Publisher Health

People living in the UK and following a diet close to the Mediterranean diet are more likely to have better gum health, with potentially lower amounts of gum disease and inflammation.
Findings from a King’s College London study indicate that people not following a Mediterranean – style diet tended to have more severe gum disease, especially if they consumed red meat frequently.
In these patients, the researchers observed higher levels of circulating inflammatory markers, such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
However, patients whose diets were rich in plant-based food which are typical of a Mediterranean diet, such as legumes, vegetables, fruits and olive oil, showed lower levels of various inflammatory markers.
The research, published on September 15 in the Journal of Periodontology, evaluated 200 hospital patients enrolled in the King’s College London Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Biobank by performing dental exams, taking blood samples, and asking them about their diets through questionnaires.
The Mediterranean diet is known for its emphasis on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats. It has been associated with a lower risk of developing major diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and certain cancers.
There is substantial evidence showing that diet might play a role on human health by affecting the immune system and moderating inflammation. This depends on the composition of molecules in the diet, which include macronutrients, micronutrients and phytochemicals. Plant-based diets can contain more of these molecules which can lead to lower inflammation.
Dr Giuseppe Mainas, first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at King’s College London, said: “Our findings suggest that a balanced, Mediterranean-type diet could potentially reduce gum disease and systemic inflammation.
“We observed that there may be a connection between periodontal disease severity, diet, and inflammation. These aspects should be holistically considered when assessing the treatment for periodontitis in patients. Our research offers an important starting point that can lead to more research to better understand the relationship between foods intake and gum disease.”
Professor Luigi Nibali, lead author and a Professor of Periodontology from King’s College London said: “There is emerging evidence about the role that a balanced diet might have in maintaining a periodontal healthy status. Our research shows the potential effect that a nutrient-dense, plant-rich diet could play in improving the nation’s gum health. Nevertheless, more investigation is needed to develop personalised approaches to help people manage their gum health.”

The committee, whose members were appointed by the health secretary and include vaccine skeptics, will meet on Thursday to review recommendations for several shots.

The parasitic infection schistosomiasis affects an estimated 200 million people globally, many of them children. But campaigns to identify and treat it face formidable hurdles.

16 hours agoShareSaveJamie CoulsonYorkshire health correspondent andSteve JonesYorkshireShareSaveBBCA woman whose baby daughter was stillborn after failings in her care during pregnancy has said the government’s planned rapid review of maternity care in England will not deliver “justice” or “accountability”.During her pregnancy, Lauren Caulfield was under the care of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust and Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust, but her daughter, Grace, died in the days before her birth in 2022.Ms Caulfield, 28, a member of the Maternity Safety Alliance, said she believed the review would not look at “deep-rooted issues” in maternity services.The Leeds and Bradford hospital NHS trusts, whose maternity services are to be examined as part of the review, said they supported its aims.’Shallow and surface-level’Members of the Maternity Safety Alliance – a group of families harmed by poor maternity care in several NHS trusts across England – have taken part in a number of meetings with the Department of Health in recent weeks ahead of the announcement.They said Health Secretary Wes Streeting had “broken promises” over how the investigation would be run and what it would examine, and that they had been left feeling “used”.Ms Caulfield said: “All we have had is briefing sessions and being told what they are going to do, rather than being part of this process.”The timescale given for the review, which is due to report back by December, would make its findings “shallow and surface-level”, she said.”[It] isn’t going to look at the deep-rooted issues in maternity services.”An independent investigation by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch found numerous failings in Ms Caulfield’s care by both Leeds and Bradford teaching hospitals.”If I don’t push for improvements, no one will ever do anything about it,” Ms Caulfield said.’Positive experience’Professor Mel Pickup, chief executive for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We fully support the aim of the investigation, that will have families at its heart, to develop one set of national recommendations to drive improvements in maternity and neonatal services across England.”Every year, thousands of women give birth in our hospitals and community, and we want each and every one of those women to receive excellent care and have a positive experience with us. “In the majority of cases this is happening, but not always, and we know that isn’t good enough.”Meanwhile, Dr Magnus Harrison, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We welcome the inclusion of Leeds in the national maternity and neonatal investigation and fully support its focus on improving maternity and neonatal safety across the country.”We recognise we have not always delivered the highest quality of care to every family, and we are extremely sorry to the families who have lost their babies or had poor experiences when receiving care in our hospitals. “Families will be at the heart of this national investigation, and we are fully supportive of this.”More on this storyRelated internet links

Drs Chris and Xand sit down with Professor Stella Volpe, the Head of the department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise at Virginia Tech in the US.

Against the backdrop of high market demand for effective anti-ageing cosmetics, a team of Chinese researchers assessed the clinical effectiveness of a 0.1 % pterostilbene-containing skincare emulsion against a control emulsion over 28 days with 31 participants.
The study employed a double-blind, split-face design, comparing the left and right sides of the face and using advanced instruments along with subject self-assessments. The set of instruments used, together with the findings, is reported in the team’s published article in the Journal of Dermatologic Science and Cosmetic Technology.
“Our results indicated that the pterostilbene emulsion remarkably improved skin elasticity, firmness, and reduced wrinkles, such as forehead, undereye, and Crow’s feet wrinkles, shares co-author Zhiyuan Chen, Founder of Guangzhou Luanying Cosmetics Co., Ltd. “It also increased the thickness of the epidermis layer, enhanced collagen and elastic fibers, and minimized skin pores.”
Compared to the control emulsion, the pterostilbene emulsion brought about statistically significant improvements, and all subjects expressed higher satisfaction with the pterostilbene emulsion. These results collectively demonstrated the superior anti-aging efficacy of the pterostilbene emulsion through multiple mechanisms.
According to corresponding author Xueping Chen, the findings advance our understanding of pterostilbene’s role in skincare by providing evidence of its potent anti-ageing effects and supporting its use as an active ingredient in cosmetics. “It also offers a new perspective on natural compounds’ applications in the skincare industry,” says Chen. “The significant improvements in various skin parameters and the subjects’ positive feedback highlight the effectiveness of pterostilbene, which may change the way we approach anti-ageing skincare formulations.”
The authors propose a longer study period to fully understand the impact of pterostilbene.

A large portion of the global population with diabetes remains undiagnosed or is not receiving optimal care, according to a new study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a global network of collaborators conducted the analysis of the diabetes care cascade for all ages, both sexes, and 204 countries and territories from 2000 to 2023.
In 2023, an estimated 44% of people aged 15 and older with diabetes are unaware of their condition. Underdiagnosis was greatest among young adults — despite facing higher risks for long-term complications.
Among those who were diagnosed, 91% were on some form of pharmacological treatment. However, of those receiving treatment, only 42% had their blood sugar levels managed optimally. This translates to just 21% of all people with diabetes globally having their condition under optimal management.
Despite improvements over two decades, the research also found substantial regional diagnosis and treatment disparities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. High-income North America had the highest rates of diagnosis, while high-income Asia Pacific showed the highest rates of treatment among diagnosed individuals. Southern Latin America had the highest rates of optimal blood sugar management among those treated. In contrast, Central sub-Saharan Africa faced the largest gaps in diagnosis, with less than 20% of people with diabetes being aware of their condition.
“By 2050, 1.3 billion people are expected to be living with diabetes, and if nearly half don’t know they have a serious and potentially deadly health condition, it could easily become a silent epidemic,” said Lauryn Stafford, first author and researcher at IHME.
Given the pace at which cases are rapidly rising, the research underscores the urgent need for investment in screening programs for younger populations and access to medications and glucose-monitoring tools, especially in underserved regions. In 2022, the WHO set a target to have 80% of people with diabetes clinically diagnosed by 2030.
The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

You may not be aware that most of the medicines that have been approved for treatment are rooted in nature.
For example, the bark of willow trees has been called nature’s aspirin because it contains a chemical called salicin. The human body converts salicin into salicylic acid, which relieves pain and fights fevers.
New research by William Chain, associate professor in the University of Delaware’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and his lab, uses a molecule found in a tropical fruit to offer hope in the fight against liver-related cancers, one of the world’s top causes of cancer deaths.
Using a process called natural product total synthesis, Chain and his lab group have invented a pathway that uses widely available chemicals to create molecules found in a guava plant that are known to fight these deadly cancers. The work was published in one of the leading chemistry publications, the international journal Angewandte Chemie.
The research provides scientists around the world with an easy and low cost method to create large amounts of the naturally-occurring molecules, and opens doors to more effective and cheaper treatments.
“The majority of clinically approved medicines are either made from a natural product or are based on one,” Chain said. “But there aren’t enough natural resources to make enough treatments. Now chemists will be able to take our manuscripts and basically follow our ‘recipe’ and they can make it themselves.”
The discovery invites collaboration with scientists around the world.

“We are the first ones to pave that road, and other people can repave it any which way. Find the shortcuts if they have to. But since we entered into that unknown territory, I think we helped shed light on this unknown pathway that can get us there. And I think that’s the cool part,” said Liam O’Grady, doctoral student in Chain’s lab and the article’s first author.
The potential impact is enormous. The number of liver and bile duct cancer cases has grown dramatically in recent years, with one in 125 men and women globally projected to be diagnosed with hepatocellular cancer over the course of their lives.
In the United States, chemotherapies for liver cancers are a multi-billion-dollar health burden and the current five-year survival rates for late-stage liver cancers are under 15%. In 2025 in the US alone, more than 42,000 people will be diagnosed and over 30,000 will lose their battle.
The team is working with the National Cancer Institute on the next steps for the process, and whether the guava molecule may be effective in fighting other types of cancers.

Fourteen NHS trusts are to have their maternity services examined over what has been described as “failures in the system”, the government has said.The inquiries are part of a rapid review of maternity care in England that was announced in June.Health Secretary Wes Streeting said bereaved families had shown “extraordinary courage” in coming forward with issues dating back more than 15 years.Some of the families have severely criticised the review and Streeting’s handling of it, describing the investigation as “not fit for purpose”.The NHS trusts that will be examined are:Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Bradford Teaching HospitalsUniversity Hospitals of Leicester Leeds Teaching HospitalsSandwell and West Birmingham Gloucestershire HospitalsYeovil District Hospital Oxford University HospitalUniversity Hospitals Sussex Barking, Havering and Redbridge University HospitalsQueen Elizabeth, Kings Lynn University Hospitals of Morecambe BayEast Kent Hospitals Shrewsbury and Telford HospitalBaroness Amos, who will chair the review, said she was committed to ensuring “the lived experience of affected families are fully heard” and that the 14 investigations would allow her “to develop recommendations… that will drive improvements across maternity and neonatal services nationwide”.Improved maternity care may have prevented the deaths of over 800 babies lives in 2022-23, according to research by the baby loss charities Sands and Tommy’s.Streeting opted for the rapid review instead of a national inquiry into maternity care, which many families have been calling for. The review was due to be completed by December, but will now not report until Spring 2026. Baroness Amos says she will aim to produce interim findings around Christmas.The review will examine the experience of families and staff within England’s struggling maternity services and investigate why the recommendations from previous maternity inquiries in Morecambe Bay, East Kent, and Shrewsbury and Telford have not led to sustained improvements.Past inquiries have revealed issues including ignoring women’s voices, poor leadership, a failure to learn from safety incidents and a toxic culture. Yet families are still repeatedly reporting substandard care. There will also be “particular attention” paid to examining why black and Asian families have noticeably poorer outcomes, said Baroness Amos.The Department of Health said the trusts had been chosen based on data analysis and the views of families, as well as to ensure a geographical and demographic mix.The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the focus on these trusts would “create real anxiety among women, families and staff” at the 14 trusts. It added that the review would need to re-build a world class maternity system. “Too many women and babies are not getting the safe, compassionate care they deserve and the maternity workforce is on its knees, with staff leaving the profession,” said the college’s president, Prof Ranee Thakar.The strongest criticism of the review, however, comes from the Maternity Safety Alliance (MSA) – a group of families harmed by poor maternity care in several NHS trusts across England. Having engaged in a number of meetings with Streeting in recent weeks, they said the health secretary had “broken promises” over how the investigation would be run and what it would examine, and that they had been left feeling “used”.They are particularly critical of the decision not to investigate the role of NHS regulators, such as the Care Quality Commission and NHS Resolution, the health service’s insurance and litigation arm. “The review seems to have already decided that all the responsibility for these 800 deaths a year lies squarely with NHS trusts and the clinicians who work in them,” said Tom Hender, who lost his son Aubrey in 2022. “That’s just not true – the whole system is in crisis and we need a whole system approach.”The investigation is “not fit for purpose” and will not achieve what Streeting said it would, the MSA said, adding: “It is clear that only a statutory public inquiry can end the crisis in maternity care.”The two families who successfully campaigned for an investigation into maternity care in Shrewsbury and Telford are more positive about the review, describing it as “an important and brave first step”. But the parents of Kate Stanton-Davies and Pippa Griffiths also said it would be “safer” if the review proceeded at a slower pace, adding that proper mental health support had to be provided to those families sharing their experiences. “It’s not enough to have a nominal support figure in the room and an email address for follow-up,” they said in a statement.The ongoing challenges facing maternity services were highlighted last week. On Monday, a review of care at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS trust found that the deaths of nine babies between 2020 and 2023 could have been prevented. Then on Friday, a report found that NHS trusts rated over half their maternity and neonatal buildings as being unsatisfactory, with 7% saying they ran a serious risk of imminent breakdown.Meanwhile, the chief executive of the doctor’s regulator, the General Medical Council, is expected to say that a “toxic” culture of cover-up in the NHS was leading to poor maternity outcomes. Charles Massey is due to tell a conference in Manchester that “patient safety is falling victim to unhealthy culture” and that “the unthinkable – harm to mothers and their babies – is at risk of being normalised”.

Everybody develops presbyopia as they age – a difficulty in focusing on near objects and text – and often have to resort to reading glasses. However, the solution might be as simple as using special eye drops two or three times a day.
A retrospective study of 766 patients presented on September 14 at the 43rd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) [1], found that the majority could read an extra two, three or more lines on the eye chart used for testing near visual acuity (the Jaeger chart) after using specially formulated eye drops. This improvement was sustained for up to two years.
Dr Giovanna Benozzi, director of the Center for Advanced Research for Presbyopia, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said: “We conducted this research due to the significant unmet medical need in presbyopia management. Current solutions such as reading glasses or surgical interventions have limitations, including inconvenience, social discomfort, and potential risks or complications. There is a group of presbyopia patients who have limited options besides spectacles, and who are not candidates for surgery; these are our primary focus of interest. We sought to provide robust clinical evidence supporting an innovative pharmacological solution to offer patients a non-invasive, convenient and effective alternative.”
The eye drops, developed by Dr Benozzi’s father, the late Dr Jorge Benozzi of the same centre, contain a combination of two active agents: pilocarpine, a drug that constricts the pupils and contracts the ciliary muscle, which is a muscle controlling the eye’s accommodation for seeing objects at varying distances, and diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that reduces inflammation and the discomfort that pilocarpine often causes.
Patients administered the eye drops twice a day, usually on waking and again approximately six hours later, with an optional third dose if symptoms recurred or additional visual comfort was needed. The group of patients (373 women and 393 men, with an average age of 55) were divided into three groups to receive one of three eye drop formulations. Each formulation had a fixed dose of diclofenac but concentrations of pilocarpine were 1%, 2% and 3%.
The researchers assessed the improvement in how well patients could read the Jaeger chart without reading glasses (uncorrected near visual acuity) one hour after the first administration of the drops, and they followed up the patients for two years.
Dr Benozzi told the Congress: “Our most significant result showed rapid and sustained improvements in near vision for all three concentrations. One hour after having the first drops, patients had an average improvement of 3.45 Jaeger lines. The treatment also improved focus at all distances.

“Impressively, 99% of 148 patients in the 1% pilocarpine group reached optimal near vision and were able to read two or more extra lines. Approximately 83% of all patients maintained good functional near vision at 12 months. Importantly, no significant adverse events like increased intraocular pressure or retinal detachment were observed.”
In the 2% group, 69% of 248 patients were able to read three or more extra lines on the Jaeger chart, and in the 3% group, 84% of 370 patients could read three or more extra lines.
The improvement in the patients’ vision was sustained for up to two years, with a median duration of 434 days. Adverse side effects were mild, with the most common being temporary dim vision, which occurred in 32% of cases, irritation when the drops were instilled (3.7%) and headache (3.8%). No patients discontinued the treatment.
Common adverse side effects of pilocarpine can also include eye redness, watery eyes, blurred vision, dim or dark vision, sensitivity to light or problems changing focus between objects, seeing flashes of light or “floaters” in vision, and, in rare cases, detached retinas.
Dr Benozzi continued: “Nearly all patients experienced positive improvements in near visual acuity, although the magnitude of the improvement depended on the status of their vision before treatment at baseline. Our study revealed that optimal pilocarpine concentrations could be individualized depending on the baseline severity of presbyopia as assessed by the initial Jaeger scores. Patients with less severe presbyopia responded best to 1% concentrations, while those with more advanced presbyopia required higher 2% or 3% concentrations to achieve significant visual improvement.”
She concluded: “These results suggest this combination therapy offers a safe, effective, and well-tolerated alternative to traditional presbyopia management. It significantly reduces dependence on reading glasses, providing a convenient, non-invasive option for patients, although these eye drops may not eliminate the need for glasses in all individuals.

“Importantly, this treatment is not intended to replace surgical interventions, but rather to serve as a valuable solution for patients who need safe, effective, and personalised alternatives and seek freedom from the inconvenience of eyewear. Eye care professionals now have an evidence-based pharmacological option that expands the spectrum of presbyopia care beyond glasses and surgery.”
Besides the group of patients in this study, Dr Benozzi has other patients who have received the treatment for more than ten years. Dr Benozzi plans further research to measure improvements in patients’ quality of life, and to explore the underlying physiological mechanisms of the eye drops.
Strengths of the study include the large number of patients included and the long follow-up time. It is the first systematic evaluation comparing three different pilocarpine concentrations in combination with diclofenac. A limitation is that it is a retrospective, single-centre study, which could limit the generalizability of the findings and introduce selection bias.
ESCRS President-Elect, Professor Burkhard Dick, chair of the ophthalmology department at the University Eye Hospital Bochum, Germany, was not involved in the research. He commented: “While surgery for age-related near vision loss has advanced, some patients are not candidates. The single-centre retrospective study by Dr Benozzi suggests that eye drops containing pilocarpine and diclofenac may improve near vision for up to two years, but the limited design means the results may not apply to everyone. Long-term pilocarpine use can sometimes cause side effects such as reduced night vision, dimmer vision in low light, eye strain, irritation and, in rare cases, retinal detachment, while prolonged topical NSAID use may pose corneal risks. Broader, long-term, multi-centre studies are needed to confirm safety and effectiveness before this treatment can be widely recommended.”
Notes Abstract number: ESCRS25-FP-3944, ‘Dose-dependent efficacy and safety of pilocarpine-diclofenac eye drops for presbyopia: a real-world single-center study,” by Giovanna Benozzi et al. Free paper session on ‘Miscellaneous topics in cataract and refractive surgery’, 16:30-18:00 hrs CEST, Sunday, September 14, https://pag.virtual-meeting.org/escrs/escrs2025/en-GB/pag/presentation/570375