news

Parasitic worms could hold the key to living longer and free of chronic disease, according to a review of prior evidence written by UCL researchers. The review, published in  eLife , looks at the growing evidence to suggest that losing our 'old friend' helminths (parasitic worms), which used to live relatively harmlessly in our bodies, can cause ageing-associated inflammation.

Improvements in access to education for girls over the last century in the UK are likely to have reduced differences in cognitive ageing between men and women, potentially reducing sex disparities in dementia risk, finds a new large cohort study led by UCL.

New insight into how human brains detect and perceive different types of touch, such as fluttery vibrations and steady pressures, has been revealed by UCL scientists with the help of the ancient Chinese cooking ingredient, Szechuan pepper. Humans have many different types of receptor cells in the skin that allow us to perceive different types of touch.

The antiviral drug plitidepsin is between 10 and 100 times* more effective against SARS-CoV-2, including the new UK variant, than the NHS approved** drug remdesivir, finds new preclinical research involving UCL scientists.

Air pollution is linked to a heightened risk of progressive and irreversible sight loss, known as age related macular degeneration (AMD), reveals a large long term study led by UCL researchers. They found that people in the most polluted areas were at least 8% more likely to report having AMD, according to the findings published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology .

Once a bird has established itself as an alien species in a new region, living alongside native birds, it's most likely to continue spreading to other areas where those same native birds are also present, according to a new UCL-led study. The new study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution , improves on existing methods to predict the spread of alien species.

Nearly half of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff are likely to meet the threshold for PTSD, severe anxiety or problem drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study led by UCL and King's College London researchers. The study, published in Occupational Medicine , shows the stark impact of working in critical care during the COVID-10 pandemic.

A theory as to why the Sun's outer atmosphere differs in its chemical make-up from its inner layers has been confirmed by direct observation for the first time by scientists at UCL and the Italian Space Agency. The Sun's extremely hot outer layer, the corona, has a very different chemical composition from the cooler inner layers, but the reason for this has puzzled scientists for decades.

A team involving UCL researchers have used electrical pulses to help suppress the tremors typically found in conditions such as Parkinson's disease. In a paper published , the scientists report their new way of suppressing the brain waves underpinning tremors, without the need for invasive techniques.

Professor Mahdad Noursadeghi (UCL Infection & Immunity) and Dr Rishi Gupta (UCL Institute for Global Health) discuss the importance of their new online 4C deterioration model, which is helping NHS doctors identify Covid-19 patients likely to deteriorate. The pandemic continues to pose huge challenges to health services worldwide.

A team of scientists at UCL have found that blood tests measuring the hallmark Alzheimer's protein, beta-amyloid (amyloid), could radically reduce the cost of clinical trials and potentially open the door to treating the disease earlier. The findings, published in the journal Brain , suggest that blood tests could be used to recruit people to Alzheimer's drug trials before they start showing any symptoms.

Simple vision tests can predict which people with Parkinson's disease will develop cognitive impairment and possible dementia 18 months later, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The study, published in Movement Disorders , adds to evidence that vision changes precede the cognitive decline that occurs in many, but not all, people with Parkinson's.

Professor Andrew Hayward (UCL Epidemiology & Health) explains why the new, more infectious, strain of Covid-19 is a cause for concern and suggests what must be done to reduce transmission of the disease. On the last day of 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) received the first reports of an unusual cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China.

Scientists at UCL and from across the world have catalogued almost 700 million astronomical objects in one of the most detailed sky surveys ever undertaken. Scientists on the international Dark Energy Survey (DES), including those from eight UK institutions, have released the second set of data - mapping over an eighth of the entire sky using one of the most sensitive cameras ever built.

A quarter of people in the UK reported drinking more than usual during the first lockdown, particularly those who were younger, female and suffering from anxiety, finds a study by UCL researchers. The study, published today in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, surveyed over 30,000 adults about their drinking behaviour during the earliest stage of lockdown between 21 March and 4 April 2020 and found that a third (34.3%) weren't drinking.

Patients admitted to very full hospitals have an increased chance of dying which is equivalent to being up to 11 years older, according to a new study co-led by UCL researchers. The study, published as a pre-print* on MedRxiv , analysed data from 4032 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICU) with presumed or confirmed Covid-19 in the first lockdown.

Less than half (43%) of people who developed Covid-19 symptoms say they've requested a test, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study. Three quarters (75%) of adults aged 60+ who reported experiencing symptoms at least once said they had never requested a test, with just 18% of the same age group saying they requested a test every time they experienced symptoms.

Researchers are leading a £3.8 million project to develop quantum technology aimed at detecting the mass of a neutrino, the universe's most abundant but elusive particle of matter. UCL is playing a key role in three of the seven projects. Neutrinos are millions of times lighter than electrons and are poorly understood as they can pass through matter undetected.

Children who have adverse experiences such as being smacked at the age of three are more likely to suffer from poor mental health and have behavioural problems through to age 14, according to a study led by UCL researchers. Children who have adverse experiences such as being smacked at the age of three are more likely to suffer from poor mental health and have behavioural problems through to age 14, according to a study led by UCL researchers.

A new risk-stratification tool which can accurately predict the likelihood of deterioration in adults hospitalised with COVID-19 has been developed by UCL researchers, in collaboration with the UK Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium (known as ISARIC4C). Researchers say the online tool, made freely available to NHS doctors on Friday 8 January 2021, could support clinicians' decision making - helping to improve patient outcomes and ultimately save lives.