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Meal replacement diets are often used to manage type 2 diabetes, but low carbohydrate, low calorie and Mediterranean diets could also help normalise blood sugar levels, says Dr Adrian Brown (UCL Medicine). Until recently, type 2 diabetes has mainly been managed by controlling risk factors - such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar (glucose) levels - usually by prescribing drugs.

Over a fifth (22%) of adults say they have experienced a complete breakdown of a relationship with either family, friends, colleagues, or neighbours in the past year, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study. Adults aged 18-29 were most likely to report a relationship breakdown (35% vs 12% of adults aged 60 and over), as were people with a diagnosed mental health condition (37% vs 19% of those with no diagnosed mental health condition) and people from ethnic minority groups (36% vs 20% of those not from ethnic minority groups).

A national study involving UCL has deepened understanding of the symptoms, signs and outcomes of patients with a novel blood-clotting condition associated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. The rare condition, known as vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT), is characterised by a blockage of veins and a marked reduction of platelets, which are an important part of the blood clotting system.

Climate change is already widespread, rapid, and intensifying, according to a new report released today by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), involving contributions from UCL academics. The report, which assesses the physical science behind climate change, highlights that changes in the Earth's climate have already been observed in every region of the globe and across the whole climate system - including the atmosphere, oceans, rivers and lakes, and land - many of which are unprecedented.

A new UCL and UCLH-led study of patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) following Covid-19 vaccination, provides a clearer guide for clinicians trying to diagnose and treat patients. The research, published in The Lancet, is the most detailed account of the characteristics of CVT, when it is caused by the novel condition vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).

Scientists at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute have studied how proteins accumulate in the wrong parts of brain cells in motor neurone disease, and have demonstrated how it might be possible, in some cases, to reverse this. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease, is a progressive fatal disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control, with patients become increasingly paralysed and losing the ability to speak, eat and breathe.

A new 10-year analysis, led by UCL and Cardiff researchers, of patient safety incidents in hospital acute medical units across England and Wales, identified numerous areas for improvement. Recommendations include the introduction of electronic prescribing and monitoring systems, checklists to reduce diagnostic errors, and an increased presence of senior clinicians and pharmacists overnight and at the weekends to reduce the vulnerability of less experienced staff.

A study by an international research group co-led by UCL researchers has identified 15 novel biomarkers that are linked to late-onset dementias. These biomarkers are proteins, which predict cognitive decline and subsequent increased risk of dementia already 20 years before the disease onset. The proteins are related to immune system dysfunction, blood-brain-barrier dysfunction, vascular (blood vessel) pathologies, and central insulin resistance.

Children who live in the most deprived UK areas see far higher increases in body fat between the ages of seven and 17 compared to those from most advantaged areas, finds a new study by UCL researchers. In the study, published in The Lancet Public Health , researchers found boys from the most deprived areas have a 3% higher fat mass index (FMI)* at age seven compared to those from the most advantaged areas, and by 17 it is 23% higher.

Record-breaking winter winds have blown large swathes of old Arctic sea ice into warmer waters, putting them at high risk of melting this summer, according to a new study by a UCL-led research team. Old Arctic ice, known as "perennial" ice, is ice that has survived at least one summer. It is thicker than new ice, is less prone to melting, and helps keep Earth cool in summer by reflecting sunlight.

When under stress, people reach undesirable conclusions based on weaker evidence than when they are relaxed, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The findings, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience , show that stress can make people more likely to conclude the worst scenario is true.

Light to moderate drinking may be associated with a decreased risk of heart attack, stroke, angina or death among those with cardiovascular disease, finds a new study led by a UCL researcher. The new BMC Medicine meta-analysis study suggest that drinking up to 105 grams of alcohol per week - equivalent to 13 UK units of alcohol, less than six pints of medium-strength beer or just over one bottle of wine - could potentially confer some protective benefits.

More than one in three British adults are suffering from two or more chronic health conditions in middle age, such as recurrent back problems, mental ill-health, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high-risk drinking, according to UCL researchers. The new study, published in  BMC Public Health,  shows that among Generation X - adults born in 1970 - those who grew up in poorer families are at much greater risk of having multiple long-term health problems in their late 40s.

Researchers at UCL have developed a new way to deliver drugs that can shut down cancer-promoting mutations in neuroblastoma. The findings in mice, show the method, which uses tiny bubbles to deliver therapies directly to tumour cells, reduced tumour growth and improved survival. Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumour found in children and accounts for about 15% of all cancer-related deaths in children.

Older people in the poorest sector of the population were more than twice as likely to feel isolated and lonely during the first lockdown than the richest, finds a new study led by researchers from UCL and the University of Manchester. The researchers analysed data from 4,709 older men and women aged over 50 living in England who are part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to explore changes in the experiences of social isolation and loneliness during the pandemic.

The first clinical trial of a new dietary treatment for children and adults with severe forms of epilepsy, co-developed by UCL researchers and based on the ketogenic diet, has been successfully completed.

A clinical trial of a new drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease which has been developed at UCL in partnership with the pharmaceutical company Eisai has begun at UCLH with participants now being screened. Participants in the trial, conducted at the UCLH Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre (NIHR UCLH Clinical Research Facility), will have the rare inherited form of Alzheimer's disease.

UCL is launching a major £1m research project into the links between racism, racial inequality, diversity and policy in the UK film industry, working closely with the British Film Institute (BFI), the UK's lead organisation for film and the moving image. The Colour of Diversity: A Longitudinal Analysis of BFI Diversity Standards Data and Racial Inequality in the UK Film Industry i s'a three-year research study that will explore the true nature of the presence, representation and experiences of Black and minority ethnic identities within the UK film industry.

Children and young people's proximity to woodlands has been linked with better cognitive development and a lower risk of emotional and behavioural problems, in a study led by UCL and Imperial College London scientists that could influence planning decisions in urban areas. In what is believed to be one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers used longitudinal data relating to 3,568 children and teenagers, aged nine to 15 years, from 31 schools across London.

The arrival of plants on land about 400 million years ago may have changed the way the Earth naturally regulates its own climate, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and Yale. The carbon cycle, the process through which carbon moves between rocks, oceans, living organisms and the atmosphere, acts as Earth's natural thermostat, regulating its temperature over long time periods.