"A revolutionary drug that could stop people from ever developing Alzheimer’s disease has been unveiled," the Daily Mail reports. The drug, aducanumab, encourages the immune system to attack the abnormal plaques of protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease. However, the reporting on this story should be treated with caution because the study it’s based on was not
"Alcoholics are missing ‘vital chemical in their brain’ that helps control addiction," the Daily Express reports. Research carried out on rats suggests that low levels of the PRDM2 enzyme could trigger self-destructive addictive behaviour associated with alcohol dependency; leading people to continue to drink even though it is causing them physical and mental stress. The studies showed
BBC News reports a "third [of people] given wrong initial heart attack diagnosis", while The Sun makes the totally unsupported claim that "Doctors miss heart attacks in women ‘because they expect victims to be fat, middle-aged men’." These headlines are based on a study that analysed a database containing information about nearly 600,000 people in
"Young girls exposed to electronic babies ? designed to simulate the real experience of having a baby and discourage teenage pregnancy ? were more likely to get pregnant," The Guardian reports. "Infant simulators" ? dolls that mimic the need of a baby in terms of feeding and nappy changing through crying ? are meant to
"Experts have linked eight more cancers to being overweight or obese, nearly tripling the list from five to 13," the Daily Mail reports. This is the latest finding of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a group of cancer experts from around the world that look at risk factors for cancer. What is the
"Why your commute is killing you: stressful rush-hour journeys are shortening commuters’ lifespans," The Sun reports after the Royal Society for Public Health published a report arguing that commuting can negatively impact both physical and mental health. The report highlights research that suggests non-active commuting ? not walking or cycling to work ? is detrimental
"Millions of Brits face dying early because of something they did when they were children," says the Daily Mirror’s needlessly alarming headline. The newspaper reports on a study which found that a head injury causing concussion (known as a traumatic brain injury or TBI) may increase the chances of a range of health problems in
"Women who take a common form of HRT are nearly three times as likely to get breast cancer, a major study has found," the Daily Mail reports. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment used to relieve symptoms of the menopause, such as hot flushes. It replaces hormones that typically drop to a lower level during
"Simple test can now reveal which heartburn patients are at risk of oesophageal cancer," is the hopeful headline in the Daily Mail, reporting on a new study from researchers at Queen Mary University of London. The researchers have been investigating whether a test for patients with Barrett’s oesophagus may be able to predict the likelihood of the
Most Commented