study, Otton points out that it is not yet possible to determine a safe and effective dose of green tea for humans. This is mainly due to the variability of the extracts and the fact that each person behaves differently. “The ideal is chronic consumption, as we see in Asian countries. In Japan, for example, people consume green tea every day, throughout their lives, and obesity rates are low. But this is different from drinking tea for five months and expecting a miraculous weight loss effect,” she ponders.
The researcher argues that natural and accessible treatments should gain ground in the fight against obesity, especially as alternatives to expensive medications that often have side effects. “The idea is to have safe, natural, effective, and high-quality compounds. The Camellia sinensis plant offers this. We’re still studying all the compounds involved, but there’s no doubt that green tea, as a plant matrix rich in flavonoids, has important therapeutic potential.”
The researcher emphasizes that science always seeks to develop practical solutions. “What we see in animals doesn’t always reproduce in humans. But if we want to make this translation to real life, we need to think about all the details, such as ambient temperature. It’s these precautions that increase the validity of our data. We’re far from having all the answers, but we’re getting closer and closer.”

8 minutes agoShareSaveVanessa ClarkeEducation reporterShareSaveGetty ImagesA decision by the NHS to redeploy health visitors during the pandemic was “fundamentally flawed” and “children were harmed” as a result, the head of a health visiting charity has told the Covid inquiry.Many health visitors were sent to work in other parts of the NHS at the beginning of the pandemic.Alison Morton, CEO of the Institute of Health Visiting, told the inquiry it was “inappropriate” as they “were needed most on their own front line”. NHS England’s Chief Nursing Officer Duncan Burton told the inquiry its response to safeguarding did not stop throughout the pandemic despite staff being diverted to critical services.Health visitors in almost two thirds of trusts in England were redeployed in March 2020, according to research by University College London.The intention was that they would go to work in hospitals to support acutely ill patients but some were sent to do administration, to deliver parcels and to answer telephones, the inquiry heard.Some health visitors who remained in post were left with case loads of 750 children or more, way above the recommended 250, evidence provided by Prof Catherine Davies, of Leeds University, to the inquiry showed.”We let families down”, Ms Morton told the inquiry, saying protection was not afforded to babies and that “some children paid the highest price”.The inquiry was shown research by the child safeguarding review practice panel which identified Covid adaptions, such as virtual visits as opposed to home visits by health visitors, as factors in the deaths and serious incidents of some children.Children like Star Hobson and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes – who were both killed by their guardians during the pandemic – hit the headlines but there were many others, Ms Morton told the inquiry. “Children were being harmed by these practices,” she said.”It had life-changing and life-ending consequences for these children and they were the canary in the coalmine and we needed to listen to them and make their voices count even in their deaths”.”For me, it was the most sad part of the pandemic, how we let those children down”, Ms Morton added. The Institute of Health Visiting – a charity and professional body that works to strengthen the quality and consistency of health visiting practice – said it was in regular contact with the government in the summer of 2020 raising concerns and eventually a letter was sent by the NHS saying redeployments must end.The body also had to make “a strong intervention” for there not to be another redeployment in December 2020, the inquiry was told. The inquiry is due to hear evidence from those who were in government at the time in the next two weeks. Earlier, Duncan Burton, the Chief Nursing Officer for England told the inquiry, at the start of pandemic, the NHS was dealing with a new virus and staff had to be freed up to help with with critical services. He said NHS England’s response to safeguarding activity did not stop throughout the pandemic but it did change.”For example, we made sure that the staff in testing centres were trained around safeguarding and what the things they might need to look for. “And as more clinical contacts happened online, we needed to make sure that the kind of guidance around online factored in the safeguarding needs of children.”The inquiry also heard about the decision by the NHS to keep children out of the healthcare system unless essential and to pause elective procedures for children in March 2020.The NHS was focusing on freeing up beds for critical care, the inquiry heard, and Mr Burton said “we had to focus on that”.”We did not suggest stopping anything that was urgent”, Mr Burton said but “there was a balance of prioritisation”.Children’s waiting lists grew at twice the rate of adult list during the recovery period after the pandemic, NHS England data which was shown to the inquiry indicated. Mr Burton’s evidence noted that children’s procedures being seen “as less of a priority compared to, for example, adult cancer treatment” was one of the reasons for the rise in children’s waiting lists size.He said the fact that children’s operations are mainly done in more specialist hospitals and there is a smaller workforce might also have added to delays.Some of the biggest waiting lists are for speech and language appointments – with schools seeing a huge increase in students needing additional help. Children were “hugely and irretrievably damaged” by the indirect consequences of the pandemic, Prof Steve Turner, from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told the inquiry.”They are 25% of the population and they receive 11% of NHS spend.”They are not treated equally in our society and became a lower priority in the pandemic and in the recovery period, Prof Turner said. This part of the Covid inquiry is looking at the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, and whether they were considered in key decisions made by government.