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Northwestern University researchers have successfully coaxed a deadly pathogen to destroy itself from the inside out.
In the new study, researchers modified DNA from a bacteriophage or “phage,” a type of virus that infects and replicates inside of bacteria. Then, the research team put the DNA inside Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), a deadly bacterium that is also highly resistant to antibiotics. Once inside the bacterium, the DNA bypassed the pathogen’s defense mechanisms to assemble into virions, which sliced through the bacterium’s cell to kill it.
Building on a growing interest in “phage therapies,” the experimental work represents a critical step toward engineering designer viruses as new therapeutics to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It also reveals vital information about the innerworkings of phages, a little-studied area of biology.
The study will be published on Wednesday (Jan. 24) in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
“Antimicrobial resistance is sometimes referred to as the ‘silent pandemic,'” said Northwestern’s Erica Hartmann, who led the work. “The numbers of infections and deaths from infections are increasing worldwide. It’s a massive problem. Phage therapy has emerged as an untapped alternative to our reliance on using antimicrobials. But, in many ways, phages are microbiology’s ‘final frontier.’ We don’t know much about them. The more we can learn about how phage work, the more likely we can engineer more effective therapeutics. Our project is cutting-edge in that we are learning about phage biology in real time as we engineer them.”
An indoor microbiologist, Hartmann is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and a member of the Center for Synthetic Biology.
Desperate need for antibiotic alternatives
Associated with an increase in antimicrobial use, the rise of antibacterial resistance is an urgent and growing threat to the global population. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 3 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur each year in the United States alone, with more than 35,000 people dying as a result.

The growing crisis has motivated researchers to look for alternatives to antibiotics, which are continually losing effectiveness. In recent years, researchers have started to explore phage therapies. But even though billions of phages exist, scientists know very little about them.
“For every bacterium that exists, there are dozens of phages,” Hartmann said. “So, there is an astronomically large number of phages on Earth, but we only understand a handful of them. We haven’t necessarily had the motivation to really study them. Now, the motivation is there, and we are increasing the number of tools we have to dedicate to their study.”
Treatment without side effects
To explore potential phage therapies, researchers either pinpoint or modify an existing virus to selectively target a bacterial infection without disrupting the rest of body. Ideally, scientists one day could tailor a phage therapeutic to infect a specific bacterium and design “a la carte” therapeutics with precise traits and characteristics to treat individual infections.
“What’s powerful about phage is it can be very specific in the way that antibiotics are not,” Hartmann said. “If you take an antibiotic for a sinus infection, for example, it disrupts your entire gastrointestinal tract. A phage therapy can be designed to affect only the infection.”
While other researchers have investigated phages therapies, almost all of those studied have focused on using phages to infect Escherichia coli. Hartmann, however, decided to focus on P. aeruginosa, one of the five most deadly human pathogens. Particularly dangerous for people with compromised immune systems, P. aeruginosa is a leading cause of hospital infections, often infecting patients with burn or surgery wounds as well as lungs in people with cystic fibrosis.

“It is one of the highest priority, multi-drug resistant pathogens that many people are really concerned about,” Hartmann said. “It is extremely drug resistant, so there is an urgent need to develop alternative therapeutics for it.”
Mimicking infection, bypassing defenses
In the study, Hartmann and her team started with P. aeruginosa bacteria and purified DNA from several phages. Then, they used electroporation — a technique that delivers short, high-voltage pulses of electricity — to poke temporary holes in the bacteria’s outer cell. Through these holes, phage DNA entered the bacteria to mimic the process of infection.
In some cases, the bacteria recognized the DNA as a foreign object and shredded the DNA to protect itself. But after using synthetic biology to optimize the process, Hartmann’s team was able to knock out the bacteria’s antiviral self-defense mechanisms. In these cases, the DNA successfully carried information into the cell, resulting in virions that killed the bacteria.
“Where we were successful, you can see dark spots on the bacteria,” Hartmann said. “This is where the viruses burst out of the cells and killed all the bacteria.”
After this success, Hartmann’s team introduced DNA from two more phages that are naturally unable to infect their strain of P. aeruginosa. Yet again, the process worked.
Phage manufacturing in a cell
Not only did the phage kill the bacteria, the bacteria also ejected billions more phages. These phages can then be used to kill other bacteria, like those causing an infection.
Next, Hartmann plans to continue modifying phage DNA to optimize potential therapies. For now, her team is studying the phages expelled from the P. aeruginosa.
“This is an important piece in making phage therapies,” she said. “We can study our phage in order to decide which ones to develop and eventually mass produce them as a therapeutic.”
The study, “A synthetic biology approach to assemble and reboot clinically relevant Pseudomonas aeruginosa tailed phages,” was supported by the Walder Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Having a high dietary intake of fish and vegetables at 1 year of age, and a low intake of sugar beverages, seems to protect against inflammatory bowel disease. These are the findings of a study with more than 80,000 children conducted at the University of Gothenburg.
The global rise in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, has no clear explanation. A contributing factor is thought to be dietary patterns that affect the bacteria in the gut, the gut microbiota, which is particularly sensitive during the first years of life.
Previous research has looked at dietary patterns and IBD in adults, but research on children’s diets and links to IBD are scarce. The aim of the current study, published in the journal Gut, has been to increase knowledge in this area.
The study’s final analysis includes dietary information on 81,280 1-year-olds in Sweden and Norway. The data on the children included come from the two population studies: All Children in Southeastern Sweden, ABIS, and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study, MoBa.
Less ulcerative colitis in fish eaters
Parents were asked specific questions about their children’s diet at 12-18 and 30-36 months of age. Diet quality was assessed using a child-friendly version of the Healthy Eating Index tool, which looks at the quality of the whole diet. Diet quality was systematically scored and classified as either low, medium or high.
Higher quality equaled a higher intake of vegetables, fruit, dairy products and fish, and a lower intake of meat, sweets, snacks and sweet drinks. Intakes of individual food groups were also studied.

Data on breastfeeding, and the child’s intake of formula and antibiotics exposure were also included. Children’s health was monitored from the age of 1 and for an average of 21 years for ABIS and 15 years for MoBa, until the end of 2020/2021.
During this period, 307 of the participants were diagnosed with IBD, with 131 having Crohn’s disease, 97 having ulcerative colitis and 79 having an unclassified IBD. The incidence of IBD was higher in the Swedish ABIS study than in Norwegian MoBa cohort, probably due to the longer follow-up time in ABIS.
High fish intake at age 1 year, compared to a low intake, was associated with a 54% lower risk of ulcerative colitis. High vegetable intake at 1 year of age was associated with an overall reduced IBD risk. High intake of sugar beverages, compared to a low intake, was accompanied by a 42% increased risk of IBD.
Findings support the hypothesis
There were no obvious associations between IBD and any of the other food groups: meat, dairy, fruit, grains, potatoes and foods high in sugar or fat, or both. At 3 years of age, only a high fish intake was associated with a reduced risk of IBD, in particular ulcerative colitis.
The associations remained after adjusting for the child’s intake of formula and antibiotics at age 1, as well as for breastfeeding and parents’ total household income. As the study was conducted in high-income countries, it is unclear whether the results can be generalized to low- or middle-income countries with different dietary habits, the researchers say. Causality cannot be established either, as this is an observational study.
“Although we cannot rule out other explanations, the new findings are consistent with the hypothesis that diet early in life, possibly mediated by changes in the gut microbiome, can affect the risk of developing IBD,” says Annie Guo, a dietician and post graduate student in pediatrics at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, and the study’s first author.

In a groundbreaking study, a team led by Würzburg Professor José Pedro Friedmann Angeli has shown that the cholesterol precursor 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) plays a crucial role as an antioxidant: it integrates into the cell membranes and protects the cells by preventing a certain type of cell death, known as ferroptosis.
“Until now, the accumulation of 7-DHC was only associated to neurodevelopmental defects, now we show that it actually increases cellular fitness and could promote a more aggressive behaviour in cancers such as Burkitt’s lymphoma and neuroblastoma,” says Friedmann Angeli.
The newly discovered protective function of 7-DHC opens up exciting prospects for further improving the treatment of cancer and other diseases associated with ferroptosis: “It gives us new opportunities to test potential inhibitors that target cholesterol biosynthesis and are already established in medical practice.”
The researchers report this in the journal Nature. In addition to the Würzburg team from the Rudolf Virchow Zentrum — Center for Integrative and Translational Bioimaging, the following scientists contributed to the study: Dr Maria Fedorova (Dresden University of Technology), Marcus Conrad (Helmholtz Munich), Derek Pratt (University of Ottawa), and Andreas Trumpp and Hamed Alborzinia (German Cancer Research Center, DKFZ Heidelberg).
Observing Changes in 7-DHC Levels
High cholesterol levels are associated with health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. Most studies focus on how cholesterol contributes directly to these diseases.
In this area, the discovery of the cholesterol precursor 7-DHC as an antioxidant opens up new possibilities: Studies on changes in 7-DHC levels could provide crucial new insights into the diseases. In addition, drugs that specifically block 7-DHC production should be researched in combination with other drugs — this could have a positive effect in the treatment of some cancers.

Possible Effects on Tumour Development
“Our next research goal is to investigate the effects of 7-DHC accumulation during tumour development,” says Würzburg ferroptosis expert José Pedro Friedmann Angeli.
The team responsible for the publication in Nature also calls for further epidemiological studies. Background: There are drugs authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that can inhibit the DHCR7 enzyme. These include trazodone, which is prescribed around 20 million times a year in the USA, sometimes even for off-label use to treat insomnia.
“Studies have shown that people taking this drug have elevated plasma levels of 7-DHC. Epidemiological studies are crucial to better understand possible effects here,” says Friedmann Angeli. These studies would help to find out whether there is a connection between patient groups who regularly take ferroptose-modulating drugs such as trazodone and cancer incidence, the occurrence of metastases or other critical aspects of public health.

Treatment with a molecule known as A485 can quickly and temporarily increase levels of white blood cells, a critical part of the body’s immune system, an effect that is difficult to deliver with currently available pharmaceuticals, a new Yale study finds.
In an experiment, the researchers found that exposure to the molecule in mice caused white blood cells to mobilize from the bone marrow, a response that could inform future treatment for patients who need a boost in immune activity, the researchers say.
The findings were reported Jan. 31 in the journal Immunity.
There are certain conditions in which individuals may be affected by low white blood cell counts. These include genetic conditions — such as severe congenital neutropenia, a rare disease in children who are prone to repeated infections due to low levels of white blood cells called neutrophils — and acquired conditions, such as reduced white blood cell counts following chemotherapy treatment. Then there are diseases like leukemia where white blood cell levels are too high.
However, there are few pharmacological options for adjusting white blood cells counts in patients with abnormal levels.
For the new study, researchers observed the effect A485 had on blood cells in mice. The molecule, which the researchers have proposed calling “prohiberin,” inhibits proteins that modulate gene expression, essentially turning genes on or off.
“We found that this molecule, A485, provoked a strong increase in white blood cells, including those involved in both the adaptive and innate immune systems,” said Nikolai Jaschke, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Andrew Wang, associate professor of internal medicine (rheumatology) and of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine.

This increase in white blood cells, deployed from the animals’ bone marrow, occurred shortly after exposure to A485. About 12 hours later, the researchers said, cell counts dropped back to previous levels. This short-term effect is key, said Jaschke.
“Currently, the main treatment for low white blood cell counts is G-CSF, or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, which is produced by the body and can be administered as a drug,” said Jaschke. “But it has a long-lasting effect, which can be harmful in some circumstances, limiting its wider clinical use. A485 is just as potent as G-CSF but less enduring.”
To see if this brief increase in white blood cells might be effective in treating infection, the researchers gave A485 to mice that had received chemotherapy — and, therefore, had damaged bone marrow — and had also been infected by the bacteria listeria.
Even with damaged bone marrow, mice that received A485 survived at higher rates than those that did not, as they were able to clear the bacteria more effectively. This finding is especially important in the context of cancer treatment, said the researchers.
“When patients develop low white blood cell counts after chemotherapy, a condition called neutropenic fever, antibiotics are the only approved therapy,” said Jaschke. “A485 could be another option.”
Going forward, Jaschke noted, studies should test A485 against other infections, as listeria is not the most common pathogen patients tend to encounter when immunocompromised. Additionally, more research needs to be done to better understand how A485 has the effect that it does. But the current study offers some clues.
Jaschke and his colleagues found that A485 works, in part, through endogenous G-CSF, which is a protein that stimulates the bone marrow to make more blood cells. They also found that combining G-CSF and A485 produced an additive effect on white blood cell mobilization that could be beneficial as a treatment.
Further, the study revealed that A485 activates what’s known as the body’s “stress axis,” engaging a hormone that, until now, was believed to only regulate levels of another hormone, cortisol.
“But we found that this hormone can regulate neutrophils, which opens up a whole new field of questions,” said Jaschke. “Along with A485 working through G-CSF, these findings mean there are pathways that mediate bone marrow mobilization that we don’t even know about yet.”

Unexpected findings have emerged about how and when certain infection-killing white blood cells decide to form memories about their encounters with a pathogen.
It has been known for decades that these cells can turn themselves into durable memory cells that can survive a long time after an initial infection is cleared. They are prepared to quickly recognize and eliminate future intrusions by the same kind of pathogen.
That is one reason people are resistant to some infectious diseases after exposure to or recovery from the illness. Vaccinations also work this way, by teaching the immune system to spot and attack dangerous viruses, parasites or bacteria.
UW Medicine and University of Washington scientists, and their collaborators, wanted to pinpoint exactly when cytotoxic T lymphocytes, a type of immune white blood cell that directly destroys infected cells, decides to form memory during an infection. They used real-time, live imaging to observe these cells over the trajectory of their entire lineage.
Their findings are published Jan. 31 in the journal Immunity from Cell Press. The co-lead authors are Kathleen Abadie and Elisa Clark, both National Science Foundation graduate fellows who recently finished their training in the laboratory of senior author Hao Yuan Kueh, UW associate professor of bioengineering, a joint department in the College of Engineering and the School of Medicine.
“Our experiments revealed an unexpected degree of flexibility in memory decision making, whereby memory T cells are generated at multiple phases during the immune response,” the research team wrote. “After encountering a pathogen, T cells decide early whether to form a memory, or alternatively, to become an effector cell, which has potent cell-killing abilities but is short-lived.”
They added, however, that after the pathogen is eliminated, effector cells can, in essence, change their minds and decide late to join the memory cell pool.

Additionally, the researchers examined the molecular switch that underlies flexible memory formation in these cells. They learned that this switch acts on the key memory regulatory gene Tcf7.
“This switch can turn off Tcf7 early in response to stimulatory signals due to infection,” they explained. “However, importantly, this switch is reversible when these signals are gone, thus enabling cells that have gone down the effector trajectory to reverse their course.”
Why do T cells need leeway in their memory decisions?
“For humans,” Abadie noted, “having some degree of flexibility to change their minds after decisions have been made allows individuals to better adapt to uncertain and changing circumstances.”
The same might be true for T cells to respond effectively to different threats.
An analysis of a mathematical model of T cell decisions, the researchers explained, shows that this flexibility allowed memory to form of both virulent pathogens that demand a large-scale immune response as well as of slow-dividing pathogens that don’t try to overwhelm the immune system, but instead attempt to evade it.

“The ability to make memory fate decisions at multiple junctures during an infection might also allow for greater responsiveness during the evolving situation of an immune challenge,” the researchers added.
These sorts of studies, Abadie and Clark noted, could resolve the longstanding uncertainty surrounding how and when memory cells form.
They hope the findings will open new avenues of research on boosting long-term immune protection against a variety of infectious diseases and cancers.
These studies were performed in collaboration with Jay Shendure, professor of genome sciences at the UW School of Medicine, and Junyue Cao, a former member of his lab, as well as with Armita Nourmohammad, UW associate professor of physics, and Obinna Ukogu, a graduate student in her lab. The Kueh lab team also worked with the lab of Rafi Ahmed at Emory University, together with co-lead author Rajesh Valanparambil, a member of the Ahmed lab.
This study was funded by a National Institutes of Health National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Trailblazer Awards (R21EB027327), an NIH National Human Genome Research institute grant (R01HG01632-01), National Science Foundation Research Fellowships, an NSF CAREER award (2045054) and startup funds from the Department of Bioengineering and the Department of Physics at the University of Washington, and the Rockefeller University. Shendure is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Using Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health compared the national burden of pedestrian injuries from motor vehicles to that of pedestrian falls occurring on streets and sidewalks and found that the probability of a pedestrian suffering a severe injury is higher for motor vehicle collisions as compared to falls. Yet, the public health burden of the number of pedestrians injured from a fall — severe or otherwise — is significantly higher compared to the number of pedestrians injured by a motor vehicle collision. This is particularly true for individuals 50 years of age or older. The results of this work are published in the Journal of Urban Health.
“There has been substantial and appropriate policy attention given to preventing pedestrian injuries from motor vehicles. But the population burden of injurious pedestrian falls is greater than that from pedestrians injured by motor vehicles and justifies an increased focus on outdoor falls prevention,” said Andrew Rundle, DrPH, professor of epidemiology, Columbia Mailman School. “With the vast majority of injury occurring in urban spaces, this suggests that urban design, policy, and built environment interventions are important tools for reducing pedestrian fall related morbidity and are much needed compared to what currently exists in the U.S.”
Thirty two percent of pedestrians struck by motor vehicles were classified as having an Emergent or Critical condition by the EMS clinician, while 19 percent of pedestrians injured by falls were similarly recorded. However, the number of pedestrian fall-patients who were classified as having an Emergent or Critical condition was twice as high as the number of pedestrians injured by motor vehicles who had an Emergent of Critical injuries. Among pedestrians age 50 years or older, the number of pedestrians whose condition was coded as Emergent or Critical was 3.9 times as high for injurious falls as compared with pedestrians-motor vehicle collisions.
“The overall number of older pedestrians who fell and required EMS responses is alarming, especially the proportion determined to have critical and life-threatening injuries on scene by EMS,” noted co-author Alexander Lo, MD, associate professor of Emergency Medicine, at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.
Until now pedestrian injuries from falls were an understudied cause of morbidity with little focus on interventions to prevent injurious pedestrian falls that occur on streets and sidewalks. Classical falls prevention guidelines from organizations such as the American Geriatric Society and the Society of Orthopedic Surgeons among other agencies, have focused on in home falls and person-level factors and omitted the environment beyond the individual’s home.
The researchers analyzed data from Emergency Medical Services response records with pedestrian and incident characteristics, identified in the 2019 National Emergency Medical Services Information System database, the most recent NEMSIS dataset available prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The largest repository of EMS records in the U.S., it contains data for more than 34 million events from over 10,000 EMS agencies, including data on injurious falls, and includes information on the severity of the injuries, the medical disposition of these patients, and sociodemographic characteristics of the patients.
“Our objective was to use a single national data collection system, NEMSIS, to compare the burden of pedestrian injuries from motor vehicles to that of pedestrian falls occurring on streets and sidewalks that resulted in an EMS encounter,” noted Rundle. Among the EMS encounters, 118,520 pedestrian falls and 33,915 pedestrians-motor vehicle collisions were identified within the dataset.

Whether falls are associated with a previous disease or injury, they are nonetheless associated with significant numbers of ED visits and hospitalizations and subsequent decline in functional status — all strong predictors for future falls and consequently, future hospitalizations, both of which hasten the decline in mobility or function, according to Lo.
“There has been much less policy attention given to the public health issue of pedestrian falls than to preventing pedestrian injuries from motor vehicles,” observed Rundle. “We argue that this likely arises from differences in who is responsible for, and who pays for, sidewalk (property owners) and road (local government) maintenance. We also note a lack of robust surveillance systems for monitoring pedestrian falls occurring on sidewalks. And without such systems, it is difficult to understand the burden of falls and motivate the development of prevention programs or prioritize interventions programs to high-risk areas.”
“Creating urban environments that support the health and engagement of older persons is becoming increasingly important as populations age,” remarked Lo, who suggests that new approaches are required that span all aspects of age-friendly design. “Future studies should examine the health outcomes of these patients, including the extent of their injuries, rate of hospital admissions from the ED, and the expected healthcare needs. Without this information, we are at a loss to clarify the public health, clinical, and social impacts of pedestrian falls in these environments.”
Co-authors are Remie P. Crowe, ESO Solutions; Henry E. Wang, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; and John R. Beard, Butler Columbia Aging Center, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA028552), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R49CE003094), Columbia Center for Injury Science and Prevention, and the Davee Foundation, Excellence in Emergency Medicine Grant.

Published15 hours agocommentsCommentsShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Aurelia Foster and Hugh PymHealth reporter and health editor People with seven common ailments such as sore throat and earache can go into a chemist to be assessed, rather than making an appointment with their GP.Under the Pharmacy First scheme, pharmacists in England can carry out consultations and issue antibiotics when appropriate.The aim is to make it easier for people to get the help they need and free up millions of GP appointments.Similar services already exist in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Pharmacy groups have welcomed the move but there is concern over the number of chemists that have closed down, and funding for the scheme.What can pharmacists supply medicines for now?sore throatearachesinusitisimpetigoshinglesinfected insect bitesuncomplicated urinary tract infections in womenPatients can access the new service by walking straight into a chemist. They can also be referred by NHS 111, urgent treatment centres, emergency departments or their GP. Those who are not registered with a GP can still access the service.If one of the seven conditions is diagnosed, pharmacists can give medicines to patients rather than sending them back to their GP. Patients who need more specialist or follow-up care will be referred onwards.Pharmacies already offer advice on medicines – when to take them, information on side effects and how to dispose of them – and have always been somewhere patients can go for advice on symptoms.You can also get emergency contraception and blood pressure checks at most pharmacies in England. Some offer advice on how to stop smoking, how to lose weight as well as screening and treatment for chlamydia, a common sexually-transmitted infection. What happens at a consultation?The pharmacist will ask about symptoms and possibly about any previous medical issues. They may ask for consent to check the patient’s health record if they can access it.For some conditions, the pharmacist may perform an examination – for example of a patient’s ear.This allows them to recommend the best course of action for each patient, which could include a treatment bought over the counter such as a cream or ointment, a restricted set of prescription-only medicines or advice that the issue will go away on its own.The consultation will be noted and shared with GPs to add to the patient’s record.Will more antibiotics be given out?There is a strict protocol in place for providing medicines for each of the seven conditions, says Tase Oputu, who chairs the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in England.That includes giving information, advice and symptom relief before supplying antibiotics, if needed.Antibiotics are used to treat or prevent bacterial infections, but do not work against viruses such as colds and flu. Overuse of them in the past has meant they are becoming less effective against serious infections – known as antimicrobial resistance.NHS England said the new service would be “continually” scrutinised in case there was any effect on that issue.In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where the service is already running, the RPS said there was no evidence of an increase in levels of antibiotics supplied.’More choice’More than 90% of community chemists had registered to deliver the new service, NHS England said.They have been paid £2,000 each and will receive £15 per consultation plus £1,000 a month if they see a set minimum number of patients.NHS England’s chief executive Amanda Pritchard called it “great news for patients”.”GPs are already treating millions more people every month than before the pandemic – but with an ageing population and growing demand, we know the NHS needs to give people more choice and make accessing care as easy as possible,” she said.The RPS called it a “leap forward” in patient care.’Easier than staying on hold to GP’Ade Williams, who trialled the scheme at Bedminster Pharmacy, in Bristol, told BBC News: “One of the frustrations you have as a pharmacist is that you have patients coming in and then you want to help them – but then you are then not able to. It’s a really big deal for us.”You feel a greater sense of satisfaction and it’s lovely when the patient comes back and says, ‘I am better now – that worked’.”Ali McKerrow, whose young son was supplied with an impetigo cream at the pharmacy, says the scheme will help working parents. “It can be really challenging getting a GP appointment,” she said.”I am about to do the school run and just popped in here on the way – that’s infinitely easier than staying on the phone on hold.”Nearly half the pharmacies in England have also recently started prescribing the oral contraceptive pill.They will also increase the number of blood pressure checks.But there are concerns about pharmacy closures. Last year, BBC News analysis showed the number of chemists in England had fallen to its lowest level since 2015.And the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies has warned community pharmacies in England are “severely underfunded”.Chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck welcomed the scheme but said that without greater funding, “more pharmacies will shut their doors for good and more workload will be transferred to remaining pharmacies”.NHS England said £645m was being invested over two years in expanding services offered by community pharmacies.Why did Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland move ahead of England?The reality is that pharmacists in England have been pushing for a while for a scheme of this nature and the government at Westminster has not moved as quickly as they would have liked. Scotland’s Pharmacy First Plus scheme was seen as the model for England. Launched in 2020, the service is available at fewer than a third of Scottish pharmacies but the aim is to make it accessible in all communities. Northern Ireland’s service dates back to before the Scottish launch, though the list of conditions which can be treated is more limited. Wales has a Common Ailments scheme which does not cover the same range of cases as England and Scotland.Are you struggling to get a GP appointment? Get in touch.Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.ukWhatsApp: +44 7756 165803Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSayUpload your pictures or videoPlease read our terms & conditions and privacy policyMore on this storyUniversities team up to tackle lack of pharmacistsPublished1 JanuaryMore women to get contraceptive pill from chemistsPublished16 November 2023Pharmacies to prescribe antibiotics instead of GPsPublished9 May 2023Are there 2,000 more GPs than before the pandemic?Published9 May 2023Scores of local pharmacies closing across EnglandPublished8 May 2023Related Internet LinksNHS EnglandThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Never one to waste a spare moment, Matt Fitzgerald clambered into the second row of his Mazda CX-90 on a recent weekday morning and cracked open his MacBook so that he could work on another book.Mr. Fitzgerald, 52, is many things — writer, public speaker, coach — but mostly he is prolific. He has written or co-written 34 books, most of them about running, endurance sports and nutrition. He writes early. He writes often. He writes a lot.“Sometimes I do feel like I’m doing B-plus work on a dozen things versus A-plus work on three or four,” he said. “But I am who I am. There’s always a couple of things where I try to give the absolute best of myself at any given time, and I guess that’s enough.”Mr. Fitzgerald has the sort of slim, athletic build that hints at another part of his identity: distance runner. He has been prolific in that area, too, finishing 50 marathons — his fastest in 2 hours 39 minutes 30 seconds. And, once upon a time, he would have been jogging on the quiet, snow-dusted road in Flagstaff, Ariz., where he had parked his sport-utility vehicle.Instead, Mr. Fitzgerald was waiting for John Gietzel, a 48-year-old business consultant from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to finish loosening up so that he could close his laptop and coach him through a series of hill sprints. As for himself, Mr. Fitzgerald has barely exercised in three years.Long Covid has kept Matt Fitzgerald from competing as a long-distance runner, but he has worked through it by inviting other runners into his home to learn how he mastered the sport.Adam Riding for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? 

Published17 hours agocommentsCommentsShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Jasmine HooleBy Charlotte McDonaldBusiness reporter, BBC NewsDrinkers who gave up booze for Dry January saved on average £118, according to Alcohol Change UK.The charity said more than 100,000 people downloaded its Try Dry app to track the financial benefits.But pubs have reported a drop in drinks sales, while the prices of no and low-alcohol drinks are rising faster than their boozy counterparts.Jasmine Hoole tried Dry January for the first time and said it boosted her bank balance as well as her energy levels.”I have managed to save myself £200 for my holiday fund which I am super happy about as I normally find it quite hard to save for these kind of things,” she said.The young people saving money by going soberThe Sober Diaries: My challenge has just startedAlcohol Change UK estimated 8.5m people planned to go alcohol free in January. Its survey of 2,000 people in November included those who do not drink during the rest of the year.Ms Hoole is also one of more than 100,000 people who downloaded the charity’s official Try Dry app which tracks days without alcohol and the financial savings of a booze-free month.UK users of the app saved on average £118 this Dry January, compared with £117 last year, Alcohol Change UK said.Impact on pubsHowever, all this extra cash in punters pockets is hitting the hospitality industry hard. CGA consultancy which works with the alcohol industry said drink sales at UK bars were down by seven per cent in January.Sasha Lord, chairman of the Night Time Industries Association, told BBC Breakfast pubs and bars in the UK had noticed “a slight downward fall off due to the cost of living”.He said: “I think we now need to start breaking away from this mould that to go to a pub you have to have a pint.”We know times are hard but if you are in the fortunate position that you can go out, maybe for a bite to eat, or come to the pub and have a pint, non-alcoholic pint, please do it.”Spend Dry January with us, say pubs and barsAs the popularity of alcohol alternatives has been rising – so have the prices. The cost of no and low alcohol beer and cider has been going up faster than the boozy versions, according to data by Assosia, and analysed by The Grocer magazine.The research suggests a surge of 13.3% in the prices of non-alcoholic alternatives since the beginning of last year. In comparison, full-strength beer and cider experienced a milder increase of 10.4% Price risesAssosia compared display prices on 1 January 2024 to those in the same week of 2023 in the UK’s major supermarkets Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Tesco’s, Asda and Waitrose.One of the biggest price changes was found in Waitrose where a 500ml bottle of Erdinger Alkoholfrei Wheat Beer rose 75% from £1 to £1.75.Waitrose said the price increase was down to the drinks returning to their regular prices in January 2024, having been on offer previously.Meanwhile in Sainsbury’s 12 packs of Heineken 0.0 Alcohol-Free Lager jumped from £7 to £11.50.Sainsbury’s said the conclusions in the report were “misleading” because it compared mostly promotional prices in 2023 with base prices in 2024. “Prices can go up and down for a range of reasons but we’re committed to offering our customers great value,” a spokesperson said.James Beeson, drinks editor at The Grocer, said: “Even if we discount the impacts of promotional activity, we’re still seeing low and no alcohol beer and cider prices on the rise.”The British Retail Consortium said one reason for this could be that many alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks do not yet benefit from the same economies of scale in production as traditional alcoholic drinks. “Nonetheless, retailers are focused on value for every product they sell including low alcohol drinks, and will continue to deliver the best choice and prices for their customers,” a spokesperson said.One of the UK’s first alcohol free bars hosted a pop up in London in January. It’s called Torstig, which means ‘thirsty’ in Danish. The concept was launched by husband and wife duo Emmi Edwards and Luke Cousins who were inspired by Denmark’s thriving alcohol-free drinks scene. With the bar’s cocktails priced up to £9 per drink, many are as expensive or more than their alcoholic counterparts. Mrs Edwards said: “We say you’re paying to not have a hangover but also you’re paying to appreciate what’s gone into making that drink.”Most of the drinks start their process at 40 per cent spirit, and then the alcohol is taken away and the drink is rebalanced with lots of flavours, botanicals, minerals and herbs,” she explained.Mr Cousins said the ingredients for their mocktails were pricey and that it would be cheaper to make them with alcohol. Included in the price are the mood altering effects customers can gain with some drinks making you more relaxed while others can give you a buzz or help you feel more focused and sociable. We caught up with Dry January first-timer Miss Hoole at an event at Torstig hosted by The Sober Girls Society, a community for women looking to change their relationship with alcohol.She said: “I’ve had two drinks so I guess I’ve spent £15 or £16 but if I’d been drinking [alcohol] it probably would have turned into a whole afternoon of drinking so I’ve definitely saved money.”Miss Hoole said the benefits of Dry January were more than financial.”[Alcohol] does give you a bit of extra social courage so I’m learning to pick that up on my own which I think is great for my own mental health and confidence to improve those skills.”It’s been quite a game-changer for me and probably something I’ll be sticking with past January,” she said.Tips for saving money on alcoholBefore you go out, set a limit for how much you’re going to drink and a budget for your spending on alcohol.Tell your friends and family that you’re trying to cut down.Take it steady – try cutting back a little more every time you drink.Mix up your habits, order a small glass or a half-pint instead and alternate alcoholic drinks with soft ones.Source: NHSCorrection: This article has been amended on the day of publication after we were provided with updated figures on Dry January take up.More on this storyGoing sober in your 20s to ease the cost of livingPublished16 January 2023The Sober Diaries: My challenge has just startedPublished1 day ago

Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Ewan Gawne & Kara O’NeillBBC NewsPatients who were filmed being mistreated at an NHS mental health unit were denied “basic dignity and their human rights”, a review has found. A BBC Panorama investigation found a “toxic culture of humiliation, verbal abuse and bullying” at the Edenfield Centre in Prestwich near Manchester.Some staff members were sacked or suspended following the 2022 broadcast.Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMH) said it was “truly sorry” and committed to a “much-improved future”.The independent report, led by Prof Oliver Shanley OBE, found the trust repeatedly missed opportunities to act on concerns, alongside a culture of “suppressing bad news”.It found the Panorama broadcast exposed the “most shocking abuse and poor care” of vulnerable patients, and that concerns raised by families were “not always taken seriously”. It added that in some services, patients had been denied “basic dignity and their human rights”.I went undercover to expose mental health hospital abuseRevealed: Mental health unit’s ‘toxic culture’ of abuseReview launched into abuse at mental health unitDuring the Panorama investigation, staff were filmed using restraint inappropriately and swearing at and slapping patients, while some of those being cared for endured long seclusions in small, bare rooms.More than 400 people shared their experiences with the review, which found a “striking level of distress among patients, families, and staff”.The report heard from a patient’s family member who tried to raise issues but was ignored.”The trust seem like they are firefighting and walking from room to room with fire, and petrol already in the room, smoking a cigarette,” they said. The report found several key reasons why the abuse and poor care of patients took place, including:Patient, family and carer concerns were ignored or not taken seriouslyStaff levels were unsafe, with a high use of temporary workersA poor leadership culture, low staff morale, and a lack of transparencySome staff described being treated unfairly because of a protected characteristic.A number of leaders at the trust were said to have “lacked compassion and empathy”, with senior managers fostering “a culture of fear and intimidation” among staff to “maintain performance standards”. The board of the trust had focused on “expansion, reputation and meeting operational targets” rather than the quality of care given to patients, the report found.But the review’s authors also said they spoke to “a great many members of staff who were passionate, evidently talented and highly committed to their patients”.Image source, Family pictureEighteen months before the Panorama investigation, Rowan Thompson, who identified as non-binary, died in the Gardener Unit on the same site as the Edenfield Centre, in October 2020. The inquest found observation records had been falsified and hospital blood test results had not been communicated back to the 18-year-old’s unit, because phone numbers and email addresses on the website were wrong.Rowan’s father Marc Thompson, who took part in the independent review into the trust, said: “I get angry.”Those are really basic, lack of detail, mistakes.”I get really angry that all they do is change the personnel. It doesn’t matter if you change the people. You have to change the systems.”He said staff “knew that they had signed stuff that they hadn’t done”.”There are other cases within three months where that was a key element to children having serious issues,” he said. “Eighteen months later the same thing is happening within the same trust at a unit on the same site. Where is the learning in that?” The trust’s chief executive, Jan Ditheridge, said: “We are truly sorry for the events described in the report. “We take the findings seriously and accept the recommendations. “We cannot change the past, but we are committed to a much-improved future – one in which all service users and carers feel safe and supported, and our people are able to do their best work.”She said an improvement plan would address the issues raised, with some actions already being completed. “Staff are more supported, leadership and governance is stronger and our culture is getting better,” she said, adding the trust had recruited more than 350 nurses in the last six months. The report outlines a series of recommendations for the trust, which include ensuring patient, family and staff voices are heard “at every level” and creating a culture where quality of care is the “utmost priority”.Other recommendations include a call to adapt to problems caused by staff shortages, to address the poor state of some building, and for a review into oversight to “prevent tragedies like those seen at Edenfield from reoccurring”.’Immediate action’The trust, which runs the centre, was downgraded from “requires improvement” to “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission in July.Neil Thwaite who had been the trust’s chief executive since 2018 stepped down six months after the BBC’s investigation in September 2022.A spokesman for NHS England North West said “immediate action” was taken to improve patient safety at Edenfield after the mistreatment was exposed, including the commissioning of the independent review.”We now owe it to every patient cared for by the trust and the staff working for them and across the NHS, to ensure the review’s recommendations are implemented,” he added. Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.ukMore on this storyGreater Manchester health trust rated ‘inadequate’Published21 July 2023Health boss resigns after unit abuse investigationPublished14 April 2023Review launched into abuse at mental health unitPublished8 February 2023Staff sacked over abuse at mental health unitPublished14 October 2022Minister backs inquiry into abuse hospitalPublished13 October 2022Care watchdog praised bosses at abuse hospitalPublished4 October 2022Revealed: Mental health unit’s ‘toxic culture’ of abusePublished28 September 2022Years of scandal and promises as patients sufferPublished28 September 2022‘I’ve been treated like I’m an animal’Published28 September 2022I went undercover to expose abuse at mental health unitPublished29 September 2022Related Internet LinksNHS EnglandGreater Manchester Mental Health NHS FTThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.