Publisher Health

Think of a time when you had two different but similar experiences in a short period. Maybe you attended two holiday parties in the same week or gave two presentations at work. Shortly afterward, you may find yourself confusing the two, but as time goes on that confusion recedes and you are better able to differentiate between these different experiences.
New research published in Nature Neuroscience published on January 19, reveals that this process occurs on a cellular level, findings that are critical to the understanding and treatment of memory disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Dynamic engrams store memories
The research focuses on engrams, which are neuronal cells in the brain that store memory information. “Engrams are the neurons that are reactivated to support memory recall,” says Dheeraj S. Roy, PhD, one of the paper’s senior authors and an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. “When engrams are disrupted, you get amnesia.”
In the minutes and hours that immediately follow an experience, he explains, the brain needs to consolidate the engram to store it. “We wanted to know: What is happening during this consolidation process? What happens between the time that an engram is formed and when you need to recall that memory later?”
The researchers developed a computational model for learning and memory formation that starts with sensory information, which is the stimulus. Once that information gets to the hippocampus, the part of the brain where memories form, different neurons are activated, some of which are excitatory and others that are inhibitory.
When neurons are activated in the hippocampus, not all are going to be firing at once. As memories form,neurons that happen to be activated closely in time become a part of the engram and strengthen their connectivity to support future recall.

“Activation of engram cells during memory recall is not an all or none process but rather typically needs to reach a threshold (i.e., a percentage of the original engram) for efficient recall,” Roy explains. “Our model is the first to demonstrate that the engram population is not stable: The number of engram cells that are activated during recall decreases with time, meaning they are dynamic in nature, and so the next critical question was whether this had a behavioral consequence.”
Dynamic engrams are needed for memory discrimination
“Over the consolidation period after learning, the brain is actively working to separate the two experiences and that’s possibly one reason why the numbers of activated engram cells decrease over time for a single memory,” he says. “If true, this would explain why memory discrimination gets better as time goes on. It’s like your memory of the experience was one big highway initially but over time, over the course of the consolidation period on the order of minutes to hours, your brain divides them into two lanes so you can discriminate between the two.”
Roy and the experimentalists on the team now had a testable hypothesis, which they carried out using a well-established behavioral experiment with mice. Mice were briefly exposed to two different boxes that had unique odors and lighting conditions; one was a neutral environment but in the second box, they received a mild foot shock.
A few hours after that experience, the mice, who typically are constantly moving, exhibited fear memory recall by freezing when exposed to either box. “That demonstrated that they couldn’t discriminate between the two,” Roy says. “But by hour twelve, all of a sudden, they exhibited fear only when they were exposed to the box where they were uncomfortable during their very first experience. They were able to discriminate between the two. The animal is telling us that they know this box is the scary one but five hours earlier they couldn’t do that.”
Using a light-sensitive technique, the team was able to detect active neurons in the mouse hippocampus as the animal was exploring the boxes. The researchers used this technique to tag active neurons and later measure how many were reactivated by the brain for recall. They also conducted experiments that allowed a single engram cell to be tracked across experiences and time. “So I can tell you literally how one engram cell or a subset of them responded to each environment across time and correlate this to their memory discrimination,” explains Roy.”
The team’s initial computational studies had predicted that the number of engram cells involved in a single memory would decrease over time, and the animal experiments bore that out.

“When the brain learns something for the first time, it doesn’t know how many neurons are needed and so on purpose a larger subset of neurons is recruited,” he explains. “As the brain stabilizes neurons, consolidating the memory, it cuts away the unnecessary neurons, so fewer are required and in doing so helps separate engrams for different memories.”
What is happening with memory disorders?
The findings have direct relevance to understanding what is going wrong in memory disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Roy explains that to develop treatments for such disorders, it is critical to know what is happening during the initial memory formation, consolidation and activation of engrams for recall.
“This research tells us that a very likely candidate for why memory dysfunction occurs is that there is something wrong with the early window after memory formation where engrams must be changing,” says Roy.
He is currently studying mouse models of early Alzheimer’s disease to find out if engrams are forming but not being correctly stabilized. Now that more is known about how engrams work to form and stabilize memories, researchers can examine which genes are changing in the animal model when the engram population decreases.
“We can look at mouse models and ask, are there specific genes that are altered? And if so, then we finally have something to test, we can modulate the gene for these ‘refinement’ or ‘consolidation’ processes of engrams to see if that has a role in improving memory performance,” he says.
Now at the Jacobs School, Roy conducted the research while a McGovern Fellow at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. Roy is one of three neuroscientists recruited to the Jacobs School this year to launch a new focus on systems neuroscience in the school’s Department of Physiology and Biophysics.
Co-authors on the paper are from Imperial College in London; the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria; the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT; and the Center for Life Sciences & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Tsinghua University in China.
The work was funded by the President’s PhD Scholarship from Imperial College London; Wellcome Trust; the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; the Simons Foundation; the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; the School of Life Sciences and the IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Roy was supported by the Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar Award and the National Institutes of Health.

Recent advances in generative AI help to explain how memories enable us to learn about the world, re-live old experiences and construct totally new experiences for imagination and planning, according to a new study by UCL researchers.
The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour and funded by Wellcome, uses an AI computational model — known as a generative neural network — to simulate how neural networks in the brain learn from and remember a series of events (each one represented by a simple scene).
The model featured networks representing the hippocampus and neocortex, to investigate how they interact. Both parts of the brain are known to work together during memory, imagination and planning.
Lead author, PhD student Eleanor Spens (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience), said: “Recent advances in the generative networks used in AI show how information can be extracted from experience so that we can both recollect a specific experience and also flexibly imagine what new experiences might be like.
“We think of remembering as imagining the past based on concepts, combining some stored details with our expectations about what might have happened.”
Humans need to make predictions to survive (e.g. to avoid danger or to find food), and the AI networks suggest how, when we replay memories while resting, it helps our brains pick up on patterns from past experiences that can be used to make these predictions.
Researchers played 10,000 images of simple scenes to the model. The hippocampal network rapidly encoded each scene as it was experienced. It then replayed the scenes over and over again to train the generative neural network in the neocortex.

The neocortical network learned to pass the activity of the thousands of input neurons (neurons that receive visual information) representing each scene through smaller intermediate layers of neurons (the smallest containing only 20 neurons), to recreate the scenes as patterns of activity in its thousands of output neurons (neurons that predict the visual information).
This caused the neocortical network to learn highly efficient “conceptual” representations of the scenes that capture their meaning (e.g. the arrangements of walls and objects) — allowing both the recreation of old scenes and the generation of completely new ones.
Consequently, the hippocampus was able to encode the meaning of new scenes presented to it, rather than having to encode every single detail, enabling it to focus resources on encoding unique features that the neocortex couldn’t reproduce — such as new types of objects.
The model explains how the neocortex slowly acquires conceptual knowledge and how, together with the hippocampus, this allows us to “re-experience” events by reconstructing them in our minds.
The model also explains how new events can be generated during imagination and planning for the future, and why existing memories often contain “gist-like” distortions — in which unique features are generalised and remembered as more like the features in previous events.
Senior author, Professor Neil Burgess (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), explained: “The way that memories are re-constructed, rather than being veridical records of the past, shows us how the meaning or gist of an experience is recombined with unique details, and how this can result in biases in how we remember things.”

A new study published in Nature’s cancer journal Oncogene highlights the effectiveness of MDX-124, the first therapeutic drug to target annexin-A1, a protein which is overexpressed in several cancer types and promotes tumour progression.
The research was led by Professor Chris Parris and Dr Hussein Al-Ali at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in collaboration with Professor Chris Pepper of Brighton and Sussex Medical School and UK biotech company Medannex, which has produced the MDX-124 monoclonal antibody therapy.
High annexin-A1 expression levels correlate with poorer overall survival in various cancers that currently have limited treatment options, including triple-negative breast, pancreatic, colorectal and prostate cancers.
The new study found that MDX-124, which is being developed for use in immunotherapy, significantly reduces proliferation across a number of human cancer cell lines expressing annexin-A1. This anti-proliferative effect is instigated by stopping cell cycle progression.
Additionally, MDX-124 is shown to significantly inhibit tumour growth in in vivo models of triple-negative breast and pancreatic cancer, indicating that annexin-A1-targeted therapy represents a viable and innovative approach to cancer treatment.
The phase Ib clinical study of MDX-124, called ATTAINMENT, is currently underway to establish the safety and optimum dose of the novel therapy. Its clinical efficacy will then be evaluated in newly-diagnosed cancer patients, in combination with current appropriate treatments.
Professor Chris Parris, Head of School of Life Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: “We know that the protein annexin-A1 activates formyl peptide receptors to initiate a complex network of intracellular signalling pathways, which can lead to numerous cellular responses, including tumour initiation and progression.
“We have demonstrated in this new study that using MDX-124 can reduce cell growth in annexin-A1-expressing cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, providing further evidence that annexin-A1 is a valid target for therapy in cancer.”
Medannex Director of Scientific Operations, Dr Fiona Dempsey, who co-authored the paper, said: “We are delighted to publish this work with our collaborators demonstrating the anti-cancer potential of our innovative antibody therapeutic and look forward to the clinical data coming out of the ATTAINMENT study in due course.”

There are approximately 425 million people worldwide with diabetes. Approximately 75 million of these inject themselves with insulin daily. Now they may soon have a new alternative to syringes or insulin pumps. Scientists have found a new way to supply the body with smart insulin.
The new insulin can be eaten by taking a capsule or even better, within a piece chocolate.
Inside these we find tiny nano-carriers to which the insulin is encapsulated. The particles are 1/10,000th the width of a human hair and so small that you cannot even see them under a normal microscope.
“This way of taking insulin is more precise because it delivers the insulin rapidly to the areas of the body that need it most. When you take insulin with a syringe, it is spread throughout the body where it can cause unwanted side effects,” explains Professor Peter McCourt at UiT Norway’s Arctic University. He is one of the researchers behind the study.
The research was recently published in Nature Nanotechnology.
Delivered to the liver
It was researchers at the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District who, in collaboration with UiT, discovered many years ago that it was possible to deliver medicines via nano-carriers to the liver. The method has then been further developed in Australia and in Europe.

Many medicines can be taken by mouth, but until now people have had to inject insulin into the body. McCourt explains that the problem with insulin with a nano-carrier is that it breaks down in the stomach and thus does not get to where it is needed in the body. This has been a major challenge for developing a diabetes medicine that can be taken orally.
But now the researchers have solved this challenge.
“We have created a coating to protect the insulin from being broken down by stomach acid and digestive enzymes on its way through the digestive system, keeping it safe until it reaches its destination, namely the liver,” says McCourt, who is a liver biologist.
The coating is then broken down in the liver by enzymes that are active only when the blood sugar levels are high, releasing the insulin where it can then act in the liver, muscle, and fat to remove sugar from the blood.
“This means that when blood sugar is high, there is a rapid release of insulin, and even more importantly, when blood sugar is low, no insulin is released,” says Nicholas J. Hunt at the University of Sydney who, together with Victoria Cogger, leads the project.
He explains that this is a more practical and patient-friendly method of managing diabetes because it greatly reduces the risk of a low blood sugar event occurring, namely hypoglycemia and allows for the controlled released of insulin depending on the patient’s needs, unlike injections where all the insulin is released in one shot.

Fewer side effects
The new method works similarly to how insulin works in healthy people. The pancreas produces insulin which first passes through the liver where a large portion of it is absorbed and maintains stable blood sugar levels. In the new insulin method, the nano-carrier releases insulin in the liver, where it can be taken up or enter the blood to circulate in the body.
“When you inject insulin under the skin with a syringe, far more of it goes to the muscles and to adipose tissues that would normally happen if it was released from the pancreas, which can lead to the accumulation of fats. It can also lead to hypoglycemia, which can potentially be dangerous for people with diabetes.
With the new method, there will be fewer such side effects.
In addition, you do not need to stab yourself with a needle and you can take the medicine you need in a slightly more discreet way. Also, this form of insulin does not need to be refrigerated.
Tested on baboons
The oral insulin has been tested on nematodes, on mice and rats. And lastly, the medicine has now been tested on baboons in the National Baboon Colony in Australia.
“In order to make the oral insulin palatable we incorporated it into sugar-free chocolate, this approach was well received” says Hunt.
He says that 20 baboons have taken part in this study. When they received the medicine, their blood sugar was lowered.
The baboons were normal, healthy baboons, but the oral insulin have also been tested on mice and rats that actually have diabetes. The mice and rats did not have low blood sugar events (hypoglycemia), gain weight or fat accumulation in the liver overcoming current challenges with injectable and other oral insulins.
What remains now is to test the new method on humans.
Ready for use in 2-3 years
“Trials on humans will start in 2025 led by the spin out company Endo Axiom Pty Ltd. Clinical trials are performed in 3 phases; in the phase I trial we will investigate the safety of the oral insulin and critically look at the incidence of hypoglycemia in healthy and type 1 diabetic patients. Our team is very excited to see if we can reproduce the absent hypoglycemia results seen in baboons in humans as this would be a huge step forward. The experiments follow strict quality requirements and must be carried out in collaboration with physicians to ensure that they are safe for the test subjects” says Hunt.
“After this phase I we will know that it is safe for humans and will investigate how it can replace injections for diabetic patients in phase 2 trials,” says the researcher.
The researchers hope that the new medicine can be ready for use by everyone in 2-3 years.

Published43 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Samantha Jagger & Peter HarrisBBC NewsFour carers who were convicted of abusing patients at a secure hospital have been given suspended sentences.An undercover BBC Panorama investigation showed patients being mocked by staff at Whorlton Hall in County Durham between 2018 and 2019.The four former staff, who are all men, were sentenced on Friday after being convicted by a jury last year.Judge Chris Smith said Whorlton Hall was an “unpredictable and inherently frightening place to live”.The specialist hospital for people with complex needs was privately run by Cygnet, but funded by the NHS. It has since closed. This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Undercover reporter Olivia Davies spent 38 days posing as a carer at the 17-bedroom secure unit.In the footage showed to jurors, prosecutors said the defendants mocked, taunted and threatened patients, who needed 24-hour care.Peter Bennett was convicted for “deliberately referencing and snapping balloons” in the presence of a female patient who did not like them, and “mocking” another’s communication difficulties by talking to her in French.Matthew Banner was guilty of ill-treating the same patient, who preferred female carers, by “threatening” that men would be sent to her room and making repeated references to balloons.Image source, CPS/BBCJohn Sanderson was found guilty of threatening a male patient with violence and “goading him to fight”.Ryan Fuller was guilty of instructing another male patient to lie on the floor to demonstrate a restraint, and then simulating an assault by pretending to perform an “elbow drop” wrestling move from a chair.Fuller was also found guilty of “antagonising” another male patient and “encouraging” him to fight.Judge Chris Smith sentenced the four carers at Teesside Crown Court on Friday. Peter Bennett, 54, of Redworth Road in Billingham, Teesside, was given four months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after being found guilty of two chargesMatthew Banner, 44, no fixed address, was jailed for four months, suspended for 18 months after being convicted on five countsRyan Fuller, 28, of Deerbolt Bank in Barnard Castle, was sentenced to three months in prison over two counts, suspended for 15 monthsJohn Sanderson, 26, of Cambridge Avenue, Willington, County Durham, was found guilty of one count and jailed for six weeks, suspended for 12 monthsAll must also do unpaid work.Nine carers at Whorlton Hall stood trial, five of whom were cleared of all charges by the jury.’Malign culture’Judge Smith said Whorlton Hall had a “malign culture” and was an “unpredictable and inherently frightening place to live.”He added: “Each of you failed those patients and their families. It was a fundamental breach of trust.”Whorlton Hall: Can further scandals be prevented?Carers guilty of mistreating hospital patientsSecure hospital had cruel culture – prosecutorsCarer denies mocking patients ‘for cheap laughs’Following the case, the father of a patient with severe autism who was ill-treated by a carer told the BBC of the impact of seeing the way his daughter was let down.He said: “The more I saw it, the more angry I got. To see somebody treating your daughter like that is bad. “We ended up not sleeping at night because of the anger and we ended up in therapy. We just couldn’t get our heads around it.”The sister of one patient, who can’t be named for legal reasons, said: “I can’t stop thinking about what they did to him. I don’t understand how anyone could be so nasty and cruel.”Durham Police arrested several carers within 36 hours of the programme being aired.Det Ch Supt David Ashton said the case “raised concerns, particularly for those who have vulnerable relatives or friends who require specialist care”.”We hope that the successful prosecution of the defendants in this case gives confidence to anyone who may be concerned about abuse in a care environment to speak out and report such matters,” Det Ch Supt Ashton added.Outside court, Stephanie Donington from the Crown Prosecution Service North East, said the provision of round-the-clock care for patients with complex needs carries “an enormous duty of care”.She said many Whorlton Hall patients were “wholly dependent on professional support”, and added: “For each of those sentenced today, it was clear from the evidence in this case that there were occasions where the care they provided was not only devoid of the appropriate respect and kindness required, but also crossed the line into criminal offending.”‘Absolutely horrific’Learning disability charity Mencap and the National Autistic Society (NAS) said changes must be made to ensure autistic people and those with learning disabilities are kept safe.Dan Scorer, head of policy and public affairs at Mencap, said: “Today’s sentencing shows that people who abuse and neglect health and care settings will be held to account and have to face up to the pain and suffering they have caused. It must never be tolerated.”Tim Nicholls, head of influencing and research at NAS, added: “The abuse of autistic people and people with learning disabilities in this case is absolutely horrific.”Both charities called for improvements to social care nationally, with a spokesman for NAS saying the Whorlton case is “just one example” of how autistic people and those with learning disabilities are being let down by “inadequate social care services and out of date mental health law”.Follow BBC Tees on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.More on this storyCarers guilty of mistreating hospital patientsPublished27 April 2023Prosecutors put sinister spin on care home banterPublished25 April 2023Panorama ‘sexed up’ carer abuse report, court toldPublished24 April 2023Secure hospital had cruel culture – prosecutorsPublished21 April 2023Accused carer ‘remorseful’ for swearing at patientPublished20 April 2023Carer ‘showing off’ with patient restraint talesPublished19 April 2023Carer sorry for ‘stupid’ jokes about patientsPublished18 April 2023Carer denies mocking patients ‘for cheap laughs’Published17 April 2023

Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, PA MediaAll Nicola Sturgeon’s WhatsApp messages during the pandemic appear to have been deleted, the Covid inquiry has heard.Jamie Dawson KC, counsel to the inquiry, said the former first minister appeared to “have retained no messages whatsoever”.The hearing in Edinburgh was also told that her deputy John Swinney’s WhatsApp messaging was set to auto-delete. Ms Sturgeon has previously said she has “nothing to hide” but not clarified if her WhatsApp messages were deleted. The UK Covid inquiry, which is sitting in Scotland for three weeks, was taking evidence from senior civil servant Lesley Fraser, director general corporate at the Scottish government. Deleting WhatsApp messages was ‘pre-bed ritual’, Covid inquiry hearsCovid inquiry turns spotlight on Scottish decisionsWhy is the UK Covid Inquiry in Scotland?Ms Fraser said relatively new technologies such as Zoom were being used during the pandemic and that records may not have been retained in the way they might be now, when a digital footprint is more likely to be created. Mr Dawson then questioned her about a table supplied by the Scottish government last October summarising ministers’ use of notebooks, retention of messages and other forms of communication. He said: “Under the box ‘Nicola Sturgeon’, it says that messages were not retained, they were deleted in routine tidying up of inboxes or changes of phones, unable to retrieve messages. “What that tends to suggest is at the time that request was made Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister of Scotland, had retained no messages whatsoever in connection with her management of the pandemic.”Ms Fraser replied: “That’s what that indicates to me.” She also confirmed that the Scottish government had been unable to supply Ms Sturgeon’s messages from its corporate record. Image source, Getty ImagesThe documents indicated that former Deputy First Minister John Swinney’s messages were either deleted manually or by using the app’s auto-delete function. Ms Fraser said ministers may have managed their messages involving their private offices in such a way in order to stop the messaging becoming “unmanageable”. She said some messages were simply “banter” that did not need to be retained, and others may have been lost when phones were upgraded.The inquiry also heard from retired civil servant Ken Thomson who said electronic messaging grew very rapidly during the pandemic. He said the policy was to retain a formal record of decision-making but many messages were simply exchanges of information. He was asked about posts he made in a “Covid outbreak group” chat in August 2020, which included the deputy chief medial officer and national clinical director Jason Leitch.In it he reminds them the messages are “FOI discoverable” and urges participants to use the “clear chat” button. He also remarks: “Plausible deniability is my middle name”. Mr Thomson denied this was an attempt to defeat requests under Freedom of Information laws. He suggested private information might be disclosed in such chats and that it was policy to transfer salient information to the public record. In another WhatsApp group post in May 2021, he wrote: “I feel moved at this point to tell you that this chat is FOI-recoverable.” He includes an emoji with a zipped mouth.Two minutes later Prof Jason Leitch, responded: “WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual.”‘Take a deep breath’Mr Thomson denied there was a culture among Covid decision-makers of deleting messages to prevent them coming into the public domain. He said the context of the discussion was there was a new Covid variant, and that a tweet from a “diehard” Rangers supporter was circulating, saying there would be no risk from a forthcoming fans’ march due to take place against official regulations. He said he was in an “oblique way” urging Mr Leitch to “take a deep breath” before commenting on the tweet in the WhatsApp discussion. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said Ms Sturgeon and Mr Swinney had “huge questions” to answer over their conduct.”By deleting all their WhatsApp messages, they defied the inquiry’s clear instructions from June 2021 that all relevant messages had to be retained,” he said.He said secrecy and evasion had been “the hallmarks” of her government, and added: “This shameful cover-up, which amounts to a digital torching of vital evidence, is the most scandalous example of it.”Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie said Ms Sturgeon had gone back on undertakings made in 2021 that correspondence would be kept and handed over to future inquiries. “Nicola Sturgeon has completely broken her promise to the people of Scotland,” she said. Ms Sturgeon is due to give evidence to the inquiry during its evidence sessions in Scotland in the coming weeks. More on this storySturgeon Covid messages deleted from phone – reportPublished29 October 2023

Published5 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Helen BushbyCulture reporterCori Broadus, the daughter of rapper Snoop Dogg, has said she broke down in tears when doctors told her she had suffered a “severe stroke” aged 24. Broadus shared her news with a picture of herself lying in a hospital bed on an Instagram story on Thursday, to her 657,000 followers.She commented: “I had a severe stroke this AM. I started breaking down crying when they told me.”I’m only 24. What did I do in my past to deserve all of this?”Survivor calls for more support after stroke at 20’I had a stroke at the age of 21’BBC News stories about strokesDoctors sometimes refer to stroke as a heart attack for the brain.It occurs when the blood supply to the brain is stopped.Replying to friends who sent her well wishes on Instagram, Broadus posted: “I love you, I love you.”Image source, Getty ImagesMusician and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr, also has two sons, Corde and Cordell, with his wife Shante.The rapper shot to fame following the release of his 1993 hit debut album, Doggystyle – which was produced by Dr Dre.It featured hits singles such as Gin & Juice, Doggy Dogg World, Murder Was The Case and Who Am I? (What’s My Name?).He is also known for hits such as Sweat, Drop It Like It’s Hot and Signs – a collaboration with Justin Timberlake.Snoop Dogg also has an acting career – his film credits include Training Day and 2004’s remake of Starsky & Hutch with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.His daughter Cori is a singer in her own right who performs under the name CHOC. She has provided guest vocals to some of her father’s tracks and last year released the single 4am.Signs and symptoms of a strokeDoctors sometimes refer to stroke as a heart attack for the brain. It occurs when blood supply to the brain is disrupted, through a clot or a bleed.The Stroke Association’s website says a stroke is a medical emergency, and its effects depend on where it takes place in the brain, and how big the damaged area is.A stroke can be identified using the Fast acronym (Face, Arms, Speech, Time):Face weakness: Can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped?Arm weakness: Can the person raise both arms?Speech problems: Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say?Time: The association says if you experience any of these symptoms, don’t wait, call 999Juliet Bouverie, the chief executive of the Stroke Association, told BBC News: “After a stroke, life changes in a flash. Two thirds of people who survive a stroke find themselves living with a disability. “As a result, young stroke survivors are having important milestones and their planned futures stolen from them, while they have to learn to adapt to their new life affected by stroke.”The Stroke Association added one in four strokes happen in people of working age and around 400 children have a stroke in the UK every year.More on this storySurvivor calls for more support after stroke at 20Published8 June 2023Snoop Dogg acquires Death Row RecordsPublished10 February 2022Young stroke survivorPublished19 February 2019Andrew Marr: Why do healthy people have strokes?Published10 January 2013’I had a stroke at the age of 21’Published24 September 2012Related Internet LinksStroke AssociationThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

For decades, Uganda’s campaign against H.I.V. was exemplary, slashing the country’s death rate by nearly 90 percent from 1990 to 2019. Now a sweeping law enacted last year, the Anti-Homosexuality Act, threatens to renew the epidemic as L.G.B.T.Q. citizens are denied, or are too afraid to seek out, necessary medical care.The law criminalizes consensual sex between same-sex adults. It also requires all citizens to report anyone suspected of such activity, a mandate that makes no exceptions for health care providers tending to patients.Under the law, merely having same-sex relationships while living with H.I.V. can incur a charge of “aggravated homosexuality,” which is punishable by death.Anyone who “knowingly promotes homosexuality” — by hiring or housing an L.G.B.T.Q. person, or by not reporting one to the police — faces up to 20 years in jail. Scores of Ugandans have been evicted from homes and fired from jobs, according to interviews with lawyers and activists.Entrapment and blackmail — sometimes by the police — are rampant in person, on social media and on dating apps, according to interviews with dozens of people.L.G.B.T.Q. people, and the advocates and health care workers helping them, have been subject to threats and violence. We 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? 

Published21 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Jacqueline HowardBBC NewsMeasles is likely to spread rapidly across parts of the UK unless more people take up the vaccine, a senior health official has warned.Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, says vaccination rates are “well below” what is recommended by the World Health Organization.Pop up clinics are being introduced to get more children vaccinated as cases continue to rise.Measles is a highly contagious disease.It is spread by coughs and sneezes. More than 200 cases have been confirmed in the West Midlands in recent months, mostly in Birmingham. The UKHSA said Dame Jenny has expressed concern that, without urgent action, we are likely to see the measles virus “seeding and spreading rapidly” in other areas with low vaccine uptake.She told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme a call to action nationwide was needed.”The focus this morning is on the West Midlands, but I think the real issue is we need a call to action right across the country,” she said.The UK Health Security Agency has now declared the measles outbreak a national incident, allowing it to put more resources into tackling the problem. In some areas of London, nearly half of children have not been vaccinated against it.The vaccine, the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) jab, is delivered in two doses, the first given at 12 months, and the second at about three years and four months, before children start school.Dame Jenny said the UK had previously established an elimination status for measles, but vaccination rates have now dropped.”On average about only 85% of children are arriving at school having had the two MMR doses,” she said.More on this storyWhy are measles cases rising?Published9 minutes agoPop up MMR clinics set up amid measles outbreakPublished14 hours agoMeasles cases highest since 1990sPublished11 January

Published3 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Helen GossBy Louise HosieBBC ScotlandThe mother of an 11-year-old Aberdeenshire girl with long Covid has launched a legal action against their health board, in what lawyers claim is the first case of its kind in Scotland. Helen Goss, from Westhill, is seeking damages from NHS Grampian on behalf of her daughter, Anna Hendy.The action claims the health board is responsible for “multiple failings” in Anna’s treatment and care. NHS Grampian said it would not comment on individual patient cases.The claim alleges failings were avoidable, that they caused Anna “injury and damage”, and led to her condition worsening.Anna became unwell after contracting Covid in 2020. Image source, Helen GossShe has not been able to return to school, needs the use of a wheelchair, and is often confined to her bed. The action alleges a number of failings by the health board.These include claims that requests for Anna to be referred to the specialist paediatric services of immunology and neurology were refused. It also claims no further help was offered after Anna was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). And it says these failings “could have been avoided had NHS Grampian followed contemporary guidance on diagnosis and treatment”. Children with long Covid ‘dismissed and ignored”Daughter’s long Covid makes us prisoners at home’It adds: “Your breaches amount to negligence at common law of which damages are claimed.”Anna’s mother told BBC Scotland News: “I want to make it very clear that this is not about the money, I don’t care about the money.”What I want is an apology for Anna, and accountability.”I want the health board to admit that they have failed in their duty of care by not training up their staff to appropriately diagnose and treat patients with long Covid.”They have destroyed my family over the last four years. There is nothing more they can take from us.”Ms Goss added: “I don’t want this to happen to other young people.”People might get the confidence, not only to take legal action, but to keep pushing for treatment.” Catherine McGarrell, of Thompsons Solicitors, which is representing Ms Goss, said: “As a result of the multiple failings and repeated failures, Anna’s condition is much worse than what it should be, or what it could have been. “It isn’t a case of she wouldn’t have contracted long Covid, it’s the care in treating the long Covid that’s made it worse. “After years of completely avoidable failings from the NHS, all Anna needed was someone to take accountability and to start getting the treatment she needs.”More from NE, Orkney & Shetland – Latest News & UpdatesBBC Sounds – BBC News North East Scotland – Available EpisodesShe added: “It’s unfortunate the family are now having to take legal action against NHS Grampian to get the care Anna needs, but they’ve been left with no other choice. “I’m hopeful NHS Grampian will now listen and finally do the right thing by Anna and her family.” The health board said it was in the process of creating a new treatment pathway for children affected by the condition.A new website allowing families to share their experiences of the disease is also in development.A spokesperson said: “NHS Grampian has a Long Covid Project Board and a Long Covid Paediatric Steering Group which help to inform our work. “We also now have a paediatric long Covid practitioner as well as a paediatric clinical lead for long Covid. Children who are suffering with symptoms are managed by the appropriate clinicians according to their needs. “The team is always happy to hear from those who have experienced long Covid, as well as parents and carers, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.” More on this storyChildren with long Covid ‘dismissed and ignored’Published2 November 2023’Daughter’s long Covid makes us prisoners at home’Published28 May 2022What’s the guidance for Covid in the UK now?Published1 July 2022